Bedminster rider breaks "rookie" jinx and finished second in national professional hunter championship. Also: Standings in Platinum Performance USEF Show Jumping Talent Search East in Gladstone
Amanda Steege of Bedminster rode Crack On in the second round of the World Champion Hunter Rider Professional Finals, where she finished second While it was Steege's first time in the class, open to the country's top six ranked professionals in the discipline, she has been making a name for herself for years on the circuit, and won a championship at Devon in the spring.
Steege, who rides out of Ashmeadow Farm, was ranked second in the WCHR Pro standings going into the competition Friday night at the Capital Challenge show in Upper Marlboro, Md., just five points behind Californian John French, a previous winner of the finals.
But when the three-round class was finished Friday night, Steege was second, ahead of Peter Pletcher, a three-time winner; Kelley Farmer, French and Scott Stewart of Flemington, a five-time winner, who was hoping for number six and a platinum medallion to commemorate it. Instead, he finished sixth after his horse slipped following the first fence in the final round.
The class went to Liza Towell Boyd from North Carolina, capping a year in which she won the August USHJA $100,000 International Hunter Derby finals on Brunello.
"I'm thrilled to be second," said Steege, "but more so, I'm thrilled to have done it and felt like I rode the horses well and stayed relaxed enough to use my natural ability."
For the ride-off, Boyd used Quatrain in the third round, a handy hunter test, in which Steege was aboard her longtime partner, Zidane. In the first two rounds, competitors were on horses they had never ridden before, but they were able to choose one of their regular mounts for the handy trip.
That test included a trot fence, a bounce in and out of a pen, then a quick turn to take the other part of the pen, as well as a hand gallop to the last fence.
Steege was tied for fifth after the first round, fourth after the second and then got a 90, an 87 and an 88 on her last effort from the three sets of judges to make her total for the evening 265.49, behind Boyd's 274.66 but ahead of the rest of the field.
Rachel Kennedy, wife of one of the show's managers, told Steege she had broken the jinx. Apparently, everyone else who has competed in the class for the first time has finished last.
"I was pretty relaxed, which I'm not always," Steege said after the round of honor.
"I was more nervous coming into Capital Challenge, wanting to make sure I qualified for it," she said of the finals.
"The thing I didn't necessarily expect about this class was how much camaraderie there is among all the riders. The last two days, every rider in the class, plus people from horse show management, all pulled me aside to give me a little pep talk and helpful hints."
She liked the donated horses she had in rounds one and two, particularly Crack On, who she rode in round two without a warm-up.
"You have to get on at the in-gate and go. Your first trotting step is when you trot into the ring. He got better and better with each jump I did."
In the handy round on Zidane, she said, "If I could have changed something, I would have hand-galloped the last jump a little bit more than I did."
She figured that might have made the point spread closer, but still felt Boyd would have won.
"I was planning to have a little more of a gallop, it all just happened faster than I expected," said Steege.
"They (the horses) walk in there and feel a little bright-eyed, so I took my time where I needed to. It was awesome to do the handy on your own horse and pick one you feel confident on and you think can manuver all those turns and the trot jump."
She added, "The big thing is trying to figure out how I get to do it again next year."
Another Jerseyan who did well at the show is Elizbeth Kirby, 22, of Mendham, who won the $10,000 Children's/Adult Jumper Challenge with Winter White, and took the Best Adult Amateur Jumper Rider title in the proces.
Kirby graduated in May from Lafayette College with a degree in psychology. Starting in November, she will be working in Morristown for a facility that serves child victims of abuse and/or neglect and children who have witnessed domestic violence.
In the meantime, she will be busy showing at the Pennsylvania National and Washington International Horse shows.
Her mare, known as "Patches" for the brown patches on her grey coat, was selected for her by trainer, Gary Zook the day before he died in May 2012. She now trains with Kelly Wilson in Long Valley, but is grateful to Zook for choosing the Selle Francais mare.
"It's been a blessing because I wouldn't have been able to do this without Gary," she said. "He picked her out for me, and I tried her and he said, 'You need to get this horse now.' The next day, I bought her,"
ON THE RAIL -- Lillie Keenan of New York took the lead in the Platinum Performance U.S. Equestrian Federation Show Jumping Talent Search East yesterday morning during the flat phase and kept it through the afternoon gymnastics segment at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation in Gladstone.
