The Directors: WIHS’ Winning Sisters
Local Day in 2007. “He was one of those horses that was great when he was on but a challenge when he wasn’t,” Brit- tani remarked. Chelsea and Bogey ended up winning her first class, getting dumped in her second and then went back to win the hack. “We ended up with the championship that year even with the fall!” Chelsea said laughing. When Bogey was
ready to retire from the show ring, he went to stay at Brittani’s farm in Eldersburg, where he lived until the spring of 2018. He was 28 years old when he died. Soon after Bogey was retired, Chelsea leased a horse named Harry Winston to compete in the Chil- dren’s Hunters before she found Urban.
The Big Guys
Urban is a Dutch Holsteiner-cross gelding that Chelsea bought in 2009 to take her from the Children’s to Junior classes. “He’s full of personality and spoiled rotten,” Chelsea said of her horse. “He knows so much more than me and loves his job.” In 2011, Chelsea and Urban finished sixth in
a WIHS local class. “I was so nervous and just hung on for dear life,” Chelsea said. “Urban just carted me around.” Te very next year, the pair won at Locals and went on to be crowned Re- gional Hunter Champions at the 2012 WIHS.
Brittani’s first WIHS ribbons came aboard Change of Season in 2005 when she finished 10th in the WIHS Children’s Hunter Championship.
“Washington is on every- one’s bucket list and it was a great feeling to win there,” Chelsea added. Brittani’s Rococo, bet- ter known as “Cody,” is a petite Trakhener geld- ing that Kenny Krome found while wintering in Ocala, Florida. When he was purchased, Cody was a six-year-old dres- sage horse that had little jumping experience. “Buying him was a bit of a gamble but we figured we had nothing to lose,” she explained. It turns out he is a natural jumper and loves every minute of it. In his first few years Cody
with Brittani, competed with Kenny in
the 3’ through 3’6’’ Greens, and Brittani showed him in the Adults and Amateur Owner 3’6’’ classes. “He’s always good but he’s little so it can be harder to get down the lines sometimes,” she said. “But he consistently does what- ever you ask him to do, which is what makes him so great.” Tey made their WIHS debut together in 2012 when they finished fifth in the Adult Hunter Champion- ships. Chelsea and Urban finished fourth that same year. Brittani went back to WIHS a
few more times with Cody, placing third in the Regional Hunter Horse
championships in 2014 and sixth in the Adult Hunter Championships in 2016. “Te judges ei- ther like him or they don’t,” Brittani explained about the way Cody jumps. “He has to go around a little quicker to get the strides done.” Brittani crossed into the jumper world with Cody at one point and then focused on Equita- tion, making it all the way to the Ariat Equi- tation Finals in 2014, and finishing second at the MHSA Medal Finals in 2017. But there was just one more goal she felt she still hadn’t achieved–a win at WIHS. “I really didn’t want her to go back,” Shari
said, adding that “she had done so well and been so successful at WIHS in past years and at other venues I just didn’t see why she needed to do it again.” Last October, Brittani and Cody headed to WIHS, and brought home the 2018 Regional Hunter Championship. “Man did she make me eat my words!” Shari laughed. “Washington is the show of all shows. It’s an adrenaline rush and I’m so happy to have won
continued...
Chelsea rode Humphrey Bogart WIHS’ Local Days in 2007, 2008 (pictured) and 2009.
16 | THE EQUIERY | JANUARY 2019
800-244-9580 |
www.equiery.com
918701-181118
Al Cook
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
