The show quickly moved into more serious competition, as horses were led into the ring for the Fitting and Showmanship class. Again, the high number of entries made the class a tough one to judge. From there, the Walk-Trot division got underway with newcomer Gina Clithero, on "Spirit" taking the child's division championship. Emily Clark was reserve in this division. The Adult Walk-Trot was full of competitors, with Nancy Maston on "Cream Hill Ransom" taking the champion rosette and Toni Clithero in reserve. Each of the competitors was challenged in flat classes, jumping and the ever-daunting Trail class to reach the championship level.
Next in the ring after the Walk-Trot divisions was the Walk-Trot-Canter division. Age groups divided these classes among children, teens and adults and, again, competition was stiff. In the children's division, local riders Katy Longchamp, Paige Gaylord, Hadley Laskowski and Jennifer Resi battled it out, with Katy riding "Beaverwood's Osprey" taking the champion ribbon and Hadley Laskowski edging out the rest of the competition by one point to take the reserve.
The teen's division of WTC saw more local riders. Strong jumping rounds brought Kaylie Hart to the top of the heap, riding "Got the Blues." Reserve champion was Logan Volpe on "Elmonzo," who kept her cool throughout the day and finished strongly in the Gymkhana division as well.
Last year's adult champion, Katie Poulin riding "Max" proved once again that she is hard to beat. Even a near miss in the Trail class kept Katie on top, with Sue Corthell sliding into the reserve spot.
Lunchtime greeted the many spectators with an amazing array of costumed horses and riders. From lions to brides, with a few riders sporting wings, the handpicked judges, Lynn Kingsbury and Sue Schirmer, had quite the time deciding. In the end, a bride and groom combo took home the blue.
Fun and games continued in the afternoon with plenty of laughs and a few spills. Broken eggs and lost dollar bills were the call for the Egg & Spoon class and Sit-A-Buck. Local riding instructor Martha Price beat out a few of her students by proving that practice does make perfect and proved her superior ability to keep an egg still despite the challenges called out by the judges. The Gymkhana division, which loosely encompassed the games classes, was won by defending champion Emily Hewitt on "Ha Nazeen." Logan Volpe cruised in for the reserve.
New this year was a Pairs class. Riders rode side by side, mostly in synch, in hopes of showing great teamwork. The winning pair of Teonna O'Leary and Jamie Tempesta were perfect silhouettes of each other. Lots of laughter in this class as many riders were surprised to find out how difficult the challenge of staying together was...especially for those who found out that their horse didn't particularly care for their partners' horse!
The end of the day was the most exciting, with the Jumper division ending in the Gambler's Choice, in which riders were challenged to build their own course of point valued fences, in the attempt to score the most points in a 60-second time period.
At the close of the show there were many sunburned, tired faces, but still tons of smiles. Even the horses looked pleased with themselves as they loaded trailers to head for home and hay.
"Many, many thanks to all of the folks who made the show special this year; Leo Benjamin as our announcer, Jim Hastie, the judge, Claire Ewald for the loan of her jumps, John and Elizabeth Juziatis for keeping things running smoothly, Lynn Kingsbury, her sister Sue and the sidelined Nancy Berg for handling the challenges of registration, and lastly but never leastly, the Kenyon family for the generous donation of the show grounds, without which there would be no show. We hope to see everyone next year under sunny skies again," said organizer Barclay Rappaport.
