RIP Jersey Fresh International, 2003-2021?

by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 20, 2021

The Jersey Fresh International three-day event will not be held in 2022, even though the Horse Park of New Jersey trustees had voted to stage it one last time.

Under the new U.S. Equestrian Federation eventing calendar process, it lost its 4-star Long and Short designations for 2023-2027 as it was not granted those divisions, or the 3-star Long it previously hosted.

“Understandably, it was hard for our incredible sponsors, who have been so critical to our event over the years, to commit to supporting an event that they knew was quite literally on its last legs,” stated Adam Furlong, president of the park’s board of trustees.

“If the governing body of our sport has determined that this event should not be permitted to continue, what message does that send to our sponsors about the value of their investment in our sport,” he asked.

“The Park does not have the financial flexibility to operate the event at a loss, nor are we willing to compromise the integrity of the event by drastically cutting expenses,” he observed.

“It went so well in 2021, why run something less good in 2022,” wondered Jane Cory, co-organizer of the event with cross-country course designer Morgan Rowsell.

USEF didn’t waste any time following the Jersey Fresh cancellation–it has opened a one week bid process that runs through Oct. 29 to fill Jersey’s space on the calendar for an event that could host an East Coast 4-star L May 17-19, in 2022 only.

The Tryon, N.C., Spring International, one of only six events in the U.S. to be awarded a 4-star Long for 2023-27, will be on the May weekend before the dates USEF is seeking to fill. Many competitors who previously came to New Jersey obviously will be going south instead. Venues with more bells and whistles than the Horse Park had an edge, and that includes not only Tryon, but also the new TerraNova facility in Myakka City, Fla., east of Sarasota, which has never held a horse trials but whose management is investing heavily in its event.

“This is the trend. It takes a lot of money to do it,” observed Jane.

She acknowledged the Horse Park has some weaknesses, but noted organizers worked hard to overcome them. The footing is not the artificial material that is found at the “name” facilities, and the stabling is far from fancy. But a footing expert was hired for Jersey Fresh to show how to maintain the rings with the footing they have. She noted there have been no complaints from others using the facility, including dressage riders who are known for being picky about where their horses tread.

Carol Kozlowski, a former president of the U.S. Eventing Association and a member of the USEF board, observed “these riders get so wrapped up in footing and then go to Europe and you’re competing on grass.”

She noted that while many consider it “a cool thing to run FEI events, the lower levels become something of an afterthought,” though they can pad the budgets of a big event with their fees.

Adam mentioned that the trustees have “been enthusiastic in approving new investments into the Park as we can afford them, and will continue to meet the needs of all equestrian sports that operate at our facility. We recognize that the Horse Park is in need of improvements in the ring footing and stabling, and we are actively working to raise the funds necessary to make these investments.

“In recent years, JFI has had enough success to allow profits to be invested back into the park and into the event. Had the process of awarding dates played out differently, we may have still been able to operate the event in 2022 and make more money to be invested back into our facility.”

The park was granted an Advanced designation by USEF for its horse trials at the end of June, and Jane doesn’t know if something special might be done for that competition in lieu of Jersey Fresh. Will Connell, the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s director of sport, said he hopes “Jersey Fresh stays on the calendar in some form or another.”

Explaining the need to reorganize the eventing calendar, he said it was in such a state that the only option was to “call a half-halt” and closely examine what needed to be done by a committee under the leadership of Olympic cross-country designer Derek DiGrazia.

The 4-star Long is “a major qualification to go 5-star,” Will pointed out, noting that a horse “can only compete in so many in a year.”

The 5-stars, in turn, are crucial in preparing teams for global competitions such as the Olympics and world championships. The committee had to look at the spacing between competitions to make sure high-level competitions did not flood the calendar . The events need to know they can get enough riders to make their events viable.

There are fewer top-level competitors in eventing than show jumping, where there are huge numbers of entries in Florida during the winter, with enough exhibitors to fill three major circuits and a couple of minor ones. Show jumpers also can compete more often than eventing horses.

Will said the choice of location for the 4-star Longs have “nothing to do with elitism. We want all of our events at that level to be the very best.”

