Katy, TX – March 30, 2025 – Megan Uerling has been competing at the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show for decades, but this year’s show is likely to be a memorable one. On Sunday, March 30, Uerling and her longtime partner Zirdoctro SL Z closed out Pin Oak Week 1 with a win in the $10,000 1.30m/1.40m NAL Junior/Amateur Classic, sponsored by Lynn & Pete Walsh.
“These wins don’t come super often for us, and when they do, it’s a real treat,” said Uerling, who trains with Irish Day Farm in Houston. “It went really well today. I was a little worried. The course is long, and it’s warm and muggy today. Sometimes, especially with triple combinations, that can be a challenge. Longer courses, that’s a challenge. I took yesterday off, and I think that was a good decision. He was really sharp and fresh today, and we got a good inside turn in the jump off. He’s always really fun to turn on, so I couldn’t be any happier.”
Uerling has been competing Zirdoctro SL Z for seven years, and she considers herself extremely fortunate to be going through life with the 15-year-old Zangersheide gelding.
“He is my one and only horse,” said Uerling, who, when she is not in the saddle, works as a teleradiologist. “He’s my partner; he’s my soulmate. I was with him through an injury early when we had him. He was with me through an injury last year when I was off for six months. Just being able to have this horse with me for everything is just a dream come true. He’s the horse of a lifetime.”
Finishing in second place behind Uerling and Zirdoctro SL Z were Fernanda Del Toro and Chertrada, and Shelli Harris and Murphy Les Hauts took home third.
Also earning classic victories in the Main Indoor Ring at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center on Sunday were the following:
- $5,000 1.25m NAL Junior/Amateur Classic – Sara Maria Corbeanu and High Quality
- $2,000 1.15m NAL/WIHS Amateur Classic – Eliana Zapata and J Peroni WFS
- $2,000 1.15m NAL/WIHS Junior Classic – Macy Owens and Frodo VD Withoeve RW
For more results from Pin Oak Week 1, visit HorseShowsOnline.com.
Katy, TX – March 30, 2025 – Maddee Morley and Champions Legue capped off a banner week at the 79th annual Pin Oak Charity Horse Show with victory in the $30,000 WA Farm Grand Prix on Saturday, March 29. The grand prix win impressively marked the pair’s third blue ribbon out of three starts during Pin Oak Week 1 at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center in Katy, TX.
“I seriously don’t have words…I am tearing up just thinking about how great of a week it has been,” said Morley. “My horse has been so incredible, and if you had told me that this was how this week was going to go, I would have laughed in your face. It’s truly just been a fairy tale of a week.”
After topping both Wednesday’s $10,000 Irish Day Farm 1.40m Welcome Stake and Thursday’s $25,000 Wentz Family Foundation Grand Prix, Morley returned to the Main Indoor Ring with her sights set on another victory. On the way to her fairy tale finale, she was one of five entries to jump clear over the Oscar Soberon-designed course.
From there, Morley had the possible disadvantage of being the first to return for the short course, but the 27-year-old knew what she needed to do.
“I was told to make them chase me,” said Morley, who trains with October Hill Farm. “[I wanted] just a nice double clear, not going super insane. After jump one, there was maybe an inside turn back…I opted to go around just because that inside turn seemed a little too severe, especially kind of getting to that next fence. Then, I just wanted to be tidy in the corners and let [Champions Legue] jump the best that he can and just try and set him up. As I’ve said before, I’ve been really trying to trust his open stride and the one less in a lot of the lines. He was just so with me tonight for the leave outs in a lot of those lines.”
With her well-executed leave outs, Morley set the time to beat at a clear 36.187 seconds. That time ultimately held up through to the end of the class, with no other riders coming within two seconds of Morley and Champions Legue. Finishing in second place with a clear time of 38.345 seconds were Daniel Bedoya and Heritage MBF, owned by NRG Farm LLC. Third place went to another NRG Farm LLC-owned horse, Casamigos, ridden by Diego Bedoya. For full results of the class, click here.
