Washington D.C.—Oct. 26  

“When I first started doing the hunters, I’d go in the junior hunters, at like Upperville, and [the line] would be an outside line in six strides,” said Virginia Fout of her early showing days. “I’d do it in five. But it looked good. I didn’t look crazy. And I’d come out of the ring, and Pam [Baker] would go, ‘Child you can ride, we just need to give you some finesse.’ ”

But after riding Carma to the low amateur-owner, 36 and over championship and low amateur-owner hunter grand championship as the Washington International Horse Show, Fout has defintely shown her finesse. She also picked up the leading low amateur-owner hunter rider title.

As a mother to a 5-year-old daughter Logan and head of her own event productions company V Productions LLC, Fout demonstrates that when there’s a will there’s a way.

“Discipline,” said Fout, who lives in Los Angeles. “You have to fly by the seat of your pants. I’m so organized; I’m incredibly Type A. It’s about compartmentalizing your life—just keep it going.”

Virginia Fout and Carma. Photo by Laura Lemon

Coming from a horsey family in nearby Middleburg, Va., riding has remained a constant for Fout.

“My family’s livelihood is horses,” she said. Her father, Paul, trained racehorses and her mother, Eve, was a lifelong foxhunter. Virginia’s sister, Nina, is a three-day eventer who competed in the 2000 Olympic Games and her brother, Doug, is a successful steeplechase trainer. “We didn’t really have a lot of choice. People say, ‘Did you want to ride?’ I said, ‘I didn’t know there was an option.’ It’s sort of like grab mane and kick.

“I quit for while when I moved to California to go to college,” she continued. “For a little bit, but that didn’t last very long.”

And for Virginia, she made her trip over from California a winning one, with her 12-year-old bay gelding Carma (Rhodium—Pascha) taking the blue in three of the four low amateur-owner classes.

“He’s magic,” she said. “He came back from a long injury a couple years prior. I was lucky enough get to buy him last fall and we’ve just formed a partnership. He’s tricky, but when he’s good, he’s magic. And I just love him. He’s so special, and I’m just so lucky. This is sort of a dream come true with him. We call him a movie star because that’s what he feels like.”

But Viginia didn’t stop there. She also took home reserve champion honors in the amateur-owner, 36 and over, with Cristiano (Candidatus—Revi).

“I think I’m just going to hang up my spurs and go home,” she said.

“The only time I’ve ever won a blue ribbon at Washington was in 1984,” she continued. “With my mom and sister, we won hunt night when it was in the U.S. Airways Arena [Md.] Everything else has been the colors below blue.”

Virginia Fout, her sister Nina Fout and her mother Eve Fout won the hunt teams competition at the Washington International Horse Show in 1984. Photo courtesy of the Washington International Horse Show.

Margot Peroni Lets Both Of Her Horses Shine

Walking out of the Verizon Center with a championship ribbon on your horse’s bridle can be icing on the cake for anyone. But Margot Peroni earned tricolors on both her horses.

Peroni took home the low amateur-owner, 18-35, championship and reserve championship on Encore B and Orlon.

Margot Peroni and her champions Orlon and Encore B. Photo by Laura Lemon

Her journeys with both of them have been different.

For Encore B (Escudo I—Rhaska), the journey just commenced this year after her trainer Emil Spadone found him for her in February, while she’s owned Orlon (Olympic Fire—Zilly) since he was a 2-year-old in Germany. Peroni initially bought Orion, now 7, as a project—a project that has now exceeded all expectations.

“There are benefits to both,” she said. “The one I bought as a 2-year-old, I know him inside and out. I’ve done all the riding on that horse. My husband and I broke him together. So I know him completely backwards and forwards and he’s totally reliable and wonderful. Then the new horse, he’s actually 11, so with him he’s so broke. He’s so easy, and very quiet and pretty. So it’s a really nice mix—the two.”

And for Peroni, misfortune allowed her to enter back into the horse show world, and win the blues, after a bit of a hiatus.

“I actually was working in finance, and then actually the mortgage crisis is why I ended up back here,” she said. “In 2008, there was a huge layoff in the company that I was working for. And I called my old trainer, because I don’t sit still very well. She offered for me to come and groom for them and hang out, and I started riding for her again a little bit—whatever she had that I could pay the bills on to show a little bit—and years later we ended up buying our first horse in a long time.”

And with her only two horses taking the top honors, Peroni looks forward to the future—and perhaps feels a little happy for her blessing in disguise.

“I have to say, it’s pretty much horses 24/7,” she said. “They’re pretty amazing. I’m very lucky.”

Shaw Johnson Price Maintains Her Winning Indoor Spree

What to do after winning the grand amateur-owner title at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show? Go win another grand amateur-owner title at the Washington International Horse Show of course.

Betty Oare presented Shaw Johnson Price and Custom Made with their championship honors. Photo by Laura Lemon

Shaw Johnson Price and Custom Made simply can’t be touched this indoors season. The pair won the amateur-owner, 36 and over, hunter championship and picked up the grand amateur-owner title and Price earned the leading amateur-owner title along the way.

“Well I mean it was great,” said the Chestertown, Md., resident. “I mean it doesn’t get any better than this right?”

“We started off doing the adults actually,” she continued. “We thought we would get on him and go right in the 3’6″. But he turned into be a little bit more of a project. But Havens [Schatt] worked through for us, and he slowly progressed and gotten better and better. He likes his job.”

And while Price bought the chestnut gelding at the end of 2014, she and Schatt decided to take wait to introduce him to the Verizon Center until he was ready.

“I’m pretty protective of my horses when it comes to training them and bringing them up,” Schatt said. “In my opinion, you bring them here once, and something bad happens, coming back’s not going to be good. Where we skipped it last year. And brought him this year and it’s not a problem.”

And with such good weekends back to back, Price jokes that she just has to quit now.

“Every time she walks in the ring she tells me she’s quitting,” said Schatt. “And then she gets out, she says, ‘No, I’m just kidding.’ ”

Samantha Schaefer Puts All Her Eggs In One Basket

Samantha Schaefer spent most of her junior years riding and catch riding many different horses—riding four or more horses every year in the hunter divisions. But since graduating from college, her main focus in the show ring has been Classified, lovingly called “Lordy.”

And this weekend, Lordy lived up to his nickname, helping his rider earn the amateur-owner, 18-35, championship.

Samantha Schaefer and Classified. Photo by Laura Lemon

“I’m used to coming here with four to show—and I have one to show this year,” she said on one of her first Washington hunter appearances in years.

“He’s a really good boy,” she continued. “He’s kind of been my go-to all year. We often say that he has a lot of pressure on him because he’s kind of like my main horse and he has to do a lot. But he’s a really good boy; he doesn’t look to let you down.”

And since graduating from Baylor University (Texas) last December, Schaefer enjoys putting more of a focus on riding, with a barn full of young horses surrounding the 11-year-old chestnut gelding.

“When I was at school, I’d like to fly back and forth and just have a horse that you can really rely on,” said the 23-year-old. “He was an awesome horse to kind of get me back going and get me competitive again. Now I can be a little patient with the young horses, and they’ll start showing in Florida this year.”

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Want more Washington International Horse Show? No problem—we have you covered.  And don’t miss the Nov. 14 issue of the Chronicle of the Horse magazine for full analysis of the competition.