Canadian Cassandra Kahle wins Pro Challenge at Capital Challenge

In her first year of competing in the class, young professional Cassandra Kahle of Langley, British Columbia, rode Monday Balous to capture the top prize in the $30,000 World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) Professional Challenge, sponsored by The Gochman Family, at the Capital Challenge Horse Show (CCHS) on Wednesday, October 2.

In the $5,000 WCHR Developing Pro Challenge, sponsored by the John R. Ingram Fund, Sara Taylor piloted Noah to the win.

Scott Stewart and Regent topped the $25,000 North American Green Hunter 3′ and 3’3″ Championship, sponsored by The Wheeler Family. The three classes marked a highlight day of CCHS, which runs through Sunday, October 6, at the Prince George’s Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro, MD.

One of the coveted titles offered at CCHS, the $30,000 WCHR Professional Challenge brought out 33 of the best horses and riders in the country to compete over two rounds.

At the conclusion of the first round, Kahle and Monday Balous were tied for the lead with last year’s Professional Challenge winners, Amanda Steege and Lafitte de Muze, with both scoring 90.33. Kahle’s second-round score of 91.16, resulting in a 181.49 total, put her into the top spot.

“Going into tonight, I was nervous, but my expectations weren’t super high,” said Kahle, 27. “I just really wanted to have a good time. I’m really lucky to get to ride this horse. He’s like nothing I’ve ever ridden before; he’s amazing. He’s got a great rhythm and canter, so I went in and picked up a good gallop. He kind of shows you the distances and the jumps.”

Kahle and Monday Balous, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding by Balou du Rouet, had to qualify for the Professional Challenge at CCHS, and they did so with ribbons in the High Performance division. “I think I was just relieved to make it into the class. It was something I really wanted to do,” Kahle said. “I’ve watched this class since I was a kid. I admire the riders; they’re the top riders in the country that compete in this class. I think it’s something every hunter rider would love to do.” Kahle has competed in the WCHR Developing Pro Challenge in previous years.

Kahle, who grew up riding with her mother, Natasha Brash, has worked for Emil Spadone of Redfield Farm in Califon, NJ, for six years. “I’ve gone from riding young hunters to High Performance hunters and started doing the jumpers and some grand prix classes,” she said. “I don’t think I could have progressed this much without the opportunities I’ve had at Redfield.” Spadone co-owns Monday Balous with trainer Don Stewart. They bought the horse together in 2017, and he’d been showing with students of Stewart’s and Jimmy Torano until September, when Kahle piloted him to third in the $250,000 Diamond Mills Hunter Prix at HITS Saugerties in New York. Capital Challenge was just Kahle’s second show with the horse.

Second place in the $30,000 WCHR Pro Challenge for the second consecutive year went to Hannah Isop and Tracy Freels’ Red Ryder, who scored a 92.0 in the second round, which when added to a first-round score of 87.0 resulted in a total of 179.0. Steege and Lafitte de Muze were third with scores of 90.33 and 86.91 for a total of 177.24.

The win resulted in Kahle being award a wild-card spot in Friday night’s $10,000 WCHR Professional Finals along with six-time winner Scott Stewart, four-time winner John French, three-time winner Liza Boyd, Victoria Colvin, and Jeff Gogul. Kahle also was awarded the American Style of Riding Award, sponsored by Bill Rube.

The overall Grand Championship Hunter title, sponsored by RBS Farms, Inc., Rob Bielefeld, and Chrystal Knight, ended in a tie between two of Scott Stewart’s mounts, Gochman Sport Horse LLC’s Catch Me and Betsee Parker’s Private Life. For the win, Stewart and his two mounts received the Janet Read & Margaret Hough Sabbatini Memorial Trophy, donated by the Goguen Family. Stewart was awarded the Leading Hunter Rider Award, sponsored by the Gibson Family and The Shadyside Farm.