Emma Kurtz is excited to be at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, a venue that she has been to many times in her young life.  She has been named champion and earned blue ribbons at the PA National many times on both ponies and horses, but this Junior Weekend is special.  Kurtz is showing in the Junior Hunters, is riding a jumper in the Neue Shule/USEF Prix de States competition and is vying for the Dover Saddlery/USEF Hunter Seat Medal Finals all in one weekend.

Kurtz, Hudson, OH, started her day by winning both classes in the Small Junior Hunter, Riders 16-17-Year-Old Division with Dr. Betsee Parker’s A Million Reasons, and placing second and sixth with her other mount, Kahlua, owned by Aldridge Equestrian.

She then returned to the ring on Dedication, another of Dr. Parker’s talented string of hunters and took the blue ribbon in both classes of the Large Junior Hunter 16-17 division that were contested on opening day.

“This is a big year for me,” said Kurtz.  “I have three hunters, a jumper, and it is my first time doing the jumpers here, and I am doing the equitation.  I have been looking forward to this all year, especially the jumpers because I have never done them.  I am so excited to see what it is like.”

Kurtz, a freshman at Auburn University, is in her last year showing as a junior rider, and is going for the hat trick, and it may well play out for this talented young lady.

The Small Junior Hunter division for riders 15 years of age and under saw Stella Wasserman, Beverly Hills, CA, and the incomparable Boss take the win in both classes.

Augusta Iwasaki, Calabasas, CA, and Small Affair won both classes in the Large Junior Hunter division for riders 15 years of age and under.