Athletes from the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) demonstrated their equitation skills at the National Horse Show in Lexington, Kentucky, in the Taylor Harris Insurance Services National Horse Show Adult Equitation Championship. The leadership of the National Horse Show invited qualified IHSA members to participate in the Taylor Harris Insurance Services National Horse Show Adult Equitation Championship, the feature class Oct. 26.

Photo – The IHSA riders who participated in the 2019 Taylor Harris Insurance Services National Horse Show Adult Equitation Championship included Lanie Bricker, Zoe Lewczak, Meaggan Niesen, Taylor Schissel, Madison Myro, Arielle LoGiudice and Kayla Jacobs are flanked by Michael Dowling and Bob Cacchione. Dominque Gonzales is also pictured. (Lenore Phillips/Phelps Media Group)

The IHSA contributed seven talented riders to the Taylor Harris Insurance Services National Horse Show Adult Equitation Championship. The championship included three phases: the first jumping round, the top 15 riders returned for the flat phase and a second round over fences. The judges ranked the class without an added optional test. Course designer Bobby Murphy designed the tracks that tested the abilities of the horse-and-rider combinations.

After the first championship round, IHSA riders Madison Myro and Kayla Jacobs and IHSA alumnae, Elizabeth Chenelle, were all named to the top group for the flat phase. After the final round, the judges awarded Jacobs the fifth-place prize overall and the top placing among the IHSA entries. The championship went to IHSA alum Chenelle who maintained her first-place ranking with a brilliant second round.

Chenelle, from Hebron, Connecticut, attended Liberty University and was seventh in the Cacchione Cup at IHSA Nationals in 2017. She complimented her partner, Dimacho, a 12-year-old-Oldenburg gelding owned by A. Farr.

“The horse that I am riding was amazing and he won this class last year. So, I felt honored to ride him this year,” Chenelle said. “The lines were set well so that if you went inside, you got the right number, and if you stayed too far out you were not quite there. I think it was a good test for everybody.”

Jacobs from Savannah, Georgia, is a junior studying nursing at Georgia Southern University and rides on the IHSA team coached by Eleanor Ellis.

“I actually had never jumped a real course on him until Thursday,” Jacobs said of her mount, Dia Caspar (Diarado x Paspertina), an 8-year-old Oldenburg gelding owned by her friend Rebecca Patterson. “He’s just the best– he has so much personality. He gave me his all the whole weekend. I couldn’t have asked for a better horse.”

Outside of her IHSA competition, Jacobs trains with Josh Dolan, but this was Jacobs’ first experience at indoors. As icing on the cake, she was presented with the Best Turned-Out Award, presented by the Grayson Jockey Club Foundation. She credits her mother, Elizabeth Jacobs, who stepped in as her groom for the weekend, for keeping Dia Caspar turned out to the nines.

Centenary University teammates Madison Myro and Arielle LoGiudice earned the championship and reserve championship of the Adult Equitation division at the National Horse Show. (Photo: Elaine Wessel/Phelps Media Group)