25YEARS of
CCapital
hallenge
In 1993, Oliver Kennedy was visiting Upper Marlboro, MD, to watch horse
racing when he noticed that an equestrian arena was being built on the
premises. Kennedy, 56, was running a horse show at the Columbia Horse
Center in Columbia, MD, at the time, and his interested was piqued.
He soon sought out the venue manager, and in 1994, Kennedy’s horse show
would be the first one held in The Show Place Arena at the Prince George’s
Equestrian Center.
Today, Kennedy’s first Show Place Arena event has evolved into the Capital
Challenge Horse Show known and loved by top hunter and jumper riders
throughout the U.S., and on September 28 – October 7, 2018, the show will
celebrate 25 years of top competition.
Hosting the Hunter World
From the beginning, Kennedy saw the opportunity for
something special at the Prince George’s Equestrian Center,
and he immediately invited Billy Glass to partner with
him to grow the new horse show. Together they quickly saw
another great opportunity: hosting the World Championship
Hunter Rider (WCHR) Finals.
“The World Championship Hunter Rider program had been
at the Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) at the
time,” explained Kennedy. “However, it didn’t necessarily
fit with what they were doing already, so WIHS wasn’t really
looking to continue to host the program.
“Louise Serio, who was on the board of the American
Hunter Jumper Association and involved with the WCHR,
happened to be showing at our horse show and said, ‘This
is great,’ ” continued Kennedy. “So, Billy and I walked over
to her and said, ‘We have an idea. We think you should
move your show to our new show, and we’ll base the
whole show around a lot of your program.”
The team behind the WCHR program agreed, and soon
after, the Capital Challenge Horse Show, with many of the
same classes for which it’s known today, was truly born.
“We created all of the WCHR Challenge Classes that they
never had,” said Kennedy, referencing the special, yearend
classes for which the top ranked riders in each WCHR
category – including amateurs, adults, juniors, children,
ponies, developing professionals, and professionals – are
invited to compete. “Billy and I lost a lot of money the first
year we did it, but we knew we had a hit! Everybody loved
it; they had a great time, and we knew that if we survived
that first year, things would work out.”
SHOW Highlight
Things more than worked outthey
continued to grow each
Maverick Helmer,
photo by Jump Media
year, and rapidly, with the
Capital Challenge Horse Show
quickly becoming one of the
most popular and competitive
hunter shows in the country.
The show offers innovative
feature classes, including the
$25,000 WCHR Professional
Challenge and the $5,000 WCHR Professional Finals, in which
the top six hunter riders in the country go head-to-head.
However, Glass and Kennedy did not stop there.
Expanding Exhibitors’ Options
As Capital Challenge continued to grow, Glass and Kennedy
made it a point to listen to what exhibitors were saying
about what they liked and what they wanted more of. One
of the things that Glass recognized riders, owners, and trainers
wanted more of was an opportunity to spotlight young
and green horses. So, the Future Hunter Championship was
born.
The championship – now called the $25,000 North American
Green Hunter Championship and sponsored by the Wheeler
Family – provided the first major year-end championship for
horses that fit the US Equestrian pre-green hunter qualifications.
Today, it continues as an extremely popular showcase
and proving ground for young horses, with approximately
150 entries contesting the 3’ and 3’3” Green Hunter divisions
at the 2017 Capital Challenge.
44 www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com
Oliver Kennedy, photo by Jump Media
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