Posted April 1, 2006

Storyteller and Robin Swinderman Write a Successful Tale in Adult Amateur Hunters at Winter Equestrian Festival in Tampa

Tampa, FL – March 31, 2006 – The 2006 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) is quickly coming to a close, with only one day of competition remaining at the Bob Thomas Equestrian Center at the Florida State Fairgrounds. The Tournament of Champions week will wrap up tomorrow and many of the top hunters of the tour who are circuit champions will participate in the Parade of Champions before the $200,000 Budweiser American Invitational tomorrow evening at the Raymond James Stadium.

In the Adult Amateur 36-50 Hunter division, two old friends joined together for another championship ride. Storyteller and Robin Swinderman took home the tricolor after finishing first in two over fences classes and third in the under saddle. The reserve championship went to Fargo, ridden by Susan Stanley for Providence Hill Farm.

Swinderman got the ride on Storyteller after his owner, Laura York, was injured and could not ride. But riding Storyteller was nothing new for Swinderman. “He used to be my show hunter,” she explained. “I was champion with him in the Amateur-Owner Hunters a few years ago in a bunch of shows.”

Storyteller is also for sale, so they wanted to make sure he got his time in the show ring. It turned out to be a fable with a happy ending. “He was amazing. It was just like it was back when we were champion at Capital Challenge a few years ago,” Swinderman recalled. She added that her favorite thing about Storyteller is that “he has the best canter.”

“That’s the best thing about him,” Swinderman pointed out. “His canter is so rhythmical, and he is so easy to see the jumps on because he stays the same. He lengthens or slows down, whatever you need him to do. He never looks at the jumps, and he swaps his leads. He’s great to ride.”

In the Adult Amateur 18-35 Hunters, a new face graced the WEF winner’s circle. Daisy Mae and Kaley Pratt received two firsts and a second place to win the championship over Finest Hour and Kristen Vale.

Ellen Toon wrapped up a spectacular season in the Amateur-Owner 36 & Over Hunters today as she repeated her performance from last week. She and In Disguise took home the division championship after winning the blue ribbon in all four over fences classes, while Toon and her second horse Attaché were reserve champions. Her stellar results from this week put In Disguise and Attaché into the champion and reserve champion spots for the circuit results.

Tomorrow marks the end of the 34th annual Winter Equestrian Festival. Championship ribbons will be presented in the Junior, Children’s, and Pony Hunters, before the circuit champions gather at Raymond James Stadium for their special presentation.

Photo Credit: Storyteller and Robin Swinderman, Adult Amateur 36-50 Hunter champions at Winter Equestrian Festival in Tampa. Photo by Randi Muster.