by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 5, 2022
Stanny Van Paesschen, who represented Belgium at the Olympics and managed medal-winning showjumping teams internationally, will take on the technical expert role for British Equestrian and British Showjumping.
Several new roles have been developed following a full program review and feedback from stakeholders to enhance the support team headed by Performance Manager Di Lampard to take showjumping through to Paris in 2024 and beyond.
In his new role,, Stanny will provide support for the Performance Manager around selection and preparation, as well as helping riders work toward key performances. The Nations Cup Chef d’Equipe, whose primary responsibility will be for teams contesting the European Equestrian Federation Nations Cup series with Di Lampard overseeing the FEI Nations Cup teams, has been named as Tony Newbery, an Olympic rider who has worked with Britain’s prolific youth championship teams.
Performance Director Richard Waygood explained; “The spectacular individual gold medal winning performance of Ben Maher riding Charlotte Rossetter and Pamela Wright’s Explosion W captivated many at Tokyo last year and kept Britain amongst the world’s leading showjumping nations.
“However, our showjumping teams haven’t featured on the top of the podium in recent championships, and we want to redress this. Within the World Class Program, we took time to reflect on the Tokyo cycle, considering input from a wide range of stakeholders. These new appointments reflect our philosophy of continuous improvement, always seeking to evolve.
“We have a great deal of talent in our showjumping ranks and are committed to developing a support network and structure which nurtures and develops those combinations. Di Lampard has done a sterling job managing a complex showjumping program and calendar, and now with the support of Stanny as Technical Expert and Tony’s role as Nations Cup Chef d’Equipe, she can lead the teams much more effectively.
“For our showjumping team, this year is about securing Olympic qualification at the World Championships in August, earning a place at the FEI Nations Cup Final in Barcelona and keeping our place in Europe Division 1 of the FEI Nations Cup. I firmly believe that this new structure, with these key appointments in place, gives us a real chance of achieving those aims to put us on a positive pathway to Paris.”
Stanny is based near Brussels at Hof ten Bos, which he’s called home with his wife Béatrice for over 20 years and where they run a successful training and breeding establishment. His son, Constant, is the fifth generation of the Van Paesschen dynasty to ride at the top level as a regular rider in the Global Champions League. Stanny’s CV as a rider is remarkable, having ridden at the top level from 1975 before retiring in 2005, having amassed 300 international victories and represented Belgium in three Olympics, including a bronze medal in Montreal.
His attention then turned to training and he has had medal success with teams at Olympic Games, World and European Championships, Asian Games and South American Games. He helped the Belgian senior squad to eight championship medals, before then supporting the Saudi Arabian teams, including a historic team bronze at London 2012. More recently, he’s worked with the riders from Mexico to claim two team gold medals and a number Nations Cup victories.
Stanny’s initial focus will be around building relationships with the riders and team support staff, while being introduced to their owners and grooms. May will be his first opportunity to be at competitions, and he’ll attend Windsor CSI5* and be on duty in Rome CSIO5*.
As a rider, Tony Newbery was competing in the elite ranks from the age of 19, going on to be a member of many victorious Nations Cup teams and earning a place on the Olympic squad for Montreal in 1976.
He was also non-travellng reserve for Los Angeles in 1984. Through the mid-1980s, Tony’s focus turned to training and he has made a name as an internationally renowned coach and manager. Time in the Middle East and Asia saw him help a number of riders develop to compete on the world stage, before focusing closer to home in his current role of Chef d’Equipe for the British Showjumping Junior and Young Rider squads, which he’ll continue with alongside this new role, as well as coaching the riders on the World Class Programme Showjumping Performance Pathway.
Tony’s role focuses mainly on the European Equestrian Federation Nations Cup series (previously the FEI Europe Division 2) while Performance Manager Di Lampard will continue to have oversight of the teams in the FEI Nations Cup series. The EEF Series is an ideal opportunity for combinations to gain the experience needed to bridge the gap from the youth ranks into senior competition at three- and four-star level, then to five-star and championship teams. He’ll oversee the teams at Lisbon in May, then on to Madrid.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 5, 2022
(There is a correction in the 15th paragraph)
Just days before the shooting of Lauren Kanarek, wheels were in motion to have her leave dressage trainer Michael Barisone’s farm, where testimony in his attempted murder trial revealed the atmosphere had become poisonous.
