Hunter

It’s not often you're able to merge your professional career and equestrian lifestyle, but Dr. Wendy Rice is one of the few who found a way to do it and is doing it well. Like many young equestrians, Dr. Rice was a true “barn rat” growing up and was grateful for the opportunity to sit on anything handed to her. She had her first lesson on a palomino named Willing at Lake Bryn Mawr Camp in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, and three lunge line lessons in the summer of 1978, which...

Caroline Light started her show morning how she normally spends it, feeding her gelding Modelo, a banana, still in its peel. 2026 marks Light’s first time attending and competing in the USHJA Amateur Hunter Championships at the picturesque Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. The Evington, Virginia native is basking in this milestone opportunity with the horse of her dreams right alongside her. Having grown up on a beef cattle farm, Light has always been surrounded by livestock,...

Lexington, Ky. – The first day of summer arrived at the Kentucky Horse Park on Sunday, June 21, and with it came a new set of champions. The 2026 Adequan®/USEF Junior Hunter National Championship – East came to a close with four 15 & Under division titles decided, alongside the prestigious 3'6" and 3'3" overall grand championships. After four days of competition in the Walnut Ring and Rolex Stadium, the crowning moments of the 2026 JHNC did not disappoint. Large...

There is a reason Grier Van Rooyen's barn nickname for Oswald van de Leeuwerk is "Ozzy." The 2014 Belgian Warmblood (Indouglas van het Bevrijdthof x Persinaa), owned by Calogera Borrello, has a rockstar personality as big as his jump. Van Rooyen and Oswald van de Leeuwerk (©US Equestrian) Van Rooyen grew up around horses from the start. Riding runs in the family as her mother rides, and Grier was in the saddle by age four. She grew up in Wyoming where she and her mother spent time in...

Lexington, Ky. – The sun was shining at the Kentucky Horse Park on Saturday, June 20, as day three of the Adequan®/USEF Junior Hunter National Championship – East got underway in spectacular fashion. With blue skies overhead, the 15 & Under divisions took to the Walnut Ring for their first classic rounds while the Large and Small Junior Hunter 3'6" 15 & Under divisions also competed in the iconic Rolex Stadium for their under-saddle classes. Large Junior Hunter 15...

Lexington, Ky. – The first 2026 national champions emerged on the second day of competition at the Adequan®/USEF Junior Hunter National Championship – East on June 19. All four of the sections for the 16-17 age group tackled a challenging test over Skip Bailey’s handy course at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Walnut Ring. Large Junior Hunter 3’6” 16-17 National Champion: Presley Wade and Circa Presley Wade and Circa (©US Equestrian) Overnight leaders...

The moment 12-year-old Caden Nolt swung his leg over the newly minted off-the-track Thoroughbred; he knew it was meant to be. Since the beginning of their partnership, the pair have paved the way for fellow Thoroughbreds competing within the hunter discipline and continue to outshine fellow competitors in the ring. Caden and Gio (Photo courtesy of the Nolt family) It’s not most parents’ dream to give their child a Thoroughbred that had only finished racing three months prior, but...

Lexington, Ky. – Despite a rainy start to the morning, the 2026 Adequan®/USEF Junior Hunter National Championship – East (JHNC) got underway Thursday, June 18, at the Kentucky Horse Park, where the 16-17 age groups wasted no time making their mark in the first classic rounds of the week. The courses, designed by Skip Bailey, are set in the Walnut Ring while the under-saddle classes take place in the Rolex Stadium. 3'6" Large Junior Hunter 16-17 Presley Wade and Circa...

When Truth Samuels walks into the show ring aboard A Colorful Affair, heads tend to turn. Iggy and Truth at the 2025 Adequan/USEF Junior Hunter Championship – East (©Winslow Photography, Courtesy of the Samuels family) Known around the barn as "Iggy," the striking Danish pinto stands out in a sea of bay and chestnut hunters. His unique coloring draws compliments from fellow competitors and spectators alike, but according to Samuels, it's what's behind those colorful markings...

1. JHNC was established in 2001 The championship made its inaugural debut in 2001, with the East Coast event taking place at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation headquarters in Gladstone, N.J. Courtney McKay secured the first title aboard Aspen Grove Ranch’s Onyx. 2. 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of the championship ©US Equestrian 3. The Championship is held on both coasts The 2026 East Coast Championship is set at the iconic Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky., from June 17-21....

From the moment she could talk, Savanna McMichael had one request for anyone who would listen: a real pony. Not a stuffed animal from Build-A-Bear, a real one. Now at 17, the O'Fallon, Missouri, junior hunter rider has turned the early obsession into a decorated competitive career, a Division I college commitment, and a partnership with one very special horse named Latido. A Childhood Dream Becomes Reality Savanna's love of horses was apparent almost from birth. By age three, she was...

It takes courage to walk away from something you love and an even rarer kind to walk back in 40 years later as if no time has passed at all. For Teri Bohl, a now-68-year-old adult amateur hunter rider based in Lexington, Ky., that walk back wasn't just a return to the sport, it was a reclamation of herself. Horses From the Beginning Teri's relationship with horses didn't start in a ring, but at the racetrack. Growing up in upstate New York, her family was steeped in Thoroughbred...