Kate Conover Completes a Dream by Winning $25,000 WCHR Professional Finals at 2023 Capital Challenge Horse Show

On Friday, October 6, at the 2023 Capital Challenge Horse Show at the Prince George’s Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro, MD, Kate Conover made her dream come true by winning the $25,000 World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) Professional Finals, sponsored by The Rein Family. Conover took home the win by completing a stellar handy round in the Playoffs, then staying incredibly consistent and holding the lead with four unfamiliar horses in The Final Four.

The class featured six of the country’s top professional hunter riders going head-to-head. Shelley Campf, Kate Conover, Nick Haness, Geoffrey Hesslink, Brady Mitchell, and Leslie Steele qualified by their spots in the WCHR national standings. All six riders competed in the opening Playoff Round over a handy hunter course set by Ken Krome on a horse of their choosing.

Three teams of two judges oversaw the class, with Chris Wynne and Virginia Edwards making up the first panel, Brian Lenehan and Scott Fitton on the second, and Mark Jungherr and Eric Dirks sitting on the third. Each team awarded one score, and the average of those three scores represented the rider’s overall mark. The riders with the four highest totals then advanced to The Final Four, where they took turns riding unfamiliar horses.

In the $5,000 Playoffs of the WCHR Professional Finals, Kate Conover of Ocala, FL, and Small Friendship, owned by R&R Sport Horses LLC, blew the competition away by scoring 93 (Judge’s Panel 1 gave a 95) over the handy course that included multiple option jumps, walking through a chute, and a long gallop to the final oxer.

“The horse I brought in the first round is one that I show in the first years, and I thought that I should go with one that I really know in that class because that track you had to be handy,” said Conover of her Playoffs horse, Small Friendship. “I think I made the right decision going with him, and he rose to the occasion and from there it was pretty amazing, the whole experience.”

Second in the Playoffs went to Geoffrey Hesslink of Wellington, FL, and Spoken, owned by Shadowfax Equestrian LLC, with a score of 88.33. Brady Mitchell of Wellington, FL, and Holden Out, owned by Rein Family LLC, placed third with 86.66, while Shelley Campf of Canby, OR, and Understudy, owned by Ella Cate Duke, rounded out the final four with a score of 81.66.

Nick Haness of Temecula, CA, and Queen Celeste, owned by Glade Run Farm LLC, and Leslie Steele of Calabasas, CA, and No Reservations, owned by Curtis Holdings Inc., finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

Conover, Hesslink, Mitchell, and Campf returned for the Final Four on a clean slate, each jumping four courses, rotating turns on horses generously donated by their owners. Conover, Mitchell, and Campf were all riding in their first-ever WCHR Pro Finals, while Hesslink made his debut in 2020.

Conover started out her first round on Totoka Fuji, a nine-year-old Belgian Sport Horse gelding by Spartacus owned by Ingenium Farm. She scored 88 with a smooth ride to start out with a two-point lead. She next rode Actionable, a seven-year-old Oldenburg gelding by Action Blue owned by LG Sporthorses LLC, to the high score of the competition with a 92, which raised her total to 180 and increased her lead to eight points.

Riding Lifestyle, a seven-year-old KWPN gelding by Cape Coral RBF Z owned by Topline Imports LLC, in round three, her lead shrank down to 5.34 points as Mitchell came back with a strong ride on Totoka Fuji. It was her final ride on A Little Less Conversation, a seven-year-old Oldenburg gelding by Elvis Ter Putte owned by Emily Wolkind, that sealed the deal with a score of 86.33 and a final total of 355.33.

Conover explained after her win that while WCHR qualification is not always her focus, this year she made a decision to compete more and aim for this.

“My brother passed away in January, and I kind of just changed my focus to riding for my family,” she said. “My mom really loves it so I know she’s watching. I can’t call her yet because I’ll cry but I know I made her really proud, and I know my brother is watching. I made this a focus, and I wanted it. I wanted it not just for me but for my family, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic that it actually happened.”

Conover has been known for getting a leg up on many different horses throughout her riding career, even starting back on ponies. “When I was a kid, and my whole life, I never really had the same horse or pony all the time, so it’s a lot of experience of just trying to make a relationship very fast,” she explained. “I think it’s that experience of riding them all differently, taking what you have in the moment, and doing the best you can. Every horse you don’t ride the same. I think riding a lot of different horses my whole life really set me up well for this class here today.”

Mitchell started the first round on one horse, but after an unfortunate refusal, he was granted a new ride. He switched over to Lifestyle and came roaring back with a score of 86. His final three scores of 86 on A Little Less conversation, 91.66 on Totoka Fuji, and 89.33 riding Actionable had him close but not quite enough with 259.32 for second place.

“From the first second this morning when we saw the Finals horses school, I have to say I wanted to make the second round so I could ride the paint horse (Totoka Fuji),” revealed Mitchell. “I knew I was going to like the way that horse felt, and I’m really glad that I had a chance to ride all of the horses. Totoka Fuji ended up being my best round tonight, and I’m glad I got a chance to ride him.”

Regarding his Playoffs horse Holden Out, he remarked, “It actually worked out really nicely for him because he’s such a brave, sweet horse so this was a fresh environment for him, and he hadn’t had a chance to show in here yet, which I feel like brought out the best in his jump. He was really on his game.”

Campf received scores of 83.33, 85.83, 88.66, and 83.33 for a total of 341.15 for third place.

Following the class, Campf said, “I had a conformation horse that didn’t come at the last minute, so I didn’t have anything to ride and then I decided that I was not going to ride in the Pro Challenge. I got invited into this class. I haven’t been showing much this summer because I ripped my abductor muscle in my thigh, so it was kind of exciting and I didn’t know how it was going to go.”

