DEVON, Pa.--Alexa Elle Lignelli on Billy Kiara won the $3,750 Junior Jumper on Friday, May 27

Alexa Elle Lignelli on Billy Kiara (Photo by Emma Miller for Phelps Sports)Going last in the jump-off over Olaf Peterson, Jr.'s challenging course, Lignelli was clean in 43.548 for the win.

Mimi Gochman on Celina BH was second, clean in 43.577, and Tessa Downey on Isabelle was third in 45.258.

“She’s pretty new, I got her during the Winter Equestrian Festival and we have just been getting to know each other," said Lignelli of Billy Kiara. "I took her to Global Champions Tour Miami. We won there, and I won the first time I showed her in the low juniors at WEF, so we have just been going slowly up the ranks. She’s definitely a different horse to ride when you get to higher heights, just in her style and she’s a little more careful when it gets bigger, so I’ve just been kinda getting the hang of that, and that’s kind of what happened yesterday. I just was too ambitious and was riding for 1.30m instead of 1.40m, so today I just revised my plan with my trainer Evan Coluccio and it just worked out.”

“The first round I felt good, I liked the course,"said Lignelli. "There were a mixture of different results from people so I kind of was just going in thinking about my own plan, I liked the jump-off. It was great for my horse. She’s quick off the ground and she’s quick on the ground, so it just really worked out in our favor but it definitely comes with hard work and a lot of thought. If I didn’t revise my plan from yesterday I definitely wouldn’t have won today just based on being too ambitious like I said and today I just took a step back. Since she’s so fast naturally, I just needed to take a breath myself and sometimes I’m so in it to win, that I need to aim for second or third, and then I end up winning, so it’s a different mentality with her.”

“I have been here before, I was Grand Champion on a pony and best child rider, so I kind of had experience here," she said. "I have not ridden horses here, so it was different this year. I have done Junior Hunter Finals and Brandywine last year with my hunters, but I was excited to do jumpers here based on the reason that I really only started doing the high junior jumpers with her recently. I did two classes, well one week, during WEF 12, so I won enough money and we were hoping that I would get into Devon, and I got in and it worked out!”

 

EARLIER in the day, there were three sections of ASPCA Maclay Horsemanship, and at the conclusion of the three sections, Luke Jensen and Avery Glynn won the R.W. “Ronnie” Mutch Equitation Championship.

Avery Glenn and Luke JensenThe R.W. “Ronnie” Mutch Equitation Trophy is awarded to the junior who accumulated the most points throughout the two days of equitation competition.

In order to qualify for the coveted award, riders must accumulate points from competing in the WIHS Equitation Classic Jumper Phase, the Platinum Performance / USEF Show Jumping Talent Search 3*, Dover Saddlery / USEF Hunt Seat Medal or the ASPCA Maclay Horsemanship.

During Thursday and Friday’s equitation competition, 18-year-old Jensen of Denton, Texas, won Section A of the Washington Equitation Classic Jumper Phase, Section B of the Dover Saddlery / USEF Hunt Seat Medal, and Section C of the ASPCA Maclay Horsemanship class.

Glynn, who is from Petaluma, Calif.,, traveled arguably the longest distance to the Devon Horse Show grounds to compete in the Dixon Oval for the first time.

Glynn won Section B of the Platinum Performance / USEF Show Jumping Talent Search 3*, third place in Section C of the Dover Saddlery / USEF Hunt Seat Medal, fourth place in Section A of the Washington Equitation Classic – Jumper Phase and clinched the tie for the R.W. “Ronnie” Mutch Equitation Championship Trophy Friday by winning Section B of the ASPCA Maclay Horsemanship class.

“I was really just hoping for me and my horse Jamaica to have a good finish for the week and go home on a good note and give him a good experience," said Jensen. "Overall this week has been so fun and we had a good amount of success. Mostly thanks to the team at North Run that helps us do everything that we do.”

“I started riding Jamaica at the beginning of this winter season down in Wellington, and I got to ride him in the WEF Equitation Championship class there and he’s been so great," he said. "I take care of him myself and having that partnership and bond with him I think is really special. To have that partnership just makes it so much more fun and special to have success. I’m excited about the rest of the year and so grateful that I get to ride him, and I’m thankful to North Run and everyone that makes this possible.”

“I came to Devon some time ago and I rode a medium pony here," said Jensen. "It’s a great venue and it’s a lot of fun because it is a prestigious and historic show. It’s just very special to show here and I am very grateful.”

“He’s got a great personality and I think the coolest thing about taking care of your horse and being around them in the barn often is that you get to start to see that partnership develop and get a little bit more of the affection," he said. "You start to understand their personality a bit and I’ll say that’s really beneficial when you start to show – you understand the ins and outs of your horse’s personality, so it’s been special. He’s a generally affectionate horse to be around.”

“The courses have been great all week,"said Jensen. "It’s a lot of fun to make your plan with your team. We have a great community at North Run and a large team, and everyone is so supportive of each other and of teamwork. Designing your plan with everyone to plan out your track is a great part of it and an advantage.”

“The Maclay is one of my favorite classes," said Glynn. "I love that it has a jumping phase and a flat phase. I was so excited to ride Gerardus in this because he is just so good on both the jumping and the flat. Even though I haven’t been riding him as long as I have been riding other horses, I already trust him because he is so great on both the jumping and on the flat. I already trust him so much, I feel like we created such a great bond. I went in there, took some risks and had the best round we could have together. I’m just so excited we ended up winning today.

“This is my first Devon Horse Show, so I had so many expectations coming into this," she said. "All my friends and family have been telling me about this show for years. You watch this show online from home when you don’t get to come here and it’s really unlike any other show I have ever been to. The fair, the spectators, the ring, it’s just all so special and to be here. My mom and my grandma got to come this week and all the teams at Elvenstar, North Run, White Thorne, Stone Valley Stables and Hope LLC, thank you to everyone that got me here. I am just so thankful. It was really just a great end to the week to be able to win this award and with one of my good friends Luke [Jensen], it was just so exciting.”

“Planning this year has changed a lot, then we had the EHV-1 breakout in California this year, so my plan was much different than how it ended up happening," said Glynn. "My plan was to stay in California more, but since shows didn’t end up happening there, I got to go out to Wellington and show with the team at North Run even more than I originally was going to, which was just such an amazing experience. I learned so much. I was in Kentucky last week, and here this week. Showing on the East Coast is just so special for me. It’s such a big deal. Bringing a horse from California is a lot, so I’ve just loved being here because it’s such a prestigious show and it’s just so much fun.”

" Gerardus is 11 years old and he was imported at the beginning of this year," she said "He hasn’t even done that many shows as an equitation horse because as I said, there haven’t been many shows in California. I showed him about a month ago for the first time, rode him for the first time at a more local show in California and had a great time on him. I really felt like this was going to be an amazing horse. I was able to get back with him last week in Kentucky and I met his owner Georgy Maskrey-Segesman and she has been so generous to let me ride this horse, as well as the whole White Thorne team that’s been a part of him, his career, and me. Last week I got to show him in Kentucky and we won the Medal and Maclay there, so I felt like we were really going in with a good streak from last week to this week. He was just on his game this week. It was so much fun to ride him. I’ve never ridden a horse with so much talent in the equitation ring. He’s so special.”