Twice is Nice for Paige Walkenbach During 2024 Adequan®/USEF Junior Hunter National Championships
The first of the division champions at the 2024 Adequan®/USEF Junior Hunter National Championships were crowned on Saturday as the penultimate day of competition kicked off. Throughout the entirety of the week at Flintfields Horse Park, competitions drew the country’s most esteemed young hunter combinations to the Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel International Ring in hopes of taking home a tri-color.
Three divisions reached completion throughout the course of the day and it proved to be a historic occasion for Paradise Valley, Arizona’s Paige Walkenbach who sealed the deal on two out of the three champion finishes.
In the day’s debut event, 22 pairings put on their final performance in the Small Junior 3’6” 16-17 Handy round. Walkenbach and partner, the Marnell Sport Horses’ nine-year-old Oldenburg gelding Babylon (by Crumbie), made their way around the course towards the end of the order and the round was enough to impress the judges and catapult them straight to the top of the class. Paired with their win in Thursday’s Classic round and a second-place result under saddle, victory in the handy round meant a no-contest claim to the division’s champion honors.
“I’m not going to lie, I was about to have a heart attack going into the ring,” Walkenbach exclaimed. “I definitely get nervous, but I think it’s all about trusting him; he knows what he’s doing and wants to win as much as I do. To have another championship in the books is pretty unreal; I was almost crying coming out of the ring.”
While Babylon is a known hero in the hunter arena, Walkenbach herself has produced multiple top finishes in prior experiences at the championships and clearly has a gift the judges appreciate.
“I think I’m just very soft with the horses and, honestly, a lot of the success comes from the trust and love behind the scenes,” she explained. “It’s all about your confidence with your partner going in, not being overly confident, but knowing you’ve done it before and can do it again.”
Kate Hagerty of Terrebonne, OR, and The Hagerty Family’s 13-year-old Furch Warmblood gelding Magic Moment (by Diarado), concluded the division with the reserve champion title honors as they cleaned up with placings of second, fourth, and fifth throughout the week.
Walkenbach wasn’t done winning yet, however. Against a field of 46 other entries, the talented junior once again donned the tri-color ribbon at the completion of the Large Junior Hunter 3’6” 16-17 division. In the handy round, she and San Pedro 15, Walkenbach Equestrian LLC’s 10-year-old Stakkato son earned a score of 244.5 and a tenth-place ribbon out of the competitive field. Walkenbach’s consistent placement in the ribbons with the gelding, including a second in Thursday’s Classic round and a win in the Under Saddle, gave her the scores she needed to ultimately take the title of champion yet again.
“I’m feeling pretty incredible,” she admitted. “I’m mostly just proud of this horse because he’s a little nervous in this ring, but he tried his best anyways. He’s come so far in the time that we’ve been together and I just love him so much.
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