Charlotte Colter Claims Victory in Taylor Harris Insurance Services National Children’s Medal Final
The penultimate day of the Capital Challenge Horse Show Equitation Showcase, presented by BIGEQ.com crowned a new winner as Charlotte Colter of Houston, TX, rose to the top of the Taylor Harris Insurance Services (THIS) National Children’s Medal Final. Forty of the country’s best junior equitation riders took their turn inside The Show Place Arena at Prince George’s Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro, MD, on Saturday, September 26, but it was Colter’s ride on Juice Wrld that stole the show.
“This is really my biggest win,” Colter exclaimed. “I haven't been in the equitation for too long, so this is definitely my biggest win in the equitation, and probably overall in my riding career.”
Charlotte Colter rode Juice Wrld to victory in this year's THIS National Children's Medal Final.
Photo by Shawn McMillen Photography
All 40 riders were tasked with completing the first round course, designed by Meghan Rawlins and Ken Krome, before the top 10 were invited back for a second round. Each round was carefully reviewed by three panels of judges consisting of two judges per panel. Panel one included Tammy Provost and Tony Sgarlata, panel two included Lyman T Whitehead and Phillip DeVita, and panel three was rounded out by Bobbie Reber and Claire Kellner. The combinations’ final first round score was an average of the three individual scores given by each panel. As is typical in a final, the top 10 riders returned in reverse order of merit for round two.
Krome and Rawlins' second round made the most of the arena, incorporating multiple bending lines, combinations, and a bounce obstacle. With the leading score of 88.83 in the first round, Colter was the final to return for round two and delivered a trip that the judges’ gave an 84.66.
“In the second round, I really just wanted to keep calm, because I feel like I'm not used to the pressure yet,” she explained. “I wanted to find each jump in the same striding and not get too fast or ahead of myself, and it worked out.”
Charlotte Colter in her winning presentation.
Photo by Shawn McMillen Photography
At the end of the second round, Colter’s two-round total led by only .32 points from runner-up Kenzie Smith, necessitating a final ride-off test.
“In the test I wanted to keep to my plan as I went in,” Colter added. “I didn't want to do anything crazy, but instead just execute what the judges were asking for, well.”
Ultimately, the 16-year-old’s test performance held strong for the win, totaling 257.15 points. She credited both the experience of trainer Berry Porter and of her 17-year-old Selle Francais mount, Juice Wrld, with her win.
“I think he makes me look better than I do,” Colter laughed. “He makes me feel confident knowing he's done all this stuff, and whatever I ask him to do, he'll try the hardest to do right.”
As is tradition, Colter took a sharpie to the banner of previous winners and added her name to make it official.
Kenzie Smith of Shoreham, NY, accepted the reserve title with a total of 254.82 points aboard Ashland Farms’ 12-year-old Zangersheide gelding, Ari. Grace Stenbeck-Werner from North Salem, NY, rounded out the top three, earning a score of 170.33 points across the two rounds with Oxford, a seven-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Sorensen Stables.
Hear from THIS National Children's Medal Final winner Charlotte Colter