October 17, 2026 – Harrisburg, Pa. – Saturday’s Keystone Arena highlight was the PNHS Children’s Medal Final. Designed to showcase the next generation of equitation talent, the new championship featured qualified junior riders competing for the inaugural title, while demonstrating precision, style and horsemanship.
An impressive field of 53 turned out for the first round of competition, but only six were invited back to complete a second round test. Topping them all was Pennsylvania native Paige Buzby and Kathmandu WV, owned by Liston Johnson.
“I love this horse,” said Buzby. “This is just my favorite horse to ride ever. She’s so sweet, and she will fall asleep in your arms. She’s so calm, and she’s amazing at home. She’s not spooky — she’s just one-of-a-kind.”
Buzby entered the testing phase sitting in third place, however, her expert execution of the shortened course, which asked riders to demonstrate a counter-canter as well as navigate a rollback, an in-and-out combination and a trot fence, won over the judges to take the first-ever title.
“In the first round, I was able to get up to pace really well,” said Buzby. “Berry Porter helped me a little bit, so he advised me to be bold right out of the gate.
“My strategy going into the test was to be smooth and calm,” continued Buzby. “I wanted to make sure I landed that [counter] lead after one, so I could hold it. I also wanted to make sure I didn’t get very swappy to the second because [Kathmandu WV] is an ex-1.40m horse. Through the rollback, I kind of shot her a little bit out of there but that was ok, it ended up working in my favor. My in-and-out was hunter-y, and then she’s really good at trot jumps, so I was able to be smooth and slow to that.”
Earning runner-up honors was Devon Schwartz and her own Flayders. She led the pack going into the work-off and delivered another consistent, solid performance but ultimately fell short to Buzby.
“It means a lot for me to win here,” said Buzby. “I feel like I’ve been working very hard at my position and keeping things smooth. Next step is the NCEA [on Sunday] and then hopefully next year maybe the 3’6″ divisions.”
Third place went to Amelia Schoenfeld and her own Hidalgo, who moved up from the sixth-place spot following the first round.
For full results of the PNHS Children’s Medal Final from the 80th annual Pennsylvania National Horse Show, visit pnhs.showmanagementsystem.com.
