WEF Week 12 Newsletter
The end of WEF is always a bittersweet feeling! Although it is a marathon for all our riders, staff, and horses, it truly is a special 13 weeks where we are able to hone our skills in and out of the show ring, bond as a team, and enjoy our beautiful winter base here in Wellington, Florida. We couldn’t have made it through another WEF without the support from our gracious sponsors- Voltaire Saddles, Kunkle Gloves, Equine Elixers, Plughz, Veltri, Pinsnickety, Barn Manager, Equifit, and Lukens Horse Transportation. To all our staff who keep the barn running smoothly from well before sun-up to past sundown, there aren’t enough thank you’s to you. Whether it’s mucking stalls, riding horses, or making the weekly schedule- no detail is ever overlooked.
We also extend our greatest appreciation to all our vets, farriers, and vet techs- without your dedication to the animals and our team, none of this would be possible. Thank you for keeping our horses in tip-top condition throughout the 13 weeks and beyond.
Despite it being the last week, our riders still brought their A-game to finish the season out strong.
Isabella David visited from the University of Georgia to soak up the Florida sun and clinch some blue ribbons along the way. She rode Unik 6 to win both the Ariat Adult Medal and the NHS Adult Medal on Friday morning. The juniors took to the equitation ring as well where Jordan Gibbs piloted Cent 15 to a score of 92 to win the Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) Jumper Phase and Emma Blumenkrantz and Indiana Jones jumped to 4th place. In the hunter phase, Emma jumped to 3rd to secure 4th place overall in the WIHS, Jordan took 4th and 2nd overall, and Eve Westfall and Kasteel S took 7th to land in 6th place overall upon completion of the two phases.
On Saturday, Lillian Soroken and her trusty partner, Hanakara took another podium placing in the Children’s Jumper 15-17 with a second place finish. The pair also closed out their extremely successful and consistent WEF 2023 season by taking home reserve championship honors for the circuit in the Children’s Jumper 15-17 Division. Lillian and Hanakra just started their partnership together this winter, and its safe to say they are off to a great start! We can’t wait to see where the summer show season takes them!
The last day of the season wrapped up with more great ribbons in the equitation. Kate Neily and First Verdi started out the day with a 5th place in Section B of the ASPCA Maclay while Joe Craver piloted Franco to the win in Section B of the Dover Saddlery/USEF Hunter Seat Medal. Isabella David continued her success in the Adult Equitation riding Quirinus Di Tempa Bianca to 2nd place in the Adult Equitation Over fences and 4th place in the Bruno Delgrange Palm Beach Adult Medal.
We are looking forward to finishing our season in Wellington during the ESP A-T Children’s Benefit Charity Show and ESP Spring 2 before heading back to Colts Neck for some well deserved down time as we gear up for spring and summer. Visit our “ABOUT” page to see where the rest of the year takes us and be sure to follow along on Instagram and Facebook for behind the scenes content, results, and more!
