Upper Marlboro, Md. - The Capital Challenge Horse Show, presented by The Gochman Family, concluded with another day of fantastic hunter competition. Junior and Children's riders were featured in the Show Place Arena and the outdoor ring, and six championships were presented. Lili Hymowitz and Tiffani won the Grand Junior Hunter Championship, while Savanah Stuart and Andover were named Grand Children's Hunter Champions. The Capital Challenge Horse Show hosts the premier hunter competition in the United States and welcomed more than 1,000 horses to Prince George's Equestrian Center over the past nine days.

Hymowitz and Tiffani found success in the Large Junior 15 & Under Hunter division, where they won all three over fences classes. Tiffani was also named the High Point Junior Hunter 15 & Under, sponsored by Geddaway Farm, and the Grand Junior Hunter Champion, sponsored by The Schaefer Family. They were presented with The Spontaneous Perpetual Trophy donated by the Listrani Family. Hymowitz won Best Junior Rider honors, an award sponsored by Karen Healey and Karen Healey Stables. The reserve champion in the division was Prologue, ridden by Emma Kurtz for Rendezvous Farm. They placed second, second, and fourth over fences.

Hymowitz (15) is from New York, N.Y., and has owned Tiffani for two years. Tiffani came from the jumper ring, so early on she had the learning curve of being calm and collected on course. Hymowitz remembered, “She was a challenge for me because she was young, and she was a jumper before I got her. Last year was her first time doing the hunters. She was always a little rushed in the turns. The handies were harder because she got jumpery, but with Scott (Stewart)’s help and with Jane’s help she’s learned to calm down and go slower. Her jumper parts that were good are so helpful in the hunters [now].”

Tiffani learned quickly; they were champions at the Washington International Horse Show last year. “She’s super easy now. She’s so adjustable because of doing the jumpers. She’ll go from wherever I tell her,” Hymowitz said. “She can collect and extend pretty much in a second and that makes it so much easier because going into the class I feel like I have so many options. I’m not worried about finding each jump, and I really trust her.”

Hymowitz felt like this was the perfect start to her indoor finals season. “I like riding her indoors because she likes going slow around the ring, and I think in indoors it looks more flow-y. In a big ring you need to have a gallop, and I’m still learning to do that part I think.”

This is Hymowitz's fourth time competing at Capital Challenge, but her first championship. “It’s amazing, and it’s a great way to start indoors and go into Harrisburg and Washington. I was really excited about winning yesterday, and I didn’t expect much more. I just wanted to ride well,” she related.

The EMO Junior Trip of the Show went to Hymowitz and Tiffani, as well as Vivian Yowan on Alliy Moyer's Libretto, who both scored an 89.

In the Small Junior Hunter 15 & Under division, sponsored by Suave Pony LLC, the championship went to Chromeo, ridden by Samantha Wight (16) of Boca Raton, FL, and owned by Melissa Wight. They were first and second over fences and second in the under saddle. The reserve champion was Oscany Inc.'s Clooney, ridden by Emma Kurtz. They were first, second, and fourth over fences.

Wight and Chromeo have been paired for a year and a half, and from the start, she appreciated her hunter's better qualities. “He’s just a really sweet horse. You can tell he always wants to do his best. He always puts his best foot forward,” she described. “He really put himself out there when we started. He put so much effort out for me because we bonded right from the beginning.”

Wight has learned to ride forward and get an early pace from Chromeo. “He’s allowed me to learn that because he has such a great stride on his own. He taught me how to open up and leave him and let him do his job,” she pointed out.

This is Wight's third time at Capital Challenge and her first championship at an indoor show. “It feels great. I’m really happy with my horse and my trainers and my whole support team has been great,” she said. “It’s a big help going on to the next indoor [show] and being able to look back on the prior indoor and say I did really well there and was champion, so I can do it.”

New to Capital Challenge this year was the Junior Hunter 3'3” division, and the first champion was Bella K, ridden and owned by Samantha Camp, 13 years old from Glenmoore, PA. They won two over fences and placed fifth in the remaining jumping class for the top tricolor. Askaro, ridden by Sarah Jane Haskins for Emily Hilton, was the reserve champion after placing first and second over fences. They also won the EMO 3'3” Junior Hunter Trip of the Show with an 88.5.

Camp has been riding the eight-year-old Bella K for two years and describes her as smooth, but also “sassy sometimes.” She continued, “She likes to be herself. She loves Twizzlers. It’s her favorite thing. When she hears the package open she starts pacing.”

This was only their fourth show, and their best finish, at the 3'3” height. They competed and were reserve champions in the Children's Hunters at last year's Capital Challenge, which is at a height of three-foot. “She likes the bigger jumps a lot better. She’s a lot happier,” she said. “She’s taught me pretty much everything I know. It means a lot to be champion here because I really wanted to do well at this show, especially since I did well here last year. This is my favorite show all year.”

The Leading Hunter Trainer Award, sponsored by Meridian Riding Club and Tracye Ferguson, went to Scott Stewart.

Claudia Freeman was awarded the Stewart Warner Cup for junior 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.