GLADYS, Va.--Delani Franklin, from Lake Erie College, won the USHJA Hunter Seat High-Point Rider at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) National Championship at Tryon International in Mill Spring, N.C., on Sunday, May 5.

Delani Franklin from Lake Erie College won the Hunter Seat High-Point Rider, Presenting the Cacchione Cup national championship (Photo by Maddy Falkowitz)
Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) won the Hunter Seat Champion Team title.

The judges were Andrea Wells of Ocala, Fla., and Archibald "Archie" Cox of Palm Springs, Calif.

Kylie Hwalek of Vernon, Conn., won the Team Open Equitation Over Fences for Sacred Heart University of Fairfield, Conn.

Hwalek rode a 17.2 bay gelding, provided by Centenary University, to the national championship title, and the reserve went to Emma Pell of Winchester, Va., from Intermont Equestrian at Emory & Henry College of Emory, Va., on King, a mount provided by SCAD.

There had been work-off round testing the top six riders after the over fences and flat phases Saturday.

The following riders tested: Celia Cram of SCAD; Franklin of Lake Erie College (; Emma Pell, Intermont Equestrian at Emory & Henry College; Kenya Sanders of Skidmore College; Emma Eaton-Ayres of the University of Rhode Island; and Benjamin Joban of Centenary University.

 

THE TEST began with two changes of lead on the long side opposite the judges, hand galloping a fence, a serpentine of three fences, finished by a halt and no stirrup work at the trot.

Franklin was the national champion of the Hunter Seat High-Point Rider, presenting the Cacchione Cup, on her was to the Hunter Seat Champion title.

She rode Milton, a 17-h bay gelding provided by Centenary University.

Second place after the flat phase, Franklin won with her work-off round.

Reserve was Cram, who rode Centenary University's gray gelding, Vesper.

“I pulled George for the over fences phase Saturday, and I was 23rd out of 24 to go," said Franklin. "I'd been watching him from Friday and early morning Saturday schooling and he was just the cutest little horse that was packing around, so I was stoked to get him. I loved that I was 23rd because I could kind of use that to my advantage. See how the other riders were riding their track, their tempo, how they were getting scored based off that.”

This is Lake Erie College’s second national championship in program history. Their first was in 1995 with Kim Barone (Peters).

Kendall Madison of Westtown, N.Y., from Intermont Equestrian at Emory & Henry College, on Crosby, provided by Skidmore College, won the Intermediate Equitation on the Flat National Championship, and the reserve was Sacred Heart University’s Erin Phillips on the SCAD mount, Dee.

Alexander Alston of SCAD won the Team Open Equitation on the Flat on the 17.1-h liver chestnut gelding, Bon Bon, provided by SCAD.

Reserve went to St. Lawrence University senior Hudson Warren on St. Lawrence University’s Siegfried.

“The IHSA Intercollegiate Association has come so far,” Cox said. “I was national champion 35 years ago at Mount Holyoke, and I have to say, the horses, the organization, the riders are top notch. A shout-out to the schools that donated horses and brought horses here. It's incredible what they have done and what Bob Cacchione envisioned in 1967 has come this far.”

Throughout the competition, Wells and Cox asked for work-offs in every class, both on the flat and over fences, testing the riders’ abilities.

“Well, this is at a national final,” Cox said. “We're testing them. People have put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this. The cream rises to the top.

“Judging here has been super with Andrea Wells at my side,” he said. “We have seen eye to eye on every class, every test and we're watching the same picture. My experience here at the Tryon International Horse Park has been great. It's really nice that the horses are all under one roof and weather is irrelevant once you come inside. It's equal for everyone and that's really important for a national final. The horses here are outstanding. I've really been impressed. The overall quality here is comparable to any USEF-rated horse show.”