He said an event with the 3-star Short division and below was not affected by the calendar change and “carries on,” which is an option for the Horse Park.

The Horse Park event, known for its great footing on cross-country, definitely has its fans. Pennsylvania-based Boyd Martin, winner of the Jersey Fresh 4-star L this year with Luke 140, maintained, “Jersey’s always been a special event, especially for everyone up in this region. It would be sad to see Jersey go, but I still think it’s a venue that could thrive on a championship event, horse trials, there’s been so much hard work put into developing the course.”

Boyd Martin on his victory lap at Jersey Fresh 2021.

Erik Duvander, the USEF eventing performance director, said, “I think the venue has a real good purpose for the short formats. They do a really good job there. It was always a little hard for them to get the distances and so on in the long format. I really, really wish they keep going, because I love the venue myself and in the short format, it’s a very important part of what we do.”

Jersey Fresh was started in 2003 by Debbie Adams, a professional from Medford, because a 2-star (now designated as a 3-star by the FEI) was needed in the area following the demise of the Essex Horse Trials in Gladstone after its 1998 edition (Essex was revived four years ago in Far Hills.)

“The Horse Park is a multi-purpose place with so many activities during the year; that’s why we picked it,” Debbie said. But she noted as the sport is evolving, it gave rise to Tryon, the Jockey Club in Ocala and other more glamorous locations, including Morven Park, that were able to invest a lot of money in their facilities.

Debbie said coming up with the event’s name was easy, because it reflected the importance of agriculture in New Jersey. She bowed out of the event management after two years when the Horse Park took over running it, but she often attended the competition.

“It’s tough putting a 4-star together because of the distance and length of the course; it’s hard for smaller properties to host it,” she commented. .

Adam Furlong believes that the Horse Park “will adapt and overcome. We have already had some really exciting conversations about what we plan to do in the future years, and we hope to be able to share that good news soon.

“We remain committed to developing and growing the larger sport of equestrian within the state of New Jersey, and that certainly includes eventing. We are confident that our next actions will reflect that commitment, and the Park will continue to be a facility that sees former, current, and future world champions compete on the property.”

Toward that end, Adam said, “We are going to follow up with USEF directly about the process and hopefully find a solution that is committed to developing the sport of eventing in the U.S., and particularly in the Northeast and insuring there is that pipeline for that next generation of world championship riders.”

He offered “one final thank you to the organizers, volunteers, and sponsors that have (been) integral to Jersey Fresh. The event could not have been possible without the love, grit and determination that went into JFI for the past 20 years. We know that we will make the supporters of JFI proud of what comes next.”

The big test awaits at the Maryland 5-star

by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 15, 2021

Ian Stark is as intense as the cross-country course he has designed for the first Maryland 5-Star event at Fair Hill. It will be tested tomorrow afternoon by a top international field of competitors who have talked about little else at the venue except the route he laid out on the undulating acreage of the Fair Hill Natural Resources Center.

“If you see someone walking about with a green face, it’s me,” he predicted.

In his riding days, Ian noted, his pre-cross-country sick stomach would vanish as soon as he got on a horse. But as a designer, he knows “it doesn’t go away until the last horse is home safely.”

The Scotsman, who liked to show up in a kilt for the horse inspection when he was competing at the top level, was an Olympic multi-medalist for Great Britain. At age 67, he now is as admired for his course designing as he was for his riding, but Fair Hill is his first 5-star. (He also has done the more lenient course for the 3-star, which is being held in the morning.)

His concern for the horses and riders is such that he lies awake rethinking what he has created before anyone jumps it. He recounted that one sleepless night in Britain, he felt the need to amend a fence for safety’s sake, calling the course builder to come out at 4 a.m. and fix it.

The Fair Hill fences are inventive, especially the Maryland Crab water complex at number 15 that features a drop of nearly two meters into the drink for horses after they jump over a carving of the iconic local crustacean. Then there’s the roller coaster, though in an effort not to scare the horses, he dispensed with the idea of having mannequins hanging upside down in the carriages. Most amusing are the keyhole owls, a double of 65-degree corners made of brush.