Lillie Keenan leads the way in the Platinum Performance USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals East But other placings changed. Michael Hughes of Allendale, second after the flat, dropped to fourth following the gymnastics, when his horse cantered, rather than trotting, through two sets of cavaletti. Charlotte Jacobs, meanwhile, rose from fourth to second and Mattias Tromp remained in third.
Jerseyans besides Hughes who are in the top 10 in the standings are Alexandria Desiderio of Chester, eighth, and T.J. O'Mara of Rumson, ninth.
The competition concludes today with a jumping round at 8 a.m., followed by the final four at 1:30 p.m....
In the USEF Single Horse National Driving Championship, Sara Schmitt of Flemington won the marathon with Savannah and is standing fourth going into today's cones segment...
Following her sweep of the Small Tour classes at Dressage at Devon with Rosmarin last weekend, Kimberly Herslow of Stockton got the news that she was selected for one of eight training grants awarded to participants in the Developing Dressage Program announced by the United States Equestrian Federation and its High Performance Dressage Committee.
The grants have been made possible by a gift from Akiko Yamazaki and Red Husky Foundation through the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation. Herslow trains in Florida with
Lars Petersen, winner of the Dressage at Devon Grand Prix Freestyle on Marriett...
Kentucky, which hosted the Alltech FEI 2010 World Equestrian Games, may be up for doing it again in 2018. Expressions of interest for Lexington, Ky., and Wellington, Fla., were forwarded to the FEI (international equestrian federation) last week. Great Britain also is in the mix, though no city in that country was specified.
Those expressing interest will receive bid documents laying out the hosting requirements, so they can figure out where to go from there. The games were not allocated to Bromont, Canada, which was thought to have a lock on 2018, because it lacked financial support. But Bromont also has expressed interest in continuing with the project.
The WEG, held every four years, is set for Normandy, France, in 2014...
The Far Hills Race Meeting, an annual rite of autumn in the Somerset Hills, will be held for the 93d time Oct. 19 at Moorland Farms on Route 202 in Far Hills. One of the most important steeplechase meetings in the country, it also is an occasion for tailgating. New security policies will be in place this year to enhance safety and handle alcohol-related incidents.
Go to farhillsrace.org for details and to find out where to buy tickets, which are on sale at various locations until Oct. 18.
ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE
Today: Delaware Valley Horsemen's Association Driving Show, DVHA Showgrounds, 299 Ringoes-Rosemont Road, Sergeantsville; Princeton Show Jumping Fall Classic, Hunter Farms North, 246 Burnt Hill Road, Skillman; Spotted Toad Equestrian Show, Hunter Farms North, 246 Burnt Hill Road, Skillman; ESDCTA N.J. Horse Trials, Horse Park of N.J., Route 524, Allentown; Platinum Performance U.S. Equestrian Federation Show Jumping Talent Search Finals East, U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation, Pottersville Road, Gladstone; CJL Show, West Milford Equestrian Center, 267 Union Valley Road, Newfoundland; Golden Gait Farm Dressage Show, 323 Sweetmans Lane, Millstone; ECRDA Open and Championship Dressage Show, Saddlebrook Ridge Equestrian Center, 10 Saddlebrook Court, Shamong.
Thursday: The Ridge at Riverview Asbury Classic, 3 Wolverton Road, Asbury (through next Sunday).
Friday: Woodedge Stable Show, 116A Borton Landing Road, Moorestown (through next Sunday).
Saturday: Garden State Classic Dressage Show, Horse Park of N.J., Route 524, Allentown (through next Sunday); Palermo Championship Series, 1555A Burnt Mills Road, Bedminster (through next Sunday); Saddlebrook Ridge Dressage Show, 10 Saddlebrook Court, Shamong.
Next Sunday: Essex Fox Hounds Masters' Chase, Natirar, Main Street (Route 512), Peapack (gates open at 10 a.m., first race at noon); Mylestone Equine Rescue Open House, 227 Still Valley Road, Phillipsburg (noon-4 p.m., no dogs); Delaware Valley Horsemen's Association Hunter Show DVHA Showgrounds, 299 Ringoes-Rosemont Road, Sergeantsville; Smoke Rise Riding Club Show, 1 Talbot Dr., Kinnelon; Highpoint Equestrian Center Dressage Show, Combined Test and Horse Trials, 20 Birchtree Road, Montague.
Nancy Jaffer may be reached at nancyjaffer@comcast.net.