With four months remaining before the 60th anniversary Washington International Horse Show (WIHS), running October 23-28 at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, D.C., top spots in the championship event rankings have been changing hands during spring competition from coast to coast.
Qualifying events for the WIHS championships are held at more than 650 horse shows in North America. Riders who earn the most points throughout the year are eligible to compete in the WIHS Championship Finals, which include the $10,000 WIHS Children’s Hunter Championship, $10,000 WIHS Children’s Jumper Championship, $10,000 WIHS Adult Hunter Championship, $10,000 WIHS Adult Jumper Championship, the Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund WIHS Equitation Finals, and WIHS Pony Equitation Finals.
New leaders include Daisy Farish of Lexington, KY, for the East Coast and Violet Barnett of San Francisco, CA, for the West Coast as anticipation heats up for the Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund WIHS Equitation Finals. Additionally, after five months of qualifying, both Lauren McCaulley of Lake Charles, IL, aboard Umano de la Ruche and Lindsey Tomeu of Wellington, FL, riding Gold Lux have dominated the jumper ranks each month.
Daisy Farish, the current east coast leader in the Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund WIHS Equitation Finals rankings, and Capital Hamilton competing at the Devon Horse Show this spring. Photo by The Book LLC
As the summer competition season kicks off, WIHS congratulates all of the top competitors in the WIHS rankings as of June 11, 2018.
Current leaders include:
Daisy Farish of Lexington, KY – 5,412 points – WIHS Equitation East
Violet Barnett of San Francisco, CA – 2,260 points – WIHS Equitation West
Convinced ridden by Cassidy Bosch of McLean, VA – 1,767 points – Children’s Hunter
Poetic Justis ridden by Alex Johnson of Portsmouth, VA – 1,644 points – Adult Hunter
Umano de la Ruche ridden by Lauren McCaulley of Lake Charles, IL – 3,529 points – Children’s Jumper
Gold Lux ridden by Lindsey Tomeu of Wellington, FL – 6,337 points – Adult Jumper
Cecelia Perry of North Venice, FL – 753.5 points – WIHS Pony Equitation
With six months remaining in the qualifying period, which ends August 31, there is still plenty of time to qualify for the 60th Anniversary WIHS. Riders must be active WIHS members in order for points to count. Membership can be obtained here: www.wihs.org/membership.
“Qualifying classes from the equitation to the adult jumper ranks have been exceedingly popular from coast to coast in 2018 and it makes us proud that riders are as excited as we are about being a part of the 60th anniversary WIHS,” said WIHS President Vicki Lowell. “With the summer qualifying season still ahead of us, we would like to thank all the horse shows that host qualifying classes for their support and wish luck to all the competitors with their sights set on WIHS this year!”
Don’t miss the chance to qualify for the WIHS Championships! WIHS looks forward to hosting the best horses and riders from around the nation in 2018 and encourages all riders to continue their drive to qualify. The qualifying period runs from shows starting on or after September 1, 2017, through shows starting on or before August 31, 2018.
For the Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund WIHS Equitation Finals, invitations will be extended to the top 40 junior riders who are eligible to compete based on their points earned during the qualifying period in the East Coast and West Coast Leagues as follows: 30 riders will be invited from the East Coast League and 10 riders will be invited from the West Coast League. Letters of invitation will be mailed in September. For the pony equitation, invitations will be extended to the top 25 junior riders who are eligible to compete based on their points earned during the qualifying period. Letters of invitation will be mailed in September. For the hunter championships, 29 horse/rider combinations will be accepted in each division, while 25 will be accepted for the jumper championships.
For more information or to sign up to earn points for the WIHS Championship Finals, visit www.wihs.org/membership.
For a complete list of current rankings, visit www.wihs.org/wihs-rankings/.
The 60th Anniversary Washington International Horse Show will take place Oct. 23-28, at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. Tickets will be available Aug. 1 on Ticketmaster.com and at Capital One Arena Box Office.
For more information, please visit www.wihs.org, ‘like’ WIHS on Facebook, and follow on Twitter and Instagram. Be sure to tag WIHS by using #WIHS2018, #WIHSturns60 and #HorsesInTheCity.
About Washington International Horse Show
Established in 1958, the Washington International Horse Show is one of North America’s most prestigious and entertaining equestrian events attracting more than 26,000 spectators annually to Washington, D.C., for Olympic-level competition plus community and charity events. More than 500 top horses and riders arrive from all over the globe to jump for more than a half a million dollars in prize money. Highlights include the $130,000 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Washington for the President’s Cup, presented by Events DC, the Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund WIHS Equitation Finals, the $25,000 Puissance high jump on Military Night, and Kids’ Day, a free, fun and educational community event. WIHS, an official USEF Heritage Competition, is rated CSI4*-W by the Fédération Equestre Internationale, the world governing body for horse sports. The Washington International Horse Show Association, Ltd. is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization based in Washington, D.C. wihs.org.