By Diana De Rosa & Nancy Degutis

When Melissa Cohn, owner and founder of The Manhattan Mortgage Company, went out in search of a horse for her oldest of two daughters, Sarah Alvarez, she knew what she was looking for. She wanted a horse that could “teach Sarah the ropes,” explained Ms. Cohn; A horse that could “navigate her junior career.” And so when they found this “simple, beautiful horse whose potential was obvious and who seemed like he was well worth taking the chance on,” they purchased him and then changed his name from Cartouche to Navigator. True to his name the nine-year-old, brown 16.2 hand German-bred gelding proved his mettle and in a few short years he has navigated Alvarez and others on a road that has led them to many successes.

“We bought him specifically for Sarah,” explained her trainer Scott Kemery, who lives in Wainscot, LI, NY. Kemery shares the training with Patti Foster, also from Wainscot. “He is the best horse I’ve ever had. He is the one in a lifetime.” Navigator had come from Germany and was imported into the U.S. by Sam Edelman as a grand prix jumper prospect. But “we saw him as a hunter,” explained Kemery. When The Manhattan Mortgage Company bought Navigator he had just gotten out of quarantine and was in the U.S. for only a week or two. It was just one of those lucky finds.

Kemery was the first one to spot the horse. “I was sitting in my Waterside Farm tack room at the 2000 Hampton Classic and Holly Brewster (who used to work for Edelman) was riding him. I took one look at his face and I knew right away I had to have him. It was his expression. The next day Sarah tried him and they bought him, right there on the spot. I liked the way he moved and the way he jumped.”

They next took “Gator,” (his nickname) to the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida where Holly Orlando showed him in the First Year Green Hunters and Alvarez competed in Children’s Hunters. During that time he took his share of ribbons. Near the end of the season Megan Young (who is trained by Bobby Braswell and Christina Schlusemeyer) started to also ride Navigator. Alvarez was away in Boarding School and couldn’t get to Florida every weekend. “We told them we needed a kid to show this really nice horse,” explained Kemery. Young proved to be the perfect choice.

By the end of the winter of 2001, Alvarez was ready to move up to the Junior Hunters. For that first year Navigator guided her around the show arena teaching her the ropes. Sometimes they won and other times they learned from the experience. That Fall they had anticipated going to the Indoors but the September 11th bombing of the Twin Towers crushed that goal. Since Ms. Cohn’s Manhattan Mortgage Company’s headquarters are in New York City (although not near the Twin Towers) her focus changed to lending support to the aftermath efforts. Riding was put on the back burner for a short time.

During the summer of 2002 Navigator went off with Kemery to the Vermont Summer Series. Sarah and Megan competed in Junior Hunters while Liza Towell showed him in the Second Year Green Hunters.

That winter (2002-2003) both Megan and Sarah continued to show Gator and it didn’t seem to matter who was in the irons because those ribbons kept coming.

Then in 2003 they took turns riding him in the Indoor shows. Megan competed in Harrisburg while Sarah rode him at Washington. They were happy with their ribbon winnings but Navigator and his riders weren’t showing it all just yet. By that winter (2003-2004) things were starting to improve and Sarah was Reserve Champion at the Winter Equestrian Festival in the Larger (Older) Juniors.

The year 2004 continued to show great promise. Navigator started by winning the Large Junior (16/17) Championship at Devon, one of the most prestigious Hunter/Jumper horse shows. Then later that year at Harrisburg he was Grand and Large Junior Hunter Champion. At Washington he was the Large Junior Champion. As if that were not enough, at The Metropolitan National Horse Show in New York City (November 2004) he again was Grand and Large Junior Hunter Champion.

“I can’t remember a horse (that won as much) in the same year,” commented Kemery. “If you include Devon, Harrisburg, Washington and New York; I am sure it has been done but I can’t remember any. There were some really good Junior horses.”

“It’s pretty unbelievable,” added Young. The only other horse known to have accomplished this feat was Monday Morning who won all indoor championships and Devon in 1997.