“I got the gold!” said Gretchen Ingersoll of Londonderry, New Hampshire, after the World Show amateur hunt seat equitation finals. She sounded surprised at her first world championship. “It just hasn’t sunk in.”

Ingersoll rode her 1999 brown gelding, The One To Chase, aka “Bailey.” Although the horse is an AQHA performance champion, this is their first world championship in only two World Show appearances. At last year’s World Show, they placed third in amateur hunt seat equitation and 10th in showmanship.

“The pattern was awesome,” Ingersoll said of the class. “There was an extended trot to a leg yield that was very difficult. And an extended canter down a six-stride line, and then we had to go to a regular canter and do a lead change a few strides later, and that was really difficult.

“It was a great pattern for us: a lot of space, a lot of maneuvers and real challenging, the kind of pattern I like to do.

 

Gretchen Ingersoll and The One To Chase win their first ever world championship in amateur hunt seat equitation on November 11.

“He’s definitely an English horse,” she continued. “He has a lot of stride, and there was a lot of space where you could use the whole arena. A lot of the patterns we’ve done in the past have been a little small, which make it more difficult for us to get things done. I was able to ride the pattern really forward, which is great.”

Ingersoll bought Bailey from AQHA Professional Horseman Gretchen Mathes when he was 6 months old.

“He lives at home with me,” she said. “He’s wonderful; he’s like my best friend. I feed him every day, and he’s just part of the family.

Ingersoll is a massage therapist, for humans and equines, and Bailey benefits from that.

“He gets a regular massage, as well as a lot of the other horses in the barn we train with,” she said. “It eases muscle tension just like it does for a person, it helps to relax them. It helps them recover from any hard workouts you’ve had.”

And what’s it feel like to win a world championship, after all the hard workouts?

“It’s awesome,” Ingersoll said with a big smile. “It’s a big thrill.”