Devon, PA – Gray Slipper stood for his second Grand Hunter championship presentation this week when he finished the 2006 Devon Horse Show as the Amateur-Owner 18-35 Hunter champion and the Grand Amateur Hunter champion with owner and rider Bridget Hallman of Oyster Bay, NY.
The great grey Belgian Warmblood received two blues and a second over fences and won yet another under saddle class for the championship in his division. Reserve champion in the division was Midnight Date, ridden and owned by Rachel Geiger of Malvern, PA. Both Hallman and Geiger train with Louise Serio of Kennett Square, PA.
Gray Slipper finished tied for the Grand Hunter Championship earlier this week when Serio rode him in the Regular Working Hunter division.
“It feels absolutely amazing and unbelievable,” Hallman revealed. “I’m still getting used to it. I’m trying to gather it all in. He was just so good.” Although Gray Slipper has won a lot in his career, today was a first for him and his owner. Hallman remarked, “I’ve never won a class here before, so it’s my first time for that and my first time as champion too.”
Hallman said her plan for the show was “just trying to do my best for him because he’s been outstanding all week. I know he was trying. I was trying to help him.” Hallman could have been relieved going into the second day of competition after winning two classes and a second place on the first day, but she admitted, “I was actually more nervous. I just wanted to be good and perfect and keep it up.”
After a full division of showing earlier this week Gray Slipper might have been weary of the show ring, but Hallman said, “In the schooling area he seemed a little bit tired, but as soon as he went in the ring, he was okay and down to business. He perked it up just enough.” Luckily Gray Slipper had plenty of pep for the big, solid courses at Devon. “They were tough,” Hallman said with a smile. “They definitely tested the horse’s stride and scope. They made all of us get on the top of our game because you didn’t want to mess up going into one of those forward lines. As usual, all of the jumps were beautiful.”
The champion in the Amateur-Owner Over 35 Hunter division was In Disguise, ridden and owned by Ellen Toon of North Salem, NY. The successful pair returned to Devon after In Disguise, or “Odie” had a year off from showing to recuperate from an injury. They won two over fences classes and were third in another jumping class. Reserve champion in the division was Cayman, ridden by Jamie Planck Martin for Providence Hill Farm from Jackson, MS.
In Disguise won the first class on Friday, but after a misstep in the second class, Toon circled before a jump and did not place. “Yesterday was definitely dicey,” she acknowledged. “In the first class my horse was fabulous. I kind of went with him. He really did it all. In the second class, just like in the first, I wasn’t quite sure where I was a few times.” She added with a wry smile, “After I circled, he probably had one of his best rounds ever. That’s the way it goes.”
Toon thought her chances for a championship ribbon might have been gone, but with a distribution in points with the other horses and Odie’s first and third placings today, things went better. “I was pretty upset,” she said. “The horses work hard, and when you don’t step up as a rider it’s hard. I felt much more comfortable today. I wasn’t perfect, but he was.”
It was a wonderful accomplishment for Toon to win with her veteran partner once again, and she gave lots of credit to the talented equine. “It’s amazing just to have him. It’s like Bridget with her horse too. You get them within range of the jump, and they just slow down and jump it beautifully. There are just not that many horses that do that. We’re very lucky to have them, and we won’t let them go.” Hallman added, “They can have anything they want!”
For full horse show results, please visit www.thedevonhorseshow.com.
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