Edited Press Release

In a competitive field of Children’s Hunters (Older division) that showed in the FarmVet Ring on Sunday at WEF 10, Madison Frankel and her own Valentino donned the championship ribbon.

Day one of the division took place in the South Ring where Frankel and her nine-year-old Selle Francais gelding took third-place honors in the under saddle and had a win over fences.

“I feel like it made a bit of a difference being in this ring today,” said Frankel, of Roslyn Harbor, NY. “There’s more space in this ring compared to the South, and the distances come up a little better in here.”

Day two brought a pair of second-place ribbons over fences earned with scores in the 80s.

“I felt very confident with my horse even though he’s very green,” noted Frankel. “I prepped him very well for this, so he felt perfectly fine with everything and very confident with all of the different changes.”

The change in ring hasn’t been the only change for Valentino as of late. Being a younger horse that has been brought along by Frankel, the gelding is currently doing his first full year in the three-foot and having new experiences that come along with the transition.

“I’ve been at WEF since pre-circuit, but he just came down two weeks ago, so he was adjusting to the weather at first,” Frankel said. “It’s also his first time being out of New York, so he’s still learning about traveling, and it’s his first week with my new barn Beacon Hill, so he’s adjusting to that as well.”

Despite all the changes, Frankel is happy with her horse’s progress and plans to continue his career in the hunters.

Reserve champion honors in the division went to Kylie Elias, of Boca Raton, FL, and Birthday Boy, owned by Anna Duff.