On a beautiful morning at the 88th Annual Ox Ridge Charity Horse Show, presented by the Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund, junior equitation athletes took to the jumper ring at the Ox Ridge Riding and Racquet Club. Starting the day with the NEHC Junior Medal, Willamina Merton and Golden Dream captured the top prize of the day. Immediately following, the CHJA Junior Medal, sponsored by the Mackenzie Family, took place with Gillian Galvin and Easy B walking away with the blue ribbon.
Willamena Merton and Golden Dream. Photo by Phelps Sports
Merton, from Pottersville, New Jersey, is new to piloting Christy Johnson’s Golden Dream, a 12-year-old Warmblood. Despite this being their first horse show together, the pair expertly navigated Philip DeVita’s 9-effort course, which asked junior competitors to tackle a number of bending lines and an in-and-out combination. Earlier in the week, Merton and Golden Dream also claimed the blue ribbon in the $1,000 M&S/NAL Child Hunter Horse Classic.
The 12-year-old Warmblood, Golden Dream, is normally paired with Merton’s cousin and the NEHC Junior Medal’s second place finisher, Gigi Moynihan. The junior competitor piloted Up’An Go De St. Druon, owned by Maarten Huygens, to a second place finish. Moynihan regularly competes both Golden Dream and Up’An Go De St. Druon in the equitation classes, piloting the geldings to top finishes at the Winter Equestrian Festival, Old Salem Farm, and the Devon Horse Show in 2019.
Gillian Galvin and Easy B. Photo by Phelps Sports
Following the NEHC Junior Medal, equitation athletes returned to the ring to compete in the CHJA Junior Medal. Galvin, from Greenwich, Connecticut, captured the blue ribbon with her own Easy B. The duo have been partnered together for four years and have competed across the country in various equitation classes. Their longtime partnership showed as they tackled the 9-effort first round course and then returned for the flat phase of competition. The flat portion of the medal asked riders to demonstrate both a sitting and rising trot in addition to a canter, which Galvin demonstrated expertly with the 10-year-old Warmblood. Up next, Galvin and Easy B will compete at the Fairfield County Hunt Club’s June Benefit Show before traveling to the Lake Placid Horse Show for two weeks.
Second place was captured by Mark Leone and McLain Ward’s Devne. The pair have placed in the top position in junior equitation classes, most recently at the HITS on the Hudson Horse Show in Saugerties, New York.