Kanarek, who came to Barisone for training in 2018 and lived in his farmhouse with her boyfriend, Robert Goodwin, had refused to depart his Hawthorne Hill stable in the Long Valley section of Washington Township when he asked her to leave. She had contended it was difficult to locate a stable that could take her five horses.
But Barisone’s lawyer, Steven Tarshis, had negotiated in July and early August with her father, Jonathan Kanarek, and found a comparable stable in the area that would take her, according to testimony today in Superior Court, Morristown, N.J.
“I believed we had an understanding,” said Tarshis, who was looking for a non-judicial way to get her to go elsewhere, though he noted Kanarek didn’t leave.
Michael Barisone’s personal attorney, Steve Tarshis. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
On Aug. 5, a letter demanding she get off the property was delivered to Kanarek by email. She was served with a complaint, but it had never been filed.
“Michael did not want to start eviction, he wanted to scare her into leaving,” Tarshis said.
“So we suggested serving her with the papers, but not filing them, hoping this alone would give her the impetus to honor the agreement we thought we had.”
He mentioned the atmosphere at the farm was “getting worse and worse almost by the day,” and wondered how reports of personal private conversations he had with Barisone appeared on social media.There had been testimony about secret recordings earlier in the trial.
Seeing the conversations posted publicly “was really disturbing,” he said, noting the only way Kanarek could have heard them was to be in the room while they were talking, but she wasn’t.
Fate conspired against a solution when a caseworker from the state Division of Child Permancy and Protection arrived on Aug. 7, 2019, to talk to Barisone’s girlfriend at the time, Mary Haskens Gray, the mother of two.
Barisone went into his office, where the caseworker and Gray were meeting, and asked them to leave. The office was where he kept a 9mm Ruger pistol in the safe. Then he drove to the farmhouse and Kanarek wound up with two bullet holes in her chest.
During the trial, it was revealed that she had looked up the number for the division’s hotline on her phone, but it has not been made clear yet who notified the agency.
Yesterday, Morris County Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn quoted firefighter/paramedic Daniel Vitale, who treated Barisone after he was involved in a struggle with Goodwin following the shooting. Vitale said Barisone told him, “Someone drove down my driveway and said she was going to take my kids. That’s all I remember.”
Washington Township Police Cpl. Thomas Falleni was questioned by Barisone’s lead attorney, Edward Bilinkas, as to how he collected information at the scene of the shooting.
He said he searched Barisone’s pick-up truck, but not other vehicles at the scene, and asked to have Barisone’s hands swabbed for gunshot residue, but said no residue testing was done on anyone. (This is a correction; the story previously said Barisone’s hands were swabbed.)
The corporal did not seize any video cameras, including one that had a view of the area where the shooting took place.
Several high-profile equestrians testified on the seventh day of the trial about how much Barisone had helped them in their careers, citing his coaching expertise, with some expressing concern about his condition as he agonized over the situation with Kanarek and Goodwin.
Allison Brock, coached by Barisone to a team bronze medal on the 2016 Olympic dressage team, was alerted by another professional equestrian, Jaime Dancer, that Barisone was “upset and distraught.”
Olympic dressage medalist Ali Brock was worried about her mentor, Michael Barisone. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
Dancer said, “I thought he was going to kill himself.” She noted he had taken to pacing, like a horse that that is stressed.
When Brock heard from Dancer, she called Barisone, whom she had met in 2002 and considers a close friend.
“He was very quiet,” she said, noting that was “unlike Michael,” and discussed their conversation when he told her about the situation at his farm.
By the end of the phone call “he got more upset, sobbing hysterically,” Brock reported.
Eventing Olympic multi-medalist Phillip Dutton started working with Barisone on the dressage phase of his sport about the time of the 2012 London Olympics and a few years thereafter.
