August 6, 2005 – East Dorset, Vermont – Julie Welles continued her winning ways during Week Four at the Vermont Summer Festival Horse Show running July 13 to August 14 in East Dorset, VT.

Welles, 17, of West Simsbury, CT, claimed both the Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) Equitation Championship with Redwood as well as the Large Junior Hunter 16-17 Championship riding Willow. She also took third place in Thursday’s USEF Talent Search, a competition she had won during Week Two.

Welles captured the WIHS Equitation Championship, which is divided into two phases and held over two days, riding Redwood by winning the opening hunter phase and placing second in the jumper phase.

“We have to ride the same horse in both phases, and this was the first time I had ever ridden Redwood in competition,” explained Welles of the liver chestnut gelding owned by her trainer, Missy Clark. “Missy told me I was going to ride him, and that’s pretty much how it came about. Before I went into the ring, Missy just told me to trust the horse.”

Of her winning strategy, Welles said, “I tried to ride a straightforward hunter course, doing all the adjustments in the corners and trying to make my aids look as invisible as possible. I trusted my horse’s stride because it is so big, but I would say that having a consistent pace is the biggest key to winning. The hunter phase is normally the easier of the two - most of the time!”

Welles has trained with Clark, whose farm, North Run Stables, is located in Warren, VT, for the past three years. Welles also trains with Linda Langmeier at the Ethel Walker School in Connecticut where she will be entering her senior year in September.

“The school has been very supportive, they encourage me to go down to Florida in the winter and show with Missy as long as I still do my homework and keep my grades up,” said Welles, who hopes to attend a college with a riding program as that is one of the aspects she has enjoyed most about the Ethel Walker School.

During Week Two of competition at the Vermont Summer Festival, Welles had scored two major victories on the same day, no less. Riding Otter, also owned by Missy Clark and North Run Stables, Welles won the USEF Talent Search and went on to win the WIHS Hunter Phase. Welles was particularly excited about her USEF Talent Search victory and, at this year’s USEF Talent Search Finals held in Gladstone, NJ, will be awarded her Silver Medal in recognition of 13 career victories. At 17 years of age, Welles hopes to achieve her Gold Medal, given for 20 victories, next year.

Welles has been coming to the Vermont Summer Festival since she was a little girl competing in the Children’s Pony Hunter Division and only missed one week of competition this year. She had a good excuse, however, as she was selected to represent U.S. Zone 1 at the North American Young Riders’ Championship held in Lexington, VA. Considered the mini-Olympics for athletes aged 16-21, Welles placed seventh individually in her debut at the annual Championship riding Lapeti.

Spectators at the Vermont Summer Festival will have a chance to see Welles ride Lapeti during Week Five of competition. Welles will show the 14-year-old bay Oldenburg mare that she has been leasing from Sarah Willeman for the past two seasons in the Junior Jumper division.

The 2005 Vermont Summer Festival features five weeks of exciting equestrian competition running July 13 to August 14 at Harold Beebe Farm in East Dorset, VT and is New England’s largest ‘AA’ rated hunter-jumper horse show. As is the tradition at the Vermont Summer Festival, each of the first four weeks of competition features a $30,000 Grand Prix and a $10,000 Mini Prix. New for 2005 is the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix to conclude the five-week Vermont Summer Festival on Sunday, August 14. For more information on the Vermont Summer Festival, please visit www.vt-summerfestival.com or call (802) 362-7548.