Lexington, KY – October 28, 2025 – The 142nd National Horse Show celebrated an exciting milestone with the debut of the NHS $10,000 Young / Green Hunter Championship, highlighting the exceptional promise of developing hunters. In a class that showcased precision, style, and future potential, Stephanie Danhakl’s seven-year-old Zangersheide gelding, Cadet (Intouchable x Viljana), captured the championship title.
Open to five-, six-, and seven-year-old horses, the championship brought together a talented field of 24 horse-and-rider pairs. Each combination competed in two rounds, judged on movement, jumping style, manners, and way of going. Scores from both rounds were combined to determine the overall winner.
Ridden by Scott Stewart, Cadet earned the two highest scores in both rounds of the championship, laying down an 88 in Round 1 and an 87 in Round 2. “Getting to come here to the National Horse Show and getting exposed to this atmosphere was really phenomenal. I thought the courses were great, and I thought it was also excellent that everybody got to go back again—just because they’re so green, they make a mistake, just to get them comfortable,” shared Stewart.
The creation of the Young / Green Hunter Championship underscores the National Horse Show’s commitment to recognizing the sport’s up-and-coming equine athletes. By expanding qualification criteria, the class provided an opportunity for more talented young horses to gain valuable experience on a national stage.
“It’s the inaugural year, and it’s such an important aspect of the big picture of showing hunters—to showcase these young ones, give them a chance in the ring, and let them learn that way.” said Jennifer Burger, President of the National Horse Show. “We all agreed that showcasing these young horses was an important piece that needed a place in the big picture of the hunter world.”
Michael Britt-León piloted two young horses to the top three. He and Kelly Sims’ Belgian Sport Horse Stallion, Private Party (Chacco’s Son II x Dame De Coeur Enclos De L’ange), earned Reserve Champion honors, while London Boy, a Westphalian gelding owned by Britt-León, Michael Shillingford, and Eleese Shillingford, rounded out the top three.
“It’s exciting to have something like this to showcase our young horses—these are truly the horses of tomorrow. These are all tne new horses that are coming up that we’re gonna see in the big, big divisions next year. To be able to afford them [the chance] to come into the ring in this kind of caliber horse show—I think we did it right,” added Britt-León.
