2001 Recap
The Legacy Cup: Where Hunters Come to Shine

By Jamie Krauss

When I was asked by American Hunter Jumper Foundation Executive Director, Michelle Perla, to work for her as a public relations coordinator at the inaugural year of the Legacy Cup, I had mixed emotions. I was honored to be asked. I was thrilled for the opportunity. I was also nervous for the sole reason that this was to be a hunter horse show, and I am not a hunter person.

Being involved in the jumper world, I knew the circle of important trainers, owners, and riders. I knew the course designers and their style of course building. I knew the rules and regulations. Probably for these reasons, in my mind I thought of it as the "showcased" division. They are the classes that run in rings with names like "The International Arena." They are on Sunday afternoons. They offer more prize money then any other class, classic, or prix. The way I saw it, Jumper riders and their horses were the stars.

It is time for me to think again. I have just spent a week at a show that was so fun, offered so much prize money, and took it's competitors so seriously that I will never again revert to my old judgments... a show so well run that it renewed my interest in the hunters.

The Legacy Cup, held at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington Virginia, is a one week long hunter extravaganza, offering more then $179,500 dollars in prize money. The prize money, of which $113,000 comes from private donation and the rest from add-back money, is divided between the competitors in classes that include the Open 3'6", the Limited 3'6" (open to "limited professionals," meaning those without major hunter wins), the Open 3', the Limited Open 3,' the Non pro 3'6", and the Non pro 3'. What you end up with is a venue in which the junior and amateur riders (who, by definition, should be at the same level) show against each other, and the professionals are the ones who actually get to show against those with the same amount of experience (instead of being herded together, regardless of their mileage). The prize money offered to all competitors was incredible, with the non professionals having a $19,381 purse for their 3'6" classic, and the pros having a $46,000 final class for their 3'6" open professionals!

Each division had two "go-round" classes, with the top twenty returning for a final. Those who didn't qualify in the top percentile still got to come back for a $10,000 invitational! Furthermore, they held an open undersaddle class with a purse of $10,000! This made me think twice about my preconceptions about the hunters -- right here they were earning more money then my jumpers make in a circuit!

Many of the top hunter riders were in attendance, and hopefully next year more will compete. This gave the nonprofessional riders a chance not only to compete for more prize money then they have ever dreamed of, but also to watch and learn from the best.

"I especially liked getting to watch all the professional riders," said Elizabeth Coughlin, winner of the 3'6" non-pro division. "I took away so much from this show."

And that was the general consensus. Trainers came up to me all day long, wanting to voice their opinions about the show. They sang its praises, as well as suggesting improvements, but as a first year venture they agreed it went well.

"I loved this horse show," said hunter trainer Pam Baker. "The judging, the format, the spirit of the whole competition ... there was nothing that I didn't like about it!"

The judging system was probably one of the best aspects of the competition. The panel of eight judges consisted of Brian Lenehan, Liza Dennehy, Russell Frey, George Wallace, Scott Williamson, John Roper, Jeff Wirthman, and Patrick Rodes. Unarguably some of the best judges in the country, they were teamed into groups of two and strategically placed at four points around the ring. This assured that not a step went unnoticed anywhere around the ring ... and oh, what a ring it was.

"It is an excellent facility," agreed Mimi and Dean Edwards. "The ring is enormous, and the courses are great. The jumps are all bright and beautiful, and the courses are just tricky enough."

In fact, the ring was so big that Betty Oare told me her horse, who had never even shown indoors before, had no problem with the situation.

"He must have thought he was in a field, he had so much room!" Betty laughed. "The courses are just so inviting for horses to jump, and the ring is so large that it leaves plenty of room for the horses to show off their way of movement."

The entire facility is nice, with the horses living in permanent stalls and plenty of room to practice in the downtime.

"I loved the ring, but equally I loved the schooling ring," commented professional Peter Pletcher. "It's rare to have such a nice place to school at an indoor show. It's the little things like that that make this an extra special show."

Another thing that made it an extra special show was the emphasis on breeding. Prior to the start of the show, all competitors were asked to specify their horses breeding (submitting their papers as proof of their authenticity), including their sire and dam. This allowed riders to be cognizant of different breeds and where they came from, raising awareness to this important issue.

"We have to support the breeding aspect of the hunter industry, and the Legacy Cup does just that," commented Dean and Mimi Edwards. "This is what we think is the most important aspect of this horse show, and to us it is essential that it succeeds in that capacity."

They even had a "Challenge of the Breeds," a separate set of awards recognizing the top Thoroughbred, Warmblood, and Quarterhorse at the culmination of competition. Red Panda, Louise Serio's ride for the Meralex Farms, took home most of the top honors for the show (including the 3'6" Professional Finals title), as well as the top Warmblood win. What was most interesting, however, was learning that Red Panda's grandsire was the great Voltaire; Voltaire was also second place winner Nobleman's sire. So, we see that the first placed horse was related to the second place horse through old bloodlines. But look even further, and we see that Nobleman was also related to Claudia and Peter Pletcher's January's Best, through the grandsire Lucky Boy. All off a sudden it becomes apparent that the breeding of the horse is more important then it may seem. By having the horses breeding available to the spectators, they created an interest in the origin of the animals, perhaps raising awareness of the importance of breeding in a country that often overlooks it.

Overall, I believe this horse show was a great success. Of course certain people had suggestions on how to make it better. Mainly all of the people had opinions which were voiced as constructive criticism, like Scott Hofstetter, who said perhaps they should add a handy hunter class or Peter Pletcher who suggested taking the scoreboard out of the end of the ring so there was more room. People thought that the leading rider should be based on points, not prize money (because obviously the person who wins $25,000 in the 3'6" Pro Finals is going to be the winner no matter how well anybody else did). But generally, the only problem anyone had with the show was that there were not a lot of entries...however once people get wind of this year's success, I believe that will change. The show treated their competitors great, and people don't forget that. Once the word spreads that there is almost $180,000 up for grabs, people will probably decide that it's worth their driving time and even the slightly lofty entry fees to participate. And once they do, they'll find that they are becoming a part what could be one of the greatest things to ever happen to the hunter industry.