Upper Marlboro, Md.—Oct. 3     

Besides the only rookie in the competition, Tara Metzner, Kelley Farmer was the only professional who competed in the World Champion Hunter Rider Pro Finals at the Capital Challenge Horse Show that hadn’t won the title before.

“It’s a relief!” she said with a laugh. “My horse [Mindful] won tonight. He’s an amazing animal, and I could not have done it without that horse.”

Most had won it multiple times, as the class is small and often sees the top hunter riders back year after year. Farmer, Hunt Tosh, Scott Stewart, John French, Sandy Ferrell and Tara Metzner filled the placings respectively. 

Farmer rode Emily Hilton’s Askaro on the first track, set at 3’6″, but it was Sandy Ferrell on All The Right Moves, owned by East Coast Sport Horses, who took the early lead (88.16) and held onto it through the second round, where the riders switched mounts with one another. She set a strong tone and rode Stewart’s original entry, Game On, to a score of 89. But Tosh was hard on her heels in the second round on Askaro (91.33), moving up from his first round fifth place rank riding Canthano in the first (83.33). 

Once all six competitors completed the second track on a new horse, they were called back for a third handy track, another Ken Krome design, with a trot fence, hand gallop fence and plenty of chances for shaved turns and risky maneuvers. And, the riders got to choose any mount to take around that course. 

So how did Farmer win? She chose Mindful, who pulled scores of 92, 92 and 95 from the judges for the win she’s been after awhile. 

Ken and Selma Garber’s Mindful, a former grand prix jumper in Europe that Farmer took the ride on after Devon [Pa.] this spring, made the tightest of turns look easy, and they finished with a healthy lead over Tosh. “He has never let me down,” Farmer, Keswick, Va., said. “No matter what you ask him to do, he’s capable. I’m very fortunate to have him. He’s used to me doing that to him at 4′ so at 3’6″ he thought it was really simple.”

Farmer’s made a full recovery from her recently broken collarbone from a fall at the beginning of August.

“I was a little bit ahead of schedule coming back to riding,” she said. “I showed at Lexington [Ky.] two weeks ago for the first time because I didn’t want to come here without showing. I was going a little stir crazy being on the ground, and my help in the barn and Larry [Glefke] were going more crazy with me not riding and being in the barn 24/7! So I cheated a little bit at home and would go riding one-armed.”

While some riders opted for mounts that were proven matches for the handy, others rode what was readily available in the area. Tosh rode his handy mount, Libretto, owned by Ally Moyer, for the first time five days before the finals. “I was in Kentucky and Tammy Provost told me I could use him,” he said. “He was super and fun to ride. It was a fun class tonight. We all have a good time together; during the week, and on a night like tonight. We had a blast.”

Ferrell elaborated on the courses: “Obviously, winning the first two rounds, I thought they were great courses! I’m not sure about that handy course [though]!” she joked. “I thought they did a great job, and it’s all for fun.” Ferrell opted to take the first fence, a roll top, off the left lead, making for a much tighter approach than from the more popular right side. 

Metzner, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., was a newcomer to the finals, and quickly found that good fun was the name of the game. “I had a fantastic time tonight,” she said. “For me, qualifying for this class was a complete shock and just an extra bonus. I had a super time.”

To read more about the winners at the Capital Challenge Horse Show, check out the October 20 issue of The Chronicle of the Horse print magazine.

See all of the Chronicle’s Capital Challenge Horse Show online coverage.

See full Capital Challenge results.