Richard Rinehart Wins First $10,000 Shires Equestrian USHJA National Open Hunter Derby of Fall Classic Series

02 OCT 26 Wilmington, OH

A horse and rider jumping over a hurdle at the World Equestrian Center.

Wilmington, Ohio – Pumpkins and mums set the scene in the R+L Arena at World Equestrian Center – Wilmington (WEC) for the first Hunter Derby Friday of the 2026 Fall Classic Series. In the end, Richard Rinehart and a new face in his barn, MTM Encore (Arko III x Obora’s Emmy), topped the $10,000 Shires Equestrian USHJA National Open Hunter Derby.

A rider in a navy jacket and helmet jumps a brown horse over a decorative obstacle in an indoor equestrian arena.
Richard Rinehart & MTM Encore. Photo by Winslow Photography.

“We haven’t had her very long. We leased her and Traverse City for Doran Hynes to do as a Junior Hunter one day, so we’re working into that. She’s a very sweet mare, not spooky at the jumps, always stays rideable. She’s a girl’s horse,” Rinehart laughed. “We’re really excited for Doran to start showing her this weekend.”

A rider in a navy jacket and helmet jumps a horse over a wooden fence in an arena decorated with pumpkins.
Richard Rinehart & MTM Encore. Photo by Winslow Photography.

Rinehart and the 10-year-old Warmblood mare went into the handy round sitting in third place with a first-round score of 86.

A near-perfect second round moved the duo up the leaderboard with an 89 and a two-round total of 175 that proved unbeatable.

A rider on a brown horse stands between two people in an indoor arena, with one person holding a World Championship Hunter Derby winner’s banner.
Richard Rinehart & MTM Encore in the winner’s circle presented by Shires Equestrian. Photo by Winslow Photography.

“It was a beautiful course and it rode very well. There were a lot of turns, and they used both sides of the horse nicely, the right and the left. And I enjoy the hedge trot jump, just because it’s not something you see every day,” he said of Bobby Murphy’s decorative track.

A horse and rider jumping over a hedge obstacle decorated with pumpkins and potted plants in an indoor arena.
Alexander Adkins & MTM Favored. Photo by Winslow Photography.

Alexander Adkins followed just behind his trainer aboard his own 10-year-old Warmblood gelding, MTM Favored (Eras De Ste Heremelle x Vasco), with scores of 87 and 87.5 for a 174.5 total, just shy of the top spot to finish second.

A horse and rider jumping over an obstacle in an indoor arena.
Christopher Coberley & Newport. Photo by Winslow Photography.

Christopher Coberley rounded out the top three with scores of 89 and 85 riding Lindsay Lyden’s eight-year-old KWPN gelding, Newport (Janeiro x Sophia II Bella).

$10,000 Shires Equestrian USHJA National Open Hunter Derby Results

Explore the daily class schedule, orders of go, class counts, and final results on HorseShowing.com. 

Videos available at ClipMyHorse.TV

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