Olympic Heroes & Local Stars Shine at Washington International
By Katherine O. Rizzo with photos by Shawn McMillen T e Washington International Horse Show
kicked off at the Prince George’s Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro on October 21 with the WIHS Regional Hunter Finals as the featured class. Christina Mangano (VA) rode Good To Go, owned by Chad Keenum, to win the WIHS Regional Hunter Finals for Horses while Maryland junior Zoey Chambers of Owings topped the WIHS Regional Pony Hunter Finals with Highlight, owned by Su- zanne Chambers. Twelve-year-old Chambers scored an 86 with Highlight, a seven-year-old German Riding Pony gelding, for the win. “I’ve had him only a few months,” Chambers said, adding, “He’s really improved since we’ve had him at the be- ginning to now and I’m really proud of him.” T e following day, October 22, hunter divisions
continued at WIHS with Hunt Tosh (GA) and the Wheeler Family’s Cannon Creek winning the Grand Champion Hunter award while Ken- zie Smith (NY) won the $10,000 WIHS Chil- dren’s Hunter Championship, riding Mirage for owner Charlotte Rossetter. T at same day, Reilly Canard (VA) won the $10,000 WIHS Adult Amateur Hunter Championship riding Carry On, who is also owned by Rossetter. Maryland’s Mary Lisa Leffl er earned a blue
for winning the High Performance Conforma- tion class riding her own Chime. Leffl er is a professional trainer and rider at Rolling Acres Show Stables in Brookeville and also a hunt- er and equitation judge. Chime is a relatively new mount for Leffl er who purchased him in March. T e pair started their partnership with a championship in the 3’9’’ Greens at HITS Post Time Farm and were Reserve Circuit Champions there too. At WIHS, Leffl er and Chime won two classes over two days with scores in the 90s. T ey also earned the Reserve Championship in the 3’9’’ Green Hunters. Hunter divisions took up the bulk of the day
competition at WIHS on October 23 while jumpers took center stage that evening. During the day, Sophie Gochman (FL) earned the Grand Champion Amateur-Owner 3’6’’ Hunter cham- pionship with Colter, while Caroline Signorino (NJ) won the 3’3’’ division title riding Sandori. T at evening, Katherine Mercer (FL) rode Colina SN to win the $10,000 WIHS Chil- dren’s Jumper Championship. Kimberly Coyle (NY) rode her own Dartani to victory in the $10,000 WIHS Adult Jumper Championships. T e FEI Grand Prix jumper classes started on T ursday, October 23, evening during the
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always popular Barn Night. T ese international classes are the highlight of WIHS each year and they attract riders from all over the world. T is year, the FEI divisions had 34 riders rep- resenting 13 countries. T ere were 14 Olympi- ans, including 2024 U.S. team silver medalists McLain Ward and Laura Kraut, making the 2024 international jumper fi eld the strongest fi eld of competitors ever at WIHS. Abdel Said of Belgium rode AS Trading’s
Arpege du Ru to win the $63,000 FEI Wel- come Stake, besting 33 horse/rider combi- nations. Nina Mallevaey of France won the
Sue Jarboe Wins Groom Award at WIHS
Sue Jarboe grew up riding horses in Maryland and around the area but as an adult, horses took the back seat until two years ago when she started working as a show groom for Brett Shear- Heyman’s Penny Leigh LLC stables.
Jarboe, now living in
Glenelg, met Shear-Heyman through a mutual friend and fi lled in as a show groom a few times
in
enough to kind of fall into this position,”
2022. “I was lucky Jarboe explained.
“T en at the end of that year, Brett sent me her 2023 schedule and asked if I could join their team.” Jarboe has been a show groom for Penny Leigh for two seasons and capped off 2024 by being receiving the Best Turned Out Horse award, sponsored by T e Clothes Horse, at this year’s Washington International Horse Show. “It’s crazy! It was that very fi rst day of the show and to know that Bodhi [Fan Favorite] was the best of the best out of all those horses that day is really cool,” she said. Fan Favorite, called Bodhi at the barn, is a nine-year-old Hanoverian gelding ridden and owned by Kate Chan of Arlington, VA. “I love that horse, and Kate, and I’m really excited for their future together,” Jarboe said adding, “but really, all the hard work is done before the show at home with good care, good nutrition, fi tness and more. When we get to the show, its more about just dusting him off so he naturally shines.” As a show groom, Jarboe travels with the Penny Leigh clients up and down the East Coast
competing at approximately eight regular season shows a year with six to eight horses per show. “Washington [International Horse Show] feels very large in terms of being so prestigious since you have to qualify to get there,” she said, adding, “but the actual show at PG [Equestrian Cen- ter] is small since they limit entries so behind the scenes, it’s actually kind of low key compared to Capital Challenge and Maryland Horse and Pony Show.” Jarboe’s groom responsibilities are everything from mucking stalls, to walking horses, to bath- ing and tacking up. “It is a long hard day but I fi nd it really rewarding,” she said. “I love getting to know the horses and what helps them be their best.” But for anyone thinking of pursuing a career as a show groom, Jarboe warned with a laugh, “just be prepared to be dirty. All the time. So, when you get called into the ring to accept an award… you’re certainly NOT the best turned out of the group!”
THE EQUIERY YOUR MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL PUBLICATION | DECEMBER 2024 | 17
$32,000 Accumulator costume class with My Clementine, owned by Rein Family LLC and Tara Dow-Rein. T e Accumulator class had 27 entries representing 11 countries. During Barn Night, the fi rst annual Kind
Wins award was presented to Sue Chambers (Quinn Haven Stables) and Paige Walkenbach (VA) for their generous and kind behavior to- wards fellow athletes and horses. Maryland barns came out in force for Barn
Night and won several of WIHS’s annual awards. Enticement Stables in Harwood won
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