The foothills of the Appalachians proved to be the perfect setting for Gravel Hill Farms and Dixie Stables at the third annual Northeast Georgia Charity Horse Show, as both stables claimed class championships.
The show, held June 27-28 at the Chicopee Woods Agricultural Center in Gainesville, raises funds for different cancer foundations each year. This year’s net proceeds were donated to the Lung Cancer Foundation of America.
Samantha Hocking, riding for Gravel Hill Farms, added another class championship to a stellar 2014 spring-show season. Riding her Friesian, Syb Van de Lockshamhoeve (barn name Dudley), Hocking won the open English pleasure championship (any breed) and took first place in the open English pleasure class.
She also took second place in the ASB country-pleasure class, riding Don Julio.  
“For me, personally, this was not my best ride,” Hocking said about her championship win. “It was all Dudley. It was his best thinking performance. He just kept getting better and better. He was really on; he brought his big game. He could not wait to get into ring. Once we got into the ring, he just took over.”  
While Hocking may have credited Dudley with her win, Gravel Hill Farm trainer Charles Durrence pointed out that Hocking and Dudley have worked hard to come together as a team.
“Sam and Dudley work well together. They understand each other,” Durrence said. “Sam is riding with so much confidence, and he is responding to her. They were on the money.”
For Gravel Hill Farms, the Northeast Georgia Charity Show was a success on many levels. Cayla Faulk, riding another Friesian, Anna Belle, claimed first place in both the W/T academy-equitation and the W/T academy-showmanship classes. Elizabeth Rogers, 10, also riding Anna Belle, placed second in academy showmanship W/T 10-and-under and the academy equitation W/T 10-and-under classes.  
Bobbie McDonald, riding Mama Don’t Know, finished third in the ASB three-gaited show pleasure — junior exhibitor and the three-gaited show pleasure championship and was seventh in the ASB country-pleasure championship.
“This horse is only 6 years old, and this was her third horse show. She did very well. She did what I asked her to do, and I am very pleased with my ride and her performance,” McDonald said. One year ago this month, Lily Darsey, 12, took her first riding lesson at Dixie Stables. Fast forward to June 2014, when she won her first walk/trot/canter championship
riding Silk’s Midnight Lily, an American saddlebred.
Darsey’s championship did not come easy. In her first class, academy showmanship WTC 17-and-under, she was thrown from her horse. Darsey picked herself up, dusted herself off, got back on the horse and won her class. She also was second in the WTC academy-equitation 17-and-under class. She ended her first year of riding with a walk/trot/canter championship.
“All my hard work has paid off this year,” Darsey said. “Being less nervous before I go in the ring is helpful for me and Lily, thanks to my trainers, Caitlin Jarriel and Lynn Pace.”  
Also for Dixie Stables, Sarah Tirpak, riding Santa Cruz, finished fourth both in ASB country pleasure and the ASB country-pleasure championship. Emily Egner, riding in the academy division, placed fifth in the academy equitation W/T 10-and-under, sixth in the academy showmanship W/T classes, and fifth in the academy W/T championship.
Go to coastalcourier.com for all show results.
Fall shows for Liberty County barns begin with the Southeastern Charity Show, held Sept. 17-20 in Conyers.