Trainer Ginny Edwards of Hidden Hollow returned home to Upperville, Va., with grand championship honors from one of the country's premier horse shows, The Pennsylvania National, after Junior Weekend, Oct. 12-15 in Harrisburg, Pa.

Owner Ann C. Thompson's Lemieux, ridden by Kacy Jenkins, earned the small junior, 16-17, championship and grand small junior title over many of the best junior hunters in the country. Lemieux is one of Hidden Hollow's newest hunters, and Edwards was thrilled with his performance.

"It was quite exciting," said Edwards. "I knew he was a quality horse. He's really capable of competing against the best in the country and winning. His former owner, Catie Boone, had done very with him, and when he came up for sale, I immediately jumped at the chance to add him to our stable."

Edwards selected Lemieux, age 9, a Selle Francais gelding, in August for Thompson's daughter Charlotte Tate, 12, as her first junior hunter. When they purchased Lemieux, he had already been qualified and entered for the Pennsylvania National in the older age group, so Edwards asked 17-year-old Jenkins, an experienced and talented junior rider from Potomac Falls, Va., to show him.

"Kacy is a great rider, a fun person and easy to work with," said Edwards. "I thought of her first. I knew she would be a good match with Lemieux because she's a strong and solid rider who can adjust her ride to any type of horse."

Jenkins first tried Lemieux at the Middleburg Classic Horse Show (Va.) in September, where they earned ribbons in their first outing. She was then scheduled to show "Skunk" at the Capital Challenge (Md.) the week prior to The Pennsylvania National, but a fall from another horse knocked Jenkins out of commission.

In just their second show together, they earned top honors at Harrisburg with a blue ribbon in the handy class, second in the stake and a fifth under saddle.

"It was really nerve-wracking in the final stake class," said Edwards. "Kacy and Skunk went at the end of the class, and when the stand-by list for the class was posted, the other horse in contention for the championship was in second place. I told her to just go in and have fun. So, when Kacy walked in the ring she knew she had to be first or second to be champion. But she has ice water in her veins, and she picked up a hand-gallop and just had a beautiful ride."

Edwards is now looking forward to having Skunk teach Tate the ropes as she steps up from the children's pony division to the children's horse division. Eventually, she will also tackle the junior hunters with the uniquely colored horse.

"I always knew he was an incredibly talented horse," said Edwards of Skunk. "What surprised me was how kind he's been to Charlotte. It's rare to get a horse with that kind of ability with a mind like that. This will be a great long-term match."

Edwards was also thrilled that Jenkins could finish her junior career with a grand championship from Harrisburg. In addition, Jenkins was honored with the junior hunter sportsmanship award.

"This was great for Kacy," said Edwards. "She's had some bad luck this year, and for her to come back and have this success, it was so nice. She really deserved it."