Samantha Ehrlich and Midnight Endeavour. Photo by Tina Fitch Photography.
Midnight Endeavour is used to competing in big environments. The Irish Sport Horse mare won the 2023 Young Horse Championship for 7-year-olds at Cornbury House in Great Britain at the three-star level and was fourth in the 2022 World Breeding Championship for 6-year-olds at Le Lion d’Angers in France at the two-star level with British five-star eventer Tom Jackson.
And while her new American rider, 13-year-old Samantha Ehrlich, hopes that FEI events will be in their future, the 2025 Woodside Summer Horse Trials in California gave them a taste of a big atmosphere for their first event together where they won the Junior Rider division of the Brian Sabo Novice Stakes.
This was the second year that organizers made one of eventing’s lower levels the feature of the middle USEA-recognized event of the year at The Horse Park at Woodside. Junior Novice Rider, Senior Novice Rider, and Novice Amateur divisions each offered $2,000 in prize money. A large crowd gathered around Woodside’s Bay Arena—the site of the inaugural Woodside Charity CSI2* FEI jumper show three weeks prior—to enjoy a catered breakfast during the show jumping finale on Sunday morning.
Samantha Ehrlich and Midnight Endeavour. Photo by Tina Fitch Photography.
This was Ehrlich’s first-ever blue ribbon in eight shows since she started competing in USEA recognized events shortly after her 11th birthday at the 2023 Woodside Summer Horse Trials. She and “Ruby,” a 9-year-old dark bay mare (Future Trend x Annsfort Coole Robin) led after each phase and finished on their dressage score of 24.7. A horse’s transition from winning at three-star (3’9”) to winning at Novice (2’11”) isn’t always that straightforward, though.
“I got in the cross-country warmup arena, and I could definitely tell she wanted to go to the Olympics,” Ehrlich said, with a laugh. “But, once she realized she was going Novice, not three-star, she really calmed down and settled into a rhythm, especially when I was out on cross-country. She wasn’t strong. She was just really tuned in listening, and she was very good.”
Ehrlich was also second with her first-ever competition horse, the 8-year-old bay Dutch Warmblood gelding Maverick (Indoctro x Onlight). None of Ehrlich’s parents ride, but she said she started riding Icelandic ponies as a “covid hobby” and then took to eventing because she describes herself as “an adrenaline person.”
Lauren Hannah and Rocket van Maarle. Photo by Tina Fitch Photography.
The Senior Novice Rider division of the Brian Sabo Novice Stakes gave winner Lauren Hannah the chance to reminisce about how she used to train with Sabo, a California eventing legend as a rider, coach, area chair, and USEA president.
“I used to ride with Brian in the late 90s and early 2000s,” Hannah said. “I did Young Riders with him on Lisa [Sabo]’s old horse [Caleb Crossing], and we went up through the old one-star, so now two-star level. I then went off, had my life, came back, started having kids about five years ago, and have been doing some lower-level competitions since with a young horse.”
That young horse is Rocket Van Maarle, whom she imported from the Netherlands and started competing with in 2022 when the grey Belgian Warmblood gelding (Cornet Obolensky x Fonka) was 5 years old.
The Brian Sabo Novice Stakes represented their first blue ribbon in 12 events together, as a double clear show jumping round rocketed them from fifth to first with a score of 35.0.
“He is the most amazing adult amateur horse,” said Hannah, the mother a 5-year-old and a 10-month-old and an AI researcher for Apple. “He has the best temperament I think I’ve ever had, and I’ve had some really good ones.”
With this victory in this setting under her belt, Hannah is now looking to compete in an event higher than Novice for the first time since 2003.
“I think it’s great because that is the foundation of the sport,” she said about eventing’s lower levels. “It’s not the tiny, tiny percentage going around doing four-stars. It’s basically people who are doing this
on their weekends just to go have a good, good time, and I think it’s fantastic that that’s getting recognized.”
Carolyn Hoffos and Normandy Kivalo. Photo by Tina Fitch Photography.
