October 8, 2006

Adrienne Sternlicht Finds Success Again at The Capital Challenge

“It is a very prestigious award, and I’m really excited,” said Sternlicht smiling. The Capital Challenge has been a successful show for Sternlicht. Last year the young rider from Greenwich, Conn., collected the small pony championship riding Ingenue, and the medium pony championship riding Truly Noble. In addition, she was a two-time winner of the World Champion Hunter Rider (WCHR) Pony Challenge class. But until this year, the grand champion honor has eluded her.

Sternlicht rides with Patricia Griffith of Heritage Farm and has ridden Whisky Rocks for three years. She said of the pony, “I got him from a girl with a prosthetic arm so he drifted a lot. He’s come so far. He’s awesome.” She added, “He’s an awesome jumper, and he’s been great to me.”

This is her third year at indoors with him, and it will be her last. Whisky Rocks is being sold and the young rider will be done with the medium division. “It is a great way to end our years together,” said Sternlicht.

Also training with Heritage Farm is Schaffer Raposa who picked up the small pony championship aboard Super Trooper. Raposa collected a second and a third in the jumping classes and topped the under saddle against a field of 41 ponies. Last year Raposa won the WCHR Pony Challenge class aboard Sternlicht’s Vanity Fair and piloted Clovercrofts Bodacous Babe to the small pony hunter championship.

Another rider with a successful Capital Challenge history is Jennifer Waxman of Chagrin Falls, Oh. Waxman repeated her 2005 performance on Cherrybrook’s Blue Suede Shoes, picking up the large pony hunter championship. Waxman, 15, trains with Ken and Emily Smith at their Ashland Farms in Wellington, Fla. and is a catch rider for the pony’s owner, Paulexi LLC. Waxman has ridden their pony on and off for two years.

She said of being champion, “I’m really excited because he’s really nice. I’m just glad I got to ride him again because he’s so much fun. He’s very dependable, and he’s not going to let you down.”

Waxman will be leaving the pony division behind next year and is already focused on showing her junior hunters. When asked why she took the ride on Cherrybrook’s Blue Suede Shoes she said, “When you get an opportunity like this you don’t turn it down because he’s so nice.”

The Capital Challenge Horse Show will run a full schedule of events in two rings on their final day, Sunday, October 8. Results, photos, time schedule and streaming video can be found on the Capital Challenge website: www.capitalchallenge.org . For more information on the Capital Challenge Horse Show call (301) 952-7944.