San Juan Capistrano, Calif. – Competition kicked off Monday at the 2023 Adequan®/USEF Junior Hunter National Championship – West (JHNC) with talented young riders and their exceptional horses tackling the first tests of the three-phase competition.
Competitors in the 3’3” sections completed their classic rounds on Monday morning on the grass in the beautiful Oaks International Grand Prix Field. With the first phase completed, Aedan Mooney (Golden, Colo.) and Verona, a 2015 Holsteiner mare owned by Marisa Metzger, moved into first place in the Large Junior Hunter 16-17 section as well as leading the overall 3’3” standings. The 3’3” will continue on Tuesday with the under saddle classes in the morning and the handy rounds closing out the day of competition.
In the 3’6” height, Adair Moses (Dallas, Texas) rode her own 2014 Holsteiner gelding, Graphite, to impressive scores in the classic and under saddle competition. The pair will move into Tuesday’s handy phase with the leading score in both the Small Junior Hunter 15 & Under section and the overall 3’6” standings.
USEF Grants Supported by Debbie Smith
The two recipients of the USEF Grants supported by Debbie Smith were recognized with a special presentation during Monday’s competition. Chimay Buyalos (Santa Ynez, Calif.) and Avery Glynn (Petaluma, Calif.) had the opportunity to join Smith in the ring for an official presentation.
Buyalos is competing in her first JHNC this year with her own Lovely, a 2015 Canadian Warmblood mare.
“I got ‘Monkey’ as a 4-year-old and I’ve been bringing her along. This is my first year being in the juniors, and also hers. This is her fourth show in the 3’3",” said Buyalos. “When I first found out I won the grant, I was shocked. [JHNC] is something I’ve been working to get to for so long, and to have the financial backing to do it is just incredible. Long-term, my goal with Monkey is that she’ll be with me moving up. She’s so young and I’m still a junior so she’ll be kind of her prime age when I’m going into my pro or amateur years. I don’t know if I want to be a trainer in the future, but I know I want to have horses in my future.”
Glynn was able to put her grant to good use in showing Dauphin, a 2014 Oldenburg gelding owned by AE Farm.
“I started riding Dauphin in the beginning of January. I don’t own him myself, but I have really enjoyed creating a partnership with him and showing him throughout the year,” said Glynn. “It’s been really fun. He’s such a wonderful partner. I do a lot of catch riding and that helps save money over bringing your own horse. Both my parents are trainers, and my mom spends a lot of time on phone calls trying to hustle rides for me. This grant helped me make sure I had a horse here which gives me so much confidence. Sometimes if you have a horse you’ve never ridden before, that’s a lot harder than a horse that I know as well as Dauphin.
“Every time you go into the ring at JHNC you really feel how special it is. There’s definitely a lot of pressure, but I enjoy showing at events like this. Just a big thank you to Debbie Smith and everyone involved.”
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