Ian Stark in his kilt for the horse inspection at Rolex Kentucky 2007. (Photo © 2007 by Nancy Jaffer)

Ian admits to a penchant for timber racing as a spectator, not a rider (Fair Hill has a history of it), which was the inspiration for the uphill rails at 13 AB. World number one eventer Oliver Townend of Great Britain, who continued to lead the 5-star field at the end of today’s dressage, said that type of fence hadn’t been seen on a cross-country course in 35 or 40 years.

The prospect of what everyone is calling a “meaty” cross-country course is what lured Tim Price of New Zealand and his wife, Jonnelle, to Maryland from their base in England. Tim, second on Xavier Faer, and Jonelle,16th with Classic Moet, were looking for  the type of 5-star test that suited their horses.

‘With no Burghley (cancelled for the second year in a row), and France’s, Pau 5-star dismissed as “flat and fast” Tim said about Ian’s route, “We believe this is a true cross-country test.”

Of the new event, he said, “It feels like it’s going have its own brand of 5-star. It’ s not like another 5-star, which is just brilliant.”

Tim collected 24.3 penalties, unable to catch Oliver (21.1 penalties) due to a flying change issue.He explained his horse can get “discombobulated,” but at least he is improving on the flying change front.He used to get one of four changes in the test; now Tim is happy he gets three of four..

Tim Price and Xavier Faer. (Photo © 2021 by Lawrence J. Nagy)

Interestingly, Tim and Oliver finished 1-2 at the Land Rover Kentucky 5-star in April, though Oliver was on Ballaghmor Class, rather than Cooley Master Class, his Fair Hill mount.

We’re looking at a Kentucky rematch, especially since the USA’s Boyd Martin, fourth at the spring 5-star with On Cue, was third with her today, having polished his test to the level of 25 penalties.

Calling the dressage “a work in progress,” Boyd said of On Cue, “I was really happy with her. She’s everything you dream of in a horse. She’s flamboyant, she’s extravagant, a real lady.”

Boyd Martin and On Cue. (Photo © 2021 by Lawrence J. Nagy)

Living in Pennsylvania just 20 minutes from Fair Hill, he is understandably enthusiastic about having a new event in his backyard.

Asked about the character of the facility in the Fair Hill Event Zone, he said, “It’s a bit different. Everything feels pretty close, where in Kentucky, you feel like everyone’s above you.

“It’s a great ring, beautiful footing, fantastic set-up with the spectators.”

Of the cross-country course, which he called, “horrendously difficult,” he contended, “It’s big time. I think even the best horse and best rider could slip up somewhere. It’s really going to determine the competition. No need to get too wound up about the dressage scores today,” Boyd pointed out with a grin.

Zara Tindall attracted a lot of attention on Class Affair, and not just because her white-legged chestnut is an eye-catcher. Zara is the daughter of Mark Phillips (who was ringside) and his ex-wife, Princess Anne of Great Britain. But her credentials are far more than that; she is a former World and European eventing champion.

Zara Tindall and Class Affair. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

“Is she Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughter?” one eager white-haired gentlemen asked when he spied her warming up for her dressage test.

Zara is incredibly gracious. Even when she was in a hurry to watch fellow Brit Harry Meade compete, she agreed to posing for a photo with a persistent young man who had requested a picture.

Zara Tindall and Class Affair. (Photo © 2021 by Lawrence J. Nagy)

Known for her cross-country acumen, Zara is 15th on 30.4 penalties, but could move up after Saturday afternoon. Class Affair is not an easy ride. Zara spotted him as a 7-year-old, and five years later, she still has work to do.

“His trot work is good and then he just gets ahead of himself. He’s getting there and he’s had a year of doing absolutely nothing.” She said he could have done with,a big test.

Oliver was on hand to give her tips, and emphasized “being positive in your test,” she noted.

“He’s very good at that, and that’s how you get the top marks.”

She said the horse “is getting better and better each year,” despite the lack of work.

“He’s got loads of talent but his brain kind of overtakes it all. But he’s great fun and a great jumper. He’s just very talented. He can do it all. You just have to manage him. He’s a really good jumper and he loves to gallop. He’s brave and all those things you need in an event horse.”

