Todd Minikus of Loxahatchee, FL, and Exceptional were just that in the $15,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby at TIEC. Minikus and Exceptional bested twenty-six other pairings with phenomenal scores of 92 and 96, capturing the win by more than ten points with a final score of 188. Taylor Ann Adams of Ocala, FL, and Lucretia finished in second place with a two round score of 177.5, while Kianna Luscher of Hawthorne, NJ, and Carissima W took third place with 175 points after two rounds. Minikus explained that he wasn’t sure how to approach the inside turns for the handy round in particular with this horse, and needed to improvise a bit on course, which Exceptional, owned by Todd Minikus LTD, handled with ease. He commented, “I thought it was a very nice course. The inside turns in the handy were reallyinside, which I do have some practice with, but he’s a very green horse and I didn’t know how he would take it. He handled it exceptionally well and evidently the judges thought he did it as well as I did!” The pair has been together since midway through the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) circuit in Wellington, FL, when a friend of Minikus found Exceptional in Belgium and connected the two. A six year-old bay gelding, Exceptional has only done six or seven shows in his career.
