Palisadian and Balmoral Farm rider Kaitlyn Van Konynenburg did it again this week, winning the 2015 U.S. Junior Hunter National Championship (West Coast) on her horse “Wish List.”
The 17-year-old, entering her senior year at Pacifica Christian High in Santa Monica, accumlated marks of 86, 85 and 84 in the Handy round to move into first place overall with a score of 245.5.
Van Konynenburg has had “Wish List,” a 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding, for about a year and a half and the two earned top indoor accolades at the National Horse Show last year.
Training under Balmoral Farm owners Traci and Carleton Brooks, Van Konynenburg went to Calvary Christian School and played several sports growing up. She began horseback riding in second grade and it’s been her passion ever since.
At last year’s Del Mar National Horse Show she won three Junior Hunter Classes and this year was Overall Grand Circuit Champion of the HITS (Horse Shows in the Sun) Desert Circuit Overall in Junior Hunters 16-17 years old. She also won the Sportsmanship Award at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show.
In April, the Riviera resident won championships on three different horses, riding her new mount “Comissario” to victory in the Small Junior Hunters, riding “Homestead” to victory in the Large Juniors and riding “Wish List” to the Reserve crown.
Next week she’ll travel north to the Menlo Charity Show, where she won the High Point Horse Award last summer, then head to a show in San Diego after that.
— Steve Galluzzo
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