She’d like to get to Burghley and Badminton next year and see how it goes.

“He’s a great 5-star horse. Whether or not his brain is good enough for championships, I don’t know,” she replied when I asked whether she is aiming for the 2023 World Championships or the 2024 Paris Olympics.

About the cross-country at Fair Hill, she said her biggest concern is “my fitness. I think he’ll be okay.” Noting “there’s a lot do do” on the route, she added, “Hopefully I’m fit enough and I won’t need oxygen when I get off.”

For 5-star dressage results, click here

Townend on top at Fair Hill

by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 14, 2021

He’s the number one-ranked eventer in the world, so where did you expect he’d be on the first day of the first Maryland 5-star at Fair Hill?

That’s right, Great Britain’s Oliver Townend is in the lead, performing a slick and well-modulated dressage test with the vastly experienced Cooley Master Class, a two-time winner of the Land Rover Kentucky 5-star.

Oliver Townend was understandably thrilled with Cooley Master Class’s dressage test. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

“He seems to thrive in America,” mused Oliver about the 16-year-old Irishbred, noting, “he’s never felt as happy.”

The bay gelding competed at Kentucky again last spring, but was spun at the final horse inspection due to a “very frustrating cut” that Oliver compared to a paper cut.

“He was sound to ride but obviously not sound to present. So that was that. We just regrouped. We don’t really run him that often.”

Oliver said he “quietly prepared him” for the 5-star,  and was never competitive with him at a one-day event. “There’s nothing for him to really win at home,” explained Oliver. Burghley, Britain’s September 5-star, was cancelled this year, joining the spring 5-star, Badminton, as a no-go.

Oliver’s 21.1 penalties blew away the rest of the field that rode this afternoon. He’s well ahead of U.S. riders Hannah Sue Burnett (Harbour Pilot, another horse with lots of mileage) and Lynn Symansky (RF Cool Play in his first 5-star), tied on 28 penalties.

There are more riders to come tomorrow, including another Brit, Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughter Zara Tindall on Class Affair, and world number two Tim Price of New Zealand on Xavier Faer.

But all will be challenged by the course laid out by Scottish Olympic medalist Ian Stark, whom Oliver called, “A very big hero of mine.”

“It’s going to be a very, very tough day on Saturday,” predicted Oliver, who cited the terrain for which Fair Hill is named as a key factor adding to the difficulty of the route.

Cooley Master Class produced a smooth test reflective of his experience. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

He cited one fence, rails going up a hill, as something that probably hasn’t been used for the last 35 to 40 years. The whole test will be complicated by temperatures predicted to go into the 80s.

According to Lynn, “the course is amazing and absolutely terrifying.”

The Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area, the former William DuPont estate, has hosted a featured eventing competition since 1989. The Fair Hill Special Events Zone, a short hack from the original, more rustic eventing site, is brand new and will be the scene of many more activities, including racing.

The look of the new venue is spectacularly modern, with lots of glass and chrome and big grandstands, but the vibe is intimate according to Hannah Sue.

Horses can “really feel the atmosphere,” she said, “but not in an electric way.”

Her mount, she revealed, seemed to confide, “You brought me somewhere worthy of me.”

Garden State Combined Driving Event brought two national championships to Horse Park of New Jersey

by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 11, 2021

It was a rematch of an encounter we’ve seen many times in four-in-hand driving competition: Chester Weber vs. Jimmy Fairclough.

Chester, who could have gone to events closer to his Ocala, Fla., home rather than the Garden State Combined Driving Event at the Horse Park of New Jersey last weekend, made the choice to come north because it was the 2021 national championship. He had won the title 17 times previously and was going for number 18.

Chester Weber and his team en route in the marathon. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

Jimmy, Chester’s teammate on the historic gold medal world championships squad in 2018, also was Chester’s first trainer. Chester attended Blair Academy in Blairstown, near Jimmy’s Sussex County home, where he got involved with what would become “something about which I’m super passionate,” as he put it.

