Keenan Gives Us A Lesson At The 2013 Pessoa/USEF Hunter Seat Medal Finals

Sunday, October 13th – After a long, but thrilling weekend in Harrisburg, PA., riders under the age of 18 closed out junior weekend at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show with the 2013 USEF/Pessoa Hunter Seat Medal Finals – presented by Randolph College. It was a lengthy day, but one Lillie Keenan and the Heritage Farm family will cherish for years to come.

228 horse and rider combinations made their way around the preliminary course in the hopes of scoring high enough – judges Ralph Caristo and Leo Conroy scored the rounds – to win the 2013 Pessoa/USEF Hunter Seat Medal Finals champion title. Many riders traveled long and far from all parts of the nation and worked hard throughout the year to qualify for this prestigious indoor event. While some riders dominated their rounds, others experienced difficulty on course and chances of advancing to the final round upsettingly slipped away; But for all of you riders that did make it to Harrisburg, whether you placed or not, congratulations on your achievements!

The preliminary course consisted of 13 obstacles with a mixture of single fences, lines, combinations and handy turns, and you better believe that as soon as you entered the arena ALL EYES were on YOU. Since equitation is all about the rider’s technique and control of the horse, nerves can derail a trip and a nervous rider can unintentionally overwhelm their horse.

But it can’t be THAT nerve racking, right? Think again! Dating back to 1946 the Pennsylvania National has grown to become one of the largest indoor competitions in the United States and features 10 national championships every single year. Getting here is one thing, competing here is anything but easy. It’s a true test of character.

Of the 228 entries, only 25 returned for the final round and rode a newly set course that included a triple bar and finished with a hand gallop to a large, slightly intimidating, oxer. Narrowing the field down once more, six riders were called back to test in front of the judges, sans stirrups.

The Final Work-Out:
Canter out of the lineup and directly over fence 1
Halt
Canter fence 2 (the out of a 5 stride line)
Trot around and over a small wall
Counter canter to the in-and-out
Canter around to the Swedish oxer
Canter on a bending line while demonstrating two changes of lead and proceed to finish over final fences.
 

Allison Toffolon, Lauren Tyree, Alexandra Maracic, Charlotte Jacobs, Michael Hughes, and Lillie Keenan were the six riders to test-off for the judges. While each individual displayed excellent control of their horse, Keenan caught everyone’s attention with her fantastic use of the arena and her clean transitions throughout the technical course – not to mention, her form was exquisite and completely un-phased by the lack of stirrups.

Keenan is no stranger to the sport and spends the vast majority of her time in the saddle perfecting her skills. Clearway, the 17.1h bay gelding with a big stride, is owned by Heritage Farm and was partnered with the 16-yr-old rider last year by trainer Andre Dignelli. The team hit it off from the very start and if there were any doubts of their chemistry before this weekend, surely their round in the medal finals made quite the statement.

Winning numerous titles throughout 2013 – the George Morris Excellence in Equitation Championship, the Sam Edelman Equitation Championship, the Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championship, the USHJA/Essex Classics Hunterdon Cup, and the Randolph College/USEF National Junior Championship – Keenan can now rightfully add the 2013 Pessoa/USEF Hunter Seat Medal Finals to her resume of accomplishments.

By: Claudia Lorena


Check out Lillie’s ride aboard Clearway during the Medal Finals test:

(video by ShowNet)


For further information about the Pennsylvania National Horse Show visit www.panational.org

For detailed class results visit www.ryegate.com