Connecticut teen a winner at Devon

Hannah Marco competes in the Equitation Jumper Phase during the first day of competition at Devon.
Hannah Marco competes in the Equitation Jumper Phase during the first day of competition at Devon. (SHARON GEKOSKI-KIMMEL / Staff)
By Sara Cavanagh, For The Inquirer
Posted: May 26, 2012

It was 16-year-old Chloe Schmidt's first time showing at the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair, but she didn't let the stress of appearing in the country's largest and most prestigious multi-discipline show affect her.

Schmidt, of Ridgefield, Conn., won the USEF Hunter Seat Medal and placed sixth in the Show Jumping Talent Search, both equitation classes in which the junior riders are judged on the correctness of their position and their ability to control their horses.

To make her task even more difficult, Schmidt was on Coasting, a horse owned by her trainer Andre Dignelli, that she only just began riding.

"Coasting's pretty perfect," Schmidt said. "He never does anything wrong."

This is her first time at Devon. "I love it. I haven't been to the fair yet, but I plan to go tomorrow."

Schmidt, a junior in high school who has been riding since she was 4, said she planned to go to an NCAA Division 1 college to ride on its equitation team. It could be the University of South Carolina, where her sister is on the team.

Victoria Colvin of Loxahatchee, Fla., last year's Devon Best Child Rider on a Horse, won her section of the WIHS Equitation class, a good beginning for her to successfully defend that title.

Three sections of the ASPCA Maclay and the Equitation championship are first on the schedule Friday, after which junior hunters and jumpers and pony hunters will begin two days of competition.

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