Alexandra Thornton Raises the Bar at Winter Equestrian Festival with Junior Jumper Win

Tampa, FL – After winning more than 20 classes and 10 championship tricolors in Wellington, FL, Alexandra Thornton and her horses have relocated to Tampa for the final two weeks of the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). Thornton, who commutes to Florida from her home town of Bedminster, NJ, has trained with Susie Humes for the past two years, and the 13-year-old has achieved an unprecedented amount of success in the show ring since she moved up to horses from ponies.

Her chestnut gelding Tobasco has won repeatedly in the Small Junior 15 and Under Hunters throughout the 2007 WEF circuit, and he earned his seventh championship in the division this past week. Thornton, who only moved up to the junior hunters last August, continues to outshine her competition with Tobasco. As of now, the pair is leading in points for the overall circuit championship for the Small Junior 15 and Under Hunter division. She has won champion in the Large Junior 15 and Under Hunters several times with her beautiful, bay gelding High Noon and has also won with For The Music.

In addition to showing her junior hunters and her children’s jumper, Saint Exupery, the young rider recently started showing her new mount Naomi. This past week, Thornton transitioned from the Children’s Modified Jumpers to the Low Junior Jumpers with Naomi and competed in the junior jumper division for the very first time. In addition to moving up to a higher fence height, she won the Low Junior Jumper Classic with Naomi and came away with the division championship.

Humes commented after the class, “As Alexandra flew around the jump-off course on her bay mare, George Morris, who helps Alexandra when his time schedule allows, was heard saying, ‘Gallop, gallop Alexandra!’ I think George’s comment as he left the ring, ‘Super, Super,’ says it all for this auspicious debut.”

She continued, “Alexandra rode so well and really rose to the occasion, which she always does. But, this was a huge step up for a young lady who was quite wobbly on medium ponies two years ago. I am very proud of her,” she smiled. “We have had some good ‘racing luck.’ She has worked very hard, and we are extremely fortunate to have such lovely animals.”

“What keeps me ‘in the trenches’ though is that Alexandra really cares about her horses and wants to learn to do things like a horseman, not just win ribbons. It is a thrill for me to have George help Alexandra and ride the horses. I learn so much from his genius on a daily basis.” Humes added, “Naomi is an unbelievable horse. She has wings to go with her great heart, scope and carefulness. I feel so honored to have her at Dunwalke.”

Thornton made another bold move in the show ring with her equitation horse Samson. She showed in the Pessoa USEF Hunter Seat Medal for only the third time and finished in sixth place. Thornton also earned a good score in her first Washington International Horse Show Equitation Jumper Phase class.

“The big equitation is a new and exciting challenge for us in developing her style without compromising Alexandra’s natural timing,” said Humes. “Samson is a very cool horse who really suits her, and I think they will develop into a good pair.”

Thornton will show Samson and Naomi during the last week of the 2007 Winter Equestrian Festival, which will be held from Tuesday, April 3rd through Saturday, April 7th.

Photo Credit: Alexandra Thornton on Naomi. Photo © 2007 Randi Muster.