Carolyn Hoffos, whose daughter Taren is competing at the four-star level, won the Brian Sabo Novice Amateur Stakes with Normandy Kivalo, a 13-year-old chestnut Hungarian Sport Horse gelding (Kalaska De Semilly x Carina) that was produced up to the two-star level and won the 2022 Modified national championship with Madison Langerak.
“He’s really a unicorn, a true one,” Hoffos said. “He wants to make you happy. He wants to be a good boy. And so, if you ask him to do something, he’s like, ‘OK.’ And, if you get it wrong, he’s like, ‘Alright.’ He doesn’t care. He’s so willing.”
They led after each phase and won on their dressage score of 21.9. the lowest finishing score across all levels.
“I’m 65, and maybe I can go Prelim—I’ve done Prelim before—but I just don’t have that interest and I just want to have fun,” she said. “In my day, it was always about moving up, and I just think we need to be happy with where we’re comfortable and where our horses are suited best and just having fun. Having things like these championships are a little step up, a little bit more adrenaline for the lower levels. I think it’s really, really helpful.”
Carolyn Hoffos and Normandy Kivalo. Photo by Tina Fitch Photography.
In addition to the Brian Sabo Novice Stakes, the Woodside Summer Horse Trials offered levels from Starter through Intermediate. At Intermediate, the fastest cross-country round by Megan McIver and Kapitan Sparrow II (Cador 5 x Larena) gave them the victory by one point over Tamie Smith and Carlingfords Hes a Clover (Polanski x Fourleaf Clover), 40.8 to 41.8.
Megan McIver and Kapitan Sparrow. Photo by Tina Fitch Photography.
“‘Sparrow’ was fantastic all three phases,” said McIver, who credits Erik Duvander’s coaching for improvements in their flat work and who recorded the only clear show jumping round out of 10 at the level. “And today I decided I would go a bit faster [on cross-country] to prep him for the AECs in a few weeks. We are planning on moving him up to the four-star level this fall.”
The Horse Park at Woodside will host FEI eventing levels from one-star through four-star at the Woodside Fall International from October 3-5.
The full list of winners from the 2025 Woodside Summer Horse Trials:
Brian Sabo Junior Novice Rider Stakes: Samantha Ehrlich and Midnight Endeavour (24.7)
Brian Sabo Senior Novice Rider Stakes: Lauren Hannah and Rocket van Maarle (35.0)
Brian Sabo Novice Amateur Stakes: Carolyn Hoffos and Normandy Kivalo (21.9)
Open Intermediate: Megan McIver and Kapitan Sparrow XII (40.8)
Open Preliminary A: James Alliston and Berry (31.7)
Open Preliminary B: Tamra Smith and Solaguayre Cantata (26.8)
Open Modified: Tommy Greengard and Tanqueray (25.0)
Open Training: James Alliston and Diassini (26.1)
Training Rider A: Ella Smith Bittersweet 2 (29.1)
Training Rider B: Keelari Mauzy and West Coast Cooley (26.7)
Open Novice: Tori Traube and A1 (25.0)
Open Beginner Novice A: Lucinde Van Brakel and Lachstone Philae (29.1)
Open Beginner Novice B: Nikki Lloyd and ExcelStarToblerone (27.2)
Jr. Beginner Novice Rider A: Delaney Willardson and Native Heart (30.3)
Jr. Beginner Novice Rider B: Amelia Solivan Busque and Russian Roulette (25.6) Sr. Beginner Novice Rider A: Savannah Galyean and Aces High (30.6)
Sr. Beginner Novice Rider B: Molly Rice and JJ (25.6)
Open Starter: Emma Sobehrad and Frau Blucher (39.3)
Jr. Starter Rider A: Maya Barry and Just You Wait (28.7)
Jr. Starter Rider B: Tivana Garlick and Keepin’ Out of Mischief (26.0)
Sr. Starter Rider: Patricia Cameron and Liberty Song (27.3)
