Reid Patton and Sincere (E.Riden/Phelps Media Group)

Lexington, Ky. - - After an extremely successful junior career, Reid Patton has found continued success - and a more relaxed atmosphere - in a new division: the Amateur-Owner 18-35 3'3" Hunters.

She dominated the division Friday at the Kentucky Summer Horse Show, sweeping the over fences classes and finishing second under saddle with her own Sincere.

"The transition to the amateurs has actually been great," Patton said. "The juniors were always very intense, and I felt like I had to prove something because I had a limited amount of time in the division. Now that I'm in the amateurs, I'm kind of just relaxed all the time. Because of that I've been riding very consistently. I've been really enjoying this new division."

Her talented mount, Sincere, also seems to be enjoying his job as an Amateur-Owner Hunter; he turned in to back-to-back seamless rounds in the Stonelea Ring of the Kentucky Horse Park Friday morning, giving he and Patton a strong lead in points heading into the second day of the division tomorrow.

The 12-year-old gelding has been with Patton for some time, and, after a short period away from showing, he has been having a stellar summer.

"He's been going wonderfully," Patton said. "He's been so consistent. We really started to click. It's just kind of like wearing an old glove now."

Patton continued, "He felt great today. I really like the Stonelea Ring for some reason. It always seems like I ride the best in the Stonelea. I've been coming here to the Kentucky Horse Park for so long it's like a place of comfort." 

The Nashville, TN native plans to soon find a new place of comfort at Duke University where she will start school as a freshman in August.

Following Patton and Sincere's domination of the Amateur-Owner 18-35 3'3" Hunters, Dawn Fogel saw very similar results in the Amateur-Owner 36 and Over 3'3" Hunters. The highly competitive amateur rider earned the top call in both over fences and the third place ribbon under saddle with her own Summer Catch.

Fogel purchased Summer Catch at the end of the 2014 Winter Equestrian Festival, and she has seen great success with him already at the Kentucky Horse Park, including wins at the Kentucky Spring Horse Shows and the Country Heir Horse Shows. With five weeks off since Country Heir, he came back easily to his winning ways Friday.

"We had a bigger break in the summer than we usually do," Fogel explained. "We had five weeks off because the show that we normally do at Chagrin in Cleveland was cancelled, so we'd taken five weeks at home. This was our first week back, and I'm very happy with the way that he went today, especially with that big of a break."

Fogel continued, "He's very straight forward and a lovely horse. He basically jumps once a week, and I ride him five or six days a week to keep him conditioned. He loves going on long walks. The farm backs up to another farm that we're allowed to go trail ride on, and it has 60 acres so we go and walk over there. He does a lot of walking in addition to his daily flatwork. He jumps about once a week just for conditioning really and for me to practice. He's a straightforward guy really, and I'm very lucky to have him."

Based out of Louisville, KY, Fogel and Summer Catch will return to the show ring at the Kentucky Horse Park tomorrow and again next week, as well as throughout much of the summer.