Congratulations to Isabella Salas of Oakton, Virginia. Salas won the VHSA/EMO Hunter Seat Medal Finals, the VHSA/EMO Junior Championship on the Flat, and the Overall VHSA/EMO Horsemanship Championship.

“My goal this year was to win the VHSA/EMO Flat finals. It felt really good to win the Overall Horsemanship. I studied hard for the test.”

The 15-year-old has been riding for nine years and plans to ride in college and ‘keep on learning’.

Her trainer Jenny Graham commented, “I think the VHSA/EMO Finals have always been special to our barn. The little kids look up to the big kids, and so when they actually get to do the Finals, that’s exciting. But to win the horsemanship, that’s a pretty big deal. Bella has been here since she was eight and watching the big kids. To do well, it all has to come together. Sometimes, even if you try really hard, it just doesn’t work out. For Bella to win all three is huge: the flat, fences, and horsemanship trophy!”

“Our kids show a lot, but we definitely pick the shows that offer VHSA points," continued Graham. "This show is always on our calendar; it’s a big deal for us. Our barn comes down on Thursday and stays the weekend. For our barn, we call this our horse show finals for the year. We have kids taking off for college, some as soon as tomorrow.” 

Graham feels very proud as a trainer. “I’m very proud of both Bella and Catie [Ortmans] for coming in first and second in the horsemanship. When it all comes together, you need to live those moments. We can ride this ride for a while, and we’ll be talking about it for a long time,” she said.

Sue Bopp awards Anika McMath the VHSA/EMO Children's Medal trophy

Photo credit: Teresa Ramsay

Congratulations to Anika McMath on winning the VHSA/EMO Children's Championship!

McMath commented, “This is amazing, we’ve been training for this.” McMath has dedicated long hours to preparing for this moment. “I’m so appreciative of Wendy and Paul Matthews's support and for Brooke Kemper, who has helped me a lot,” she said.

Final Results:

Anika McMath, trained by Paul & Wendy Mathews

Byrdie Paisley, trained by Fiona Turner

Ava Alves, trained by Tara Best

Sabrina Forbes, trained by Ashley Holsinger

Robert Caputo, trained by Terri Young

Cailyn Durand, trained by Fiona Turner

Ava Sleeme, trained by Katherine Butler

Eleanor Green, trained by Denice DeRisio Perry

EMO Stables’ Sidenote, ridden by Kate Conover, was awarded the Laura Pickett Award. Sidenote was the leading overall National Hunter Derby Horse over the three weeks of the 2024 Virginia Festival of Champions. 

Photo credit: Teresa Ramsay

Grand Prix sponsor Top Quality Builders meet Lizzy Traband and Ochocinco BC in the Winner's Ring

Photo credit: KMK Photos

Sunny skies were back at the Virginia Horse Center for a beautiful day of competition on Saturday.

While all of the arenas welcomed large numbers of competitors, the main jumper event in the Dee Dee Arena was the $25,000 Top Quality Builders Grand Prix.

With a first-round time allowed set at 80 seconds, four would advance to the jump-off to the delight of the crowd gathered in the Stave Mill Pavilion.

Addison Reed of Mechanicsville, Virginia, and Doc Di Villigana, owned by Reed Training & Sales, LLC, were the first to go in the jump-off round. Despite a time of 38.042 seconds, well within the 48 seconds allowed, the pair earned eight jump faults.

Marylisa Leffler and Rolling Acres’ ZaZa Z followed Reed in the order and took the lead after posting a time of 36.208 seconds, despite earning four jump faults. 

Lizzy Traband of Centre Hall, Pennsylvania aboard Blue Ridge Bloodstock’s Ochocinco BC followed Leffler and ZaZa Z. The pair posted a fault-free jump-off round in 40.838 seconds and took the lead.

Reed and Kletcher, owned by Reed Training & Sales, were the last to tackle the jump-off course. Eight jump faults in a time of 40.803 seconds earned them a fourth placing and secured the win for Traband and Ochocinco BC.

For Traband and Ochocinco, the Virginia Horse Center is a place for firsts. According to Traband, two years ago, she jumped him in his first 1.30m. At last year’s Lexington National, the pair competed in their first regional grand prix and placed second. Their third year out and they have now won.

Traband continued, “’Ocho’ is near and dear to my heart. When I came back from Europe and started my own business [Team Traband], I called Tom Grossman [Blue Chip Farms] and asked if he had any opportunities for me. He asked me to come up to NY and just talk. When I was up there, he introduced me to Ocho and at that point, he hadn’t really found his place yet. Tom told me to just take my time with him, get to know him and everything would be just fine. He was right! Ocho was really the beginning for me,” she said.

“It’s really been special bringing him up and having the support of Blue Chip and so many other opportunities. We’ve just started him in the 1.40m this past year. Even though he is ten years old, he missed a year here and there, and in between.”

Lizzy Traband and Marylisa Leffler tied for the Lexington National Leading Jumper Rider Award.

Photo credit: KMK Photos

Leffler and ZaZa Z earned second place and also tied with Traband for the Leading Jumper rider award.

Reed and Doc di Villigana earned a third place, and David Matisz of Wellington, Florida, and his own Fuego, finished in fifth as the fastest four-fault first round. Matisz also placed sixth with his own Zorba TT.

Traband and Topgear SR Z, owned by Lori Larrabee LI Show Jumpers, LLC, finished in seventh place, and Tiffany Cambria of Upperville, Virginia finished in eighth with Sarah Hellman’s Perfect Match D.

Juliana Thorbecke of Poolesville, Maryland, and her own Andromeda Z finished in ninth place.

Traband commented, “Paul [Jewell] is brilliant and builds courses that are fair for the horses but asks good questions. I think the triple combination by the Stave Mill Pavilion and the crowd posed a good question. But he did prep us for that since he built that combination for the Welcome. Paul had oxers coming in and verticals going out, but the nice thing was that his course was very fair and good for the horses. No one was over faced, and everyone left the ring having learned something.”

“The footing here was great. I’m not sure if anyone knows, but we had a hurricane here Thursday. Even though we had a delayed start on Friday morning, when I checked out the Dee Dee arena at 8:30 am, the footing was perfect and ready to go, which was very cool! I don’t think many rings could hold up after a hurricane. And it rides really well, and the horses all jump great here. I have 7 horses with me, and a couple of them go barefoot, and they jump great in this ring too.” said Traband.

For complete results, please visit horseshowsonline.com.

Everyone having a great time in the Stave Mill Pavilion during Saturday's Grand Prix.

Scenes from the Virginia Horse Center.

The Top Quality Builders team was on site for the Lexington National Horse Show.

The Virginia Horse Center Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, provides a world-class facility hosting regional, national, and international equestrian events. The Virginia Horse Center Foundation envisions a unique, bucolic landmark to honor and celebrate the timeless, special bond between mankind and the horse through safe, fair and spirited equestrian competition.