Lexington, Ky.—Oct. 28  

You could think it was a just an expression to say Betsee Parker “owned” the open hunter divisions today at the National Horse Show, but in fact, she literally did.

Parker owned four of the five hunter champions crowned in the open divisions. Scott Stewart rode her A Million Reasons (second year green) and Lucador (green conformation and grand) and Hunt Tosh rode her Cold Harbor (regular conformation) and Casanova (first year green).  The high performance hunter division was the only one without a Parker-owned champion—Kelley Farmer and Mindful continued their streak of wins in that division with the National title too.

“She puts a lot into it and she wants to do it at the top level, so when you have a day like today, it all pays off. Her plan and our plan worked out,” Tosh said. “As a rider, it’s great to have owners like Betsee and the Wheelers, for me, who just support us and provide horses for us to ride who don’t do another division. There aren’t many people out there who do that these days. She’s been wonderful to both of us, and it’s worked out well to have us do our thing.”

“She’s one of the few owners who supports a few different riders,” Stewart said. “She has horses with Hunt and me and with Tori [Colvin] in the juniors. She had a really good day today, but she really puts a lot into it.” In fact, Colvin also rode in the open hunters, giving the Parker-owned equitation mount Clearway a spin in the high performance division in preparation for the ASPCA Maclay Final later this week.

Special Needs

Lucador, who is just 6, has had a spectacular fall season with Stewart, claiming the reserve green conformation championships at Capital Challenge (Md.) and the Pennsylvania National and the championship at the Washington International. Here in Kentucky for the National, he won every single green conformation class to add the grand title to his tally. “He actually got better at every show,” said Stewart, who claimed his eighth National leading hunter rider title. “This is the most consistent he’s been. Usually I have one class that one of us messes up! He’s only 6, so he’s still green, but I’m so happy with him.”

Watch Lucador and Stewart win the green conformation hunter stake class…

Once he’s in the ring, Lucador looks like a puppy dog with his lop ears and placid expression, but Stewart says he’s got some quirks. “He’s basically lazy, but he can be a bit tricky in the schooling area,” he said. “If we don’t give him enough time and get his routine right, he’ll buck and rear and try and throw me against the wall. He’s a little funny that way, but once you get in the ring, he’s great. Julie Connors, who usually rides him for me, gets on him and warms him up. I think he likes her a little better than me. Then once I get on him, he’s OK and ready to go. He’s fine as long as she starts him.”

Parker just leases Stewart’s second-year champion, A Million Reasons, since owners Pony Lane Farm might want to breed her in the future. Stewart tried her at the Pennsylvania National, Parker signed the lease, and then they were grand green champions the next week at the Washington International. “She’s been amazing in every class; the easiest horse I’ve ridden so far and probably one of the nicest. She has so much quality and scope,” Stewart said.

Delivering

Last year, Tosh claimed the grand hunter championship in an emotional victory with the Wheeler family-owned Queen Lattifah, and the bay mare was on the grounds to defend her title. But she didn’t show. “She slipped on the pavement the first day and got hurt. It was bad luck,” Tosh said. “She’ll be fine, but we just scratched. Being grand last year and not being able to show this year kind of stinks, but the other horses stepped up too.”

Tosh topped the handy and the under-saddle with Parker’s Casanova to clinch the first year green title.  “He won the pre-green [incentive] last year and was so good this year,” Tosh said. “He was grand green at Capital Challenge. He was a little out of gas at [the Pennsylvania National], so we skipped Washington and came here and he was awesome.”

Tosh also topped the regular conformation division with Parker’s Cold Harbor after a win in the stake class. “He didn’t do Capital Challenge and he hadn’t shown in a while, so he was a little rusty at [the Pennsylvania National]. He went beautifully here. We don’t show him much at all, and he needs a show to get going,” Tosh said.

See full results of the National Horse Show.