Best Young Horse Arbor Hill with Handler Richard Taylor (Rebecca Walton/Phelps Media Group)

Devon, Pa. - For the second year in a row, Richard Taylor and Arbor Hill stood front and center in the Dixon Oval on the final day of the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair. Owned by Kenneth Wheeler and handled by Taylor, Arbor Hill took home the Kenneth Wheeler Perpetual Trophy for Best Young Horse.

Taylor and Arbor Hill (Redwine - Paisley), kicked off the day by winning the Three-Year-Old Other Than Thoroughbred Stallions & Geldings sections. They returned for the final championship, where they once again topped the leaderboard as the Best Young Horse after earning the title in 2015.

"Lots of horses, as they progress from yearlings to two and three year olds, of course they change," explained Taylor. "When you buy a horse as a yearling, clearly you're buying it for the future, and you hope that you pick the one that's going to get better as you go from its yearling year to its two-year-old year to it's three-year-old year and as its performance career comes about."

Taylor continued, "[Arbor Hill] was reserve best young horse as a yearling, and best young horse last year and best young horse, again, this year, which proves without a doubt at this level that he is the kind of horse that everybody should be looking for. In addition to that, as a 3-year-old now, he is broken to walk, trot and canter. You can ride him in the ring. You can ride him in the paddock. You can ride him in the field. He has a lovely temperament."

Taylor believes that it's Arbor Hill's temperament will make him a successful show horse as his career continues. "Horse showing is based very much on horse-show series or circuits. You need to have a horse that is sound, that has the temperament go and live on the horse show grounds for four or five weeks. Some horses, soundness wise, cannot stand it, and a huge number of horses cannot mentally stand it. He seems to have a wonderful temperament and he's absolutely sound."

"Arbor Hill is a beautifully balanced horse, conformation wise," added Taylor. "He has good bone, or good substance. He is well over 16 hands. Not is it just because he is a very good mover, you have to be an athlete. He's very athletic. In so doing, he's also a very good mover. He has always appeared to be an athlete."

Arbor Hill traveled from California as a yearling and was purchased for Mr. Wheeler's birthday, which always falls during the Devon Horse Show. Earning the award in Wheeler's name makes the day's victory that much more special for everyone involved with Arbor Hill, and they are excited to return to the Devon Horse Show in 2017.

Emily Belin picked up the next award in the Dixon Oval as the Leading Handler, a title she also won in 2013.  On Sunday, she handled the Best Pennsylvania Bred Horse, Port Royal, the winning Yearling Other than Thoroughbred - Filly, Reflection, and the winning Four-Year-Old or Older Mare Solo Performance.

"We had a really good day," smiled Belin. "We had 13 young horses that we had here showing that we had to prep for clients. They're all happy, everyone did well and everyone got ribbons. That's the name of the game. The clients are happy, the horses went well and that's what it's all about."

After winning the Leading Handler Award, Belin concluded, "I think more than the award itself, it means that my horses did really well for their people to earn that. I'm very grateful and thankful for the opportunity to hold them, and to work with these young horses and develop them. Their success is my success. I'm so appreciative. I have so many good owners and clients that back us and support us and let us find horses for them and give us some of their young horses that they've bred to help bring them up and entrust in our program at Magic Hill."

While Sunday marked the conclusion of the 2015 Devon Horse Show, the horse show returns May 25 through June 4, 2017.

For more information please visit www.DevonHorseShow.net.