World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) competition welcomed hunter riders to center stage Saturday evening under the lights of the International Arena at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). The country’s top professional, amateur, and junior hunter riders jumped for top honors in the $100,000 USHJA/WCHR Peter Wetherill Hunter Spectacular, where Victoria Colvin went one-two and notched her fourth consecutive win in the event. She piloted Ovation for Dr. Betsee Parker to his third straight WCHR win and took second with Parker’s Small Affair. The hunters highlighted this week’s competition, which concludes on Sunday, February 16. All of Sunday’s jumper competition at The Stadium at PBIEC will be available live online. The $25,000 Artisan Farms Under 25 Grand Prix speed class, presented by EnTrust Capital, will begin at 8 am followed by the $34,000 Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic. Watch both classes at: http://bit.ly/1z64TGV. Sunday’s $50,000 Equestrian Sotheby’s Jumper Derby will begin at 2 pm at: http://bit.ly/1zu8q0x The historic hunter event returned to two rounds this year and welcomed 31 qualified entries with the top 12 returning over a handy test in round two. Scores were tallied from three panels, including judges Scott Fitton and Chance Arakelian on panel one, Mary Lisa Leffler and Scott Williamson on panel two, and Karen Healey and Jim Clapperton on panel three. First round scores were combined with handy scores for a two-round total and final score. Colvin and Ovation first approached the course from the 26th position and jumped to the top of the leader board, returning in round two on a high score of 89.33. “I wasn’t sure he was going to be able to come back and win for a third time, but he went in and went right around and was perfect,” said Colvin who has been partnered with the 15-year old Warmblood gelding throughout her near-end junior career. “The course wasn’t spooky, and I was confident that it was going to go well. He [Ovation] is more of an open and flowing horse and there weren’t any exact lines in the course, so it suited him.” Sitting in the eighth position after round one, Brady Mitchell and Emily Perez’s Cassanto returned to post a 90 early in the handy round and take the lead. “I knew I had a lot to make up for, and I did what I could,” said Mitchell, referencing an all-or-nothing approach to the final hand-gallop fence of the second round. “Andre [Dignelli] gave me some great advice to let his nose out a little, and it changed his jump in the second round. I wanted to get a good prize and he’s a trustworthy horse, so I went for it.” Tara Metzner and Come Monday, owned by Davlyn Farms, Inc. capped the top four with scores of 85.66 and 89.16. In her third year participating in the WCHR Hunter Spectacular, Metzner made a significant improvement over last year’s 11th-place finish.
