TRAVERSE CITY,Mich.--Violet Tatum on BP Swifty, repesenting Zone 10, won the Individual gold medal in the Junior Category over two riders from Zone 2, Scarlett Samuels on Confidence and Rylynn Conway on Capella Y on Saturday, Aug.1.
Violet Tatum on BP Swifty (Photo by Natalie Suto Photography)Zone 10 is California, and Zone 2 is Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.
After five rounds of competition, Tatum finished on a score of just 4.00 penalties, with Samuels second on 5.52 and Conway third on 10.44.
Tatum had just one rail in round two of the Team Competition, where she helped secure a team silver medal, and then had two more clear rounds Saturday finalized her win.
“Going in on top is definitely a lot of pressure but I knew if I gave her a good ride Swifty would give me her all,” Tatum said. “She’s such an incredible horse and this is such a meaningful event to earn gold at.”
“She’s very feisty but I think that is what makes her such a winner,” she said. “She’s all heart, and she just gives me her all every time. She’s so sweet and willing to do whatever I ask of her.”
SAMUELS carried 1.52 penalties from day one, and had one rail down in round one of the Individual Final for the second lowest score of the week.
“Coming in anywhere near contention for a medal is always very stressful, especially at such a big event like this,” Samuels said. “I knew that my horse would give me everything as long as I did my part. He was amazing.”
“My favorite part was to be able to grow so close to these girls that are really strong riders and competitors; to be able to get close with them outside the ring is so special,” she said. “Also to have such a strong support group behind us, to have other riders’ teams on your side, is such a special thing you don’t normally get.”
“Capella always tries her hardest for me,” Conway said. “She’s a super competitive horse so I knew going in we are both capable of it.”
“My favorite part of the week was the team part,” she said. “It was so special to win gold earlier in the week, especially to do it with my team. It was super memorable.”
Georgina Jewel of Wellington, Fla., on Conny 424 finished the week completely penalty-free to win the gold medal in the Children’s category.
Jewel had earlier this year been Children's Jumper Champion at Devon.
“It felt really good,” Jewell said. “I was definitely really nervous because I was going into it. Conny is really sweet and she’ll always help me out. Going into the last round I was really confident because we were clear in all the others so I knew she’d be good.”
Jesus Rigu of Wellington, Fla. on Indigo won the silver medal on .55 penalties.
This is Rigu’s third appearance at NAYC and he won a Zone 4 team gold and an individual silver.
“My horse jumped so well every round,” Rigu said. “The first day wasn’t my best, I was just really nervous. When I get nervous I do things I don’t normally do, but he jumped so well. He helped when I made mistakes and when I rode well I felt like we were clicking every step.”
“This year I went into the Final relieved that I was able to put in three clear rounds going into it,” he said. “Knowing I helped the team win felt really good and now I can finally sleep at night.”
Cisy Zhou on Dalido 8, representing Zone 2, won the bronze..
“Going into today I knew I was in the middle of the pack, and I wanted to put in two great rounds,” Zhou said. “After the first round I knew he was jumping great and was clearing everything. My trainers were scared I was going to have a time fault but I knew I had it because I trust my horse a lot. He’s really brave so I was really grateful to have him as my partner.”
