Articles: Press Release
Samantha Harrison and Santika Earn Team Gold and Individual Silver for Zone
10 Junior Team at the 2009 Adequan FEI NAJYRC
Photo Credit: Karen Healey student Samantha Harrison rode Santika to an
individual silver medal and team gold medal representing the Zone 10 junior
team at this year's Adequan FEI North American Junior/Young Rider
Championships. Photo © 2009 Mathea Kelly.
Contact:
Lauren Fisher for
Phelps Media Group, Inc.
at (561) 753-3389 or at pmginfo@phelpsmediagroup.com
Lexington, KY - July 30, 2009 - Karen Healey student Samantha Harrison of La
Canada, CA, had a very exciting week of competition at last week's Adequan
FEI North American Junior/Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC), held at the
Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. Harrison rode her nine-year-old Dutch
Warmblood mare Santika to an individual silver medal and team gold medal
representing the Zone 10 junior show jumping team. Karen Healey student
Navona Gallegos represented the Zone 8 junior team riding Drossana, and
finished in fifth place individually after leading the Zone 8 team to a
fourth place finish overall.
The junior competition ended with an exciting finale when the Zone 2 and
Zone 10 teams jumped off for the team and individual gold medals. Samantha
Harrison jumped clean through every round of individual competition and
ended up with the silver medal after the final individual jump-off round.
Harrison also jumped clean in both rounds of team competition and then had
the only clear round in the team jump-off to secure the gold medal for Zone
10.
"I had so much fun," Harrison smiled following the competition. "Santika
was really, really good. She was jumping fabulous, and she was really on top
of her game all week. My team did really well, and it was a very close
competition between Zone 10 and Zone 2. I loved riding on the team; my
teammates were all really nice and funny and the whole thing was a great
experience."
Harrison noted that she really enjoyed having the opportunity to ride in the
brand new stadium that was recently built at the Kentucky Horse Park in
preparation for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. "It was so
beautiful there," she stated. "My favorite thing was riding in the ring
because it was huge and the footing was awesome. It poured really hard one
day that we had to show, and the footing wasn't affected at all."
"I loved the stadium," Harrison continued. "All of the bleachers were so
nice and walking into the ring it felt like you were meant to be there; it
just felt so special. There were a lot of press there and they asked us all
questions after we got our medals, so it felt like a really big deal and it
was such a fun experience."
Harrison added a special acknowledgement, stating, "I just want to say thank
you to Karen Healey, and my mom, who was there. I would also like to thank
Butch Thomas, the Chef d'Equipe, who was awesome, and everyone who
participated in Zone 10. It was amazing."
After an intense week of competition, Harrison and Santika will now take a
well-deserved break before preparing for the fall show season. Harrison's
goals for the rest of the season include a possible trip back to the east
coast to compete in the Prix de States Junior Jumper competition at this
year's Pennsylvania National Horse Show.
Karen Healey Stables will compete next at the Showpark August Festival,
which runs July 29-August 2 at the Del Mar Horse Park in Del Mar, CA. For
more information please visit www.karenhealeystables.com.
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