Four Seasons, which traditionally marked the start of the outdoor show season in New Jersey, is making a comeback April 11-14 following a cancellation in 2023.
The U.S. Equestrian Federation national show is returning to its former home at Duncraven in Titusville, Mercer County. It will be managed by Claudine Libertore, who runs many of the shows in the state.
A.J. Garrity, whose father, the late Gary Kunsman, founded the fixture in the days when he was at Four Seasons Farm in Readington, said “it’s a special show to my family and myself because it was my dad’s horse show for so many years.”
Her husband, Mason Garrity, “really put his heart and soul into it and tried to build it up” when he managed it after its move to the Horse Park of New Jersey in 2016.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t really take off at the Horse Park the way we had hoped,” noted A.J., so the couple decided to take a break and put the show on hiatus for what would have been its fiftieth anniversary.
In a 2023 interview after Four Seasons’ cancellation, Mason said, “Last year (2022), the weather was gorgeous, in the 70s, but no one was there.” He noted that people are staying in Florida longer into the spring, with some not coming home until the week of Four Seasons. In addition, he pointed out, the Horse Park was showing its age, which didn’t help when trying to attract exhibitors.
Obviously, stand-alone shows don’t have the resources of the big circuits, observed Mason, who noted, “because of Gary, we ran it (Four Seasons) as long as we could.”
“The landscape of the horse shows has changed in the last few years,” his wife agreed, citing the domination of what she calls “Amazon” type horse shows with their own facilities that offer weeks of competition.
“The boutique-type shows. like we are, are kind of fading away. In New Jersey, I felt like we were the last man standing with our one-off type of horse show. Middlesex, Monmouth, so many of these special shows have changed hands.”
The Garritys knew it was time for a new direction if the show were to continue.
When Four Seasons left Duncraven, it had almost outgrown the venue, A.J. noted. But the stable was sold several years ago and “seeing all the improvements the new owners of Duncraven have made, it was in my head that I thought the show was ready to go back to where it was so successful for over 20 years,” explained A.J. Additional rings there will be helpful in organizing the schedule, she pointed out.
Meanwhile, her family has stepped away from managing shows. Mason runs a business making jumps, announces and has a judge’s card, but the Garritys decided to leave the management to someone else.
“Claudine has taken over so many of these horse shows and has a following of people enjoying her shows,” said A.J.
“I’m excited for 2024 and beyond for the horse show now.”
A.J. still owns the date, but she’s going to step back and “let Claudine take the reins in the management role. If she needs anything from us, we will be there, but we will kind of let it become her stepchild. She does such a good job with all her other dates, I’m just hoping this will join the group and be a success.”
Asked how many shows she runs in the state under her CJL signature, Claudine gave up on a count and figured between 20 and 30 (with another 12 to 15 nearby in Pennsylvania). In New Jersey, they include licenses with a variety of familiar names, including Middlesex and Monmouth, as well as Tewksbury (after a stable that disappeared from Hunterdon County decades ago), Snowbird and a bunch at Duncraven and the Horse Park.
“Most of my clientele are maiden voyage-type people, it’s all mileage,” said Claudine, mentioning many start in mini-stirrup and short stirrup, and then go on to do their first junior hunters or the classes offering 3-foot, 3-inch fences.
She’s hoping the return to Duncraven “will bring some of the older type people who used to do Four Seasons and the New Jersey circuit forever.
“I think it should get some interest,” she said. “Let’s see when it comes time to do entries.”
Claudine showed at Four Seasons when it was at Duncraven, so she has a definite connection.
She’s mulling what to include in the prizelist, and hopes to offer several derbies at varying heights for hunters and jumpers to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund. That is something dear to the Garritys’ hearts, because their 10-year-old daughter, Logan, has Type 1 diabetes and they are involved with a walkathon to aid that charity.
Four Seasons will be one of the shows in a series of a dozen or so for which riders can earn points for the CJL high-score awards, to be presented at a December banquet.
Claudine, 53, talks about retiring from management at some point, noting she started showing at the age of three and managed her first show in 1999 at Congress Hill Farm in Monroe Township. But retirement is not happening yet, even if it’s hard to get help, so she does much of the work herself with the aid of her assistant, Gianna Bellantuono. She is an R jumper judge and has a small r in hunters and equitation. She also has accreditation as a regional course designer.
Running shows is not for the faint of heart.
“It’s a lot to do, it’s a gamble. You can have the best weekend and the best weather and you might sit there with 35 horses. Everybody right now is about facility, facility, facility. What’s going on on social media, where is everyone else going?”
Added Claudine, “All of us are struggling.”
New Jersey is not the same horse state we knew when we were young, and some of the current professionals do not have the same approach as those who were based there a few decades ago.
“It’s not so much about learning how to do it and do it the right way and becoming a horseman,” mused Claudine.
“It’s all business-related. I see it every week. The horses are not prepared. They come in and do their schooling round or warm-up and the horse is bad and they scratch. Because they (trainers) already got their shipping (fee) and training (fee), at the end of the day, they’re still going home with the same paycheck. I find it disturbing,” said Claudine, who was taught differently.
But as she points out, there will always be beginners in the sport, and she’ll give them a place to go. So she perseveres.
“My people have become a little bit dependent on me,” she acknowledged.
“For now, I’m here.”
