Devon, Pa., May 30, 2006 — It was (almost) all Addison Phillips, Maggie McAlary and Julie Welles on junior weekend at the Devon Horse Show, as they dominated competition in the equitation and junior jumper divisions.
This was a big milepost on the way to the fall equitation championships; every Big Eq class had three divisions!
Addie, trained by Andre Dignelli and Heritage Farm, was the Best Child Rider on a Horse, retiring the trophy after three wins and winning the Shalanno Style of Riding Award to boot. She first took the Best Child Rider trophy in 2003, when she was only 13. In the junior hunter ranks, Addie earned the Large Junior Championship for riders 16-17 with Who’s on First.
She nearly didn’t show on Saturday after getting jumped out of the saddle in a hunter class and hurting her knee, which prompted her to go for an MRI. With a medical okay, Addie will be around for the rest of Devon, where she is slated to show in the professional hunter classes and the open jumpers.
Julie, who is trained by Missy Clark and North Run, won all the junior jumper classes, something that hasn’t been done in more than 20 years, taking not only the junior jumper championship but also the reserve with Felix des Noues and Lapeti. She was, of course, the leading junior jumper rider. In equitation, Julie won a division of both the USEF Talent Search and the Maclay, while Addie won a division of the USET/Pessoa Medal and another division of the Talent Search.
Maggie got more licks in for Heritage by taking the third division of the Talent Search, the Ronnie Mutch Equitation Championship, as well as a division of the Washington International (Julie won that finals last year, along with the USET Talent Search ride-off).
In the junior hunters, the overall large junior champion and grand champion was Saloon, owned by Whitney Roper and ridden by Jennifer Waxman, who leases the striking bay gelding.
The grand championship in the pony hunters went to Mokoo Jumbee, tops in the large division, owned and ridden by Paige Dekko, named Best Child Rider on a Pony.
For more on the happenings at Devon this week, check out Maria Schaub’s blog and on June 2, my postcard that will fill you in on the professional hunters and the grand prix.
