Ocala, FL – The third Hunter Derby Friday of the 2025 Winter Spectacular Show Series returned to Hunter 1, featuring the series’ three staple events: $20,000 Golden Ocala 3’6”-3’9” Hunter Derby, the $15,000 UF Veterinary Hospital USHJA National 3′ Open Hunter Derby and the $15,000 USHJA National 3’ Jr/Am Hunter Derby. Course designer Dean Rheinheimer crafted flowing tracks with unrelated distances, providing riders the opportunity to showcase their horses’ scope and rideability.
The $20,000 Golden Ocala 3’6”-3’9” Hunter Derby attracted a strong field of talented hunters, but Samantha Schaefer and her longtime partner, In The Know (Arkansas x Cavelle), wowed the judges with two stunning rounds, both scored in the 90s.
Schaefer and In The Know delivered a textbook first round, impressing with their effortless style and earning a top score of 94. “I love when there are a lot of unrelated distances because I can use his stride, sometimes doing one less, and it just works for him,” Schaefer shared.
Returning for the handy round, Schaefer was determined to break her recent streak of third-place finishes. “I’ve been in a bit of a rut—so many yellow ribbons,” she laughed. “Spyder [In The Know] just loves the handy. When he goes in, you can feel his heartbeat. On no other horse do I have to worry about them wanting to go even more inside. He just has way too much fun in the Stadium. But today, he was perfect.”
The pair executed a flawless inside turn to the hedge fence, slicing it beautifully, and navigated a sharp turn back to the double combination. “I think Jenny Jones did something similar,” Schaefer noted. “‘Spyder’ is such a big horse and a bit reactive, so I just thought, ‘stay calm,’ because he’s looking for the next jump almost before I am!”
A second-round score of 92.5 brought their overall total to 186.5, clinching the victory. “He just loves this job and the attention he gets. He knows the routine—he’s already thinking about heading home and going straight to the paddock,” Schaefer added.
$20,000 Golden Ocala 3’6”-3’9” Hunter Derby Results
Jennifer Jones and Copper Canyon Secure the Blue in $15,000 Veterinary Hospital USHJA National 3’ Open Hunter Derby
Twenty-nine horse-and-rider pairs braved the cold to compete for the blue in the $15,000 Veterinary Hospital USHJA National 3’ Open Hunter Derby on Friday morning in Hunter 1. Fresh off a win in the Open Derby during Week II of the 2025 Winter Spectacular Show Series, Jennifer Jones and Adele Einhorn’s Copper Canyon (Irish Whiskey x Fubertha) returned for Week III, executing two beautiful rounds to claim first place again.
Jones sat at the top of the leaderboard with the eight-year-old Warmblood gelding following the first round with a score of 91. She said, “he jumped very well in the first round. The course was like last week, where only the in-and-out was a related distance, so I like that.”
In the handy, Jones and Copper Canyon kept it smooth, negotiating a tricky turn to the trot jump to make the ride look effortless. “I was nervous because I was a little late to get to the trot. I landed on the right lead after the oxer and wanted to get a lead change in the turn, but the jump was nice. They say that you never win the class with the trot jump, but you can definitely lose it, so I was thinking about that coming up to the fence.”
Jones bettered her first-round score, being awarded a 94 in the handy and ending with a cumulative score of 185 to take home the blue for the second week in a row.
Reflecting on her partnership with Copper Canyon, Jones remarked, “He’s an amazing horse. I didn’t even jump him this past week; he just went in and did those two rounds. Now that he’s getting a bit fitter for jumping the bigger jumps, everything’s easier for him.”
$15,000 UF Veterinary Hospital USHJA National 3’ Open Hunter Derby Results
Lilly Geitner and Bank Mills Score Big in the $15,000 USHJA National 3′ Jr/Am Hunter Derby
Lilly Geitner and Bank Mills, owned by Daniel Geitner, showed up in top form for Friday’s $15,000 USHJA National Jr/Am Hunter Derby, besting the field of thirty-six competitors to come home with the win for a second week in a row.
The pair set a high standard early in the class, earning a score of 93 in the opening round. “I went first, so I hadn’t watched anyone else do the course. I was a little bit nervous going in, but everything rode well,” Geitner shared. ”I rode most of the jumps as singles like last time, and it worked out.”
Geitner had a comfortable three-point advantage over her competitors heading into the handy round, determined to deliver another strong performance. She says, “I wasn’t trying to do anything crazy because I wanted to keep that high point lead.” Geitner did exactly that, piloting the 14-year-old gelding to an impressive score of 89 for a two-round total of 182.
These two expect to return to the derby ring frequently throughout the season. “The whole winter, all he does is these derbies. He’s going to go home tonight and go out in his paddock. He’s living the life for sure.”
$15,000 USHJA National Jr/Am Hunter Derby Results
Explore the daily class schedule, orders of go, class counts, and final results on HorseShowing.com. For real-time scoring, check out Ryegate.Live.
Photos courtesy of Andrew Ryback Photography.
Videos available at ClipMyHorse.TV
Make sure to visit the WEC Blog and follow us on social media @worldequestriancenter for full coverage on all feature classes! Plan your stay at World Equestrian Center – Ocala.