Wellington, Fla. – Jan. 28, 2018- Hallie Grimes and Emma Kurtz were named Small Junior Hunter Champions in the younger and older divisions respectively, on the last day of week three at the 2018 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF).
Grimes captured the championship aboard Can We Keep It LLC’s Inquisitive in the Small Junior Hunter 15 & Under division. The pair secured a blue in the handy round during the first day of competition with an unbeatable score of 87. They returned for day two with a second in the under-saddle followed by a win in the first jumping round with a score of 84.
Grimes recently moved up to the 3’6” Junior Hunters with the 10-year-old Warmblood gelding after being champion in the 3’3” Junior Hunter division at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in October, 2017. Even with being new to the 3’6 division, she hopes to qualify Inquisitive for The Devon Horse Show this year.
Reserve champion for the Small Junior Hunter 15 & Under division went to Mimi Gochman and Gochman Sport Horses LLC’s Evermore.
Emma Kurtz and A Million Reasons took home the Small Junior Hunter 16-17 division championship on the final day of competition. During day one, Kurtz rode the 13-year-old Holsteiner mare to the win with an impressive score of 90. The pair had successful rounds on day two to finish off on top. This is the second Small Junior championship for Kurtz and A Million Reasons this season. They topped the leaderboard week one of WEF.
FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Hallie Grimes- Small Junior Hunter 15 & Under champion
On the horse:
“He’s perfect. He’s 10-years-old this year. We did the 3’3 [Junior Hunters] all last year. He’s been a great horse for me to move up on. He’s been awesome”
On the first day of competition:
“My day was great! He won the handy round. I made some risky decisions and they worked out. But he was great!”
On today’s rounds:
“He doesn’t have the biggest stride, so I land and try to move the lines early and that’s what I focused on today. He likes the bigger rings. He just marches down there, it was great!”
On future goals:
“I think it’s kind of a pipe dream, but I would like to qualify him for Devon. It all depends on how the points shake-out considering we just started this division, but I would really like that!”