84 • THE PLAID HORSE
$100,000
Platinum Performance Hunter Prix Finals For years, it has been a dream of mine to compete in the big money Derby Finals at HITS Saugerties. This year, that dream finally came true. I was lucky enough to make the trip from California to New York to show Michelle Decker Rumanes’s horse, Goodnight Moon, in the $100,000 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix. It was a tremendous experience and I was thrilled to make it into the Top 25. Congratulations to my barn mate, Augusta Iwasaki, who won the Overall Championship on Iwasaki & Reilly’s phenomenal mare, Small Adventure, and was the winner in the first and second rounds on her second mount, Iwasaki & Reilly’s legendary Illusion. At just thirteen years of age, “Gussie” is consistent and beautiful on any horse she rides. It is a true testament to her skill that she could be so successful on both of the horses she competed on in the Hunter Prix.
For those who are not familiar with the format of this class, there are four rounds in total. All riders compete in the first two rounds, held Friday and Saturday respectively, and their scores are combined to determine the top twenty-five riders, who compete in a third round on the big Grand Prix field on Sunday. Following the third round, the top four riders compete over a shortened fourth course. Their overall scores are added to determine the winner. As a rider coming all the way from the West Coast, it was great to have more than one round in which to prove myself! I thought this was a really fun format for the final. After the first round, I was standing 23rd. I finished 4th in the second round, moving up to 13th overall going in to Sunday’s third round. Although I wish I could go back in time and ride some parts of the third round differently, I was happy to have achieved my goal of making it to the final day of competition.