USEF Pony Hunter Championships

With Tricia Booker on location

Samantha Schaefer and Sham’s Loganberry dazzled the judges in the medium pony over fences phase today, scoring a 90, 87.5 and 95 from judges Scott Fitton, Kim Dorfman and Joe Darby to vault to the top of the overall standings and earn the grand pony championship with 1,056.5 points.

Schaefer, 10, Westminster, Md., and the flashy chestnut had stood eighth coming into today’s third phase, but her incredibly smooth and effortless round couldn’t be matched during the concluding day of the USEF Pony Finals, held Aug. 4-7 in Lexington, Va.

Trainer Kim Stewart said she knew after Schaefer nailed the first fence that it would be a strong performance. “She was really nervous going into the ring, but she was really focused,” added Stewart. Sham’s Loganberry also earned the Welsh Pony and Cob Society Perpetual Trophy for the highest scoring half-Welsh pony in the regular pony hunter divisions.

Victoria Birdsall, who won the USEF Pony Medal on Thursday, had another elegant over fences round to clinch the overall medium pony reserve championship with Woodland’s Love N’ Happiness (1,040.5 points). Maggie Gampfer and the beautiful Allure placed third overall (1,021.5 points).

Schaefer’s banner day actually began a few hours earlier in the large pony section, which began the day at 7:30 a.m. Schaefer stood fourth in the standings with Who’s Kidding Who and guided the gray to a solid performance with scores of 86, 82.75 and 85.75 for fifth place over fences and a total of 1,040.5, which tied Sunlight and Kaitlin Campbell for the reserve championship.

Jennifer Waxman, who had led the way on her American Dreams, rode a beautiful round on her flashy chestnut, and their scores of 85.5, 87 and 86 put them second in the over fences phase and kept them ahead of the pack for the overall title (1,053 points) and the reserve grand championship.

Waxman, 12, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, imported the Westphalian mare from Germany in June 2003 after watching her on a videotape. Trainers Heidi D’Angelo and Ken and Emily Smith helped Waxman work to retrain “Lucy” from a jumper to a hunter. Waxman and Lucy began showing in the green division last summer, and this is their first season in the regular large division.

“We worked really hard all year–we practiced being smooth and trying to be calm around the courses and not like a jumper,” said Waxman.

Schaefer was in contention for a tricolor in the small pony section aboard Rainbow Canyon–she had won the under saddle yesterday–but a mistake in the over fences class opened the door. And Schaefer’s friend, Devon Walther, who celebrated her 10th birthday on Thursday, took advantage of that opportunity and rode her Dreamboy to scores of 86, 82.75 and 84.75 for fourth place and the overall small pony championship with 1,048.5 points.

Walther, Warrenton, Va., said Dreamboy, nicknamed D.J., did just about everything she asked of him in the over fences class. “I thought he was really good today,” she said with a shy smile. After her round, Walther said she was “pretty confident” that her score would be strong. And it was. For those impressive scores, Dreamboy earned the Welsh Pony and Cob Society Perpetual Trophy for the highest scoring Welsh pony in the regular pony hunter divisions. Walther and Dreamboy train with Pam Freeley.

Helicon Take Notice, ridden by Reed Kessler, finished second overall (1,023.5) and Clovercroft’s My Kinda Guy and Sarah Garnett (1,021.25) finished third.

Jessica Van Brocklin, who sang the National Anthem at this year’s Pony Finals, rode Junior Mint to 14th in the large pony section and was awarded the Buttons N Bows Sportsmanship Trophy.

Kim Stewart received the Emerson Burr Perpetual Trophy for training the overall pony hunter grand champion.

Who’s Kidding Who and Woodland’s Love N’ Happiness tied for the high-score Virginia-bred Pony Award.