On October 13, 2025, the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania held its annual Hunt Night in the indoor Harrisburg Coliseum. BB Charm, foaled in 2002, won Hunt Night’s Gentleman’s Hunter Under Saddle with Sandy Rives, age 77, in the irons. This adds up to 100 years of combined age for both BB Charm and Sandy. This pair certainly had the most combined experience to win in the ring at the prestigious Pennsylvania National Horse Show on Hunt Night.
BB Charm was sired by the famous thoroughbred Silver Charm, the winner of the 1997 Kentucky Derby. BB Charm himself raced 22 times, winning about $19,000. BB Charm is owned by Darlene Murphy since he came off the track as a 5-year-old. Darlene transitioned him from a racehorse to a show horse hunter, and he now hunts regularly with Keswick Hunt Club in the second and third fields.
Sandy is a former Master of Foxhounds for Keswick Hunt Club in Virginia and has been an honorary whipper-in for 56 years with Keswick. This was the fifth time Sandy has won the Gentleman’s Hunter Under Saddle at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show and was awarded the Rose Tree Perpetual Trophy.
In July, Darlene asked Sandy to show BB Charm at Harrisburg. Sandy was reluctant given the horse’s age of 23. But after riding and schooling him, Sandy saw what a fabulous mover and made hunter he was. 100 years’ worth of combined experience came into the ring that night, and the results speak for themselves.
The coveted Hunt Night Championship title went to Bull Run Hunt, also located in Virginia. Sandy’s Keswick Hunt Club took reserve honors after winning the championship for the past three years. There were eighteen hunt teams from four different states that participated in Hunt Night in several different classes, including hunt team and sidesaddle classes.
The Pennsylvania National Horse Show began in 1946 as a charity event for a youth foundation. International teams competed until 1972, and the show was televised live during the 1950’s. Today, the event is one of the largest indoor horse shows in the United States. The show lasts 11 days, has an estimated economic impact of over $11 million annually, and benefits the PNHS Foundation for equine and riding charities. Click here for more information: History – PA National Horse Show.