The Small Junior Hunters 3’6 16-17 riders returned to Palm Beach International Equestrian Center on Saturday to contend for the championship title of Week 1. After two firsts, a second, and a fifth over fences along with another second under saddle, Maggie Hill of Jackson, WY, took home the tricolor ribbon. Hill piloted Stella Styslinger’s O’Ryan, a 17-year-old bay Holsteiner gelding, to consistent top placings with two firsts, two seconds, and a fifth.
Maggie Hill and O’Ryan. Photo © Sportfot.
She and O’Ryan have been successful partners for the past two years under the careful tutelage of three-time USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship winner Liza Boyd. The pair have been successful with their junior hunter endeavors, but Hill hopes to compete the veteran hunter in several derbies throughout the rest of the season.
“We probably won’t ask him to show in the juniors too much this year because he has already done so much for us,” Hill commented. “Our plan is to show just enough to keep our points up and then hopefully pull him out to play in the hunter derbies.”
Hill’s success is a product of almost an entire lifetime in the saddle. She has been on horseback since the tender age of three years old and has dabbled in almost every discipline of equestrian sport. “From when I started riding up until I was eight years old, I rode western, then I switched to eventing, and after that I was riding dressage,” Hill explained of her extensive background. “I began training with Liza Boyd about four years ago and now I compete in the hunters, jumpers, and equitation.”
Maggie Hill and O’Ryan. Photo © Sportfot.
Jordan Allen of West Bloomfield, MI, captured the reserve champion title aboard Airplay. Airplay is an eight-year-old Belgian Sport Horse (Tin Tin De La Pomme x Flavie De Roloux)owned by Don Stewart.