Each year riders compete across the country to win a coveted spot in the NAL Finals, held at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show.  This year 29 riders and their mounts came to the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg to vie for to honors in the $10,000 NAL Children’s Jumper Final. 

The first round tested the mettle of these young riders with 11 numbered elements and 14 jumping efforts.  Fence 6, a triple combination of an oxer, one stride to a vertical, two strides to another vertical, kept many of the riders from achieving their goal of a fault free round.  Twelve horse and rider combinations made it around the first course penalty free to advance to the jump-off. 

Of the twelve who returned to contest the shortened course, seven managed to turn in double clear rounds which left it up to the clock to decide the outcome.  The clock did decide, with the top four placings being separated by only 1 second.

Wishlea Star Dasher lived up to his name as the 11 year-old, 14.1 ½ hand, Thoroughbred-Welsh pony cross navigated the course under the guidance of Bailey Doloff, in a time of 30.331 seconds to take the top award.

“He is a freak, I don’t know how else to describe him,” explained rider Bailey Doloff.  “When we first got him he wasn’t like this.  It took him a while and finally this year he has come into his own and he puts everything he has into it in every class we have gone in.  This is my third year with him, we got him in April 2014.  We got him to do pony racing.  We realized that he could jump so we put him into a real program.  Riding is something I want to do for the rest of my life.  It is my favorite thing!”

The NAL hosts National Finals annually at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg, PA, and West Coast Finals at the Las Vegas National Horse Show in Las Vegas, NV. Both Finals include the following five divisions – Children’s Hunter, Adult Hunter, Children’s Jumper Presented by EquiFit, Adult Jumper Presented by SmartPak, and Low Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper.

The NAL qualifying period runs September 1 through August 31. NAL competitions are open to all who wish to compete, however points are only awarded to current members. For more information regarding the North American League, please call (717) 867-5643, email to NAL@Ryegate.com or visit www.ryegate.com.

$10,000 NAL CHILDREN’S JUMPER FINAL, II, 2(a)

Sponsored By EquiFit

Plc                           Horse                                     Rider / Owner                      R1           JO            TIME

1              WISHLEA STAR DASHER      Bailey Doloff/Bailey Doloff                 0              0              30.331

2              SHANNONDALE GINO          Hailey Berger/Hailey Berger              0              0              30.735

3              HERMINAS                             Sarah Boston/Sarah Boston                0              0              31.207

4              ZENITH DANCE                      Phoebe Alwine/Phoebe Alwine        0              0              31.721

5              CLOVIS I                                 Amanda Howe/James Paxson            0              0              32.080

6              ZIBON HC                               Siena Vasan/Carriage Hill Farm          0              0              34.560

7              CORFU LS LA SILLA              Elizabeth Parent/Elizabeth Parent    0              0              35.079

8              PETIT FLIPPER                        Rachel Rothenberg/Ellen Mitchell    0              4              29.700

9              SKYFALL                                 Caroline Michele Dugas/Helene Jones  0              4              36.236

10           ZENJA                                     Phoebe Alwine/Phoebe Alwine        0              8              32.346

11           EASY MONEY                         Emma Seving.Emma Seving 0              8              37.126

12           ARETINA M                            Sophia Zuckett/Stephanie Novas      0              Elim