Devon, Pa.—July 11-12  

Emma Kurtz certainly proved herself a force to be reckoned with at the U.S. Equestrian Federation Junior Hunter National Championship—East, taking home the prestigious grand championship and reserve grand championship honors after being named champion in the 15 and under division of both the large and small junior hunters.

Despite only riding Caldwell, the large junior hunter, and Dominik, the small junior hunter, for the first time two weeks ago, Kurtz piloted the geldings to their respective division championships.

Kurtz said she got the ride on Scott Stewart’s Caldwell while he is showing at Great Lakes Equestrian Festival in Michigan, and piloted him to the division championship as well as the overall grand hunter championship title.

Emma Kurtz on Caldwell. Photo by Lauren Baker/Phelps Media Group

“Caldwell is a simple ride, and he’s really cool,” Kurtz said. “I just want to thank Scott [Stewart], Ken [Berkley], Amanda [Lylerly], Richard [Slocum] and the Gochmans for helping me get here and giving me the opportunity to ride such great horses.”

Similarly, she got the ride on the Gochman family’s Dominik while the family is at Great Lakes Equestrian Festival with Stewart. With top ribbons over the last two days, Dominik and Kurtz took home the small junior hunter, 15 and under championship and the overall reserve championship. Kurtz said that Sophie Gochman usually rides the gelding but she’s enjoying the opportunity to ride him. 

“It’s really nice to win, especially on a new horse that I don’t know at all,” Kurtz said. “It’s a good feeling to know that I can go in the ring and do well on a horse I don’t know. Dominik has been really fun. He has a really nice rhythm, and no matter what distance you get he always jumps like a 10.”

Emma Kurtz on Dominik. Photo by Lauren Baker/Phelps Media Group

Trainer Amanda Lylery expressed her praise for her talented student, citing Kurtz’s focus and experience with riding new horses as two of her best qualities. 

“Obviously Emma is very gifted, but she is used to getting on horses that she doesn’t know,” Lylery explained. “I just think she has an unbelievable amount of focus and determination. She never wants to go in the ring and lose. She is always on her game and you know every time she goes in there she is going to try as hard as she can—there is no lack of commitment or determination.”

In the small junior hunter, 16-17 division, Eliza Bienstock rode her own Playlist to the division championship. After coming in third during Monday’s classic round, Beinstock returned on Tuesday to finish third in both the hack and the handy, which gave her the points she needed to secure the championship.

“We got Playlist as an equitation horse, but we realized how awesome he jumps and how well he moves, so we decided to make him a hunter,” Bienstock said. “He’s really smart, so when you ride him it’s really fun. When you ride him it’s more of a mental game, it’s about getting his head in the right place. He performs and wants to do well.”

Bienstock’s trainer, Valerie Renihan, expressed that Bienstock’s knack for spotting distances is one of her greatest assets.

“Eliza goes to boarding school, so sometimes we don’t get to practice as much, but her eye is amazing and she’s had that right from the beginning,” Renihan explained. “She knows her horse and knows the turns and is confident in herself and confident in him. You can always choose a hard track for them and know she is going to have fun with it.”

Next up, the large junior hunter, 16-17 division returned for the handy round. The largest of the divisions with 39 entries, it was Caroline Jones and At Last who rose to the top of the pack to claim the championship honors.

“At Last is a blast to ride,” Jones said. “He’s very straightforward and brave; whatever you ask he does. He just loves to win; that’s what he does every day. He’s a really fun horse to ride.”

This show marks the Alabama native’s fourth and final Junior Hunter Finals, as the young rider will be starting college at the University of Alabama in the fall. After five years of training with Don Stewart, Jones said the ending to her junior career is bittersweet.

“I’m just really happy to be here and really excited,” Jones added. “Going to college is going to be a big change because I am used to showing all the time, but I am super exited and couldn’t be happier.”

Rounding out the competition at the Junior Hunter Finals, the large and small junior hunter 3’3″ divisions wrapped up in the famed Dover Area.

The grand championship and reserve championship honors went home with two of Don Stewart’s horses: Dress Balou, ridden by Devin Seek, and Spalding, ridden by Grace Boston.

“Those two horses I hand picked myself,” Stewart said proudly. “They’re personal favorites of mine. Dress Balou I think is the winningest hunter in America, even though he’s never jumped the 3’6″. Spalding, I judged this winter in California, and I had to have him. He is spectacularly bred, and his look is beyond. Those two horses are like family, and I really want to keep them in the barn. They’re both wonderful and have beautiful brains.”

It’s Seek’s first time at Junior Hunter Finals, but the nerves did not affect the young rider at all.

“It’s amazing and unreal,” Seek said. “It’s always fun when a horse like Dress Balou has a personality when you ride them, because you feel like they want it just as badly as you do. This was my first year here, so it’s really fun to see how it all worked.”

In The Equitation…

Maya Nayyar, 17, claimed the top call in the USHJA Hunterdon Cup Equitation Classic.

Her mount, Connaro, an 11-year-old Holsteiner bay gelding, owned by Maya Nayyar LLC, was also named the Best Equitation Horse of the Hunterdon Cup—East Coast.

Maya Nayyar on Cannaro. Photo by Lauren Baker/Phelps Media Group

Nayyar took the lead in Round 1 with a score of 89. Trailing by 4 points with an 85 after Round 1 was 15-year-old Emma Kurtz of Hudson, Ohio. Kurta rode Clearway, an 11-year-old bay Warmblood gelding (Cheenook x Lacrima) owned by Betsee Parker. Clearway was also the 2013 winning mount with Lillie Keenan, the 2015 winning mount with Victoria Colvin, and named Best Equitation Horse of the 2015 Hunterdon Cup. 

At the end of Round II, both Nayyar and Kurtz found themselves at the top of the list again with just 5 points between them. Nayyar garnered a score of 90, the only 90 of the day, and Kurtz followed closely behind with an 89.

Rounding out the top four after Round 2 were Taylor St. Jacques and Grace Boston of Owing Mills, Md. After several minutes of conferring, Judges Ken Smith and Frank Madden decided to call back the top four riders for further testing. As the class specifications require, the riders swapped horses. Smith and Madden had Nayyar and Kurtz swap mounts, as well as St. Jacques and Boston swapping horses.

Madden said of the eventual winner, “Maya was very accurate and consistent, and each round she went out there taking a little bit of a shot to shine. In the final round we asked specifically for a long approach and Maya was the only one who did it. So really the truth be known none of the four really did the test. They all missed something. One missed the counter canter, one missed a distance, one missed the sitting trot and one missed the long approach. Maya had won the first two rounds and nobody did the test letter perfect.”