Ask Babylon’s connections about their favorite moment during his year dominating the small junior hunters with Paige Walkenbach, and they’ll pause. Maybe it’s the two scores of 95 he earned at Capital Challenge (Maryland) late in the year—their highest scores all season. Or maybe it was at Devon (Pennsylvania), where Babylon won the 16-17 division and small junior grand championships, while Walkenbach’s large junior hunter, San Pedro 15, also won his division.
Read MoreFor over two decades, John French has consistently proven to be one of the most accomplished hunter riders in the sport, known for his unparalleled ability to both "catch ride" and develop young horses to success. Watch this video to learn more about John background in the sport.
Read MoreUS Equestrian congratulates 2023 International Equestrian of the Year McLain Ward and 2023 National Equestrian of the Year John French. Ward and French were nominated as Equestrians of Honor and selected by US Equestrian member voting in December. Both Equestrians of the Year were honored at the 2023 Pegasus Awards Dinner at the USEF Annual Meeting in Louisville, Ky., on Jan. 14.
Read MoreIt was a three-peat victory for John French and Babylon, owned by Marnell Sport Horses, in the $25,000 World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) Professional Challenge, sponsored by The Gochman Family, during the 30th anniversary of the Capital Challenge Horse Show. The class was the highlight of the schedule on Wednesday, October 4, at Prince George’s Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro, MD. Rounding out the evening’s competition, Halie Robinson of Santa Barbara, CA, and Leisure, owned by Stable Assets, triumphed in the $10,000 WCHR Developing Pro Challenge, sponsored by John R. Ingram Fund.
Read MoreLexington, Ky.—Aug. 20, 2023—It has been fourteen years since John French entered the Kentucky Horse Park's Rolex Stadium on a horse donning the Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship tricolor, but on Saturday, August 19, he did just that with Meredith Lipke's Paradigm. The pair posted a leaderboard-topping score of 599.25 after two rounds, taking the win and the $37,719.35 check by a mere quarter of a point.
Read MoreLeading the field of the country’s best Hunters from start to finish, John French and Kent Farrington LLC’s Milagro were the convincing winners in the $100,000 USHJA World Championship Hunter Rider Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular on Saturday, February 18, at the 2023 Winter Equestrian Festival.
Read MoreJohn French rode Marnell Sport Horses’s Babylon to victory for the second year in a row in the $25,000 World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) Professional Challenge, sponsored by The Gochman Family, at the 2022 Capital Challenge Horse Show. The class was the highlight of the schedule on Wednesday, October 5, at Prince George’s Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
Read MoreThe Walnut Ring welcomed back the most established, professional hunter riders on Thursday morning to vie for the win in the Platinum Performance USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championship 3’0” to 3’3” and 3’6” to 3’9” sections. The Green Hunter 3’0” and 3’3” came back for round three to ride for the tri-color, while the 3’6” and 3’9” horse-and-athlete combinations entered for their first round of competition.
Read MoreJohn French of Wellington, Florida, piloted Babylon to the victory in the $25,000 World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) Professional Challenge, sponsored by The Gochman Family, at the 2021 Capital Challenge Horse Show on Wednesday, October 6, held at Prince George’s Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
Read MoreThe Chronicle caught up with French ringside at Upperville to talk about being back at the country’s oldest horse show—39 years after his last appearance—his move east and his Hall Of Fame induction.
Read MoreThe votes have been tabulated! The inductees for 2020 are: John French, Judy Kelley, Scott Stewart, Lu Thomas and Tom Wright.
Read MoreThe horses for French to ride wouldn’t need to be sold quickly. They were for French to develop, with a longer-term vision of building out a specialized hunter program for French, under the Kent Farrington LLC umbrella.
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