Zone 10 Tops Podium in Children's and Adult Amateur Team Competition at USHJA Zones 9 & 10 Jumper Team Championships

Thermal, Calif.—November 10, 2019—The USHJA Zones 9 & 10 Jumper Team Championships for 1.10/1.15m Children's and Adult Amateur Jumpers had an exciting Team Competition Saturday with Zone 10 earning gold medals Saturday morning at the Desert International Horse Park's National Sunshine Series II.

The Team Competition is a two-round modified Nation’s Cup format, which also serves as the second and third individual qualifying classes for Sunday’s Individual Final.

Six teams of 1.10/1.15m Children's Jumpers took on the course set by internationally-renowned course designer Alan Wade and ultimately it was Zone 10 Team 6 who stood atop the podium to accept gold medals on a zero-fault score. Guiding the winning team was Chef d'Equipe Steve McAllister. Zones 9 and 10 jumped off for bronze and silver, with the team from Zone 9 bringing home silver and Zone 10 Team 5 finishing in the bronze medal position.

All three riders on the gold medal team were participating in the Championships for the first time after witnessing the success of their friends and family at the event in prior years.

Hannah Cowdrey said of the team environment, "It’s really nice having people support you. I didn’t know my teammates before and now I feel like we’re good friends. But it's still difficult because you have to ride for your team and not just yourself."

With their minds now on Sunday's Individual Final, Tyler Hardin's preparation plans are to "go back to the barn, have some pasta, groom my horse and take care of him and then help my mom and our friends with their big classes later today."

Zone 10 Team 6 topped the Children's podium, riding fault-free with Chef d'Equipe Steve McAllister. Photo by: Tori Bilas/USHJA

The 1.10/1.15m Adult Amateur team Championship was topped by Zone 10 as well, captained by Chef d'Equipe Gry McFarlane. After every team member jumped clear in the first round of competition, their team confidence was high. They finished the two-round competition on a score of four to take the gold medal. All four team members were first-timers in the USHJA Championships and spoke highly of their experiences competing as a team and how much they enjoyed cheering on one another.

Gold medalist Kathleen Butler fought against unlikely circumstances to win the Team Championship. "I did [these championships] because my horse is about to turn 20 and I just came back from a severe leg injury. I took nine months off and he was going to be retired, so we took him out of retirement we started winning everything and we qualified! I thought this was a really great award for us both," she said while beaming about her horse, Tristan.

Butler went on to speak about the experience she had being part of a team: "I like the camaraderie, meeting other people, and not just competing against each other but competing with each other. It’s really special cheering on other people, not just yourself."