Gabriella Tauro (on right) was one of 17 Southeastern Connecticut riders to win a class on December 17th, earning a blue ribbon in varsity intermediate on the flat. Show manager and Head Coach Sally Hinkle-Russell (on left) saw her upper school team dominate the blue ribbons but narrowly defeat Windcrest Farm 35-34 for high point team honors.

SOUTHEASTERN CONNECTICUT AND CONCORD WIN FINAL IEA SHOW OF CALENDAR YEAR 2011

Gales Ferry, CT - If you have never been to an IEA show and you go see the same team host not once but twice you will find that the 'visiting teams' varry from event to event. Because the host teams within the IEA will usually allow teams in different regions (and sometimes different zones) to cross boundries the list of teams entered may differ radically from one show in a specific region to the next.

Southeastern Connecticut, an IEA program based at Mystic Valley Hunt Club in Gale's Ferry, Connecticut hosted shows nearly one year apart to the day. On December 18, 2010 Southeastern Connecticut competed against A Touch of Magic, ABF Equine, Blackstone Valley, Carriage Stone Farm, Cranberry Equestrian Team, Folly Farm, Furnace Brook, Hidden Brook Stables, Hopkins Academy/Biscuit Hill, the Hummingbirds, Hunter's Run, Maplewood Farm Equestrian Team, Metropolitan Equestrian Team, Milestone Stable, North Shore Equestrian, River's Edge Equestrian Team, Wachusett Equestrian Team, Walnut Hill Farm, Well-A-Way Farm, Windcrest Equestrian Team, Windswept and Woodstock Acres.

One day shy of a year later the Southeastern Connecticut team once again hosted at Mystic Valley, and though the show gave priority to Zone 1, Region 5 (a region created for the 2011-12 season as IEA Zone 1 went from four regions to six) only five of nearly 20 teams entered were from the host region. This time SECT faced opposition from Blackhorse Equestrian, Concord Equestrian Team, the Dana Hall School, Furnace Brook (despite being based in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, Furnace Brook made the drive through Massachusetts to Connecticut both times), Heritage Farm (MA), Hidden Brook Stables, Hidden Pond Farm Equestrian Team, Hunter Ridge, Lexington Equestrian Team, Mount Holyoke College, River's Edge, Silverstone, Team Holly Hill (a most unusal team in that there are four Holly Hill facilities but riders from all four are combined for one IEA team), Volo Equestrian Team, Windcrest Equestrian Team and Woodsong Farm (our apologies if this sounds like a list of school closings as heard on the radio during a snowstorm - Editor).

While at least four teams showed up without any middle school riders the opposite was true for Concord Equestrian Team. Emily Gilbert (on left, with her Mother) won her future novice equitation on the flat while placing second in future novice crossrails to have as good a day as anyone on the Concord team. Concord won the Middle School Competition by a 24-21 score over Hunter Ridge.

Because SECT allowed teams from all Zone 1 regions to enter there was at least one team from each of the six regions within Zone 1 in attendance (however unlike the 12/18/10 contest there were no Zone 2 teams at Mystic Valley on this day). At least two teams, Furnace Brook and Hidden Pond, brought riders from New Hampshire down to Gale's Ferry, not far from the Connecticut coast.

Most of the teams which came down from the north had more shows under their belts than the teams from the host's region. Windcrest Equestrian Team (based out of Windcrest Farm in Hebron, Connecticut) had shown only twice through December 4th, entering the day with 10 upper school and five middle school points. Host Southeast Connecticut had also shown twice through December 4th, having earned seven upper school points through that date while still searching for their first middle school points. Through December 4th Hunter Ridge had competed in only one 2011-12 IEA show.

When the day was done the home team had continued their 'all or nothing' season. Just as they had done when Windcrest and the Hummingbirds co-hosted on October 29th SECT took high point upper school honors. SECT defeated Windcrest by the narrowest of margins, earning a 35-34 victory. The home team was overwhelming on the flat, at one point winning ten of eleven consecutive upper school flat classes. The SECT middle school team earned two blue and two red ribbons (in official clases; the walk-trot classes do not count towards the post-season) and eventually finished fourth with 17.

