Seen here with "Sunny" at Morgan Farm on September 26th, Sabrina Szabo's debut in the advanced western horsemanship division on November 8th went well. The junior from Smithton, Pennsylvania won the division twice to help the USMA win both contests and open up some breathing room in the western team standings.

USMA OPENS UP A 19 POINT LEAD IN REGION 1 WESTERN STANDINGS

Pompton Plains, NJ - All bets were on! Well, in theory, only. Anything could happen at a facility new to collegiate showing. A first show (and in this case a double western show) of any kind can produce some interesting results, but if anyone bet on the United States Military Academy they would have won as did USMA in both shows. Centenary College followed taking second in points with Stevens in third and Sacred Heart placing fourth. High Point Rider honors in the first show went to Raquel Rascon of USMA with Randi Cashman of Centenary Reserve. Second show honors went to Cashman for High Point Rider and a tie for Reserve to Jamie Fishbein of host Stevens Institute and Rascon.

The weather was absolutely beautiful and although the show could have been held outside, show managers/Stevens coaches Karl Bauer and April Kleiner both opted to have it inside. And no wonder. Not only was the arena huge, but heated as well. However the heat was not needed on this day as it was more than comfortable for rider and spectator alike with plenty of room for horses as riders waited their turn to enter the ring. Speaking of horses, many of the quarter horses were highly credentialed with numerous trips to Quarter Horse Congress. And credentials ran a plenty with judges as well. Mr. Dennis Sienicki and Mr. Kennis Fairfax both hold numerous judging cards and well over 35 years of judging each. If a western show is to be held, this is the way to do it. Thanks go to Bauer’s North Jersey Equestrian Center and the Stevens Western Equestrian Team. Go Ducks!

Speaking of the Ducks, this show was the first western event to be hosted by Stevens Institute of Technology in the history of the University. The team provided the same level of hospitality as experienced by this writer at USMA shows. This means the food was great and the people warm and friendly. There was no food truck for these western ducks. And as usual, the teams contributed to the culinary festivities which left no one hungry. The Ducks ran a highly organized show and completed both sessions in record-breaking time. I suppose this happens when the team is mostly comprised of engineering students. Captain Duck, otherwise known as Jamie Fishbein, ran a tight show with a bus full of volunteers, all learning the fine art of dealing with horses.

On to the results! The judges were unanimous for class 11A with the USMA's Aryn Davis winning both shows. Class 11B proved a slightly different result with Elizabeth Hagen of Stevens winning show one and Jen Washel of Centenary pulling in the first for the second show. Washel is a new rider for Centenary this season but is showing great promise.

The three Intermediate horsemanship classes provided the following winners: Class 12A-A was a unanimous win for Naomi Fuhrman of USMA in both shows. 12A-B was a unanimous win for Joseph Curtain of USMA. 12B-A was a split for David Redding of USMA who won the first show and Laurel Farrell of Stevens taking a blue ribbon in the second. This was Farrell’s last show at Stevens and a great way to go out. The senior will be missed.

Novice class 13A was a unanimous win for Angela Parriott of Stevens. Angela has been with the team for some time and will be heading on to Regionals in the division. Class 13B was divided with the first show going to Devon Simone of Centenary and show two going to Grace Smith of Sacred Heart.

Advanced Western Horsemanship, also known as class 14 was doubly won by Sabrina Szabo of USMA. Alumni riders participated in Horsemanship only with Peggy Leonowich-Graham of USMA taking both wins. Peggy has been seen many times over the years with continued wins. It is not surprising she is a USMA graduate!

Finally, the Open Western Horsemanship class had mixed results, with Rascon winning the first show and Cashman the second. Both riders have been vying for the road to Nationals with Randi currently in the lead. Reining was consistent with Cashman winning both shows to take a two point lead over Rascon in the Region 1 Western Open Rider Standings. If Cashman holds the lead she will advance to the Individual AQHA Trophy class at IHSA Nationals for the third consecutive season.

The USMA gained eight points on Centenary with a 36-28 win in show one (Stevens scored 27 and Sacred Heart 11). The second show was much closer (helped by Cashman winning twice) as the USMA won by a point 34-33 (Stevens scored 25 and Sacred Heart 10). Centenary trailed by ten after the first three shows at USMA on September 26th and after today's outcomes trail by 19. If the USMA captures high point team honors for the year it will set a new record. Centenary snapped USMA's streak of titles at five from 1999-2003 by capturing the title in 2004. A USMA title would send them to the post season a sixth consecutive season.

---Janice Fishbein