Ronnie Mutch, Victor Hugo-Vidal, Bernard Traurig, Chrystine Jones, Conrad Homfeld, Mark Leone.
Reading through the list of past winners of the Adrian Van Sinderen Memorial Trophy is much like reading a who’s who list of the top names in equestrian sport.
Since 1948, the trophy has been awarded to the winner of what is now the Dover Saddlery/USEF Hunter Seat Medal Final, and it serves as much more than a mark of great equitation and horsemanship. History has proven that winning the USEF Hunter Seat Medal Final is also a strong indicator of future success in equestrian sport.
Among the 73 winners to date are several Olympians, dozens of top international competitors and many young riders still climbing the ranks of the sport.
“It’s so prestigious for a young person to win [the Dover Saddlery/USEF Hunter Seat Medal Final],” said trainer Andre Dignelli of Heritage Farm. “They carry that title for the rest of their life.”
In 1968, the Hunter Seat Medal Final made the move from the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden to the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg, PA, where the prestigious class continues to be held today.
While a large book could be filled with each of the riders’ individual stories of success in the years since then, here is a look at one winning rider from each of the past five decades of the Hunter Seat Medal Final at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show.
Continue reading in the October 2021 issue of The Plaid Horse here!