"Don't say anything bad about my people!" said "Maisie," who is in the arms of Hunter Ridge Head Coach Wendy Brayman. OK Maisie. From left to right are Abigail Brayman (who won both of her middle school classes), Wendy Brayman (who coached her daughters to victory and whose middle school team was Reserve Champion today), Madison Brayman (who won her varsity open over fences to remain undefeated through two shows) and Matt Brayman, father to Abigail and Madison and who is clearly the Hunter Ridge good luck charm (even more so than Maisie!).

The host school clearly had the most riders entered in the upper school team competition, with at least one rider in 26 out of 30 possible classes. While blue ribbons did not come early and often (though Briley Branden and Allison Burke won consecutive sections of varsity intermediate over fences) when they finally did come there was no way to turn off the faucet. Starting with Clare Bornstein's win in varsity intermediate on the flat, Southeastern Connecticut won four straight upper school flat classes. After one class went to Hidden Pond Farm rider the SECT team started another streak. Though it appears SECT won the next six upper school sections two of them don't count as they were walk-trot classes. Still ten of them did count, resulting in blue ribbons in 12 of 28 official upper school classes (12 of 24 with a SECT rider entered). SECT earned eight red ribbons (ten if you count the two walk-trot classes) while no other team earned more than five.

However strength in numbers can only go so far if a team with a handful of riders in tow wins when it has to. While SECT had over 30 riders entered in upper school classes Windcrest had only four! Yet thanks to wins in varsity open flat and fences by high school sophomore Rebekah Chenelle and 12 intermediate points earned by freshman Jacey Chorlton Windcrest came away with 34 points and Reserve High Point Upper School Team honors. Chenelle, who is the daughter of Windcrest Coach Armand Chenelle, was the only upper school rider with two firsts at today's event.

You need to fill seven divisions to have a full upper school point card in an IEA competition, and the Windcrest Equestrian Team accomplished this with only four riders. Seen here between her parents, high school freshman Jacey Chorlton was the Windcrest intermediate rider. Chorlton won her intermediate over fences while placing second on the flat as Windcrest was reserve champion upper school team with 34 points.

River's Edge Farm from nearby Region 6 (all of Western and some of Central Connecticut) scored 26 points to earn third place in the upper school competition. If one watched the scoreboard in the upstairs lounge at Mystic Valley (and who wouldn't want to go there occasionally to get warm?) it would have appeared that River's Edge was in the middle of the pack for much of the day. However their junior varsity novice on the flat rider was second while high school freshman Olivia Brown provided River's Edge with their only blue ribbon of the day. Brown won the final upper school class of the day, taking the fourth section of junior varsity beginner on the flat. Therefore River's Edge scored 12 of their 26 points in the final two divisions to leap over much of the field in the process.

Volo Farm came down from the Boston area and scored 23 points for fourth place. Nichita Kulkarni, a high school senior who had previously won a sportsmanship scholarship from the USHJA, won her junior varsity novice over fences class which was coincidentally produced her first IEA blue ribbon. High school freshman Meghan Kelley also won her JV novice over fences class to give Volo Farm a second upper school blue ribbon. Though their middle school team received only nine points for the day they two did well, with riders receiving one blue and two red ribbons (the inverse of what their upper school team received). Volo Farm made the top six for the fourth time this season, raising their year-to-date total to 13 points using the IEA's overall scoring system.

Coming down from Region 4 territory (mostly Western Massachusetts) was Mount Holyoke to place fifth amongst the upper schools with 20 points. Now coached by former University of Connecticut IHSA rider Tara Lynch, the MHC IEA team earned the second-most red ribbons behind SECT. While five Mount Holyoke riders were runner-ups only high school freshman Rachel McPherson won a class outright. McPherson won the fourth of five sections of junior varsity novice over fences.

