Fairfield County Hunt Club Members excel at fall horse shows!

During the past 6 weeks, Fairfield County Hunt Club riders competed at three of the fall shows that represent the indoor “finals” season. The results were nothing short of GREAT!!! All of the riders and trainers deserve huge CONGRATULATIONS!

The first stop on the tour was the Capital Challenge in Maryland. Fairfield sent 6 riders. Dana Cofsky, Eloise Foster, Sienna Keane, Isabel Rudaz and Sophie Whidden competed in the USHJA 3’3 Medal Finals. This is a 3-phase class that consists of a flat phase, gymnastics phase and a jumping phase. While we did not receive any ribbons in this class, the kids gained valuable experience for future Medal finals. At the same show Isabel and Sophie competed in the National Taylor Harris 3ft Junior Medal Finals. Isabel was 3rd and Sophie was 9th out of the top 40 riders in the country! Brenda Tananbaum also competed in the National ARIAT Adult Medal Finals and was 8th out of the top 30 riders in the country.

New England Finals in Massachusetts was the next stop. Dana, Eloise, Sienna, Isabel and Sophie competed in the New England Junior Medal Finals along with Carolyn Carpenter, Gigi Coley and Margaret Huber. Wynatte Chu competed in the New England Adult Medal Finals. Margaret Huber was 4th in the individual state competition, and Wynatte Chu was 2nd in her section of the open adult equitation class. Sienna, Eloise, Sophie, Isabel, Carolyn and Margaret each won ribbons in their open class that qualified them for the state competition. Sophie and Isabel made the second round of the New England Medal Finals that included the top 25 riders out of the initial 170. Sophie was 11th overall!

The final stop was the National Horse Show in Kentucky. Again, Fairfield sent 6 riders to this show and all performed extremely well. Fairfield was very well represented on the national level! Dana, Eloise, Sienna, Isabel and Sophie all rode extremely well, and we are so proud of them. Isabel was Champion wining 2 classes in the open equitation 14-15 division and Sophie was Reserve Champion in the open equitation under 14 division finishing 2nd in 2 classes and 7th in the third class. Sienna was 5th in one of the open equitation under 14 classes and Eloise was 8th in 2 of the open equitation 14-15 classes. In the National Hamel Foundation Jr Medal Finals Eloise and Sienna were in the top 24 out of 160 riders and qualified for the flat phase and the second round. Sienna moved up 6 spots to move into the 8th position! Brenda was 7th in the adult open equitation class and also competed in the National Taylor Harris Adult Medal finals.

Our riders accomplishments this season represent an outstanding effort and highlight the strength of the Fairfield Hunt Club program. Jenny Martin Rudaz and Cassie Orpen worked diligently with these riders all summer and fall to help prepare them for these extremely completive shows. We cannot thank them enough for all their support! We would be remiss if we did not extend thanks to the grooming staff as well. Beto, Kevin, and Thomas attended all these shows and worked endless hours to prepare the horses for these special competitions!

As we end the 2019 competition year on a very high note, we look forward to 2020 and are planning schedules for our riders so they once again qualify for the National Finals.