Molly Sorge

Ken Berkley has had a phenomenal fall season in the hunter ring, and he capped it today, Dec. 4, by winning the National Horse Show Open Hunter Championship aboard Good Point. Berkley and the striking bay gelding posted an 89.33 average from five judges in the first round today, and followed it up with an 82 in the second round. They claimed victory over Holly Shepherd and Tobasco, a phenomenal first year green horse.

Dust blowing in the wind, dirt under your fingernails, sweat dripping off your brow. Thinking of a day at the barn in the summer? You could be right. But this also describes the situation Amanda Starbuck encountered while volunteering in Ethiopia (p. 16). And her time there was a far cry from a typical day at a horse show.

Watching Anastazia take the best young horse title at the Devon (Pa.) Horse Show & Country Fair (see p. 36) was extremely bittersweet for Ray Francis. The Pennsylvania horseman had bred, foaled and raised the 2-year-old filly. Seeing her go on to win the prestigious honor was a dream come true for Francis, who has had Devon's best young horse title as a goal for many years.

After finishing the 2003 competition year as the USAEq amateur-owner hunter, 18-35 year-end national champion on Rio Bronco, Amanda Starbuck didn't take a typical vacation.

Instead of traveling to a tropical climate, or going skiing, she spent her Christmas holidays volunteering in Africa, teaching basic health and hygiene to underprivileged Ethiopians.

David Raposa had a decision to make before he jumped off in the $65,000 Budweiser Grand Prix de Penn National CSI-W.

Going first of four in the jump-off, he had to choose whether to loop left in a rollback after jumping a triple bar and then gallop down the long side to the last oxer, or to turn right and snake around another fence to get to the last fence.

Eric van der Vleuten made quite a long trip from his homeland in the Netherlands to compete in the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament this week. But he made sure to make the effort worthwhile, however, by claiming the top spot in the $75,000 Budweiser World Cup of Syracuse CSI-W aboard Audi's Jikke.

I'm going to miss watching Chris Kappler and Royal Kaliber gallop into the grand prix ring. With his head held high and a bright, mischievous sparkle in his eye, he had a commanding presence that caught your attention. He not only had incredible jumping ability and a tremendous will to win, but he also had the charismatic personality that makes athletes into stars. Royal Kaliber was different, and you knew it the minute you saw him.

Jump-offs to decide grand prix victories usually involve mad dashes to the fences, but for the $75,000 Lincoln American Gold Cup, course designer Jose "Pepe" Gamarra threw in a twist--literally.

The crucial spot in the jump-off was a looping serpentine of roll-back turns over three verticals at one end of the ring, followed by a straight gallop to the last oxer. Kim Frey, going last of the five to jump off, turned Marlou into the winner.

"I turned shorter to jumps today than I've ever turned in my life!" said Frey. "I figured I had nothing to lose.

Christine Tribble had only bought Promised Land two months before, so she considered showing at the Marshall & Sterling National Indoor Finals as more of an opportunity to get to know him rather than a chance to win a big class.

But that all changed in the jump-off of the $100,000 Marshsall & Sterling League Finals Grand Prix, as they cruised to a clean round more than 2 seconds faster than second-placed Karat and Jonathon Millar. The event con-cluded the show, held Sept. 22-26 at the Centrum Centre in Worcester, Mass.

Tensions ran high going into the Samsung SuperLeague Final, held Sept. 19 in Barcelona, Spain. The French won the inaugural Super League Series last year and were leading going into the final this year. But the British and German teams were hot on their heels.

The Germans won the final, but since France tied for second with Great Britain, they finished the Super League series on top, with Germany second and Britain third.