Safari was back in his stall, relaxing and unbraided, but he wasn’t done quite yet. At the conclusion of the junior hunter divisions at the National Horse Show on Oct. 30, at the Syracuse International Sporthorse Tournament, he had to make one more trip into the ring to pick up the grand junior hunter championship.

 “It was exciting because we weren’t expecting it,” said Caitlin Ziegler who rode the flashy bay gelding to the small junior, 15 & under, tricolor as well. “This is one of the most important things I’ve ever won, so it was very exciting.

“I’d been doing well this week, and the stake class is kind of the most important, so I was more excited than nervous.” A blue ribbon in the stake class clinched the championship, but Safari had also won the handy class the day before. “He’s only 7, so he’s great for being so young, and this is the first year he’s really done the indoor shows.”

Ziegler, 14, showed at the Pennsylvania National last year, but she hadn’t shown at the National Horse Show before. “I was thrilled just to qualify and come, so to win is wonderful. I can tell there’s a big improvement in my riding. I’m just more relaxed in places like this,” she said. She bought Safari in 2007, after he won the AHJF Hunter Classic Spectacular (Fla.) with Tim Gougen.

“He’s come so far in the last two years; it’s fun because you can feel the difference when you’re riding him, especially in places like this where he could be spooky but he’s handling it so well,” Ziegler said. “A lot of people here have had some trouble getting down the lines, but he’s had a huge stride in this ring, and I didn’t have any problem at all.”

Special Horses
Jennifer Waxman, showing for the last time as a junior at this year’s National, was unbeatable in the older junior hunter divisions. She rode Vida Blue to the large junior, 16-17, tricolor and Red Panda to the small junior, 16-17, title.

“Panda’s” win was even more special for Waxman, because the flashy chestnut had to take three months off this summer after he scratched his eye. “He’s fine, but it was very painful for him, so he had a lot of time off this summer,” Waxman said.

“It was kind of good for him, because it wasn’t like it was a lameness, so he came back great and felt really good. He didn’t start jumping until two weeks before [the Pennsylvania National]. He was good there, but maybe a bit rusty,” she said. They skipped the Washington International and headed to Syracuse for the National.

“Yesterday, he really felt like himself again. The first day, he maybe didn’t feel quite as into it, but when we jumped the first jump yesterday, I thought to myself ‘Yay, my horse is back!’ ”

Waxman has had the ride on the veteran Panda for two years for the owners John and Stephanie Ingram. “I’m so thankful to them,” Waxman said. “There aren’t many horses out there like him, so to have the chance to ride one of them is amazing. I’m very lucky. If I find the distances, he does the rest.”

Waxman got the ride on Vida Blue just before indoors, but she didn’t waste any time, claiming tricolors at the Pennsylvania National and Washington before the National.

“She’s so nice. I feel like this weekend, I’m just starting to get to know her. I’ve just been riding her at the shows, so at [the Pennsylvania National] and Washington, it was just in those small schooling areas, and it’s hard to get to know a horse there,” Waxman said. “This weekend, she felt like she was trusting me a little more. She’s a lot of fun.”

Leah DiMartini bought Vida Blue this fall, but since the mare was qualified and entered for indoors in the older division, she couldn’t show her. “So, they asked if I would show her. I was more than happy to!” Waxman said.

Waxman isn’t too sentimental about leaving the juniors behind. “It’s definitely bittersweet, but I’m kind of ready to move on. I’ll probably focus on the jumpers more. I homeschooled last year, but this year I’m a senior and going to school, so I’ve been having a bit more of a normal life. It’s nice to cut back a bit,” she said.

Keenan Can
Lillie Keenan has done more than her fair share of winning in the pony divisions, so it’s only fitting that she’s started her junior career the same way. At the National, she rode North Country to the large junior hunter, 15 & under, tricolor, and Genuine to the small junior hunter, 15 & under, reserve.

“This is the last time I was going to get to show him for the year, and no one really expected that out of him,” Keenan said of North Country. “He’s always been a really nice horse, and he’s been a good teacher. He was the first large junior that I’ve had. I started riding him in the middle of Florida this year. He’s been at Heritage for quite a while, so I knew him really well, but I hadn’t had a chance to ride him before then.

“He taught me a new way of riding. I’ve always been a little bit of a loose rider, especially on the ponies, and he’s taught me how to ride forward but be careful and be ready for anything. He’s a sweet horse.” North Country will be leased to another rider next year.

Nijinski Nails It
This has been Darby Toben’s fall, for sure. She followed up her Pennsylvania National grand amateur-owner hunter championship with another one at the National. Toben and Nijinski won all three over fences classes in the 18-35 division for that tricolor and the grand.

“He’s been super. I was a little nervous going into today. Being on top is hard!” she said. But she and the elegant bay collected another blue in the stake class for the tricolor. Toben is a veteran of the show circuit, but these have been her first championships at the prestigious indoor shows.

“He had a break for a few months, and Capital Challenge was our first show back, then [the Pennsylvania National] and then here, so maybe having some time off was good. He’s done until Florida now,” Toben said.

She’s had Nijinski for five years. “He’s been the same since day one. He’s perfect,” she said. He was a stallion when she bought him, and trainer Emil Spadone showed him in the first year and second year green divisions. They gelded him, and Toben picked up the reins.

“He’s really simple. He’s the same every day, and he’s not spooky at all,” she said of the 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood.

He Is Invincible
Invincible proved he is just that at the National, overcoming an illness a month before to take the amateur-owner hunter, 36 & over, tricolor with Ellen Toon. 

Just before the Capital Challenge (Md.) in early October, Invincible became ill. “We think he caught a virus, but we don’t really know what was wrong. It was pretty scary, though. He was all better in a few days,” Toon said.”He was back to work a week later. I showed him at [the Pennsylvania National], and he was great. I think I was more nervous, worried about him being OK.”

They skipped the Washington International to give Invincible more rest and then headed to Syracuse for the National. “I was a little unsure about coming here, but when we got him from Harrisburg, he was really his old self. I could tell he was feeling good, so we decided to come,” Toon said.

“He felt great here. I don’t have to worry about him out on course; he’s always on your side and wants to do things right. After what we just went through, it’s even more special.”