Hunters Invade Syracuse Invitational

The 126th Annual Syracuse Invitational began this morning at the Oncenter Complex in Downtown Syracuse. This year's competition brings riders from all over the country to take part in various events. Perhaps the least well known of these is the Hunters competition.

Unlike the jumping competition that has clear-cut and spelled out criteria for judging, Hunters is more subjective. Junior Trainer Frank Madden of Oyster Bay, Long Island describes it as, "a lot like either figure skating or gymnastics where there’s some compulsory things horses need to do and do well."

This morning, competitors rode green horses-- animals that have only been showing for a year or two. Since the judgments are based on the movement and finesse of the horse, there's not much the equestrians can do to help their horses succeed in this environment.

Alex Arute, an 18-year-old from Avon, CT, is here to compete in several events-- one of which is Hunters. She's been competing since she was six and says that while she has won many awards in the past, she's yet to take home a trophy from the Syracuse Invitational. It's Arute's third year taking part in the competition. Like many of her fellow riders, she travels to compete in Hunters almost every single weekend.

Watch a video version of this story here.