Two Scholars, A Judge And An Accountant Walk Into A Ring

Lexington, Ky.—Oct. 31

The title sounds like the lead-in to a joke, but it's what happened over the last few days of the National Horse Show in the amateur-owner hunter divisions. Four champions were crowned—two of them are graduate students, one an insurance agent and judge, and one an accountant.

PUBLISHED

October 31, 2014
12:04 pm

WORDS BY

Molly Sorge

Lexington, Ky.—Oct. 31

The title sounds like the lead-in to a joke, but it’s what happened over the last few days of the National Horse Show in the amateur-owner hunter divisions. Four champions were crowned—two of them are graduate students, one an insurance agent and judge, and one an accountant.


Stephanie Danhakl continued her domination of the indoor circuit by claiming the amateur- owner, 18-35 and the grand amateur-owner hunter titles. Danhakl, who hails from California, is working toward her masters in art history at the University of Pennsylvania.	“He just has the most amazing rhythm. It’s impossible to miss on him. Even when I’m finding the wrong distance, he’s finding the right one. He’s so consistent. He has a lot of scope, so he makes a big effort over the jumps. He’s a little bit looky at the jumps, which helps him stay impressed no matter where we’re showing. All that combines to make him just awesome,” Danhakl said. ADVERTISEMENT

Kelly Corrigan emerged as the grand low amateur-owner hunter champion after topping the 36 and over section of that division on her Game Day. Corrigan, who lives just a few miles from the Kentucky Horse Park in Georgetown, Ky., finances her horse habit by judging horse shows, selling horse insurance and doing equine appraisals.	“My family has always been very supportive, but up until I had my son 4 1/2 years ago, I did everything on my own, all my own shipping and grooming. The only thing I didn’t do was braid. I like that aspect of it, but I just don’t have as much time,” Corrigan said. She rides with Havens Schatt and has owned Game Day for a year. “He’s an easy horse. He’s 7 but he acts like he’s 12. He’s very amateur-friendly,” she said.

It’s been more than 20 years since Nicole Hiehle showed at indoors, but she returned at the National to ride Lovely Charity to the top of the amateur-owner hunter, 36 and over division. Hiehle, who does all her own horse care (“I can’t afford it any other way!”) works as an accountant for her mother, Karen’s, construction company. Hiehle rides with Russell Frey, and the only part of getting her mare ready for the ring that she doesn’t do is to braid Lovely Charity’s tail—Frey does it for her.	“I haven’t done indoors since I was a junior, which was a long time ago, so I was really nervous this week,” said Hiehle, 41. She showed her mare Castle Rising at indoors in 1990, but then took 20 years off from showing before getting back into it in 2010. “She just gets better and better,” she said of Lovely Charity. “She gives 100 percent all the time. This ring was amazing for her because she doesn’t spook, but she gets a little more alert, which gives her that extra spark to really fire over the jumps. Now I’m lucky to have one I can relax and not have to worry too much.”

When asked what she’s studying at Stanford, Kathryn Haefner gave an unusual answer. “Aeronautics and astronautics,” she said. Haefner is in the Masters program at Stanford and is considering adding a PhD to her name as well. She rode her Columbus to the low amateur-owner, 18-35 championsip at the National.	“I’m specializing in rocket propulsion,” Haefner said. My dad is an engineer and he works for a company that produces sensors specifically for space applications, so I was exposed to a lot of science and math from a young age and I got to see a lot of rocket launches. I wanted to be an astronaut, but I get motion sickness, so this is like the next best thing.”