Lexington, KY – May 11, 2016 – After torrential rains on Tuesday, blue skies prevailed to welcome riders for the first day of the Kentucky Spring Horse show at the Kentucky Horse Park. Kelley Farmer of Lane Change Farm had a strong start to kick off the hunters in the Stonelea Ring with winning rides in both the Green Conformation Hunters and the Regular Conformation Hunters.
Farmer won both classes of the Green Conformation Hunters aboard the 8-year-old Warmblood stallion It’s Me with scores of 89 and 87. Trainer Larry Glefke had nothing but praise for the young stallion. “He goes in the ring and he’s one of those few stallions who never tries to screw up,” Glefke said. “Most of the time stallions always have an opinion. He’s just a really good guy. He was meant to be a hunter, he’s got that mentality. He has perfect style and its very simple for him and he’s great.”
Before becoming a hunter with Farmer and Glefke, It’s Me was a breeding stallion in Europe, having produced multiple babies. While they have no plans to breed him at the moment, It’s Me will remain stallion for the foreseeable future thanks to his gentle demeanor.
“He’s a First Year horse and he’s really straightforward, he never looks,” explained Glefke. “He has a tremendous amount of ability, nothing is hard for him. He just keeps that nice canter and jumping well every time. He wins the models too, so he’s just a beautiful horse.”
Kelley Farmer and It’s Me
It’s Me has certainly been on top of his game this winter. He is currently at the top of the points standings for Green Conformation Hunters. He had an outstanding winter season with a win in the $15,000 USHJA International Derby at the Emerald Coast Classic as well as multiple Green Conformation Hunter championships. Erica Quinn and Speak Your Mind took third place in the first class and second place in the second class with scores of 82 and 81, respectively.
The day continued in the Stonelea Ring with the Regular Conformation Hunters and Farmer once again found herself at the head of the class. She piloted Point Being to a win in the first class on a score of 87 and took second place with Mindful on a score of 82 She won the second class aboard Mindful, a 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding on a score of 90. Second place went to Scott Stewart and First Light with a score of 87.
Kelley Farmer and Mindful
Glefke expressed appreciation for the Kentucky Horse Park and the Kentucky Spring Horse Shows. “These are beautiful horse shows and I live right down the road here too.” He said. “The jumps are nice, the show is well run and they do a good job.”
These shows were a nice entry back into showing for his horses who have had a bit off time off and are headed to the Devon Horse Show next. “All of the horses have been off for five or six weeks, this is their first week back.” Glefke said “Mindful is just taking an easy week and getting ready for Devon, he’ll go to Tryon next week.” Mindful is coming off of a successful winter season with a win in the $100,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at the 2016 Ocala Masters as well as a High Performance Working Hunter Championship at WEF.
The professional hunter divisions will continue Thursday in the Stonelea Ring at the Kentucky Spring Horse Show. Sunday is “Derby Day” with the $15,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby and the $5,000 Hallway Feeds USHJA National Hunter Derby taking place.
For more information on Kentucky Horse Shows LLC and the Kentucky Spring Horse Shows, please visit www.kentuckyhorseshows.com.