Alexandra Arute Rides All About Me to Grand Pony Hunter Champion at the Metropolitan National Horse Show

Samantha Schaeffer is Best Child Rider on a Pony

New York, NY – November 7, 2004 – The 2004 World Champion Pony Hunter Rider of the Year, Alexandra Arute of Avon, Connecticut, piloted All About Me owned by Richard Prant to Grand Champion Pony honors at the 2004 Metropolitan National Horse Show at Pier 94 and the Show Piers in New York City. Samantha Schaeffer of Westminster, Maryland, was named Best Child Rider on a Pony.

All About Me showed in the Medium Pony Hunter section and according to 12-year-old Alexandra Arute, he’s just a beginner. “He’s seven years old and this is his first time ever indoors, so he started out kind of rough but he’s improved so much through Harrisburg and Washington and here in New York he really got it together, so I’m really, really happy,” Arute explained.

Scott Stewart trains the duo and praised his young pony. “All About Me is a great pony, moves great and jumps wonderfully. He’s just a seven-year-old pony, but he’s a great jumper,” Stewart said.

Arute plans on moving up in the near future. “I have a large green pony that I’m working with now, but I’m expecting to begin showing in the junior hunter divisions soon. I have a pony jumper now and I just love that, so I’m hoping I can show jumpers soon too,” she said.

“I’ll watch the ASPCA Maclay today, but I’m not quite ready for equitation yet because I’m still a little too small to fit a horse for equitation,” Arute said laughingly.

Believe in Magic, owned and ridden by Alex Paradyzs of Mill Neck, New York, finished up as the Reserve Champion Medium Pony.

In the Large Pony Hunter Section, 10-year-old Schaeffer Raposa rode Orlando to the division Championship. Orlando is owned by Maggie Mcalary of Amherst, New Hampshire. Maggie’s Mom, Susan referred to the win as five-10-14. “Do you believe it? The pony is five, the rider is 10 and the trainer is 14!” Maggie Mcalary is 14 and helps Schaeffer with Orlando.

“Shaeffer Raposa is awesome,” Mcalary said. “She listens to everything you say, she critiques herself, and when I’m riding she watches me and is able to apply a lot of things she sees. She’s pretty experienced even though she’s only 10 and even though it’s the pony’s first time indoors, he pretty much goes with the flow and is good about everything,” said Mcalary.

Picking up the Reserve ribbon in the Large Pony section was Simply Henry, ridden by Sophie Applegate and owned by the Arwen Stables of Rancho Santa Fe, California.

Eleven-year-old Samantha Schaeffer of Westminster, Maryland, took home both the Champion and the Reserve in the Small Pony Hunter section with Rainbow Canyon and Halcyon Hawthorne respectively. “I rode the champion in the Mediums here last year and I was Reserve in the Smalls so it was cool to do better in the Small ponies,” Schaeffer explained. “And since it’s my last show together with Halcyon Hawthorne it was neat that he was Reserve Champion here.”

The 19-year-old pony will see limited show ring action in the future. Schaeffer talked about learning to ride on Halcyon Hawthorne. “I’ve had him for four years and the first year I spent trying to figure him out but we got together and we got to go to indoors, but then I fell off, so that wasn’t so good. But it got better after that and we really started to do well together. He helped me learn how to ride, but you’ve got to watch him because he can still get naughty,” Schaeffer explained. “Hawthorne loves sugar powdered donuts, loves ‘em, but we couldn’t get them here so we gave him salt and vinegar potato chips instead. And he loves candy. Any kind of candy and lots of it,” laughed Schaeffer.

The 2004 Metropolitan National Horse Show wraps up on Sunday afternoon with the ASPCA Maclay National Equitation Championship. For complete results, visit the Metropolitan National Horse Show website at: www.nhs.org.