Lafitte de Muze steps up to help horses in need

There were two winners of the $100,000 USHJA/WCHR $100,000 Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Fla.

One was Brad Wolf’s Private Practice, ridden by Tori Colvin, who took home the $30,000 first prize last weekend.

The other winner was the EQUUS Foundation, which received the $22,000 second-place check that went to Cheryl Olsten’s Lafitte De Muze, ridden by Amanda Steege. But that money didn’t go home with the horse.

Cheryl donates all of Lafitte’s winnings to EQUUS. Explaining why, Cheryl said, “He really is a special horse, a humble fellow who gives his all and loves people. I was taken with him and his eager spirit, and feel very lucky to be his owner.

“The thought came to me that I wanted to celebrate that spirit, and what better way than to donate his prize money to a cause? A horse helping other horses seemed appropriate. After much research, I came upon the EQUUS foundation.”

Lafitte did the 2018 Spectacular as a first-year horse, when it was only his third show in America.

“It was amazing to feel how much more mature he is a year later,” said Amanda, who divides her time between Ocala, Fla., and Califon, N.J., where she has stalls at Pinnacle Farm.

The top 12 in the first round of the Spectacular came back for a handy round, where speed and maneuverability counted. Lafitte was in the lead going into the handy, but he wound up second to Private Practice by just half a percentage point when Amanda played it a bit conservative.

Even so, Amanda said, “I was really happy with my handy round. I thought he jumped amazing. I made the conscious choice to go around the red vertical on the way to jump (number) one.

Tori’s horse has won derby finals and is a bit more experienced than my horse. My horse is working his way up to being able to do those types of things and I wanted to just make the very best decision that I could for him for this to be the most positive experience possible. Other than that, I thought he was quite handy, very adjustable, very smooth. His jumping style felt amazing.”

The class was held in WEF’s International arena, usually the venue of the jumper grands prix, and it can be quite intimidating under the lights with a big crowd on the sidelines.

Amanda’s horses shipped in to WEF just six days before the Spectacular, “which I think actually is difficult to do, for my horses to come here and get used to the chaos and surroundings of Wellington in addition to having to go in the International Ring,” she said. “I was extra proud of Lafitte for being able to handle that.”

Lafitte has done some impressive winning, including the $500,000 HITS Hunter Prix and the $50,000 WCHR Pro Challenge at the Capital Challenge Horse Show last year.

All that prize money meant Lafitte could be a real asset to whatever charity Cheryl chose for donation of his winnings.

Cheryl liked the concept of the EQUUS mission, so she called its president, Lynn Coakley, for details. Lynn told her EQUUS is an “umbrella” foundation, supporting scores of organizations that need funding to maintain their own missions of helping to rescue, re-home and retrain horses bound for slaughter. The list runs from mini horses to race horses, quarter horses, wild mustangs that have been rounded up, carriage horses and show horses.

“They are all perfectly fine animals that, for whatever reason, have been cast aside,” Cheryl noted.

“EQUUS `vets’ these organizations to make sure they all legit and comply with the necessary standards.”  For more about the foundation and its mission, click on this link .

It gives Cheryl comfort to know “that in a small way, the prize money that Lafitte wins is going to help rescue horses from the horror that awaits them and the painful trip across the border” to slaughter. She appreciates that this will give them a second chance. Cheryl wants Lafitte to stand for “being an ambassador and star for the EQUUS foundation, spreading the word. What better gift can one give if not to help another?” she asked.

“We hope his message inspires others to do the same.”

Private Practice was victorious in the USHJA International Hunter Derby in Kentucky last summer, and Amanda will be pointing Lafitte toward that class this summer. Tori has won the Spectacular five times, so she’s used to the challenge.

But junior rider Jordan Allan aboard Dana Schwarz’s Kind of Blue found herself in an unfamiliar position next to two stars of the sport in the victory ceremonies.

“It’s beyond exciting,” she said.

“It’s my last (junior) year and everything is sort of shaping out. I’m just so lucky to have incredible horses to show, Kind of Blue especially. I’ve been showing him for about two months now. I know him like the back of my hand.

“I’m so excited. I thought he was amazing in both rounds, obviously, but in the second round, I think he really stepped it up with the brilliance. I thought he was just amazing. I knew I didn’t have to go crazy, but he just always steps to the plate.”

Jordan, who is a working student for Florida professionals Ken and Emily Smith, says they are like a second family to her. She doesn’t own any horses, but each week, they get mounts for her to show and she is grateful. Others she thanked included Brady Mitchell, Adam Graham and Alvin Menendez.

This fall, Jordan will be going to the University of South Carolina, where she will ride on the equestrian team. When she mentioned she would be studying on a pre-med track, I suggested that if she is going to be a doctor, she should have Private Practice, because of his name.

“I’ll take him!,” she replied.