Junior Hunter Championship

By Staff Report August 20, 2011

Morgan Geller and Fabricio were named Grand Champion at the USEF National Junior Hunter Championships-West Coast, which wrapped two days of intense competition Aug. 17 at the Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park in San Juan Capistrano.

Geller, a 16-year-old from Manhattan Beach, rode her 11-year-old liver chestnut Czech Warmblood gelding to a cumulative score of 255.80. Atlanta rider Chase Boggio rode the eight-year-old grey Holsteiner gelding Cruise to Reserve Champion on 254.20.

Finalists competed in three phases:  a handy hunter round, a classic round, and under saddle, coming from as far away as Texas, Colorado and the East Cost

“Fabricio is just so amazing,” said Geller, who trains with Peter Lombardo of Frontier Farms, currently in the process of moving to fancy new digs in Moorpark from Lakeview Terrace, where Lombardo set up shop in 2008. Geller, who has been training with Lombardo since 2009, purchased Fabricio about a year ago.

“He is the only horse I show, and I’ve been able to develop a really good bond with him,” Geller said. Also her partner in the equitation arena, the pair won the CPHA Medal Finals last year and will compete back east this fall in both the hunter division and the medal finals.

“It was a tough competition,” Lombardo said, noting, “Chase was very well mounted. It kind of came down to the handy, and Morgan did exceptionally well. One judge gave her a 92.” Cruise is owned by Jessica Singer of Palos Verdes, who rides as an amateur-owner and trains with Archie Cox of  Brookway Stables. Boggio and Cruise were also named the Champions of the Small 16-17 division.

In addition to the Overall Grand Champion Junior Hunter (Show Circuit Magazine perpetual trophy), four additional champion titles were up for grabs: the Overall Champion Small Junior Hunter-15 & Under (Huntover Farm perpetual trophy); the Overall Champion Large Junior Hunter-15 & Under (Escort Me In perpetual trophy donated by Shalanno Farms); and the Overall Champion Small Junior Hunter-16 to 17 (River Edge Farm perpetual trophy), and the Overall Large Junior Hunter- 16 to 17 (Magic Word perpetual trophy).

Following Cruise in the Reserve Champion spot for the Small 16 to 17 division was Kennzo de Conte (a nine-year-old bay Finnish Warmblood gelding) ridden by California’s Demi Stiegler and owned by the Wudina Group. The pair’s cumulative score was 241.40.

The awards weren’t over for Fabricio, however, as he and his rider also nabbed the championship honors in the Large 16 to 17 division on their same score of 255.80. It was Azlan ridden by Gabbi Langston who finished their work on a score of 248.6 to take home the Reserve Champion title in the Large 16 to 17 division.

In the Overall Champion Small Junior Hunter-15 & Under contest, it was a winning day for Coffee Talk (a 14-year-old bay Dutch Warmblood gelding) and rider/owner Whitney Downs, another Californian, who posted a final score of 248.0 for the victory. The Reserve Champion title was taken by Samantha Sommers’ Small Collection on a score of 243.40.

Texan Taylor Sutton and her eight-year-old bay Oldenburg gelding, MTM Braggin Rights, were the top pair in the Overall Champion Large Junior Hunter-15 & Under division with a cumulative score of 229.70. Owner/rider Amelia Drumm’s Lolla Palooza (an 11-year-old dapple grey Belgian Warmblood gelding) ended their work by earning the Reserve Champion honors with a 224.40.

Judges Leo Conroy, George Schneider, and Frank Willard evaluated the 40 entrants split among the four divisions. The course designer was Scott Starnes.

For more information about the 2011 USEF Junior Hunter Finals, click here .

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