Kelly McKnight and Zan Chin (Jane E. Hind, owner) are on an incredible winning streak, topping the leader board of the Open Speed Derby every week this year at Woodside. “So far it’s been so much fun and unbelievable,” Kelly remarked. “If she pulls it off again and I don’t make too many mistakes, it’ll be pretty remarkable. We’re riding in a halter, for God’s sake! It’s really amazing it’s come together with a different group of horses each time. This week, I watched Guy Thomas go as fast as he could before I went in the ring, and didn’t think I could beat it, but we did. It’s pretty remarkable Zan Chin can go that fast and still jump. I hope she comes through it happy and stays sound. I don’t hardly jump her in between times. We’ll definitely do more derbies, and I’d love to see more horses in the class.” Although Stanley F is a new mount for Kelly, the two of them are already a great team and won all of their classes in the Performance Working Hunters 3’6” as well as the $2,500 USHJA National Hunter Derby. “One of my longest time customers, Linda Freeman, bought Stanley from Mike and Christa Endicott literally two days before the Woodside Spring Circuit, so we just brought him directly to those shows,” Kelly explained. “We bought him for her to eventually ride in the lower adult hunters and because we thought it would be fun for me to do the derbies while she learns on him. We have been figuring each other out since then. We have had some great moments, but for sure this class we clicked.” Stanley is showing himself to be a natural derby horse. “Stanley is naturally very brave but is very respectful of the jumps so he rarely rubs them,” Kelly added. “He has a beautiful expression and is always eager to please. He is big strided and has a lovely jump. The biggest obstacle right now is getting him to stay on one rhythm. He has been so easy in so many ways but his instinct when you see a jump is to take the bit and go a little—he started his career in the Young Jumper Championships back east as a 5-, 6-, and 7-year-old.” Kelly is a long-time supporter of LEG’s Northern California shows. “The Woodside Horse Shows are some of my favorite shows of the year. It is very easy to get here, and the Horse Park is simply one of the most beautiful places on earth with the surrounding trees, view of the bay, and natural beauty. Show management has always been very accommodating, and there are improvements every time we come. The vastly improved hunter footing since the spring shows alone was such a welcome surprise - my horses loved it and they jumped great the last two weeks. The courses in the hunter and jumper ring were particularly good this week. We really love when they have John Manning do the jumpers. They are challenging but always have a flow to them so it makes for great classes for jumpers as well as derby and equitation prep. I have a very diverse barn - we had riders the last two weeks in literally every level, so it is great to have a show where there is no ‘bad’ ring.”
