Trainer Robert Beck celebrates his first ARIAT win

“She’s for sale,” said Willekis of the mare. “It is a good year to end it, but part of me wishes it wasn’t ending. That mare has given me everything. She’s done the Junior Hunters, the Children’s Hunters, the Equitation division. She can do everything. You don’t get many horses like that.”

Willekis was one of thirty to compete in the two-round class and when the top ten were asked to return in reverse order over a second course Willekis stood in the fifth position. The panel of five judges then asked the top five riders to return to the ring for additional testing. The riders preformed the test in reverse order of preference. They were asked to canter to fence 8, canter fence 9, make a tight right turn to trot fence 3. Continue on to canter 4, counter canter 5ab and then return to the line at a sitting trot.

Willekis was the final exhibitor to test and although she had a minor flaw of swapping leads back and forth, the young adult rider held the first-place position.

“Just getting in the top ten is great,” said Willekis. “Winning is more than I ever imagined.”

Willekis has been with her trainer Robert Beck for about five years. She loves training and riding at Hunter’s Crossing in Long Valley. “There’s a ton of Adults. It really makes it fun. If one wins, we all win. If one gets 3rd, we all get 3rd. It’s an excellent barn, lots of fun.”

The adult amateur works as a branch manager in a mortgage company in Parsippany, NJ. The rider’s future plans include raising and training the six young horses she has bred and imported.

Reserve champion in the ARIAT National Medal Finals was awarded to Lauren Agni of Anchorage, Alaska. The 21 year old has shown on the east coast in the past but was born and raised in Alaska. Agni not only collected the second place ribbon in the ARIAT class, but also picked up the reserve champion in the younger amateur owner hunter division riding Milton.

Agni attends school in Tacoma, Washington, and is studying communications with an emphasis in Public Relations.

The Capital Challenge Horse Show runs through Sunday, October 10 and will showcase the nation’s best hunters and jumpers. The $40,000 Ariat Congressional Cup Grand Prix is the highlight of the jumper action. Held at 7:30pm on Saturday, October 9 the FEI World Cup Qualifying class is a great opportunity to witness US Equestrian Team veterans tackle a demanding course. As always admission to the show is free and classes run in two rings throughout the day. Evening classes are held Tuesday through Saturday. Results, photos and the time schedule can be found on the Capital Challenge website: www.capitalchallenge.org . For more information on the Capital Challenge Horse Show call (301) 260-2467 prior to the show or (301) 952-7944 during the show.