August 3, 2006 – East Dorset, Vermont – In her fourth week competing in the USEF Show Jumping Talent Search at the Vermont Summer Festival Horse Show running July 12 to August 13 in East Dorset, Vermont, 16-year-old Emma Lipman made her first trip to the winner's circle.

Following the jumping phase, all riders were called back to complete the flat phase. After watching the competitors work on the flat, the judge excused all but eight of the horse-rider combinations before asking them to perform the counter-canter. When Lipman was eventually announced as the winner, it came as a surprise.

"In the jumping phase, I went very early in the class, and I think that I did an inside turn that nobody else did," she said, assessing her performance. "My horse is very good on the flat, and he is very smooth. Everything was fine, but I didn't think that I would win. I was shocked that I won, actually."

Lipman has been paired with In Pursuit, her nine-year-old bay Westphalian gelding, for a little over a year. Lipman's trainer, Jim Toon, had originally found In Pursuit for another client, and Lipman is happy that the huge gelding, standing 17.3hh, has found his way to her.

"He's very cute, and he's very big!" laughs Lipman. "We call him 'the donkey' around the barn because he has big, floppy ears like Eeyore."

Luckily, Lipman is able to spend quite a bit of time with In Pursuit. It is a 20-minute drive from her home in Bedford, NY, where she attends Fox Lane High School, to JT Farm in South Salem, NY, where she has trained for more than two years. Only taking Monday's off, she rides three or four horses a day including In Pursuit and Onyx 66, her junior jumper partner. Formerly shown by Sachine Belle in the Grand Prix division, including at the Vermont Summer Festival, Lipman is now enjoying competing with Onyx 66 in the High Junior Jumper division at Vermont.

"He is amazing, he is so cool," she smiles. "He takes care of me. He is a really good horse."

In addition, Lipman is also showing a horse named Avalon in the Junior Hunter Division for Toon. One of the things she likes best about training with Toon and Belle at JT Farm is that it is "very relaxed. There is not too much pressure; I put more pressure on myself than they do. Before I go in the ring, they just tell me to relax and to try to keep the horse straight. Jimmy has a favorite quote that he always says to me, 'your left leg is your best friend'."

Lipman, whose mother rode, began riding at the age of two and was showing in the short stirrup division by the age of five. She enjoyed great success competing in the hunter pony division riding My Little Dickens. Now it is the USEF Talent Search, open to promising show jumping riders under the age of 21, where Lipman has found herself in the spotlight, with her win at the Vermont Summer Festival marking her fourth victory to date in 2006 having already won two titles in Wellington, Florida, and most recently in Lake Place, New York.

"I have always wanted to win the USEF Medal Finals at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and the USEF Talent Search at Gladstone, New Jersey, in the fall," says Lipman of her future goals. Her career highlight to date came at last year's USEF Medal Finals where, competing for the first time, she placed eighth.

In the meantime, she is sad to see her time in Vermont come to an end after four consecutive weeks of competing.

"I love showing in Vermont," says Lipman. "I like how relaxed it is, and I like the shopping. I have also been going swimming at the quarry. My friends made me jump off the highest cliff, and I was really scared. I only did that once!"

As she's proven time and again, Lipman has no fear when she's on the back of a horse tackling a show jumping course!


Featuring more than $650,000 in prize money, the Vermont Summer Festival includes a $10,000 Mini Prix each Friday and, for the first four weeks of competition, a $30,000 Sunday Grand Prix. The 2006 Vermont Summer Festival closes with the grand finale, the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix on Sunday, August 13. The Vermont Summer Festival is also a proud member event of the Show Jumping Hall Of Fame, the Marshall & Sterling League, and the North American League (NAL).

For more information about the 2006 Vermont Summer Festival, including full results, please visit www.vt-summerfestival.com.