They were the only two in their division. It’s a hard time of year to stage a show, with Tryon two weeks ago and Southern Pines coming up. Also, competing a four-in-hand is an expensive and time-consuming proposition, and it’s more popular in Europe than it is here. And as noted by Jimmy, who has won a few national championships himself, init’s “difficult times with Covid; it’s hard to get horses fit for one show.”

But both Chester and Jimmy are world-class and proficient at what they do, so it made things interesting for those watching.

Chester said “we’ve been working super-hard through Covid, evidenced by showing up here and having a 37 (penalty) dressage.”

Although Jimmy, 63, said he would retire from international competition after the 2018 gold, he still trains at home as if he were going to a big event.

“I do this because I love it, 44 years or something,” he said. It helped that Taz Lester and his wife, Amber, came back to help Jimmy at the competition.

Jimmy Fairclough and his team speeding out of the water obstacle. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

Next year is the world championships in Italy, and both Chester and Jimmy would like to go.

“I just bought two new horses. I still can play and do it,” said Jimmy, but noted he runs a fuel business and can’t always take time off to travel to competitions.

Of the world championships, he said, “I’m not looking to do it, but if it happens and the horses are all good and there’s money there to go, I’m in. I can’t stop–it’s just too many years.”

Misdee Wrigley, Chester and Jimmy’s 2018 teammate who is training with Boyd Exell, the 2018 world champion, is also a candidate. So it looks like the band might get back together.

Chester, 46, hopes to spend much of summer 2022 in Europe preparing for the championships.

“It just depends a little bit on what’s happening with Covid,” he pointed out, but noted some of the World Cup shows “are getting picked off already” by pandemic issues.

Chester Weber easily handled the newest obstacle at the Horse Park. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

He may be going for national title number 19 next year at his family’s Live Oak Plantation. The Ocala show, which also features a jumping World Cup Finals qualifier, has applied for the national four-in-hand championship but the date has yet to be awarded.

“I think, with complete humility, being a multi-discipline show with a budget that’s seven figures, it has some things that a lot of the national driving shows just don’t have yet. But we have high hopes again for Live Oak and we’re excited about that,” Chester said.

He won the dressage phase at the Horse Park handily, with 37.67 penalties to Jimmy’s 51.67. The marathon was closer; Chester’s team had 100.86 penalties while Jimmy finished with 109.16.

Noting how difficult it is to build a national championships marathon course for singles and teams at the same event, Chester pointed that’s a challenge that only someone like Richard Nicoll can do, with his experience designing at several World Equestrian Games..

Jimmy won the cones section (5.35 penalties), while Chester’s score was 6.94. Chester claimed the championship, 145.47 to 166.18, with his horses, Amadeus, First Edition, Ideaal, Julius V and Reno.

“I had a couple of bobbles, I think I was a little rusty, but they still ran good,” said Jimmy of Bento V, Citens, Dapper, Jonkers Justice, Tibor and Zeppelin Lets.

Also going for another national championship at Garden State was Taylor Bradish of South Carolina, who took the singles title last year.

Taylor, a 26-year-old professional trainer, began driving when she rode for a family in Arizona where the husband drove. She didn’t compete then, but got into it when she went to work for Jennifer Matheson in Aiken, S.C. six years ago. Jennifer, to whom Taylor expressed her thanks, came to watch the marathon.

Having driven at the Horse Park last year, she knew what to expect, but she had her hands full with the tight obstacles in the marathon, which she anticipates will be good practice for challenges she would encounter at next year’s world singles championships. Like Chester and Jimmy, she praised the work of Richard Nicoll, and saw his layout as a good test of herself and the 12-year-old Katydid Duchess.

“It was physically a very demanding marathon,but that’s what you should expect for a national championship The course designer, Richard Nicoll, was absolutely amazing,” said Taylor.

It rained during her cones competition and the carriage slid a bit as a result. She sees that as practice for the 2022 championships as well, since “most of the time in Europe, it’s raining.”

Full of determination, Taylor Bradish and navigator Maggie O’Leary with Katydid Duchess. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

The mare, who was up to the challenge, is by Danyloo, a German riding pony, and out of a Welsh/thoroughbred cross dam. The stallion won a gold medal in the single pony world championships as a six-year-old.

