Upper Marlboro, Md. – Ponies ruled Saturday at The Capital Challenge Horse Show, presented by The Gochman Family. 

Kurtz (14) of Hudson, Ohio., rode to the top of the Pony Hunters on David Gochman's Valor. They were the Large Pony Hunter champions, and with two firsts, two seconds, and a fourth under saddle, and received the Grand Pony Hunter Championship, sponsored by Ali Sweetnam and Sweet Oak Farm. They were awarded the VanderMoore Designs Trophy, donated by VanderMoore Designs. Kurtz was named the Best Pony Rider, an award sponsored by Archibald Cox and Brookway Stables. They were presented with the Kitty Borisoff Memorial Trophy donated by her many friends. The reserve champions were All My Love and Kirklen Petersen, who rode for Dr. Betsee Park. They placed first and second over fences and were first under saddle. Petersen won the EMO Trip of the Show with a score of 91.5 on All My Love.

This was only the second time that Kurtz has shown Valor after their initial outing this summer in Kentucky. Valor shows in the Green Pony Hunters as well. “He's a little bit green, but he always jumps a good jump. He's really smooth, and he has a huge stride. For the first class trotting in, he was a little nervous, but then he was fine after that. He's green, but he's not really green. I didn't really have any expectations because he was kind of new to me,” Kurtz admitted. But after placed first and second in the opening day of competition, she added, “After the first day, I had expectations!”

This is the third time Kurtz has shown at CCHS, and she was champion in the same division two years ago with Aladdin. This is her first Grand Championship at CCHS. She said of showing at Capital Challenge, “I like how they have one day outdoors so if your pony doesn't like it inside, you get another day.”
Kurtz acknowledged the great opportunity to ride Valor for the Gochman family. “I'm really grateful. They were so nice to let me ride him. He's an amazing pony,” she expressed.

Kurtz trains with Amanda Lyerly and Mike Rheinheimer and often catch-rides. “ It's never boring. You're always on your toes,” she said. Lyerly said that she tells Kurtz to trust her instincts. “She's pretty good at what she does, if she believes in herself. She is a pleasure to teach. Every time she walks in the ring, she tries her hardest and she's super focused. She can pretty much ride anything you put her on. She has a lot to ride, but whether it's good or bad, she tries to get the best out of it.”

Winning stayed in the Gochman family in the Medium Pony Hunter division with the championship going to Sophie Gochman on Truly Noble. They won two classes and were second and sixth in the division over fences. The reserve championship went to Show Me Love, ridden by Natalie Jayne for Scott Stewart. They placed first over fences and first under saddle.

Gochman has ridden “Noble” for two years. “I know him pretty well,” she said. “He's kind of a quirky pony. He talks a lot and flaps his lips. He loves giving kisses and love. You have to leg him a bit around the ring. He has a good canter to him; he feels a little bit like a small horse. He's easy to see the distances on.”
For the 11-year-old from New York, NY, winning a championship at Capital Challenge is “a big deal.” “It really feels good because this is the first indoor show that I've been champion at. It's a good accomplishment,” she said with a smile.

Thirteen-year-old Caroline Passarelli of High Falls, N.Y., won the Small Pony Hunter championship, sponsored by Spring Mill Farm/Jenny Yandell. riding Dr. Betsee Parker's Bit Of Love. The Harper Taskier Wright Memorial Trophy, given in memory of Harper by her loving parents Michael and Alexandra Borissoff Wright, friends, and family whose lives she touched, was given to Passarelli for winning the Small Pony Hunter championship. Passarelli and Bit of Love were first, first, and second over fences and fourth under saddle. The reserve champion was Rollingwood's Knee Deep, ridden by Zayna Rizvi for Peacock Ridge LLC. They placed first and third over fences.

Passarelli has ridden Bit Of Love for a year. While she acknowledged that when she first started riding him, she was “a little inexperienced” for him and he was still a bit green, things got better with every show. “Soon it finally clicked. He really wanted to win and so did I, and it was a really good match,” she said. “He wants to win just as badly as you do. You can tell he's sad when you let him down, which I've done before. He's so amazing and so smooth. He's not spooky. He'll jump whatever from wherever, he doesn't mind. The best thing is that he wants to win too.”

Moving into the indoor Show Place Arena for the handy hunter class, Passarelli said she had to remember some adjustments with “Chester.” She explained, “With Chester, in the handies you try not to look where you are going so much and lay on the leads so much, he'll get a little bit confused. You have to ride it almost more like it's a regular hunter course and then work your turns in, yet you still have to be handy so that if you're really going for it, you can win.”

She added, “I just can't thank Betsee Parker enough for letting me show him and Elation and the other ponies I show for her, and Scott and Ken for training me.”

The Children's/Pony Hunter championship went to Simply Magical, ridden by Hensley Humphries and owned by First Blue LLC. This was the first time that Humphries, an 11-year-old from New York, NY, has competed at Capital Challenge. Having started riding at camp from a pony ride, she has progressed through riding to her first indoor championship. “I'm really excited, and it's amazing to be champion,” she said.

She has ridden Simply Magical for 10 months. “I tried him, and I really liked him. He's really fun to jump, and he has a really comfortable canter,” Humphries described. “He can be sweet, and he really likes peppermints. We give him one every time we go to the ring.

Humphries and Simply Magical won an over fences class, as did reserve champions, Ellia Giuliani and Bill Schaub's Tuxedo Park. It came down to a hack-off for the championship. Since Humphries had ridden her other pony in the under saddle, rider Arabella McFarland stayed on Simply Magical to ride him to the top tricolor in the hack-off. “I was really nervous because I've never seen a hack-off before,” Humphries said. “I didn't really know what it was, but it was really exciting.”

Adam Edgar of Leesburg, Va., was awarded the Stewart Warner Cup for pony riders, given in memory of Laurie Gilbert Stewart & Mary Warner Brown by Donald E. Stewart, Jr. and Louise W. Serio. It is awarded to up-and-coming junior riders, who, in the opinion of the panel of judges, exhibit the best hunter style and show potential as a young hunter rider.