“All of my interactions with Michael were extremely honest,” said Dutton, calling him, “someone I could trust.”
There was a startling moment as his testimony ended, however, when Schellhorn brought up a 2011 fire caused by an electrical short in which six horses died at Dutton’s Pennsylvania farm.
“I’m sorry to ask you this question,” he said.
“Is it fair to say a barn fire can be dangerous for the horses?” he queried
“Absolutely,” Dutton replied.
Phillip Dutton testifying at the Barisone trial. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
I wondered about the relevance of that query, but it could well be linked to earlier testimony that Goodwin had made an issue about the danger of a dryer that wouldn’t turn off in the Hawthorne Hill barn.
Another witness, Jordan Osborne, a working student for Barisone, was asked by another defense attorney Chris Deininger whether she ever felt threatened by Goodwin. The prosecution objected. Judge Stephen Taylor chastised the lawyer and told the jury the comment was stricken from the record.
Schellhorn asked the young woman whether her mother is Lara Osborne, and after getting an affirmative reply, said, “What’s the nature of her relationship with Michael Barisone?”
Osborne said, “They’re in a romantic relationship.” The defense objected, but was overruled.
Deininger then asked, “You swore under oath to tell the truth when you were brought here this morning. Would you violate that oath simply because of a relationship your mother was having?”
“Absolutely not,” she replied firmly.
Jordan Osborne said when Washington Township police came to the farm after being called as the facility became increasingly dysfunctional in the days before the shooting, they weren’t interested in doing anything about the situation. She described them as “very nonchalant. They turned around and walked away.”
Sean Cullen, a licensed professional counselor in psychology, met with Barisone Aug 9, two days after the shooting.
He testified about “a steady build of stressors in his life” that became acute in the days before the incident.
As Barisone discussed during their meeting what had been a volatile situation at his farm, Cullen recounted, the trainer said about his interaction with the police, “I kept telling them this was going to come to a boiling point.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 4, 2022
A truck driver hired by Michael Barisone to keep watch over the dressage trainer’s stable amid discord at the property said his friend was “so messed up he could hardly even talk.”
An ongoing dispute between Barisone and two tenants he was trying to evict from his Hawthorne Hill farm created a toxic atmosphere that culminated in the Aug. 7, 2019 shooting of his dressage student, Lauren Kanarek, who lived in the house at the facility with her boyfriend, Rob Goodwin.
Barisone, who is being tried in Morristown, N.J., for attempted murder and weapon possession in the case, would walk his property in the Long Valley section of Washington Township, N.J., three or four times a night as he sought to insure the horses and people were safe.
“He was beside himself,” according to the driver, Lawrence Davidson, who started his nightly vigil at 8 p.m. during the week before the shooting.
Davidson was among the witnesses today as the prosecution rested and attorney Ed Bilinkas began his defense of the 2008 U.S. Olympic dressage team alternate. He is pursuing a combination insanity and self-defense strategy, showing how Barisone became desperate as tension with his tenants increased.
The last prosecution witness was Essex County attorney Edward David, who had met with Kanarek, Goodwin and Kanarek’s father, Jonathan Goodwin, also an attorney, about the eviction situation.
Attorney Edward David on the witness stand.
To put this in context, in his opening statement, Bilinkas had stated, “What this case is really about is about Lauren Kanarek, her father and her boyfriend devising a plan to destroy this man (Barisone) and drive him crazy.”
David said he was on the phone with Kanarek when she was shot. He was calling to give her good news about progress in reaching a resolution on the eviction issue with Barisone’s lawyer.
He described his conversation as, “one of the wildest phone calls” he ever had in his career. As he spoke to Kanarek, she told him, “Oh my God, I’ve been shot in the chest.” He said he heard what he thought were gunshots “but you don’t want to believe it.” However, he believed it enough to dial 911.
David had some trouble remembering things, excusing that by saying the shooting was four years ago. Actually, it was less than three years ago.
