The Mid-Atlantic Equitation Festival, presented by County Saddlery, remained unfazed by the northern winter storm and opened the Indoor ring to competitors early Friday morning at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro MD, for the first classes of MAEF 2018. The seventh year of this wildly anticipated event was scheduled to run through Sunday, November 18, and featured over 350 riders. One of those 350 riders slated to compete over the weekend, however, found her horse lame right before the show and was afraid she would be unable to compete. That fear was wiped from her memory when another competitor stepped up and allowed her the use of her horse, leading both of them to the winner’s circle.
Photo by Ava Lindsay
Known as the “indoors for everybody,” MAEF offers a full range of classes and holds the
reputation for having the most coveted awards at any horse show on the East Coast.
Prizes include County saddles, The Clothes Horse coolers and coolerettes, Essex
Classic shirts, Huntley bridles, LM boots, and more.
MAEF 2018 kicked day one off with 25 competitors in the 2’6” Open Equitation, one of
the four height divisions that featured a second over fences class this year at MAEF.
Ava Farley, aboard Shine On Me, and Danielle Urbain, aboard Rosso Rossini, both
piloted their mounts to the winning titles.
However, Rosso Rossini was not finished entering the winner’s circle. The 18-year-old
gelding continued on to win the 2’6” M & S Adult Horse division and the Novice
Equitation flat class with Urbain, in addition to both the M & S Dover Adult Medal 3’ and
the Ariat 2’9” – 3” divisions with his owner, Miranda Scarpone.
Miranda Scarpone and Rosso Rossini. Photo by Ava Lindsay
“He always loves this type of venue,” said Scarpone of the black warmblood. “We have
been to Capital Challenge before and all of that, but I haven’t shown in five years and
this is only my [second] horseshow back! I am proud of myself and [of him]. He just
came back from a lease, so we are still ironing out the kinks and getting back in sync.
He has been perfect for me in every class that we have been in.”
Scarpone added that she was happy to share her four-legged partner of eight years with
Urbain for the week and expressed her excitement and goals for being at MAEF for the
first time.
“Danielle’s horse was lame, and she really wanted to come [to MAEF], so I said why
not? Here we are! I really like how big of a deal this show makes of everything,” said
Scarpone. “They give everyone an opportunity to feel special and get in the big ring. It’s
nice for everyone to have an opportunity to feel like they’re at finals! Hopefully, I will nab
that championship class on Sunday! I would love that.”
Scarpone and Urbaine were not the only riders in the spotlight on Friday. The indoor
arena held a total of ten divisions and eight flat classes, which featured multiple repeat
wins, including those of Irene E. Powlick, Powlick captured the blue in both the 16-17
flat and the first MAEF Open Equitation over fences class and eventually took home the
traditional MAEF Flat Championship along with a brand new Huntley bridle. Audrey
Schulze took the reserve tri-color aboard Famous-O and day one at the Mid-Atlantic
Equitation Festival came to a close.
Go Jumping!