Julie Welles Triumphs In 2005 Washington International Horse Show Tad Coffin Performance Saddles Equitation Classic Finals

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. Held in the MCI Center in downtown Washington, D.C., WIHS had an exciting day of events.

For riders under the age of 18, one of the biggest equitation finals in the country pitted top competitors from around the country. After three challenging rounds, Julie Welles of West Simsbury, Connecticut, emerged victorious.

In the first round, riders must negotiate a hunter type course. There was a long, bending line to end the course. The winner of the hunter phase was Michael Delfiandra of Delray Beach, Florida who rode Wellington, owned by Quiet Hill Farm. Although he was only the eighth rider on course, Michael Delfiandra put down a trip that no other rider could beat. 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. Delfiandra 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.”

Today the 30 riders returned for the jumper phase. The course included a tight time allowed that caught a few riders, resulting in time faults. Riders were automatically penalized four points if they had a rail down. The same six judges returned for the jumper phase. The riders returned in reverse order based on their scores from the first round. Welles had a solid first round in the hunter phase and had a 90.5 coming into the jumper round, only .10 points behind Delfiandra. In the first two phases, Welles rode Lando, owned by Gabby Slome.

Welles rode the jumper phase well. While she was a little conservative in one tight rollback, she kept her pace smooth. The judges rewarded her with a score of 87.666. Welles finished second in the jumper phase behind Sloane Coles of The Plains, Virginia, who won with a score of 89.33. Coles rode Cino, owned by Stone Hill Farm, to the win in the jumper phase.

The unique aspect of the Washington International Horse Show Equitation Classic Finals is the work-off for the top ten riders. After the two phases, scores are combined, and the top ten riders are asked to return and ride over the jumper phase course once more. This time, however, riders must swap horses. In this format, they were only allowed to jump four practice obstacles on their new mount before they negotiated the course.

In the work-off, the first seven riders that returned had good rounds, but no one seemed to impress the judges. Returning with a score that ranked her in third, Sloane Coles rode Megan Massaro’s horse, Apollo. Coles kept a perfect position throughout and rode through a long triple combination beautifully. The judges rewarded her with an average score of 85.833. When this was added to her previous scores from the first two phases, her total amounted to 261.749, and she was in the lead.

Next in was Michael Delfiandra, who rode Hardin Towell’s horse, Fax du Laine. He had an unfortunate rail down at jump number two, and the judges gave him an average score of 79. That gave him a total of 255.749 and placed him second behind Coles.

Julie Welles came into the work-off in first place. From the first jump, it was clear that she was going for the win. Welles was on Maggie McAlary’s Peter Pan and looked like she had been riding the new horse for years. Her round was smooth and even, and Welles received high marks from the three sets of judges. The judges at position one gave her a 93, position two posted 86.5, and the judges from the third position awarded a score of 92. This scored Welles with an average of 90.5. When added to her previous scores, Welles had a total of 268.666. She defeated her competition by a wide margin of seven points, giving Welles her second major equitation victory of the year.

“I wasn’t really nervous coming into the last round because last year was my first year here. I was nervous last year, but this year I just went in with confidence,” Welles recalled. “It was just fun and whatever happened, happened.”

Welles also mentioned that riding an unfamiliar horse in a pressure situation was nothing new to her. In 2004, Welles rode a different horse for every equitation final, and she is constantly put on new horses throughout the year. In the final round today, Welles felt like she got to know Peter Pan “right off the bat.” “Maggie’s horse has a shorter stride than my horse Lando, who has a huge stride,” she explained. “Besides that, I felt really comfortable. His stride flowed nicely throughout the course.” Welles also mentioned that her work-off horse’s usual rider, Maggie McAlary and McAlary’s trainer, Andre Dignelli, helped explain the horse to her.

Welles’ trainer Missy Clark remarked, “To be a truly good rider and to accomplish switching on a horse, you need to be able to adapt. She’s got a lot of mileage on a lot of different horses.” Clark also had confidence that Welles could win from the beginning. “When you do this for as long as I’ve been doing it, you have certain riders that come along that are gifted,” she said. “Julie is certainly one of the most talented riders that I’ve dealt with in my career. She has great determination, focus, and works incredibly hard at it. It’s all of the ingredients that you need to be a champion.”

The win at Washington International marked Welles’ second major equitation final victory of the year. She won the USEF Show Jumping Talent Search East Coast Finals and was then third in the USEF Pessoa Hunt Seat Medal Finals. Welles will continue to the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament next weekend to compete in the ASPCA Maclay National Championship. “This fall so far has been great,” she said with a smile. “Everyone goes in with the same goal- they want to win. I just have to go with the attitude to ride my best, and a positive outcome will come from it.”

• Washington International Horse Show Tad Coffin Performance Saddles Equitation Classic Finals
• 1. Julie Welles, West Simsbury, CT
• 2. Sloane Coles, The Plains, VA
• 3. Michael Delfiandra, Delray Beach, FL
• 4. Natalie Johnson, Greenwich, CT
• 5. Haylie Jayne, Elgin, IL
• 6. Jack Hardin Towell Jr., Camden, SC
• 7. Maggie McAlary, Amherst, NH
• 8. Natalie Rae Medlock, Orange Hills, CA
• 9. Blythe Marano, Bedminster, NJ
• 10. Megan Massaro, Summerfield, FL

In addition to a great equitation final and thrilling jumper classes, the 2005 Washington International Horse Show offered hunter classes this morning for the younger set on their adorable ponies. Divisions were held for Small, Medium, and Large Ponies, and they competed in one over fences class and one under saddle class. The early leaders in the divisions are as follows:

Small Pony Hunters- Helicon Take Notice and Reed Kessler, 2nd & 2nd

Medium Pony Hunters- Tuscany and Jennifer Waxman, 2nd & 6th

Large Pony Hunters- Mokoo Jumbee and Paige Dekko, 2nd & 3rd

The ponies will finish their divisions tomorrow on the last day of the 2005 Washington International Horse Show. They will compete in two more over fences classes, and WIHS will present the Grand Pony Hunter Champion and Best Child Rider on a Pony awards.

Photo Credit: Julie Welles and Lando, winners of the 2005 Washington International Horse Show Tad Coffin Performance Saddles Equitation Classic Finals. Photo by Diana De Rosa.