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The 2005 Washington International Horse Show Crowns Moulin Rouge and Natalie Johnson Grand Junior Hunter Champions
Seventeen year old Johnson took a few precious days away from her studies at New York University to show at the 2005 Washington International Horse Show, and it was a fortuitous decision. She and the 10 year old bay Dutch Warmblood mare Moulin Rouge captured the tricolor in the Small Junior 16-17 division and the overall Grand Junior Hunter Championship. Moulin Rouge jumped to two second place finishes yesterday and came back even stronger today. The fancy mare won the stake class and strutted her way to first place in a very competitive under saddle class. Reserve champion in the division was High Cotton, ridden by Jack Hardin Towell Jr. and owned by Christy Russo of Coral Gables, Florida. Johnson has owned “Meiroos” (her original name when she was imported from Europe) for four years, and Johnson has shown her for the past three years. She did say that her championship here was her biggest win. Trainer Andre Dignelli of Heritage Farm admitted, “This is really exciting for us, because Natalie and this horse have come close on so many big occasions. We haven’t struggled, but we’ve been waiting for our big moment. I feel that she had that here. We always knew she could be champion at a place like this.” Johnson said, “After this long, it was a really great way to finish.” This is Johnson’s last year as a junior rider, and she will concentrate on school and jumpers next year. She will not forget, however, the horse that taught her so much. “She’s the horse that I’ve owned the longest. It was hard when I first started because this was a horse with a lot of quality, and I hadn’t really ridden that much in the 3’6”. She’s always been so good,” Johnson remarked. “She’s my all-time favorite horse.” Johnson has ridden with Heritage Farm for three years and Dignelli commented, “This horse is very expressive over the jumps, so it’s taken a little time for it to be really smooth. I think Natalie’s proven to be a competitive hunter rider. She’s very quiet and soft and loves her horse. It’s a good match.” Dignelli also mentioned the team spirit at their farm. “Without that team, we could never produce these hunters the way that we do. A horse like Moulin Rouge had to be produced and I think she fell into the right hands,” he explained. In addition to Johnson’s success, Heritage Farm had multiple riders win tricolor ribbons in the junior hunters. In the Large Junior 15 & Under division, Addison Phillips swept the division. She was champion on Double H Farm’s Socrates and reserve champion on her own horse, Who’s On First. In the Small Junior 15 & Under division, she was also champion. This time it was on Sienna, owned by Missy Clark and North Run. Another Heritage Farm rider, Maggie McAlary, was reserve champion with Don Stewart Jr.’s Fernwalk. Sienna was first and third over fences yesterday and returned today for the win over fences and was eighth under saddle. This is only Phillips’ third show riding Sienna, but she said, “He’s very much my kind of ride. You just get in the half seat and don’t touch the reins. I love him; he’s so much fun to ride.” Phillips also said that winning the first day does not necessarily make her nervous for the second day. “I usually figure out the point system so that I know what I need to get. It makes me ride better. Putting the pressure on myself makes me want to rise to the challenge!” she said with a laugh. Although she has some wonderful horses of her own, Phillips enjoys getting catch rides at the show. “I do like the catch rides, especially when it’s such a nice horse like Sienna,” she revealed. “It’s good experience too. I have to thank Missy Clark and John Brennan for letting me show him.” The Heritage Farm riders all have the basics of being a good hunter rider. “We feel strongly that the hunter division is important in the makeup of these good riders,” Dignelli expressed. “We try to do all of the divisions and it’s hard to do that well. I’m really pleased that these kids came and rode that well. It’s flattering to have your kids picked by other professionals and asked to ride their nice horses.” He added that all of their riders performed wonderfully today. “The pressure was high. In order to be champion or reserve, they had to nail it in every single class. It was a gift and a great way for it to happen. It was thrilling show for us at Heritage,” he concluded. The final junior hunter champion of the show was in the Large Junior 16-17 division. Jack Hardin Towell Jr. got the ride on Laura King Kaplan’s Bellingham Bay. The large dark bay gelding won his first class yesterday and returned today for the win in the Stake class and fourth under saddle. Reserve champions were Caped Crusader and Haylie Jayne, who rode for Monarch International. Towell and Bellingham Bay were reserve champions at the other two indoor finals, Capital Challenge and Harrisburg, but were able to get the big win here at Washington. “He jumped well at Harrisburg, but here he jumped a little more crisp,” Towell explained about the difference between the shows. “He was a little bit nervous in the first class, but I think it made him jump even better.” Bellingham Bay will most likely show with his owner next year in the junior division, but Towell said, “It was great of them to let me show him. I hope maybe this gave him more experience indoors and he’ll be better for her. It was good for both of us. I got a nice horse to show and hopefully their horse is more made after this.” Towell is another junior rider that is known for being able to jump on any horse and ride it well. “I love the catch ride, especially on him,” he divulged. “It was so much fun. Thanks so much to Mrs. Kaplan and Laura.” The Tad Coffin WIHS Equitation Final had their first phase of competition today. The top 30 ranked junior riders nationally in WIHS points competed in reverse order of standings over a flowing hunter style course. Although he was only the eighth rider on course, Michael Delfiandra put down a trip that no other rider could beat. He rode Quiet Hill Farm’s Wellington in the competition. “They call him Wellington Dos though, because they have two Wellingtons in the same barn,” he said with a smile. “I rode him for the first time last Saturday and for the second time yesterday,” Delfiandra disclosed. “He’s really nice. You kind of wind him up in the beginning, get a good pace, and stay in the same rhythm. It worked out really well everywhere.” Delfiandra needed to find a horse to compete when his original horse was injured recently. “Bobby Braswell and Christina Schlusemeyer said to come and try a few horses. We tried him and really liked him, so we’re leasing him for this weekend.” Six judges sat in pairs around the arena and gave numerical scores for each round. Delfiandra scored a 90, 89, and 93 for an average of 90.6. “I felt great. I thought I would just go out there and gallop around. It’s a hunter phase, so you have to be loose and nice and relaxed,” he recalled, and added, “You might as well just go for it. If it’s good, then great. If it’s not, there’s always another horse show.” As for his plan tomorrow in the jumper phase, Delfiandra said, “I just want to go in there, not be nervous, and ride the best that I can.” Tad Coffin WIHS Equitation Final- Hunter Phase
The Small, Medium, and Large Pony Hunters begin their competition tomorrow with one over fences class and an under saddle class. The Tad Coffin WIHS Equitation Final will resume with the Jumper Phase in the afternoon and the Final Work-off of the top ten riders at 7:10 p.m. Photo Credit: Moulin Rouge and Natalie Johnson, Grand Junior Hunter Champions at 2005 WIHS. Photo by Al Cook. |
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Washington,
D.C.- October 28- The 2005 Washington International Horse Show (WIHS)
serves as one of the country’s most prestigious and competitive
indoor equestrian events, with prominent riders, Olympic veterans, and
superstar equines competing for top honors and fabulous prize money.
In the junior hunter divisions today, the Grand Champion was Moulin
Rouge and Natalie Johnson of Greenwich, Connecticut.
