Alexandra Smith of Wellington, FL, aboard Perfekionist, owned by Tracey Topping of Wellington, FL, rose to the occasion in the WCHR Children’s Challenge presented by Stephanie Bulger and MeadowView, which saw 21 entries. The duo scored an 87.75 to finish atop the only WCHR Challenge class held in the outdoor this week. Hensley Humphries of New York, NY, and Pomodoro finished in second with a score of 86.75 and Lauren Katz of Potomac, MD, aboard Highland’s Right Royal earned third place with a score of 86.50.

“I’ve never done a challenge class in the children’s division, but I did it last year for in the pony division. We got him about two months ago when we decided to lease him from Tracey Topping and this is our third show together,” she explained. “He’s really sweet and I like him a lot already.”

At only 12 years old, Smith, who rides with parents Ken and Emily of Ashland Farms, comes from a long line of successful equestrians as older brother Spencer is making his way through the upper level jumper ranks. The course, which was set at two different heights for ponies and horses, rode nicely for Smith and long-strided Perfektionist, who is known around the barn as Fred.

“I think it was a very good course and it was fun. Fred can be a little bit lazy but I still have fun. You have to get him going but after that he’s really good,” she explained. The duo will take the next few months to fine tune their skills before entering the show ring again at the Winter Equestrian Festival in just a few short months.

“We aren’t going to do indoors this year so our next show will probably be at WEF. He’s really nice and I feel comfortable on him already so it hasn’t been that hard getting to know him,” she remarked.