July 14, 2005 – East Dorset, Vermont – Blythe Marano, 17, of Bedminster, New Jersey, riding Little Foot for owner Missy Clark and North Run Stables, topped a class of 22 entries today to win the two-phase USEF Talent Search at the Manchester Summer Festival, the first week of the Vermont Summer Festival Horseshows in East Dorset, Vermont.  With 800 horses on the grounds and five rings in action, stand-out performances also included Whitney Goulart’s win in the USEF Hunter Seat Medal, and Andrew Philbrick’s victory in the Open NAL Speed III.

With Judge Mike Rosser officiating, Marano solidly showcased her expertise in the USEF Talent Search, which included an equally weighted jumper phase and a flat phase. It was only the second time Marano had ever ridden the seven-year-old bay gelding, Little Foot, and she gave full credit to the talented young horse.  “He’s flashy on the flat and he’s very simple for me to ride,” said Marano.  “I like riding him a lot. He’s very straightforward.  He doesn’t spook at anything.”

Marano is aiming to qualify for her third consecutive trip to the USEF Talent Search finals held at the USET Foundation headquarters in Gladstone, New Jersey.  She has won the flat phase of the finals for the past two years.  Marano competes in the high junior jumpers, but she prefers classes on the flat.  “I like doing equitation more.  I have a tendency to make my jumpers go low and do equitation courses on them. I like doing tighter turns rather than flying!” she laughed.

Anthony D’Ambrosio designed the USEF Talent Search 11-jump course, the first phase of the class, which included three double combinations and several bending lines. “The jumper phases are always my stronger point because there’s a lot of room to fix things, especially on a bending line,” Marano said.  “I don’t usually count (strides) very much when I go around the course.  I ride off of my eye.”

All 22 riders were invited back for the flat phase.  Marano noted that the horse’s abilities to show extensions or to respond appropriately to the rider’s leg are part of what contributes to the judge’s assessment, and she acknowledged that with Light Foot, she had the advantage of a cooperative mount.  “Light Foot will do whatever you ask,” Marano said. “It was up to me to keep my heels down and my back straight.”

Marano, a high school junior who plans to attend Columbia University in New York as a business major, has been riding since age three, and for the past four years has been in training with Missy Clark.  Marano notes that at North Run Stables, she’s grown accustomed to riding horses she doesn’t know well, which helped prepare her for today’s win aboard a new partner.  “The good thing is we ride so many horses in the barn that eventually it gets easier and easier just to hop on.”

Whitney Goulart, 17, of Mendham, New Jersey, topped a field of 23 to claim victory in the USEF Hunter Seat Medal, riding Convent 8 for owner Winsor Farm Sales, Inc.  Convent 8 is stabled at Quiet Hill Farm with Christine Schlusemeyer, who has been Goulart’s trainer since last fall. “He’s 18-hands but he’s really comfortable to ride for all sorts of people because he’s very short coupled,” said Schlusemeyer of the winning mount. “He’s a beautiful white.  His nickname is ‘Pegasus’ because he looks like the USEF horse on their logo.” Pegasus was imported last year from Europe where he was competing in the Grand Prix classes. In the U.S., Pegasus has traveled to West Palm Beach and also competed at Devon with Evan Coluccio aboard. Goulart had ridden Pegasus once in Florida, but not in competition.  Leading up to her win, today Goulart and Convent 8 competed in the USET Talent Search where they placed 8th, then the WIHS (Washington International Horse Show) Hunter Phase where they were 5th, and then the USEF Medal class for the big win.

All 23 riders rode the first round of the Medal class, but only four were called back to test.  In the test, riders were instructed to gallop fence 3, trot fence 4, canter a rollback to fence 5, walk and then counter-canter fence 1, and finish by sitting the trot back to the line-up.  To her advantage, Goulart went last of the four.  “I could see what people were doing and what they could improve on. I got to pick exactly where I wanted to get the trot and the hand gallop,” Goulart explained. “I knew I had to really be on it because Nikko Ritter (who placed second) went before me and he really got a great hand-gallop. I had to be able to get that to beat him. I stayed positive and Pegasus was awesome. He was right there for me,” Goulart said.  “I’m an analytical person. I can do very specific short things like that. It’s very precise and I’m very disciplined. I love to test. If I can get into the test, that’s my favorite part.”

The USEF Medal is judged on the rider, but Goulart believes it was the consistency Pegasus displayed all day that clinched the win from Judge Mark Rosser, who officiated at all three of the pair’s classes.  “Each round that I did today, I got to know Pegasus a little better. I got to know exactly what I needed to do to make him perform perfectly,” Goulart said, and added, “He’s a great horse, so you don’t have to do all that much!”

The USEF Hunter Seat Medal class was a qualifier for the Medal Finals that will be held at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg this fall.  Goulart, who resides in USEF Zone 2 (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut) is well on her way to the 60 points she needs to qualify, having added 20 points today to her already accumulated 16 – all earned on different horses.  Goulart was especially thrilled about her win with Pegasus.  “I’ve done a lot of different horses – some green, some really good.  It was my first day to ride Pegasus, he was great, and it was a lot of fun. It was exciting!” she said.  Goulart has been riding most of her life, and started competing in lead-line at Devon at age four.  She shares the love of equestrian sport with her mother and three sisters who all ride, as well as her uncle, Mark Watring, the 2003 Individual Pan Am Gold Medalist who competed in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games for Puerto Rico.  “It’s kind of in the family,” Goulart acknowledged.

Andrew Philbrick riding E Ticket for owner C Ray Investment bested a field of 10 horses to win the NAL Open Speed class.  Anthony D’Ambrosio designed the 10-jump course, which only two riders were able to jump clean.  Going fourth in the order, Juliana Starbuck riding Contino for RCG Farms notched the first clear trip, clocking in at 52.72 seconds.  Going last in the order, Philbrick blazed around the course in 51.35 seconds to edge Starbuck into second place and claim the win.  Daniel Damen riding his own Jewel Thief had a rail down for four faults, but his fast time of 52.93 earned him the third place ribbon.

The North American League (NAL) runs season-long series in six hunter and jumper divisions – Children’s Hunter, Children’s Jumper, Adult Hunter, Adult Jumper, Pony Jumper, and Open Jumper Speed.  Each series culminates with a championship final at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in October.  Riders need not be members of the NAL to compete in any qualifying classes, but only current members earn points toward year-end finals.  For more information and a list of qualifying competitions for 2005, please visit the Ryegate Show Services website at www.Ryegate.com.

Featured Classes Upcoming at Vermont Summer Festival
As per tradition, the Vermont Summer Festival will feature a $10,000 Mini Prix every Friday, as well as a $30,000 Grand Prix held each Sunday for the first four weeks. New for 2005, the Vermont Summer Festival will conclude with a grand finale, the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix. The Vermont Summer Festival is New England's largest 'AA' rated hunter-jumper horse show, and is now sanctioned by Equine Canada, the national body for equestrian sport in Canada.

Each of the five weeks will also feature a $10,000 Show Jumping Hall Of Fame High Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper class, part of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series. Marshall & Sterling and North American League (NAL) classes are also held throughout the five weeks of competition.
For further information on the 2004 Vermont Summer Festival, please visit www.vt-summerfestival.com, e-mail: info@vt-summerfestival.com or call (802) 496-9667 or (802) 362-9023.