Goodwin and Kanarek had submitted a 1 and 1/2-page letter to Washington Township municipal officials detailing what they saw as a series of code violations, which sent the officials out in force the day before the shooting.
Christianna Cooke-Gibbs, the health officer who was involved with permitting at the farm since the late 1990s, recalled Barisone as a “competent, dignified, elegant man.” But when she came to the property on Aug 6, 2019, she saw someone “very different,” from the person she had known for so long, calling him a “very distraught, very disheveled man.”
She noted work that required permits was unauthorized, and the septic situation at the barn was not designed to handle people living on the site, rather than just working there.
When other officials talked with Goodwin, she stayed away.
“I just got a bad feeling; I don’t know why,” she said.
Fire official Matthew Lopez considered the situation in the house and barn from his perspective as “an imminent” hazard and ordered everyone evicted, with a $5,000/day fine for the property owner if anyone stayed in the buildings. However, he allowed Kanarek and Goodwin to stay after they sent him videos showing the smoke alarms were in working order, even though he did not go out and reinspect the building.
Edward Bilinkas goes over material with fire inspector Matthew Lopez. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
There was testimony from people in the paramedic, EMT and medical fields about Barisone’s injuries, which included hematomas on both sides of his head, a “deformed” left elbow, bites near his groin area from Kanarek’s dog, a Rottweiler mix, and lacerations, among other things.
In an online posting, Kanarek said she had beaten Barisone on the head with a phone as he struggled with Goodwin in the chaos after the shooting.
Firefighter/paramedic Daniel Vitale called Barisone “confused,” and cited “altered mental status” when he was treating him.
When asked about what had happened, Morris County Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn quoted Vitale reporting that Barisone replied, “Someone drove down my driveway and said she was going to take my kids. That’s all I remember,” adding he said his “heart was hurting, but not physically.”
Barisone does not have children, but his girlfriend at the time, Mary Haskins Gray, had two children.
Although the shooting happened on the day a caseworker from the state Division of Child Protection and Permancy came to the farm to talk with Gray, it has not been determined in the trial who called DCPP. It did come out in testimony last week, however, that Kanarek had searched for the agency’s hotline number on her phone. Barisone drove to the farmhouse where Kanarek and Goodwin lived after the caseworker had made her appearance.
Michael Barisone getting ready to leave court for the day and go back to the Morris County Correctional Facility. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
Bilinkas seems to be trying to make a case that Barisone was beaten before the shooting took place, but some of his questions were viewed by Judge Stephen Taylor as an effort to “impeach” witnesses; that is, point out discrepancies in their testimony to hurt their credibility. The judge said after the jury had left the courtroom that, “when you impeach a witness, that attacks their credibility, it’s not substantive evidence. It doesn’t mean the shooting happened after Mr. Barisone was beaten and attacked.”
He added, “If you want to argue to this jury that someone beaten with a phone and having a dog bite on his groin is worse than being shot in the chest, have at it. You can make that argument. We’re not here to compare injuries.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 3, 2022
“She was a horsewoman through and through, to her core, and every moment we got to spend with her made us better horsewomen and better people. She was a class act.”
Horses were the focal point of Sandy Lobel’s life. (Photo courtesy of Aaron Lobel)
That’s how Sandra Nagro Lobel was remembered by a former student, Elizabeth Blaisdell, as she reminisced following the trainer’s death on Wednesday.
Sandy, 78, had been fighting cancer but was still very involved in her profession, guiding the careers of amateur riders and the show hunter, Cypress. Elizabeth who started working with Sandy in her youth, said Sandy also helped her 11-year-old daughter, Ella, at the end of last year and into February.
“She instilled a sense of confidence in me. I think that comes from just good, old school horsemanship,” Elizabeth commented.
Sandy with Trendy, a favorite hunter. (Photo courtesy of Aaron Lobel)
The daughter of legendary horseman Clarence Nagro, who ran Hilltop Stable in New Vernon, N.J., Sandy had the same feel for a horse as he did.
It was obvious that the apple didn’t fall far from that tree.