Although there are no hills on which to train in Aiken, Duchess easily handled the up-and-down Jersey terrain. She stays fit with plenty of work, a treadmill and a weekly visit to an Aquatread, while Taylor also rides her. In addition, there are dressage lessons with trainer Sarah Dodge in Aiken.

“I was very happy with her fitness. She was pulling my arms out in the last obstacle. She, I think, could have done a few more K (kilometers),” Taylor observed.

She was second in dressage and cones, but won the marathon handily which enabled her to wind up in first place overall with 142.47 penalties over Carrie Ostrowski and Gellerduht on 146.54. There were four in the division.

“We were missing a few,” said Taylor, “but it was still a very good competition.”

Now she’s looking ahead to 2022 and not only the championships, but also her wedding to Tyler Golden, who works in the field of health and safety but came to New Jersey as Duchess’s groom. Is that good practice for being Taylor’s groom next year?

Taylor’s navigator, with whom she had not driven previously, was Maggie O’Leary. She is the assistant trainer for Sarah Schmitt, who runs a stable in Annandale. Maggie had a turn in the driver’s seat herself during the Preliminary Single Horse section, where she won the marathon and was second overall  with Emdora Hof.

See full list of results by clicking on link below:

Garden State Final with Horses

A major test in Gladstone for young show jumping team hopefuls

by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 10, 2021

“Developing Future Stars” is the slogan of the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s Platinum Performance Show Jumping Talent Search. And judging by the ability on display this weekend at the competition in New Jersey, there soon will be lots of new stars in the sport’s universe.

The “East” section of the competition (the West section, won by Zoe Brown, was held last month in California) drew a field of 53 to the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation’s Gladstone facility, where every competition takes on a special luster because of its history. Being staged in the arena behind the stately stable where so many legendary horses and riders trained to represent their country adds extra pressure to an already stressful test.

Lynn Jayne was feeling it as her 17-year-old daughter, Natalie, competed in the Final Four. That’s the climax of three days of competition, where the top quartet of riders–the cream that rose to the top after the flat, gymnastics and show jumping phases–competes over a shortened course and then rides the mounts of each of their rivals over the same route.

Natalie was the only one in the group who didn’t drop a rail during four rounds. Although the class rules state judges must deduct 4 points for a knockdown, the rest of the scoring except time faults is subjective based on the riders’ style, how they handle the course and deal with different horses.

Natalie Jayne at the awards ceremony, with judges Michael Tokaruk and Chris Kappler, Assistant U.S. Coach Anne Kursinski and DiAnn Langer,U.S. youth chef d’equipe to the left; trainers Andre Dignelli and Patricia Griffith to the right with Natalie’s mother, Lynn Jayne (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

While judges Chris Kappler and Michael Tokaruk said the top four were very close, a look at the results for that phase tells a slightly different story. Natalie’s score was 365, while runner-up Dominic Gibbs, the 2020 ASPCA Maclay winner, was marked at 359. Third with 336 was Audrey Schulze, who dropped rails twice at fence 4A, the oxer first element of a double, on her own ride, Mac One III and Dominic’s Cent 15. Audrey was one point ahead of Hampton Classic equitation champion Luke Jensen in fourth place.

Shortly after Natalie collected the championship ribbon, Lynn admitted, “It still hasn’t sunk in, my heart is in my throat still. But I’m really proud of her, she’s worked really hard.”

Lynn is Natalie’s “day-to-day trainer.” The Illinois high school senior also works with Andre Dignelli and Patricia Griffith at Heritage Farm in New York.

“It’s hard to train your daughter at this level,” explained Andre.

Lynn pointed out that her daughter is unfazed by what she faces in the ring.

“Pressure never gets to her. She thrives on it,” said Lynn.

“When you’re in the top four, there’s pressure to do well, but it doesn’t bother me that much,” agreed Natalie, winner of the 2020 and 2021 Winter Equestrian Festival Equitation Championships. Natalie was fifth on the flat in the Talent Search, sixth in gymnastics and third in this morning’s round.