"I have a posse!" said Meghan Kelley of the Volo Farm equestrian team, refering to her family in attendance. The high school freshman (second on right) was one of two Volo riders to win a section of junior varsity novice over fences. Volo Farm was fourth in the upper school competition on the 17th.

There are multiple riding facilities named 'Heritage Farm' within the IEA. The Heritage Farm located in Zone 1, Region 4 produced both the upper school and middle school teams which placed sixth today. Heritage was at their best in the over fences divisions. High school freshman Jennifer Szafir and senior Kristi Esposito received red ribbons in back-to-back sections of varsity intermediate over fences while eighth grader Indra Rapinchuk-Souccar was second in the lone section of future intermediate over fences two classes later. High school junior Catherine Ray Lamond won her junior varsity novice over fences for Heritage's lone blue ribbon of the day two classes after that. Lamond would also finish second in junior varsity novice flat. The Heritage upper school scored 19 for sixth place while the middle school would score fewer but earn fifth place honors.

The Region 3 team known simply as Silverstone also scored 19 upper school points but lost the tiebreaker for sixth. Silverstone entered the day having won once and placed second on two occasions. The Silverstone top-two ribbon count was impressive at Mystic Valley. High school senior Julia O'Neil led the way, winning her varsity open on the flat while placing second in varsity open over fences. While the Silverstone upper school earned two firsts and three seconds their middle school finished third for the day despite only one rider placing as high as second. Using the IEA scoring system the Silverstone middle school team ended calendar year 2011 with 15 points.

With 16 teams entered in the upper school divisions there were bound to be several which would claim a blue ribbon here and there but would not place inside the top six in the team competition. In addition to Silverstone Blackhorse (from Region 6) scored 16 points with one blue ribbon, Woodsong Farm (from Region 3) scored 12 with a blue while Team Holly Hill also scored 12 with not one but two blue ribbons. Holly Hill is one of the more unusual situations in the IEA. There are four different facilities known as "Holly Hill" (in the Massachusetts towns of Hanover, Harvard, Georgetown and Marston Mills) and each is owned by one of four sisters! Despite four separate locations there is only one combined Holly Hill team (found in Region 3). At today's event sophomore Daniella McCormick won her varsity open over fences while Holly Hill teammate and junior Emma Dwinells was a winner in varsity open on the flat. Hidden Pond Farm scored 13 points with sophomore Alexandra Fyffe earning a blue ribbon in junior varsity novice on the flat. Fyffe's win snapped the first of SECT's streaks of four consecutive upper school blue ribbons.

The stars must have briefly lined up to bring Heritage Farm (MA) an onslaught of red ribbons. Jennifer Szafir (on right) was the first Heritage rider to place second, doing so in varsity intermediate over fences. Teammate Kristi Esposito (center) followed with a red in the same division while Indra Rapinchuk-Souccar (on left) was second in the first future class of the day which was also intermediate over fences.

While at least four IEA programs did not bring a middle school team to today's show, Concord Equestrian Team was the only group in attendance without an upper school rider entered. Concord entered the day seven points behind Cranberry Equestrian (which did not make the trip to Mystic Valley this time) and emerged tied among all Zone 1 middle school teams after earning 24 points and high point team honors. Concord earned four blue ribbons (including one in an unofficial walk-trot class) and two red ones. Sixth grader Emily Gilbert earned one of each, winning her future novice on the flat while placing second in future novice over fences. By winning the middle school competition Concord won their third straight competition, adding seven points to their total which ended 2011 at 30 points.

