USHJA Announces 2021 HQC Stable Challenge Winners

Lexington, Ky.—Aug. 11, 2021—More than 230 equestrians representing 113 stables in all 12 USHJA Zones put their horsemanship knowledge to the test this year to complete the 30-day USHJA Horsemanship Quiz Stable Challenge.

The USHJA congratulates the following trainers and their barns who earned the highest scores in each zone and will be receiving prize packages for their barns:

Zone 1: Emer Coyne, Avon Valley Show Stables

Zone 2: Sarah Barge, Stone Lane Stables

Zone 3: Susan Deal, Grovespring Farm

Zone 4: Jennifer Pigue, Flying Pigue Ranch

Zone 5: John Berkos, Legacy River Equestrian Center

Zone 6: Jim Urban, Quail Run Horse Centre

Zone 7: Julie Gass, JMG Stables

Zone 8: Kristin Jacob, Blue Star Farms

Zone 9: Makenzie Michel-Harvey, Timberline Farm

Zone 10: Julie Conner-Daniels, Eclipse Farms

Zone 11: Amy Quinlan, Dillingham Ranch

Zone 12: Sadie Kurtz, Oldonyo Equestrian

The Stable Challenge was designed to engage a trainer's entire barn as a team. At least three students per trainer had to complete the USHJA Horsemanship Quiz Challenge Practice Quiz between June 15 and July 15 to be eligible for prizes.

This year, the quiz was taken 1,127 times. Zone 2 had the most teams participate with 23, and Janet Cawley's Cavallo Farms had the most participants on their team with 15.

At the end of the 30-day challenge, the three top scores under each trainer were averaged to provide an overall score. Participants who also took the Level One and Level Two HQC quizzes received 10 bonus points for each level they complete.

"I am of course super excited to win the Stable Challenge and extremely proud of my kids, especially since we have some beginners in the group," Makenzie Michel-Harvey, the winning trainer for Zone 9, said. "Horsemanship is an important part of our program. All of the kids do their own work. I want them to know the ins and outs as well as the ups and downs of being around horses and horse ownership. We start from the ground and work up. So the Stable Challenge is a good way to test our knowledge and also let us know the areas we need to work on."

Michel-Harvey has hosted a weeklong summer camp the past several years that is focused around the USHJA HQC Study Guide, and she said a few students also got together to have their own study sessions.

"I feel that the Stable Challenge not only helped teach horsemanship topics to my students, but it also has brought us together and some of the more experienced students jumped in to push and help the less experienced learn," Michel-Harvey said.

Each of the highest scoring trainers in each USHJA Zone wins a unique trainer-inspired award package designed to benefit the entire barn, which includes a gift card from Nutrena, a Shapley's gift set, a one-year USHJA membership, a 2022 Recognized Riding Academy membership and additional awards from USHJA sponsors. The highest scoring trainer overall, Julie Conner-Daniels, will also receive an Essex Classics shirt.

The Stable Challenge was originally created to promote the USHJA Horsemanship Quiz Challenge Program and get members excited about advancing their horsemanship knowledge at all ages. USHJA members can still participate in the Horsemanship Quiz Challenge and compete for a chance to go to HQC Nationals until September 1.

The Horsemanship Quiz Challenge is supported in part by grants from US Equestrian and the USHJA Foundation.

For more information about the Stable Challenge, visit ushja.org/stablechallenge. For more information about the USHJA Horsemanship Quiz Challenge, visit ushja.org/HQC.

Photo: Timberline Farm, provided by Michel-Harvey