Traverse City, Mich. – Junior Hunter competitors took over the rings at Flintfields Horse Park on Thursday, with 272 entries completing the first of three phases of competition at the 2022 Adequan®/USEF Junior Hunter National Championship - East. With overall champion titles on the line for 3’3” and 3’6” heights with four sections in each, there’s no shortage of talent on the grounds this weekend.
Competition kicked off Thursday with the classic rounds. On Friday, entries will return to work on the flat for the under saddle classes. Saturday’s handy rounds will complete the competition with each jumping round counting for 40% of the final score and the under saddle score making up the remaining 20%.
“From a course planning point of view, we’re not really looking to test the riders in a classic round,” said course designer Kevin Holowack. “We’re trying to give them every opportunity to put in the best round possible to lay down a round that can get them a score of 100. The distances are very fair, they’re very flowing.
“I think the course rode quite well today,” Holowack continued. “We definitely had some weather impact to it with very high winds and gusts, but these are very experienced horses that took on the atmosphere very well, and the course gave them room to show off.”
Saturday’s handy rounds will demand a different type of ride to reward the well-rounded hunters.
“The handy is a little bit the opposite end of the spectrum,” said Holowack. “You have the chance to show off your horse’s rideability. I’ll do no related lines; I don’t think there’s any way to really be handy in a related line. So for me, at a final like this, I’ll look to give them a lot of individual fences, a lot of inside turn options, and trot fences. I’ll make sure to give them a combination on both leads, and the chance to really show off how handy their horse is."
Competition continues on Friday, July 1, beginning at 8:00 a.m. in the Main Hunter Ring for the 3’3” entries and at 9:00 a.m. in the Turtle Creek International Arena for 3’6”
Current Standings
3’6” Small Junior Hunter 15 & Under Classic
- High Society and Abigail Gordon 260.00
- True Enough and Madison Keese 255.00
- Babylon and Ariana Marnell 254.00
3’6” Small Junior Hunter 16-17 Classic
- Graphite and Stella Wasserman 258.00
- Small Kingdom and Augusta Iwasaki 257.00
- Record Year and Avery Glynn 254.00
3’6” Large Junior Hunter 15 & Under Classic
- Arabesque and Clara Propp 260.00
- In Writing and Sterling Malnik 259.50
- Casino Cash and Kate Hagerty 259.00
3’6” Large Junior Hunter 16-17 Classic
- Skyhawk and Stella Wasserman 266.00
- G. Eleven and Emma Callanan 257.00
- Paisley Park and Lauren Little 254.00
3’3” Small Junior Hunter 15 & Under Classic
- Desiigner and Sydney Raidy 260.75
- Quoted and Lauren Gee 257.00
- The Politician and Meredith Smith 255.00
3’3” Small Junior Hunter 16-17 Classic
- Nightcap and Abigail Roberts 256.25
- Cosa Nostra and Aaliya Khanna 255.75
- Speak Up and Caroline Maude Hedges 252.50
3’3” Large Junior Hunter 15 & Under Classic
- Caracalla and Mary Rose Canterbury 261.50
- Apanage and Hannah Serfass 260.50
- Legato and Ava Berman 259.85
3’3” Large Junior Hunter 16-17 Classic
- Dom Perignon and Alexa Leong 265.50
- Spindale and Kate Mills 260.25
- Callahan and Ava Cukrowski 259.50
USEF College Fair Brought to You by Upper Echelon Academy
Eight colleges with equine academic and/or intercollegiate riding programs were on site on Thursday to meet with youth equestrians and their families during the USEF College Fair brought to you by Upper Echelon Academy. This was the first of two planned USEF College Fairs, with the next taking place at the Adequan®/USEF Junior Hunter National Championship – West Coast.
The following school programs were on site at Traverse City:
- Sweet Briar College
- William Woods University
- SCAD: Savannah College of Art and Design
- University of Lynchburg
- Emory & Henry College
- Skidmore College
- Keiser University
- University of Findlay
- Centenary University
- Upper Echelon Academy
- USEF Interscholastic Athlete Program
USHJA Gladstone Cup Equitation Classic
Each year, the Junior Hunter National Championships host the USHJA Gladstone Cup Equitation Classic presented by Intermont Equestrian at Emory & Henry College, a three-round equitation final for riders up to age 17. The first round featured 98 entries, with the top 20 invited back for the handy round. Finally, the judges selected their top six to come back for final testing where the riders switched horses and completed a round on a new horse after a warm up of just 90 seconds and two schooling fences.
This year’s Gladstone Cup champion was Sterling Malnik of Ocean Ridge Florida. Malnik, who trains with Beacon Hill, rode her own Charlie to the top of the leaderboard. Read more and see results from USHJA.
Watch the Adequan®/USEF Junior Hunter National Championship – East on USEF Network.
Stay Connected
Keep up with the competition by following USEF Junior Hunter National Championship on Facebook. Follow USEFNetwork on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and US Equestrian on TikTok.