PA NATIONAL 2007

Hi everyone!
Last week, I had the unique and special opportunity to ride at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in three divisions - the Small Junior Hunters, Prix de States (junior jumpers) and the USEF Medal finals.
El Raymond was really on his game and finished with the Championship in the 16-17 Small Junior Hunters. Marga had two rails the first night but held to four faults in each round of the Prix de States team competition on the second night. After some unfortunate circumstances, the Zone II team finished in seventh place. For the medal finals, I Toon was a bit tired, tripped and had a rail. With 2007 being the mare's first go around at indoors, she has had a great indoor season thus far even though Harrisburg was not her show.

I would like to take a moment to thank Kathryn Quirk and her family, as well as everyone associated with her barn, for the opportunity to ride such a wonderful and talented horse, El Raymond.

Next week, the barn will travel to the Syracuse Invitational Sport Horse Tournament which features the ASPCA Maclay, a World Cup qualifier and the Animal Planet Sport Horse Cup.

Check back with me next week for an update!
Talk to you later.
Maria Schaub

WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL HORSE SHOW 2007

Hi everyone!

The Washington International Horse Show, which is located in the heart of the city, draws large numbers of spectators and features show jumping, hunters, equitation, dressage, and barrel racing. The venue does a great job appealing to different groups of show enthusiasts by including activities involving local barns and charities, and various show segments that feature a concert and terrier races.

The Beacon Hill and Stonehenge Show Stables group had a great weekend. My barn mate, Jessica Springsteen, captured Championship and Reserve Championship titles in the younger Junior Hunter divisions. Another barn mate, Brianne Goutal, was third in the one hundred thousand dollar, Gerald R. Ford, World Cup Qualifier Grand Prix.

On Saturday evening, I went into the top ten ride off for the WIHS equitation final sitting in first place by a small margin. If you are not familiar with the format, the class starts with a Hunter Phase, followed by a Jumper Phase. At the finals, the top ten competitors switch horses and ride the jumper course again without the constraints of the timers. My fellow barn mate, Carolyn Curcio, and I were asked to switch horses for the final ride off. Carolyn rode, I Toon, very well and ultimately moved up from seventh to sixth place after the ride off. I rode her horse, Valvert, a large handsome bay gelding, whom I had flatted once several months ago, and we ultimately were pinned on top. Saturday night, I realized another goal, to win a national level equitation final.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped me to achieve this accomplishment but especially I want to extend a special thank you to a special horse, I Toon. Riding a young horse is a great experience and watching her grow and working with her has been a superb experience!

Next week the barn travels to Harrisburg for the Pennsylvania National Horse show which features the USEF Medal finals.

Catch up with me next week for some thoughts and commentary about the show.

Talk to you later,
Maria Schaub

Editor's note: View a Washington International photo gallery and read more about Maria's win at EquiSearch.com.

USEF EAST FINALS 2007

Hi everyone!
Just got back from the USEF EAST finals and I wanted to share some thoughts about the competition. The gymnastics course on Saturday was designed in classic Bert de Nemethy style with poles set a strides' distance before and after the jumps and with several transitions from the cantor to the trot between the lines.
After the first two rounds - the flat phase and the gymnastics phase - several Beacon Hill riders were sitting in the top ten contention - Nikko Ritter was in third place, I was in fifth place, Christina Lin was in ninth place and Jessica Springsteen was in tenth place.

On Sunday morning the show jumping phase tested your riding skills on a jumper type course which included an open water jump, a triple combination and a double liverpool. Nikko and Jessie made it into the top four with flowing and beautiful rounds and were ultimately pinned in first and third respectively after the final four competition. Christina Lin, who was riding her five year old horse finished in eleventh place. Although the horse I was riding named, Perfekt, tried to dodge away from a few fences, I held him in the lines and we finished in thirteenth place. (Read more in Nancy Jaffer's postcard on EquiSearch.com.)

Along with two other riders, I was fortunate to be awarded the gold medal which is given after twenty class wins. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the people who made this award possible especially my parents and my trainers.
Finally, a special thank you to Jim and Ellen Toon for the ride on I Toon. I started the 2007 season shy three wins for the gold medal and with the mare's help was able to realize another goal in my last year as a junior.

This week, the Beacon Hill group will travel to the Washington International Horse show for the competition.
Catch up with me after the show for an update.
Talk to you later.
Maria Schaub

CAPITAL CHALLENGE 2007

Hi, everyone.
Just got back from the Capital Challenge horse show and wanted to give you a quick update. The weekend's great weather - blue skies and temperature's in the seventies -certainly made showing very pleasant. The opportunity to ride and show in the indoor and the outdoor rings in preparation for USEF EAST Finals as well as the Medal and Maclay Finals was another plus. I rode Perfekt in the outside classes. He is the horse I will be showing at the USEF East Finals next weekend - and it was great to learn more about him since he is a newcomer to the equitation. I rode, I Toon, the seven year old chestnut mare owned by JT Farm, in the indoor classes on Sunday. She has matured and has come a long way since I started riding her in January and it was so exciting to experience and realize the progress we have made together. Winning a special class with a horse that I have such a close bond with meant so much to me. I really love her!
Winning the Equitation Championship on Sunday was another goal realized in 2007.
The Beacon Hill riders did quite well this weekend, pinning in many of the classes and the younger, less experienced riders got a taste of the challenges they will face at indoors during the many years that lie ahead of them.
Catch up with me later this week after the USEF Talent Search East Finals.
Talk to you later.
Maria Schaub

Editor's Note: Read all about the North American Jr Eq Championship here.