High Performance Hunters

Washington, D.C.—Oct. 26

Despite his name's likening to a cartoon character, Garfield was all business in the high performance hunter divsions at the Washington International Horse Show (D.C.), sweeping all the over fences classes and placing third in the under saddle. His work ethic earned him not only the division championship, but also the grand hunter championship.

Oct. 7—Upper Marlboro, Md.

In an incredibly tight race to the finish, John French scored a World Champion Hunter Rider Professional Finals win at Capital Challenge. He edged ahead of Hunt Tosh by just .08 points in the final handy round to claim the title.

“I almost don’t think it was fair that I won by that much,” said French, San Jose, Calif. “This is a really great group of riders this year.”

Oct. 5—Upper Marlboro, Md.

John French found the perfect way to bid farewell to his top hunter: riding him to the top of their second consecutive WCHR Professional Rider Challenge at Capital Challenge.

French tacked up his partner of three years, Small Affair, to jump to the top of both rounds of tonight’s class, with Scott Stewart claiming second on Declaration and Patricia Griffith riding to third aboard Parkland.

The U.S. Hunter Jumper Association has re-opened applications for USHJA International Hunter Derbies in the 2012-2013 season. Applications to host classes between June 2, 2012 and June 1, 2013 are now due Nov. 1 by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The USHJA has also removed the limit on the number of competitions allowed to host qualifying competitions.

Aug. 20—Lexington, KY

The evening started out a little rough for Lillie Keenan at the $100,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals. But by the night’s end, she had an 8-point lead over some of the top hunter riders in the country, most of them more than a decade her senior.