Brunello and Liza Boyd with his National Show Hunter Hall of Fame plaque.
Finally Farm is thrilled to announce that Brunello has been inducted into the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame in the class of 2023!
Co-owned by Janet Peterson and Liza Boyd, Brunello won the prestigious USHJA International Hunter Derby Championships three times, from 2013-2015 and still holds the record as the only horse to have won the coveted championship three consecutive years.
Brunello’s long list of accomplishments in the hunter ring includes High Performance Hunter championships and USHJA International Hunter Derby wins from the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida to the National Horse Show over the course of his decade-long show career.
Brunello, a Hanoverian gelding, was originally a jumper in Europe, but after being imported to the United States in 2007, he found his niche in the hunters. The timing was perfect, as the hunter derbies were ramping up, and Brunello became the ideal prototype of the derby horse for his incredible scope and jumping style. With Boyd aboard, Brunello placed third in the 2010 USHJA International Hunter Derby championships and second in 2012 before claiming their three titles.
With multiple USEF National Horse of the Year wins and many other derby victories, Brunello became the best-known hunter in the country, even becoming a Breyer horse model in 2016.
Today, Brunello, 25, is retired at Finally Farm in Camden, South Carolina, where he enjoys his days grazing in his field and being pampered in the barn. When Liza returned home from the induction ceremony at the Merion Cricket Club in Pennsylvania, she pulled “Ike” out of the field and put his bridle on for the photo op with his awards.
“Brunello hadn’t had a bridle on in years, and he pricked his ears and posed just as if he were in the show ring again,” said trainer Jack Towell with a smile. “He knew it was an important day!”
