Jennifer Alfano
ACCOLADES, MILESTONES & BONDS involved since the beginning – I did the first derby,” she recalls. “When it started, you could ride most any hunter in a derby but it’s getting to the point now where you need a specialized horse and I think that’s great. It’s made us all better horsemen and better riders.” One aspect outshines the million-dollar notch on her belt, her two-time USHJA World Championship Hunter Rider Professional Championships, and her spot as a National Show Hunter Hall of Fame inductee – her sincere love and appreciation for her horses and her team.
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ennifer Alfano is by all accounts living the dream – and setting records in the process. In 2015 the 2012 USHJA International Derby Finals champion earned yet another accolade: surpassing the $1 million dollar mark in lifetime hunter rider earnings. It is superbly fitting for this to occur in 2015, the year that Jennifer celebrated a quarter century partnership with Susie Schoellkopf’s SBS Farms, Inc. Wrapping up a tremendous show season at the 132nd CP National Horse Show in Lexington, KY in November, Jennifer earned a tricolor in the Second Year Green Working Hunter division aboard her own Candid; and after her High Performance Hunter Stake Class win with Helen Lenahan’s Miss Lucy, she took home the “Edyth B. Linder” Challenge Trophy. The icing on the cake was when Susie Schoellkopf and the SBS team, as well as family and friends, threw her a surprise party to celebrate the 25 year mark.
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The fact that I’ve gotten to do what I’ve dreamed of doing since I was a little girl is pretty amazing.
Jennifer rode her superlative string of hunters to countless championships throughout the year. Exceptional highlights include a one-two finish with Jersey Boy and Miss Lucy in the $15,000 International Hunter Derby at the Kentucky Spring Show, a top-five spot in the USHJA Pre-Green Incentive Championship with Sharon O’Neil’s Castle, impressive top ribbons with her own Miramar in the International Hunter Derbies and High Performance Hunters, and a fourth place in the International Hunter Derby Championship aboard Billie Steffee’s Maggie May. Mind you, this is after suffering a fall off a green horse on the first day, one that would have stopped other riders from pressing on, but not Jennifer. Since its inception in 2009, the International Hunter Derby series has served as a winning platform for many SBS Farm horses – most notably, Jennifer’s beloved and feisty chestnut partner Jersey Boy, or ‘Lewis’. “Obviously winning Derby Finals on Lewis is a highlight, but being a part of the program as it’s grown has been incredible. I’ve been
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“I feel that I owe so much to the horses, the owners, the grooms – they all have earned this with me. The whole team. SBS really was my first riding job. When I first started working for Susie, I just wondered if I wanted to be a rider and if I would ever be good enough to do this. The fact that I’ve gotten to do what I’ve dreamed of doing since I was a little girl is pretty amazing.” Each bond Jennifer cultivates with each horse is a testament to that love that began as a horse-crazy child galloping through the fields behind her parents’ lesson barn. “I’m very hands-on with my horses. I feel like I have a really special relationship with each horse that I ride. That’s why I like to be so involved in the daily management of the barn, because it’s fun to know them and their personalities and how different they all are.” This affection and first-hand knowledge of each horse’s individual quirks and manners speaks volumes about Jennifer’s tailored style in the ring. She carefully approaches each class, no matter the significance or size, with the detailed eye and feel of an equestrian who respects the precedence of “horse” before “man” in the term horseman, and coaches each aspiring rider she meets to put equine welfare above all other goals. “The most important thing in this business is to be a good horseman. Forget about being the best rider – you have to be the best horseman you can be. Even for young people starting out – the key is to surround yourself with people who know more than you do. Hire the best farrier, the best vet, the best manager and the best team you can find. The horsemanship and the care of the horse is the ultimate priority. If you master that and concentrate on being a good horseman and doing right by your horses, that makes you a good rider and good competitor.” Jennifer’s hopes for the future are simple and heartfelt. Her career has taken her around the world, to the top of the sport riding some of the industry’s most talented equines, and one might wonder where, exactly, she sees herself ten years from now. “You know, if everything went the way I wanted it to, in ten years it would be just the same as it is now. I honestly have an amazing group of horses, an amazing group of owners, and amazing people in the barn that work for us. When you’ve got such a great thing, you just don’t want it to change.”
Image credit: Emily Riden/Phelps Sports