“It was really fun to be riding with these riders, and we were all really helping each other,” said Campf, who competed at the very first Capital Challenge Horse Show thirty years ago. “I thought it was a fun environment.”

Hesslink had an unfortunate start in the first round with a lively Actionable. He was granted a reride on the same horse but withdrew during the round after a rail down. He returned for solid scores of 84.33, 83.66, and a high score of 91.33 on Totoka Fuji for a fourth-place total of 259.32.

“It wasn’t my night tonight, and that’s okay,” said Hesslink. “I find it an honor to be in this class, and I think Kate is one of the most beautiful and most amazing riders so I could not be happier for her.”

This was the second year in a row that a first-timer in the WCHR Pro Finals took the win after Nick Haness won in 2022.

For her win in the WCHR Professional Finals, Conover was presented with the All The Way Perpetual Trophy, donated by Elizabeth Busch Burke and Lisa Burke Horkan.

Tasha Visokay’s Ingenium Farm was honored with The Far West Farms Perpetual Trophy as her horse Totoka Fuji ended up with scores of 88, 85.83, 91.66, and 91.33 for the highest cumulative point total of 356.82.

Final Results: $25,000 WCHR Professional Finals, sponsored by The Rein Family
1.    Kate Conover: 88, 92, 89, 86.33 – 355.33
2.    Brady Mitchell: 86, 86, 91.66, 89.33 – 352.99
3.    Shelley Campf: 83.33, 85.83, 88.66, 83.33 – 341.15
4.    Geoffrey Hesslink: WD, 84.33, 83.66, 91.33 – 259.32

Riley Hogan Hones In on the Win in the Ariat National Adult Medal Finals

During daytime competition in The Show Place Arena on Friday, riders competing in the ARIAT National Adult Medal Finals took centerstage, where Riley Hogan, 20, of Warrenton, VA, claimed the win with an overall score of 181.99.

Riders spend the year earning points towards qualification of the finals with only the top 30 invited to compete at Capital Challenge. Three panels each composed of two judges oversaw the class. Peg Seals and Chris Wynne made up the first panel, while Brian Lenehan and Mark Jungherr sat on the second panel, and Virginia Edwards and Mary Eufemia represented the third panel. Each panel provided one score, and the average of the three resulted in the rider’s overall mark. The top 10 then returned for a second round in reverse order of their first-round scores.

Hogan, a junior at Oklahoma State University majoring in Marketing and Business, was unable to take time away from school until she arrived in Maryland at 2:00 a.m. Friday morning. As an added difficulty, she sat on her mount Uruguay, an eight-year-old Holsteiner gelding by Uriko owned by Don Stewart and Stefano Baruzzo LLC, for the first time just four hours later.

“My trainer Don Stewart has a lot of horses because he does a lot of sales, so he had a few here at the show for me to try,” explained Hogan. “I got them all in the ring this morning and I jumped three or four of them, and we decided that Uruguay was the best fit. Don has had him for a little bit, so I’ve seen him, but I’ve never ridden him myself.”

Despite being partnered with an unfamiliar horse, it was actually a familiar situation for Hogan, who rides on her school’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I equestrian team and earned National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) All-American honors this year. With her team experience, Hogan has gotten accustomed to traveling to meets and competing with horses she’s never met before.

“All the work we do at school and the coaches there really prepared me for this, because that’s what we do – we travel and get on random horses,” she said. “Competing with a horse I’m getting on for the first time was pretty much second nature now that I’m a junior and have competed in that format for a couple years. Doing this today was very similar.”

With a horse decided on for competition, Hogan could focus on the challenges of the course designed by Ken Krome and Meghan Rawlins. Her stylish first round earned a score 89.33, jumping straight to the top of the leaderboard.

“I thought the course was really well done,” commented Hogan. “There were enough questions, opportunities to go inside, and you could really show off. For Uruguay, he has a huge stride and just walks the lines, so I was able to get on one pace and stick with it, and I thought it rode really well.”

Last to return for round two, Hogan kept her cool, delivering an impressive effort, which was rewarded with a score of 92.66 for a total of 181.99.

“There is a lot of pressure coming back on top,” admitted Hogan who won the EMO Insurance/United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) 3’3” Jumping Seat Medal Final – East during the 2021 Capital Challenge Horse Show. “I came here hoping to do well, so it was definitely a goal of mine. I knew that going in, but I also knew that I could just go in and do the best that I could.

“The second round was a little bit more technical,” she continued. “There were definitely more opportunities to do inside turns. I watched the first two go before getting on and everybody did the turns, so I knew in order to have the score to win, I needed to do all the inside turns.”

In the end, it was Hogan who was victorious. Brendan Weiss of Wynnewood, PA, who won the North American Adult Amateur Equitation Finals during Equitation Weekend, presented by BIGEQ.com, earned second place with Hello Houston Z, a nine-year-old Zangersheide gelding owned by Elizabeth Cohen, on a score of 175.07. Rounding out the top three with a score of 172.58 was Blake Lindsley of Los Angeles, CA, aboard her own Twizzler, a 12-year-old Warmblood gelding by Catum.

Competition during the 30th anniversary of the Capital Challenge Horse Show continues Saturday, October 7, with the awarding of Pony Hunter champions as well as the $10,000 North American League (NAL) Low Junior/Amateur Jumper Final, presented by R & R Hunter Horses, and the $10,000 1.30-1.35m Medium Junior/Amateur Classic, sponsored by Parlanti.