The inaugural USHJA 3'3" Jumping Seat Medal Finals - West unfolded over two days on the grass of the Pacific Field and the Oaks International Grand Prix Field during Blenheim EquiSports' International Jumping Festival. Scott Williamson and Troy Hendricks judged the three-phase class over Sept. 22 and 23, with the flat and gymnastics phases taking place on Friday, and the jumping phase on Saturday. Out of sixteen starters, Payton Potter emerged victorious aboard her own horse, Pacord. Coming into the final day sitting fifth, the 14-year-old rider of Modesto, California, earned the winning score in the third phase and topped the work-off of four to claim victory.
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Payton Potter rode her own Pacord to claim the inaugural USHJA 3'3" Jumping Seat Medal Finals - West. Photo credit: McCool Photos
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FEI course designer Anthony D'Ambrosio designed the gymnastics and show jumping tracks. Scores for each of the three phases were progressively weighted: 1, 1.5 and 2, respectively. Williamson and Hendricks evaluated equitation style and technical merit in all phases, and in the final jumping phases they also evaluated the execution of an efficient, well-ridden track. In Saturday's jumping round, one point was deducted for each second over the time allowed and four points for a rail down.
After the three phases were complete, four competitors were within five points of the leader's score, and were asked to ride an additional work-off. Kate Abajian, 16, of Ladera Ranch, California, and Payton Potter came into the work-off tied at 376 points each. Juliette Joseph, 14, of Del Mar, California, with a total of 374.5 points and Breanna Bunevacz, 13, of Valencia, California, with 373 points were sitting third and fourth.
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2017 USHJA 3'3" Jumping Seat Medal Finals - West winner Payton Potter was all smiles during the awards ceremony. Photo credit: McCool Photos
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Each were asked to ride a shortened course within a time allowed. First to go, Bunevacz rode a smooth track but finished with one time fault. Joseph had two rails within the time allowed. Potter chose to add a stride to the combination; she also finished with a single time fault, in an otherwise well-ridden round. Determined not to go too slow, Abajian, who led the pack after the first two phases, rode forward throughout her track, moving up to the combination. That move proved costly as her horse Lambada moved up to quite a deep distance.
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Breanna Bunevacz earned second place riding her own Hudson Bay. Photo credit: McCool Photos
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Abajian finished fourth overall, and Lambada was voted Best Equitation Horse by the judges. Joseph finished third, and
Bunevacz finished in second place.
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Juliette Joseph rode Brittany Delano's Dante to third place. Photo credit: McCool Photos
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Potter spoke of the format of the medal final, "It is set up really well for my horse who was a former jumper. Gymnastics is his favorite, and I felt like that helped a lot with confidence building. I was a little nervous, but I managed to keep it together and just tried to really focus," she noted. " I liked the jumping phase because you really had to gallop. You couldn't go slow and out or you would have time faults. So, it made you really think about where you were going."
She continued about the lessons learned. "The work-off flowed, but you still had to keep moving. That was good for me, but I should've definitely continued to flow to the combination. I learned a lot from this class, and I will carry this experience with me."
And as any good horsemen, she spoke of her horse Danish Warmblood mount Pacord fondly, "We've had him for about a year and a half. He's my baby. Honestly, he's my partner, and I couldn't have done any of this without him."
Fourteen-year-old Potter has her sights set on the WCE finals at the Las Vegas National Horse Show this November and to prepare to compete in the USEF Show Jumping Talent Search next show season.
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| Kate Abajian finished fourth aboard Lambada, who was named Best Equitation Horse. Photo credit: McCool Photos |
Each of the three phases was pinned with Abajian winning the flat phase, Bunevacz winning the gymnastics, and Potter winning the jumping phase. For her victory, Potter received a Charles Owen helmet in addition to her ribbon and cooler. The USHJA extends special thanks to the entire Blenheim EquiSports team for hosting this inaugural finals.
The USHJA 3'3" Jumping Seat Medal Finals - East will take place Sept. 29 and 30 at the Capital Challenge Horse Show in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
Comprehensive Results for the Finals
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Place
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Rider |
Horse |
Phase 1 Score |
Phase 2 Score |
Phase 3 Score |
Work-Off Score |
Overall Score |
| 1 |
Payton Potter |
Pacord |
80.00 |
126.00 |
170.00 |
82.00 |
458.00 |
| 2 |
Breanna Bunevacz |
Hudson Bay |
83.00 |
129.00 |
161.00 |
80.00 |
453.00 |
| 3 |
Juliette Joseph |
Dante |
84.00 |
124.50 |
166.00 |
74.00 |
448.50 |
| 4 |
Kate Abajian |
Lambada |
88.00 |
127.50 |
160.50 |
65.00 |
441.00 |
| 5 |
Emily Williams |
Carlo |
86.00 |
123.00 |
153.00 |
0.00 |
362.00 |
| 6 |
Alexandra Farfaras |
Sir Dru |
79.00 |
112.50 |
160.00 |
0.00 |
351.50 |
| 7 |
Amanda Calhoun |
Quantum |
82.00 |
114.00 |
155.00 |
0.00 |
351.00 |
| 8 |
Lilly Clarkson |
Notorious |
81.00 |
115.50 |
144.00 |
0.00 |
340.50 |
| 9 |
Hannah Gansert |
Pius Luga |
62.00 |
111.00 |
152.00 |
0.00 |
325.00 |
| 10 |
Tessa Darling |
Prophecy |
69.00 |
87.00 |
164.00 |
0.00 |
320.00 |
