Milton equestrian tops competition in Georgia

Samantha Tanner has been riding horses as long as she can remember. She started with leadline classes when she was 3, moving up to the pony hunter division, and then on to horses in the hunter division.

In April, the 15-year-old Milton resident took top honors at the National Interscholastic Equestrian Association competition held in Georgia, placing first in Varsity Intermediate Equitation over fences.

IEA is a show circuit for high school and middle school riders, who compete as teams and individuals. Riders do not compete on their own horses; they ride horses provided to them at the show facility.

Trophy in hand, Samantha smiled about her success this year, but she is already thinking about next season.

“I'm going to try again this winter,” she said. “I'll compete in the open division, which has higher fences.”

Samantha, a Cape High freshman who rides with the Little Clovelly/C-Line team, won on a horse named Fozzie, but at home, she rides her 17.2-hand Belgian Warmblood named Dutch. She has plans for Dutch as the two have moved up to 3-foot fences, while eyeing the A show circuit – top competition in the world of hunter horse shows. Someday, Samantha said, she hopes she and Dutch will qualify for the prestigious Devon Horse Show held in Pennsylvania. And she still has a couple of years to left to try for the ASPCA Maclay National Championship – the highest junior hunter competition in the country.

“Dutch has been doing real well. He's a good boy,” she said. “I would like to try for the Maclay.”