By Keswick Life
Over 100 horses and riders came from throughout central Virginia to participate in an old fashioned summer horse show at the historic Keswick hunt club show grounds. The show, the idea of Nancy Wiley, Joint MFH, was designed to be a fun show with an atmosphere that provided for fun riding, as well as a tailgate experience for the rest of the membership.
All of the tailgate parking spaces were sold and each of the classes had full participation. The Sidesaddle, hunt pairs and hunt teams classes were managed in an effort to have them not begin before 6pm in an effort to give the local crowd entries to watch after dark and show ring lighting. The prize list encouraged all to attend, including leadline. silver fox, family classes, along with future foxhunter, hilltopper, sidesaddle and junior and regular foxhunter divisions.
Two special awards were presented. The Noel Twyman judges award, in memory of longtime Keswick member and outstanding Virginia horseman, Noel Twyman was won by Jordan Sipe, on Sally Lamb’s En Vogue, and Stephanie Guerlain , won the Hugh Motley High Point Rider Award given in Memory of Hugh Motley, Former, MFH Keswick, who passed away this past winter. Sandy Rives, longtime friend of Hugh’s and his sister Mary Motley Kalergis presented this award, a cooler sponsored by the Rohn and Connie Laudenschlager and a silver frame given by Winkie and Sheila Motley with a photograph donated by Mary Kalergis Each award recipient received extremely nice KHC horse coolers as well as ribbons and trophies.
The show was strongly supported by the membership that provided much of the labor to make the show possible as well as leadership from Witney Gammell, and Chandra Boylen who set up the courses and managed all aspects of the horse show. The club’s junior members organized to assist in the jump painting and also held a bake sale of homemade cookies at the show as well as helping in the food booth.