Maryland Horse Industry Board to Present Touch of Class Award to Young Rider Champions Tomorrow

Teen Champions from Carroll, Montgomery County to be Honored

Grace Fulton

ANNAPOLIS, MD (Oct. 16, 2014) – The Maryland Horse Industry Board (MHIB), a program within the Maryland Department of Agriculture, will present its September and October Touch of Class Awards to Grace Fulton of Carroll County and Kc van A

arem of Montgomery County, two teenage riders who were members of winning teams at the 2014 Adequan FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC) in Lexington, Kentucky this summer. Fulton’s award will be presented on Friday, Oct. 17, at 1 p.m. at the Fair Hill International 3-Day Event in Elkton; and van Aarem will be honored during the Washington International Horse Show on Thursday, Oct. 23, in Washington, D.C.

“We are pleased to honor these outstanding young athletes and their horses,” said MHIB chair Jim Steele. “Maryland is a premier state for riding instruction, with more than 700 licensed riding stables. The success of these young riders underscores all the good work that our stables offer statewide.”

The NAJYRC championships are the premier equestrian competitions in North America for junior and young riders, age 14-21, in show jumping, dressage, eventing, endurance and reining. The competition is run under the rules of the FEI (Federation Equestre Internationale), the international governing body for equestrian sports, and is the only FEI championship held annually on this continent.

Kc van Aarem

Fulton, 15, from Finksburg in Carroll County rode the 8-year-old chestnut mare, Wild Orange, owned by Sharon White, on the Area II winning team in 3-Day eventing, called the “triathlon” of horse sports. The four-person team was selected from riders in Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware and North Carolina.  van Aarem, 19, from Wheaton in Montgomery County rode her 12 year-old Canadian Sport Horse, Mastermind, on the Zone 3 winning 4-person team in show jumping.

The Touch of Class Award honors Marylanders and/or their horses who excel nationally and internationally. The award is named after the Maryland-bred mare, Touch of Class, who won two gold medals in show jumping in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.  For more information about the Touch of Class Award and the Maryland Horse Industry Board, contact MHIB Executive Director Ross Peddicord at ross.peddicord@maryland.gov or phone (410) 841-5798.

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