DEVON, Pa.--Paige Walkenbach of Paradise Valley, Ariz., rode two Junior Hunter champions, and she was named Best Child Rider on a Horse on Saturday, May 24 at the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair.

JJ Torano on Lyon 50 (Photo by Kind Media)Walkenbach rode Babylon, Small Junior Hunter 3'6", 16-17 Champion and Overall Small Champion and San Pedro, Large Junior Hunter, 16-17 Champion, overall Large Champion and Grand Champion.

This was Babylon's third time as champion at Devon, and it was San Pedro's fourth time, according to his trainer..

"I've had Pedro for a while now, and I've gotten to know him," said Walkenbach. "He's definitely developed a lot with me. This was my third time being champion on him so it was really special. He performs best here of all the shows we've done. We won three classes and were third in the other."

"I got him after he came here from Europe," said Walkenbach. "He was doing jumpers. He tried equitation, but it wasn't his thing. Then I got him. He's got a lot of energy, he needs someone to calm him down."

"Pedro is sensative," said Walkenbach's trainer Jim Hgman. "The way he's flatted in super important. He's grown a lot. It's a real partnership."

 

WALKENBACH also rode Babylon, and she is trained on him by John French.

"I think we clicked pretty fast," she said."He live primarily in the east with John. John keeps him prepared for me. He's lazy and needs a lot of leg."

"Paige does an amazing job with Babylon," said French. "I've had him since he was a 4-year-old. I don't over-show him."

Best Child Rider on a Horse is chosen by the judges from riders in equitation and hunters, but if it were chosen from all three junior disciplines at Devon, equitation, hunters and jumpers, it would surely have been JJ Torano who would have been chosen.

Torano was the only junior who won at least one class in each discipline.

He won an equitation class, he won a Junior Hunter 15+U and was Reserve Champion on Chivalrous, and he won two junior jumper classes, one on Vitus K and one Friday evening on Lyon 50.

In the $3,750 1.40m Junior Jumper Friday evening, Torano went last in the jump-off, and he was clean in 33.296 to beat Alexa Elle Lignelli on XO Zadora, clean in 33.450, and Parker Peacock on VOL Cagaro was third in 35.091.

Play Date was Grand Pony Hunter Champion, and Cisy Zhou was Best Child Rider on a Pony.