Each of the riders had their moments in the sun over the weekend. Luke, a 17-year-old Texan who is a working student for Missy Clark, won Friday’s flat phase on Conthacco, better known as Taco, a horse leased from jumper rider Schuyler Riley. He didn’t have a groom at this competition and did all the work himself. Interestingly, his mother, Martha Jensen, is the sister of hunter star Hunt Tosh.

Natalie Jayne, Dominic Gibbs, Audrey Schulze and Luke Jensen. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

Missy called Luke, “possibly the nicest person I have ever met in my life.”

Audrey, 18, a Ridgewood, N.J., resident who was third in the Kathy Scholl Equitation Championship, took the honors in yesterday’s gymnastic test. Her mount, Mac, who went on to win the Grappa Trophy as best horse, is owned by Taylor Madden, the daughter of Audrey’s coach, Frank Madden. He is based at the Schulze family’s Patriot Farm in Saddle River.

Dominic, 18, a native of Colorado trained by Stacia Madden and Beacon Hill, was tops in today’s morning jumping round on his own Cent 15. He is in his last year as a junior.

And of course we know about Natalie’s moment to shine. She rode Heritage Farm’s Charisma, calling him, “awesome in the ride-off. My plan was to just have a nice solid round…and go from there.”

Natalie Jayne and Charisma against the backdrop of the USET Foundation stable. (Photo © 2021 by Lawrence J. Nagy)

As Andre noted about his student, “She’s always ridden well and has a good feel. She’s always looked beautiful, very elegant on a horse.”

Winning the Talent Search hit the target for Heritage.

“This was the goal. The kids know that this class is important to me,” said Andre. Today marked his 11th victory in the class, counting the time that he won it himself at the beginning of his career.

“This format played to her strengths,” he said of the winner.

“She rides a lot of horses for a lot of people and she’s very calm. My feeling was, whatever the result was, I thought she had given it all that she had.”

The ride-off included a long, nine-stride loop from an oxer, fence 2, to a triple bar, fence 3. Chris Kappler an Olympic team gold and individual silver medalist based in Pittstown, explained the idea of that test was “to see who could really tell where they were on new horses. Within inches, they were all very, very solid riders. It was really fun to see the quality of riding in the final four.”

The course posted for the gymnastics phase.

He added, “We tried to use each day to set you up for the next; tried to have things that made sense that you would use in developing your jumper, developing yourself, developing your skills to be ready for a Nations Cup-style competition.”

The gymnastics phase may have looked deceptively simple from a railside viewpoint, but there was a lot to it.

“There were not a lot of options, so it kind of allowed us to really measure each horse and rider similarly, because there was no variation in striding,” said Chris. The design included trying “to use the triple bar with the Liverpool under it to simulate a setting-up for the water jump the final day, so they could get a good strong ride over that triple bar and hopefully give the horses a good confident water-type jump before Sunday.”

As Michael Tokaruk, a Tennessee trainer, put it, “We tried to ask the questions that make sense. Can you ride your horse’s stride, can you go forward, can you ride a track, can you make some rollbacks, can you go forward, then can you shorten and gallop the water?”

Dominic Gibbs won the gymnastics phase on Cent 15. (Photo © 2021 by Lawrence J. Nagy)

We will be seeing lots more of the top four and a number of the others from this weekend for the rest of this season and likely, over the years to come.

“The Talent Search Finals is a great starting point and pathway and the place where we see for the first time many of our up-and-coming athletes,” said Lizzy Chesson, USEF’s managing director of show jumping.

As she pointed out, over the last few months Talent Search alumni have made their mark internationally. Jessie Springsteen rode on the Olympic silver medal team, Brian Moggre was second in the prestigious Aachen, Germany, grand prix, and a variety of others were on teams at big competitions, including the Nations Cup Final in Barcelona.

“All of those guys, the first time that we saw them was here at the Talent Search Finals,” Lizzy observed.

“It really is a stepping stone, a point along their journey of learning and growing and getting to the teams. It works. It gives them kind of a taste of being part of something bigger than themselves.