Harrisburg, Pa. – A total of 35 junior competitors took to the Keystone Arena at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show for the 2023 USEF/NCEA Junior Hunter Seat Medal Final – East. Maggie King (Spring, Texas) collected top honors after impressing the judges across three phases of competition.
“It feels very good,” King said of being champion. “I’m super happy with my horse, and all of the horses I got to ride were great, so it was awesome.
(Andrew Ryback Photography)
The USEF/NCEA Finals begins with the initial jumping phase with fences set at 3’3”, followed by the top 10 moving on to the flat phase, which includes basic dressage movements. The final bracket phase brings back the top four competitors to switch horses and ride a course of at least eight fences with only four minutes of warm-up time, testing their horsemanship on unfamiliar horses in a format similar to NCEA intercollegiate competition. Finally, the top two competitors return to again ride an unfamiliar horse to determine champion and reserve champion positions.
King, a student at The John Cooper School in The Woodlands, Texas, was 10th after the jumping phase, then moved up into the top four for the bracket phase after a strong performance in the flat phase.
“It wasn’t the round that I was hoping to have in the first round, but my flat was really good. That is kind of my strength and something I practice a lot,” said King. “It was nice to even be able to make the top four and it was just amazing to win.”
King said flatwork is a big part of her daily riding routine with trainer Bobby Braswell and her fellow barnmates.
“When we warm up every day, we try to do lateral work with the horses, which is a big component in the class,” said King. “It was nice to have been well practiced and to understand what the judges are asking for on the flat.”
For the first two phases, King rode Maguro, her own 2011 Holsteiner gelding. King leased “Sushi” for about eight months before buying him last month.
“It was exciting to have this win as our first outing owning him,” said King. “He is just really easy. He has lots of experience doing Finals with another girl who rode him before I did. You just have to canter and go forward, and he is just really sweet and will do anything for you.”
King said her goals for her future encouraged her to compete in the USEF/NCEA Junior Hunter Seat Medal Final – East.
“I really want to ride on a Division I team in college, so it is a really cool class that sets you up to understand the format with the brackets and getting to change horses,” said King. “It was really a goal of mine to not only qualify but to win was really exciting.”
Campbell Cauthen (Ocala, Fla.) finished as the Reserve Champion with Cotentin des Roques, DCTM, LLC’s 2012 Selle Français gelding. Abigail Roberts (Dublin, Ohio) was third with Chocolate Chip 12, Wendy Dixon’s 2013 Holsteiner gelding. Anna Markcrow (Manchester Center, Vt.) and The Lieutenant, her own 2012 KWPN gelding, rounded out the top four in the bracket phase.
The East Final is the first of two in the USEF/NCEA series, with West Final on November 11 at the National Sunshine Series II. Learn more about the program here.
US Equestrian subscribers and members can watch the on-demand coverage of the USEF/NCEA Junior Hunter Seat Medal Final – East on USEF Network powered by ClipMyHorse.TV. Not a member? Join now.
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