She spent much of her life in New Jersey. Sandy operated under the Ravens Wood Farm name in Bedminster before moving to Ocala, Fla. Wherever she went, she made an impression.
“Sandy could be fierce, but she was also fiercely loving and loyal,” recalled Jazz Johnson Merton.
“She taught me how to persevere. `Stop saying I can’t’–she must have said this to me a thousand times. As a coach and a friend, she insisted that I was made up of more than I knew. ”
Sandy with Jazz Johnson Merton. (Hoofprints Photo)
Sandy had a reputation for energy and dynamism.
“Never circle, keep moving forward, never give up. She rode this way, taught this way and fought this way until the very end,” Jazz observed.
“Sandy loved deeply even when she didn’t show it, and she will be loved and missed by us all, always. ”
Sandy’s son, Aaron, noted, “She was a very strong woman. I admired her strength.
“I’ve never seen anyone as compassionate toward animals the way she was; she would stop and rescue a mouse off the side of the road. She taught me how to bring back baby birds that fell out of the nest.”
Sandy with her son, Aaron Lobel. (Photo courtesy of Aaron Lobel)
Bethie Walters Dayton called Sandy “a very kind person. She would always help people out. Somebody in need? She was the first one to give them what they needed.”
Anna Ross, who worked for Sandy for 45 years, said “She was like my second mother. I learned a lot from her. She was amazing. She loved animals and they loved her. She could get a combination of a horse and rider to the top levels.”
Charlotte Thall, who rode with Sandy for 28 years, said “she was a huge part of my life, both in and out of the ring.”
Sandy with Lilly Thall in the leadline at Devon. (Photo courtesy of Aaron Lobel)
“She was an amazing horsewoman and teacher,” commented Elizabeth Devor, who rode with Sandy for 10 years.
In addition to Aaron, Sandy is survived by her brother, John Nagro; a niece, Patty Nagro, and a nephew, Michael Nagro.
A celebration of her life will be held in Ocala at a date to be determined. Plans call for a perpetual trophy to be presented in her memory at a hunter event, perhaps with a donation from that event to go to a charity.
In the meantime, those who wish to make a contribution in her memory may do so for Danny & Ron’s Rescue at this link.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 3, 2022
Beloved Illinois trainer Nancy Whitehead has died. She was found on a recliner in her condo yesterday. An autopsy is being conducted to determine the cause of death, according to her longtime friend, Nick Novak.
Nancy was the winner of the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association’s 2020 Jane Marshall Dillon award, which honors instructors who gave their students the right start.
Her most famous student in that regard was Kent Farrington, an Olympic medalist who has been a winner at the world’s biggest horse shows.
“Nancy was always very generous with her time and tried to give me as much riding opportunity as possible, riding everything from new horses that had come off the racetrack to riding horses for amateur clients she had at the time,” recalled Kent.
Nancy was a talent-spotter for both riders and horses.
She knew early on it was important to burnish Kent’s ability, telling his mother, Lynda, “You realize your son will probably go to the Olympics one day?” And so he did, having been to the Games in 2016 and 2021.
Nancy was more than a trainer and instructor; she was also a positive thinker, as well as a breeder, and someone who is empathetic and sympathetic to her students. She knew how to give horses an opportunity to do well..
“I will always remember a great lesson from Nancy, in that every horse deserves a chance to see what it could do,” Kent said.
“Even if the horse was very unconventional, too small or extremely difficult to ride, that didn’t mean that it couldn’t be a great horse in the competition arena. That sense of an open mind with horses and trying to make every horse be the best that it can be at whatever level that is, remains a way of thinking that I carry with me today.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 1, 2022
The boyfriend of shooting victim Lauren Kanarek continued being questioned by defense lawyer Edward Bilinkas today at dressage trainer Michael Barisone’s attempted murder trial in Morristown, N.J., which got under way Monday and will continue for at least another week.
Robert Goodwin, who often swiveled his chair back and forth during his time on the witness stand, was rather curt in answering some questions, alternating between seeming bored and annoyed. He had as much difficulty remembering things as his girlfriend experienced in the same chair the previous day, and he often needed to read transcripts to confirm his responses.