“I just really want to thank everyone at October Hill, my family, everyone who’s really gotten me to this point,” said Morley, who has been partnered with her 12-year-old Westphalian gelding, Champions Legue, for roughly four years. “He is just the best. The best thing about him is he has such a big heart. He wants to do well. He wants to make it to the other side of the fence, and he’s just so careful that he’s going to try so hard every single jump. He wants to please.”
When Morley is not riding, she is busy working as a mental health therapist. As for Champions Legue, the gelding will now enjoy a lighter week before ramping up again toward Pin Oak Week 3’s $100,000 Hildebrand Family Grand Prix on Saturday, April 12.
To learn more about all competition at the 2025 Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, visit www.PinOak.org.
Katy, TX – March 29, 2025 – Nada Wise and Chesterfield are no strangers to the winner’s circle at the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, and they returned there again on Friday, March 28, after taking the top honor in the $30,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby, sponsored by R-C Ranch.
Wise and the 9-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding, owned by Stacey Thompson, led the class from beginning to end, as scores of 85 and 84 – coupled with all four high-option bonus fences taken – shot them straight to the top of the leaderboard with a total score of 177 in round one.
From there, they returned to the Tellepsen Arena at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center to cement their win with a score of 182 (84.000 + 4 + 2, 87.000 + 4 + 1) in the handy round and an overall total score of 359.
Finishing in second place with scores of 170 and 185 for a 355 total were Jef Lauwers and Hallpass, owned by Sue Copeland. Third place went to Jennifer Alfano who rode her own Ivy League to a 163 and a 187 for a 350 total.
“This horse has been with me since he was 5, and I’m really lucky I’ve been able to keep him in my barn,” said Wise, who also rode Chesterfield to victory in the $25,000 Olde Oaks Farm Open Hunter Classic at the 2024 Pin Oak Charity Horse Show. “He has so much heart and so much ability, and we’ve really become a team. When I walk in the ring, he gives me all the confidence to do exactly what I need to do, and he always puts all of his heart into it.”
Wise continued, “[In the handy round], I feel like I was a little bit safe. Everyone had been very good before me. I had a lot of competition, and they had been very slick, so I wanted to make sure I rode correctly every step of the way. He answered everything I asked him to answer and then some.”
For Wise, who operates Rendezvous Farm in Tomball, TX, is her “hometown horse show” and one she looks forward to each year.
“You get a good feel of support here, which is really nice,” concluded Wise. “It’s great that we can give back to the community…Being able to give back a little bit and hopefully get the community involved a little bit more is really nice.”
For full results of the $30,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby, sponsored by R-C Ranch, click here. To learn more about the 79th annual Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, visit PinOak.org.
Katy, TX – March 29, 2025 – When RVF Petersburg came into Susan McMorris’s care as a young horse, McMorris knew she had something special. That inkling has paid off numerous times, including on March 28 when the pair strutted through both rounds of the $10,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby, sponsored by Baybridge Hunter Jumpers, to win the class with a score of 174 (85 + 89).
“We’ve had him since he was 4 or 5 years old, and we liked him, so we decided to keep him instead of selling,” said McMorris, who operates Rio Vista Farm. “He’s just a good match for me – kind of a light ride.”
Now 11 years old, RVF Petersburg comes from a star-studded lineage. By Dinken and out of California 6, the bay Holsteiner gelding has ties to performance horses like Coletto II and Diarado.
Owned by Rio Vista Farm, RVF Petersburg faced some stiff competition in the derby field. McMorris and the gelding held onto their first-place finish by just a quarter of a point. Jennifer Alfano and Freedom, owned by Rachel Miller, gave them a run for their money but finished in second place with a score of 173.75 (87.750 + 86). While the top two were neck and neck, the competition was slightly more defined for third and fourth place.
