Junior jumpers were in the zone tonight at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, running October 13-22, 2011 in the state capital of Harrisburg. Reed Kessler of Armonk, NY, soared to victory in the first phase of the $7,500 United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Junior Jumper Individual Championship, sponsored by Randolph College. With a smooth and controlled round, Kessler and her own horse, Ligist, beat out 32 other juniors for the blue ribbon. Second place went to Frances Land of Alpharetta, GA aboard her own Merlin, and cantering cleanly into third was Nora Laue of Wilmette, IL on Peninsula Kheelan, owned by Mary Ellen Laue.

Lacking a jump-off but not lacking in excitement, tonight’s class was judged under Table III, with faults being converted into seconds and then added to the competitor’s time. Tonight’s event was also distinguished by the fact that riders were competing individually while representing their USEF zones. Winner Kessler hails from Zone 2, which encompasses New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Frances Land, who earned tonight’s second place ribbon, comes from the southern states’ Zone 4, while Nora Laue will take her third place ribbon back to Zone 5 in the Midwest.

Using smooth turns and a consistent pace, Kessler and Ligist jumped to the top of the leaderboard as one of the last horse and rider combinations to show over tonight’s technical track. They clocked in at 53.146 with all the rails intact, a full two seconds ahead of second place finishers Land and Merlin. With a fault-free effort in a time of 55.107, Land and Merlin had retained the lead for a portion of the competition, and will be well placed leading into tomorrow’s Prix de States Team Championship. Tonight’s jumper course was designed by Steve Stephens of Palmetto, FL, and featured a tricky liverpool and a stubborn oxer combination.

Nora Laue was one of tonight’s first riders during the welcome class, and got the crowd on its feet by turning in a clear round. On the nimble Peninsula Kheelan, Laue flew through tonight’s tight turns with visible determination. The duo’s efforts paid off with a time of just 56.608 fault-free seconds, which scored the third place honors. Shortly thereafter, Meg O’Mara of Rumson, NJ and Sinatra IV, owned by Walstib Stables LLC, also achieved a clear round in a scant 56.974 seconds. This team ended up finishing fifth, just slightly behind Chase Boggio of Canton, GA on his own Hennessey. Boggio’s time was 56.826 seconds, making for a decidedly close competition.

“It was super,” commented Kessler after her winning ride. “My trainer, Katie Prudent, is showing in Morocco right now, so it’s really the first time I’ve come to a show completely by myself and figured out what horse I was going to bring, how I was going to school, and walking the course myself. My dad helped me here, but it’s still a big step and I’m happy it went well!”

Kessler continued, Ligist’s is excellent indoors, especially here, because there’s the huge schooling area, the ring is nice, the footing is beautiful. He turns it on in the ring, but in general he’s kind of dopey. We joke that he’s like, ‘ok, it’s time to go in, let’s do this.’ My plan with him involved jumping him in the ring last night to open him up. Sometimes he can get to jumping so high that he doesn’t go across, but he was jumping beautifully. I also did a little bit of gymnastic, just a rail on the ground, a bounce, to back him up to a tall vertical earlier today and he was super. He’s a funny horse; he normally doesn’t jump as well in the schooling area, but in the ring and he’s a totally different horse. Today, though, he schooled impeccably. I thought that was a really good sign!’”

Kessler and her fellow junior jumpers will return tomorrow night for their second round, the $15,000 USEF Prix de States Team Championship and Individual Championship Phase II. On Saturday, Phase III will cap off the Randolph College/USEF Individual Championships, culminating in the championship awards Saturday night.

The Pennsylvania National Horse Show continues tomorrow with junior hunter championships, handy and conformation classes for the pony hunters, and the Randolph College/USEF $15,000 USEF Prix de States Team Championship and Individual Championship Phase II. For full results and live scoring please visit www.ryegate.com. For more information about the Pennsyvania National Horse Show, please visit www.panational.org.

Source: USEF