On pages where the type was small, Goodwin wound up borrowing Bilinkas’ eyeglasses so he could see, which made for an odd repeated interaction between the lawyer and the witness, who wore a sport coat and open-necked shirt.
Bilinkas asked Goodwin whether he got into an argument with farrier Arnie Gervasio on the morning of Aug. 7. 2019, the day of the shooting. First, Goodwin said he didn’t remember seeing the blacksmith at Barisone’s Hawthorne Hill farm in Long Valley, N.J.
Then he was given a text to jog his memory. Once he finished reading the transcript, he stated Gervasio had been scheduled to shoe Lauren’s horses, but Goodwin was informed Barisone had “told him not to shoe our horses anymore.”
When that happened, Bilinkas asked, “Did you make a physical threat to Michael Barisone?” Goodwin replied, “I do not recall, specifically.”
After Goodwin told Kanarek about the blacksmith situation Aug. 7, Bilinkas asked, “Did Lauren Kanarek tell you to `finish the bastard,’ meaning Michael Barisone?” Before Goodwin could reply, the prosecution raised an objection.
When Barisone arrived at the farmhouse for a confrontation that ended in bullets several hours later, Goodwin had been on the phone with his lawyer.
Firearms expert William Stitt in the courtroom with a photo of the Ruger used in the shooting of Lauren Kanarek.
“The purpose of an attorney was to continue to work at the original deal,” said Goodwin, referring to an arrangement under which Kanarek would pay $2,500 a month for board on two horses, the couple wouldn’t have to pay rent for their living quarters and Goodwin would do carpentry and repair work in the home and stables. But Goodwin also expected to be paid for those efforts, with various amounts of money mentioned in court.
“On the day of the shooting, the farmhouse was far from being completed,” noted Bilinkas.
As the lawyer observed, by Aug. 7, “everything had deteriorated to the point of no return.” The friction between Kanarek and Goodwin on the one hand and Barisone and his girlfriend, Mary Haskins Gray on the other, had reached a level of intensity that made the atmosphere at the farm toxic.
So when Barisone asked after he came to the farmhouse right before the shooting, “How can we work this out?” Goodwin responded that he had brought lawyers into it, “so lawyers can handle it.”
But Goodwin added, “in my mind, there was nothing to work out.”
Goodwin said he thought Barisone’s intention in coming and suggesting there could be a solution “was to pull us out of the house so he could shoot us.”
After Kanarek was shot twice, Goodwin “dove” into the house to escape a bullet aimed at him. It shattered a pane in a door, as the jury saw in a photo when a detective who specializes in crime scene analysis commented on the shell’s trajectory.
Goodwin and Kanarek then moved to restrain Barisone, with Goodwin punching him in the head while Kanarek reached to grab his gun hand. Goodwin put a chokehold on Barisone, who fell on the ground with Goodman on top of him, which is where the police found them when Kanarek, bleeding profusely, dialed 911.
She was transported to Morristown Medical Center, where she was attended to by Dr. Mark Widmann, a thoracic surgeon who said her injuries would have been fatal if not treated.
He noted that when he first saw Kanarek, the trauma service said her heart already had stopped once. Widmann clamped her aorta to raise her blood pressure and keep her alive. She had two sites of injury to the lung itself.
The shooting had also caused an injury to a breast implant, said the physician, who removed that item. Kanarek was on a ventilator for eight or 10 days during her 19-day stay in the Intensive Care Unit, he said.
During today’s proceedings, Superior Court Judge Stephen Taylor threatened to close the courtroom to the public if whispering in the gallery didn’t stop. He explained he’s worried about distracting the jury, which due to Covid restrictions is not confined to the jury box. Rather, several rows of the courtroom are filled with the juror overflow, so members of the panel can be socially distanced.
Keeping a firm hand on the proceedings, he already mandated the shutdown of chat rooms on internet sites livestreaming the testimony.
