St. Andrew's Equestrian sends two to nationals

Two St. Andrew’s students competed at the 2025 Junior Hunter National Finals in Lexington, Kentucky over the weekend.

Sisters Christine and Hayden Moody competed in the national competition that featured riders from around the country. The competition included scoring for the horses on their performance, manners, way of going, and style of jumping.

This was the second year at nationals for Christine Moody, who is the older sister of the two. She finished sixth overall in the Large Junior Hunter 3’6 16-17 division out of a total 45 competitors, riding her horse, Balentine’s F. 

Hayden Moody competed in her first Junior Hunter Finals, finishing 49th out of 71 competitors in the Large Junior Hunter 3’3 15 and under division on her horse, MTM Figurative. 

“The riders have to be a champion or reserve champion at a USEF A-rated horse show to even qualify for the national competition,” Coach Patti Shoemaker said. “It is definitely easy to get anxious and nervous when competing at that level but they did a great job and worked to get there.”

An extensive amount of training is required to compete at a national level, including building relationships with the horse and then practicing the competition itself to make sure that both the rider and the horse are prepared for the specific challenges in the competition. The riders have to also qualify to get to the national competition by winning qualifiers, making it an impressive achievement to be able to compete at the national level. 

“It takes a lot of hard work, including taking two to three lessons a week, keeping your horse active, and building a relationship with your horse,” Shoemaker said. “The best parts are when the horse has finished its course and the kids are so proud of what they did.” 

The competition was held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky from June 17th-22nd. Kentucky is known for its equestrian competition and horse racing, making the moment that much more special for the young riders who compete there.

“It’s an amazing feeling to have students qualify for nationals,” Shoemaker said. “This year’s finals were huge and it is always just a great event.”

This year was the third active year for the St. Andrew’s equestrian team led by Shoemaker, who also trains the Jackson Academy team and a Winterview Farm team, which is open to riders from any school or are homeschooled. Shoemaker bought the land for Winterview Farm in Flora in 1980 and has worked with equestrian riders in the region there since then. 

“St. Andrew’s had a lot of riders before they started the team and we finally got their team active three years ago,” Shoemaker said. “Working with riders this long, it’s just really cool to start working with a kid when they are five all the way until college, and then being able to work with their kids.”