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Megan Fellows gets crowned the new USHJA Tad Coffin Zone III Equitation Finals Grand Champion at HITS Culpeper

August 25, 2025

CULPEPER, VA (August 25, 2025)-Megan Fellows of Great Falls, Virginia rode Guinness to victory during the USHJA Tad Coffin Zone III Equitation Finals under the lights in the majestic Grand Prix ring at HITS Culpeper on Saturday evening.

“The young lady that won the class was an excellent rider,” said veteran hunter and equitation judge Christina Schlusemeyer. “The quality of the riders in this class was tremendous. Out of the 27 riders that competed in the class, I would say there were a dozen really good riders that I would like to have ride my own horses at my farm.”

Fellows, who has been riding under the watchful eye of trainer Jenny Graham for the past nine years, won the Virginia Medal Final last week and now adds the title of USHJA Tad Coffin Zone III Equitation Finals Grand Champion to her impressive resume for 2008.

“I can’t say enough about Megan,” said Graham. “She is a great kid and a true horseman who is just a great competitor. She is having a great final year as a junior rider.”

Fellows, who will be entering into her senior year at the Flint Hill School, has been in the irons aboard Guinness for about three years and competes in the equitation classes with a focus towards the jumper rings.

“The class was very professionally done,” added Graham. “It was so much fun for the kids to show in the Grand Prix ring. Christina did a great job judging and the class fit nicely into the day. I appreciate all of the efforts that went into making it a huge success.”

“Riding in the Grand Prix ring was a great experience for these young equitation riders,” said Schlusemeyer. “When some of them went into the ring and looked around, it looked like they were saying to themselves,’Oh wow, do I have to get started?’”

The event was open to residents of Zone III who are active junior members of USEF and USHJA. Two heights were offered, 3′ and 3′6″. The 3′ section of the finals was open to junior riders that have not competed three times or more in the 3′6″ division or classes. The 3′6″ section was open; however, both sections were pinned as one in the final result.

In all, 27 riders navigated course designer Jerry Dougherty’s route and 13 of the top riders were invited back for additional testing on the flat. Part of Schlusemeyer’s test was asking the riders what kind of bit they were using for this class and why. According to the judge, there wasn’t a bad answer. From there the top four riders came back for a final work off where Fellows took the blue and a Tad Coffin Performance Saddle for her triumph.

The Reserve Champion was awarded to Marissa Messina who piloted a very special horse, Uptowne. The gray gelding prompted Schlusemeyer to come up with a special prize for the Most Wonderful Horse of the evening.

“It looked like the horse really wanted to do the best job that he could for his rider.” said Schlusemeyer. “The child rode it very nicely but it just seemed so cute that the horse wanted to get it right. I don’t know if this is a perfect horse, but on Saturday night he sure was perfect.”

“I have had the horse back at my barn for a couple of years,” said trainer Tom Brennan. “He just loves his job. We went all over the place looking for a horse for her to lease and couldn’t find one. So we kind of pulled him out of the field, cleaned him up and sent him to the horse show. The first time she rode him was last week in Lexington and she was the Equitation Derby winner and she got a lot of confidence on him. I think that prepared her for the Finals in Culpeper where it was only the second time Marissa rode him.”

Messina is 14 and entering into her freshman year of high school. “She is a very smart young lady who comes from a great family in McLean, Virginia,” added Brennan. “She is a well-rounded girl who has traveled the world doing community service.”

“I really enjoy building for unique events like this,” said Dougherty. “There were 13 numbers on the course and since it was set in the Grand Prix ring there was a ton of room for some nice long lines.”

“The course was long and asked a lot of difficult questions,” said Brennan. “The final test was great and really weeded out the top four without being too scary. Megan was flawless and really deserved to win. Being second was very exciting for us.”

“Everything about the class was done right,” added Schlusemeyer. “Pam Freeley did a great job organizing this event and it has really grown since its inception.”

“I was so happy with the enthusiasm for the event,” said Freeley. “There was a large crowd and the participants were really happy. My hat goes off to all of the sponsors, especially Bridgewater College who stepped up to the plate this year and hosted a great ringside dinner before the class.”

Written by Chris Mayone · Filed Under Chris Mayone, Culpeper, Press Releases 
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