Hunter Ridge, a Region 5 team from Rhode Island, earned Reserve High Point Team middle school honors with 21 points. 14 of their points were earned by seventh grader Abigail Brayman. The daughter of Hunter Ridge coach Wendy Brayman, Abigail won both of her future intermediate classes but she was not the only Brayman to win a class. High school junior Madison Brayman (her older sister) won her varsity over fences earlier in the day to continue what is an undefeated season so far (through two shows Madison has two wins over fences and one on the flat; She did not show in a flat class at today's event). TWo other Hunter Ridge upper school riders were second, helping the high school team to 16 points (if you attended the show and saw the big scoreboard in the upstairs lounge at the end of the day you would have thought Hunter Ridge was fourth with 23 points. However they added seven points somewhere and the total in actuality was 16 - Editor). The Hunter Ridge middle school team was reserve champion for the third time in three tries so far in 2011-12.

From this point the actual points versus what later appeared on the official IEA web site make things sketchy. At the time it appeared that host SECT was third with 17 points but on the IEA site they received fourth place and 3 points using the year-to-date scoring system. Windcrest appeared to be fourth with 15 points but later received only one point for sixth. Silverstone appeared to place fifth with 14 but moved up to third with 4 points while Heritage appeared to be sixth with 12 points but were awarded 2 for fifth place. Following every show the IEA takes the high score (in today's cases, 35 for the SECT upper school and 24 for the Concord middle school) and converts it to seven points, just as a blue ribbon for an individual would equal seven points. Second place teams then receive five points (Windcrest's upper school and Hunter Ridge's middle school) and so forth until the sixth place team receives a point. One can only guess that there was either a change made to the middle school points after the show was completed or that there was an error tracking the points at the show itself. In either case we were unable to determine exactly how the change from what was posted occured.

With help from "Sweet William" high school freshman Olivia Brown earned River's Edge Equestrian Team's only blue ribbon of the day. From left to right are Brown's mother, "Sweet William," Brown and coach Rebecca Theran after Brown won her junior varsity beginner on the flat late in the day to lift River's Edge into third place among the upper school teams for the day.

One team avoided any issue regarding team points by not submitting a point sheet. The Dana Hall School (from Region 2) brought a combined total of three riders (one upper school and two middle schoolers) and made no effort to win points in today's team competitions. However one of the three Dana Hall riders, seventh grader Elisabeth Clagett, won both of her future novice classes. They were her third and fourth blue ribbons in IEA competition. Though Dana Hall did not earn team points their upper school team already had 23 (tied for third in the zone) while their middle school was at 28 (which was second until Concord jumped over them with 30). The Dana Hall team entertains real hope of earning the most points in either upper school or middle school within Zone 1 for the 2011-12 season.

---Steve Maxwell

Show Incidentals: Sunny skies but cold, with temperatures in the upper '30's. Judge: Ken Whelihan. Steward: Sara Delvecchio. Course Designer: Richard Luckhardt.

Team Totals - Upper School: Southeastern Connecticut Equestrian Team (High Point Team) 35 (7); Windcrest Equestrian Team (Reserve) 34 (5); River's Edge Equestrian Team 26 (4); Volo Equestrian Team 23 (3); Mount Holyoke College 20 (2); Heritage Farm (MA) 19 (1); Silverstone 19; Blackhorse Equestrian 16; Hunter Ridge 16; Hidden Brook Stables 15; Hidden Pond Farm Equestrian Team 13; Furnace Brook 12; Team Holly Hill 12; Woodsong Farm 12; Lexington Equestrian Team 7 and Dana Hall School 0.

Team Totals - Middle School: Concord Equestrian Team (High Point Team) 24 (7); Hunter Ridge (Reserve) 21 (5); Southeastern Connecticut Equestrian Team 17 (but awarded 3 for fourth); Windcrest Equestrian Team 15 (but awarded 1 for sixth); Silverstone 14 (but awarded 4 points for third); Silverstone 14 (2); Heritage Farm (MA) 12 (but awarded 2 points for fifth); Volo Equestrian Team 9; Lexington Equestrian Team 8; River's Edge Equestrian Team 7; Woodsong Farm 5; Hidden Brook Stables 4 and Dana Hall School 0.