Morris County Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn is planning to wrap up his case Monday, with Bilinkas starting Barisone’s defense later that day. He is pursing an insanity and self-defense strategy. There has been much discussion about recordings of conversations at the farm with devices owned by Goodwin and Kanarek. Expect the importance of those to come into clearer focus as the case proceeds next week.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 1, 2022
Funeral services will be held next week in Peapack for Joan Scher of Bedminster, known for riding side-saddle with the Essex Foxhounds and her devotion to a variety of equestrian causes.
They included the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation and the Gladstone Equestrian Association. She also served as a District Commissioner of the Somerset Hills Pony Club. A director of Weber & Scher Manufacturing Co., she was active at St Bridgid’s church, where a funeral mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. April 6.
Mrs. Scher, 86, died March 19. She is survived by her sons Douglas (Ann) and Greg (Lee) Scher, as well as six grandchidlren and two great-granchildren.
Donations in her memory may be made to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset.
by Nancy Jaffer | Mar 31, 2022
Dressage trainer Michael Barisone’s state of mind in the days before the shooting of Lauren Kanarek was a focal point as his attempted murder trial entered its fourth day in Morristown, N.J.
His former student and tenant, who was shot twice in the chest on Aug. 7, 2019, said under cross-examination by defense attorney Edward Bilinkas that she never threatened Barisone or his girlfriend, Mary Haskins Gray. But when Bilinkas asked about characterizing her social media posts on the subject of Barisone, she conceded, “they could be perceived as threatening.”
Lauren Kanarek on the witness stand.
Was her intention to scare Barisone, Bilinkas questioned.
“Maybe at a point,” replied Kanarek, who also conceded she had written a text saying “Michael is scared,” and indicated to Bilinkas that Barisone was afraid of her father, a retired attorney.
Kanarek and her boyfriend, Robert Goodwin, lived rent-free at a farmhouse on Barisone’s Hawthorne Hill farm in Long Valley, N.J. They paid $2,500 in board per month for each of two horses, while Goodwin did carpenter work on the house and barn to cover the fees for other horses Lauren owned.
Things went sour between the couples during the summer, and the whole farm became embroiled in the toxic atmosphere.
Michael Barisone in happier days at his Hawthorne Hill Farm. (Photo © 2009 by Nancy Jaffer)
Goodwin said Barisone told the staff not to communicate with him and Kanarek. That boiled over when an employee didn’t respond to Kanarek’s concern about a dryer in the stable that wouldn’t turn off, which she saw as a fire hazard.
Kanarek and Goodwin sent a 1 and 1/2-page letter citing “a dangerous and illegal situation” to the Washington Township housing inspector (Long Valley is part of Washington Township) detailing what they saw as code violations.
The result? Township officials descended on the farm Aug. 6 and put up notices telling everyone to vacate the premises. There was a $5,000/day fine if everyone didn’t leave.
Robert Goodwin.
Barisone, sitting at the defense table, had his head in his hands when that topic came up. Bilinkas is pursuing an insanity/self-defense strategy in his defense of the 2008 U.S. Olympic dressage team alternate.
In his opening remarks on Monday, Bilinkas contended that Kanarek, her father and Goodwin devised a plan to destroy Barisone and drive him crazy.
The shooting took place after a caseworker from the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency visited Gray, who had two children. Why did the caseworker come? What allegations were made?
“Was part of your plan to destroy Michael Barisone to contact…DCPP?” asked Bilinkas
Kanarek said no, and added she had never contacted the agency.
But her phone yielded recorded searches for that agency’s number on two dates in July. On July 31, she “did not recall” searching for the agency’s anonymous hotline, adding “but it’s possible.” Then she said she did remember. Lack of recollection came up often in her testimony, until she was shown documentation.
At the same time, she mentioned that Barisone’s assistant trainer, Justin Hardin, earlier that year had “stolen” her phone at a restaurant. Citing his technological expertise, she said he had broken into her phone and it was possible he “may have been able to do things to my phone that I did not.”
