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By Betsy Parker
Times-Democrat StafTWnter
MIDDLEBURG — Firsttime field hunter championships competitor. Aging horse going a little gray around the otherwise black muzzle, a neophyte to this type of competition. Bittersweet memories of the previous own,"', 1 dear friend who died last spin.
Cue the violins.
Sticking a perfect final halt in an unusual, second “final” test devised by the eight-judge panel, Penn Park and ownerrider Susan Deal sealed the North American Field Hunter Championship in their very first try. Deal, who operates hunt, show and lesson stable Grove Spring Farm in Rixeyville, rides with the Rappahannock Hunt.
Penn Park, a dark bay, 16year-old Thoroughbred gelding, formerly belonged to Dead’s close friends Paul and Ann Cronin. Deal had worked as a riding instructor at Sweet Briar College for longtime riding director Paul Cronin, and was close to his wife Ann. They remained friends when Cronin retired in 2000 and moved to nearby Rectortown.
After Ann Cronin died in a riding accident last spring, Paul Cronin offered to sell her favorite field hunter, Penn Park, to Deal.
“Oh my God, I hardly know where to begin,” said Deal, 35 and mother of three. “I am overwhelmed with all this. What a special win.”
Deal . explained that, although she had to be talked into the championships, she knew Penn Park would be competitive. “He is an angel,” she said. “I use him to pony my kids (from a leadline) in the hunt field. He’s a trouper.”
Penn Park was selected by the judges as a finalist on the very first day of competition. Competitors, 71 this year, could hunt with any or all of five local clubs last week to vie for inclu
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