Local junior equestrian headed to Maclay National Finals

Carmel Valley’s Lindsey Klein recently won the West Coast Reserve Championship in the US Hunter Jumper Association Jumping Seat Medal Finals in San Juan Capistrano. Currently one of the top West Coast riders, Lindsey has qualified to compete at the Dover Saddlery/USEF National Hunter Seat Finals in Harrisburg, Pa. and the 2018 Maclay National Finals in Lexington, Ky. on Nov. 4. The Maclay championship is considered one of the most prestigious competitions for junior riders in the United States.

Lindsey, a Torrey Pines High School senior, first started riding at the age of 6 and began showing locally when she was 10 years old. She has devoted the past seven years to perfecting her horsemanship skills and rising in the levels of competition around Southern California.

Lindsey competed against top-notch riders at September’s USHJA 3'3" Jumping Seat Medal Finals, placing second out of 29 starters. Holding the sixth spot after the flat and gymnastic phases, Lindsey and her horse Econtador moved into second after the final phase.

Lindsey, 17, is on an equitation track in her final junior year of competition. She trains with Hailey Flowers of Flower Hill Farms in Carmel Valley.

"This fall will be my last [Dover Saddlery/USEF Hunter Seat Medal] Finals and my first and last Maclay Finals. My goal is to ride as well as I can while I'm out there and to have fun," Lindsey said. "My next goal is to find a jumper and start doing the USEF Talent Search and maybe some adult medals."