Avery Erickson came in third with Laura Carvajal’s Lorenzo Van Stal Romano with a score of 169 (83 + 86). Erickson was the only rider in the top five to forgo all the high-option fences. Meanwhile, Rebecca Buchanan rounded out the top four places with Jewell Bridwell’s Visconti, finishing on a score of 168 (82 + 86).
McMorris went for all the higher fence options possible in both rounds, adding a total of eight points to her total score. “The course was nice; it was fun,” McMorris said. “He was very soft and responsive today. So, he had a nice first round, and we came back and rode the same for the handy [round].”
RVF Petersburg and McMorris are no stranger to the spotlight. In 2024, the pair was named the Texas Hunter Jumper Association Champion and the USHJA Zone 7 Reserve Champion in the 3’6” Performance Hunter division. The duo’s 2025 competition season is also off to a strong start with this; however, as the head trainer at Rio Vista Farm in Dripping Springs, TX, McMorris and RVF Petersburg have to fit their goals around those of their clients.
“He’s done one international derby,” McMorris said. “I just do it based on how many clients I have to help that day – whether or not I’m going to do the international. I didn’t get to show him yesterday because of the rain, and I had too many clients showing, so I thought I’d just do the national derby this week.”
“If I can get him prepared to do the international, then I’ll do it,” McMorris continued.
To see the complete results of the $10,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby, sponsored by Baybridge Hunter Jumpers, click here.
Katy, TX – March 28, 2025 – The conclusion to Thursday’s $25,000 Wentz Family Foundation Grand Prix bore a striking resemblance to the day prior, as it was again Maddee Morley and Champions Legue who rode away with the win at the 79th annual Pin Oak Charity Horse Show. Also claiming back-to-back victories was Alexandra Pielet who rode Hyperbolics to the win in the $10,000 U25 Grand Prix held concurrently.
“This feeling never gets old,” said Morley, 27, of her second consecutive win at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center in Katy, TX. “I’m so happy with how my horse jumped, and I’m just on cloud nine.”
Morley and her 12-year-old Westphalian gelding were one of seven entries to jump clear over the Oscar Soberon-designed track, and when they returned to the Main Indoor Ring, Alwaleed Alrashid and W Senna had just set the clear time to beat at 36.461 seconds.
Morley, who trains with October Hill Farm, has been working on feeling confident in leaving out strides down the lines, so that is exactly what she did on Thursday. With a strong gallop down to the final Pin Oak oxer, Morley and Champions Legue flew through the timers in 34.660 seconds to take over the top of the leaderboard, and ultimately, to bring home the win.
Alrashid and W Senna, owned by WA Farm LLC, held on to second place, and Pielet and Hyperbolics finished in third with a time of 37.337 seconds – which would also secure them the win in the $10,000 U25 Grand Prix.
“[The jump-off course] was a really good test of rideability and just being able to gallop through the really bending lines,” said Morley. “I just wanted to go in and lay down a nice clean, double clear, especially just knowing Saturday [and the $30,000 WA Farm Grand Prix] is coming up. I’ve been working on trusting my horse a lot more and trusting the one less in some of the lines, and that’s what I tried to accomplish today.”
Morley continued, “I don’t do a ton of jumping at home. I maybe do one course in between shows. We do a lot of cavalletti work, a lot of pole work. That’s more for my benefit, but it is also for Champ’s benefit – just to keep him really straight and in the middle of a lot of jumps because that’s where we struggle a bit. We have a big field…and we do a lot of gallop sets down there to keep him fit. We just do a lot of trying to get him out of the ring as much as possible when we’re at home, while still keeping him fit and just making sure that he’s still enjoying his job.”
In addition to pointing Champions Legue at Saturday, March 29’s $30,000 WA Farm Grand Prix, Morley is aiming for the culminating event of the three-week Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, the $100,000 Hildebrand Family Grand Prix on Saturday, April 12. To view a full schedule of all upcoming events at the 2025 Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, click here. To view full results of Thursday, March 27’s $25,000 Wentz Family Foundation Grand Prix, click here.