On Aug. 7, Barisone asked the caseworker and Gray, who were meeting in his office, to leave. He had kept a pink and black 9 mm gun, the weapon used in the shooting, in the office safe. Moments later, he drove to the farmhouse where Kanarek was living and the incident unfolded.
Michael Barisone in the courtroom.
Goodwin, 42, took the stand later in the day. Like Kanarek, who had a history with heroin, Goodwin admitted to using drugs “anything I could do to get out of my anxiety” under direct examination by Morris County Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn.
When Bilinkas asked Goodwin whether he had used crack, the judge did not permit him to answer the question. Kanarek said earlier in the trial that she has been sober for several years but Goodwin admitted to some relapses while living in Long Valley, though he said he never took drugs while at the farm.
Goodwin said as August 2019 began, Barisone was “making life difficult at the farm for us to want to stay.” Barisone was trying to evict the couple.
Prior to that week, Goodwin said he had hoped “to salvage the relationship. Ultimately, we would (have) kind of liked to work something out.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Mar 31, 2022
Eric Lamaze, the Canadian Olympic show jumping gold medalist has retired from competition due to his health issues, but will continue to serve as technical advisor and chef d’equipe for his country’s show jumping team.
Eric, who has been battling brain cancer since 2017, last competed at the CSIO5* Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ tournament in Calgary, where he anchored the Canadian team to victory in the $600,000 Bank of Montreal Nations’ Cup in September.
Eric Lamaze after winning gold in the 2008 Olympics.(Photo © 2008 by Nancy Jaffer)
He then took a step back from competition to focus on his health, not knowing his last competitive appearance would be on home soil at his favorite venue, where he is the all-time leading money winner with career earnings exceeding $6.7 million.
“It’s with great sadness that I am making this decision,” said Lamaze, 53, who is based in Wellington, Fla., and Brussels, Belgium.
“There’s a part of me that feels really upset that I’ve been battling cancer with the hope of riding again and I’m crushed that that won’t be the case. I’ve always said that I will retire under my own terms when the time is right. The situation with my health has forced me to make the decision earlier than I had envisioned, but the silver lining is that I still have the will to win and can contribute to the Canadian team and the sport I love through my new role as chef d’equipe,” he said.
“Now I have to turn my focus to giving my knowledge back to my fellow riders,” continued Lamaze. “I’ve always loved teaching and preparing horses and riders for major championships. I will give these riders every opportunity I ever had myself and I have great ideas for the future. I want every Canadian rider to know that their dreams are my dreams, too. When they win, I win.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Mar 31, 2022
HITS has received a majority investment from Traub Capital Partners, and will continue to operate as HITS Shows with its team in place led by CEO Tom Struzzieri, who will also maintain a significant stake in the business.
“We are proud to partner with HITS, a clear leader in the equestrian event world,” said Brian Crosby, Managing Partner of Traub Capital Partners.
“HITS’ legacy and expertise align with TCP’s philosophy and approach, and we believe we are uniquely positioned to actively support them in their strategic growth plans.”
“TCP is the ideal partner for HITS as they have a history of backing companies in the sport enthusiast industry as well as expertise in the aspirational and lifestyle categories,” said HITS CEO Tom Struzzieri.
“Our new partners will provide us with strategic capital investments and will ensure that our exhibitors and their horses are supported to the highest degree.”
The investment by TCP will allow HITS, with its 40-year history, to make improvements to all five venues with the goal of not only investing in the facilities and infrastructure, but also in elevating the level of service and hospitality.
HITS operates five venues; 46 weeks of sanctioned Hunter/Jumper competitions; six weeks of Dressage events; and 65,000 horses expected to compete in 2022. Based in Saugerties, N.Y., HITS is a national company producing horse shows in Ocala; Culpeper, Va.; Wayne, Ill, East Dorset, anVt and Saugerties.
Traub Capital Partners is a New York-based strategic private equity firm specializing in building value in consumer companies using its unique combination of investment, strategic and operational expertise as well as a culture led, engaged approach. The fund targets investments in companies with revenue between $50 and $250 million.
