Boyd Martin does it again

by Nancy Jaffer | May 9, 2021

Just call him Champ.

Boyd Martin completed his sweep of the two U.S. spring eventing championships today at the Jersey Fresh International Horse Trials, where he came from behind in the 4-star Long on Luke 140 to win the division, taking the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation National Challenge Trophy for that level. At the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event, where he finished fourth aboard On Cue as the highest-placed American two weeks ago, he claimed the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s national 5-star title.

Boyd Martin and Luke 140 over the Jersey Fresh International logo fence on their way to victory. {Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer}

Jersey Fresh, presented by B.W. Furlong and Associates, was the last of the U.S. Olympic observation and selection trials, so now selectors can get to work deciding on a team and alternates who will be announced at the end of this month or the beginning of June. It’s possible Luke,a 10-year-old Holsteiner, may have earned himself careful consideration with an impressive performance; the fact that he’s young could also be a help in the sweltering heat and humidity of a Tokyo summer.

“He’s fit and sound and I don’t think this has knocked him around at all,” said Boyd, who is sixth in the world eventing rankings.

Boyd blamed himself for not enabling Luke to have a better score than the 32.4 penalties he collected at the Horse Park of New Jersey.

On cross-country, where Boyd incurred 6.4 time penalties for finishing 16 seconds over the 10-minute optimum time, the 41-year-old rider conceded, “I could have pushed him a bit harder. I had a horse that was full of energy and wish I took more chances. I set up a little bit too much at a few of the fences.”

Boyd and Luke on cross-country. {Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer}

At the same time, he said, “I don’t think the run took anything out of him, and he just pranced out of his stall this morning like he hasn’t done anything.”

Luke, who was standing third coming into the final phase, had only 0.4 time penalties in show jumping, where Boyd noted he added an extra stride between the second and third fences. But the horse performed superbly.

“Something in his DNA just pings him up into the air,” Boyd observed.

“My job’s just to keep him relaxed and remember the way. and he pretty much jumps clean every time. He’s an awesome horse to have after a grueling cross-country.”

The Chris Barnard-designed show jumping course was “big and technical,” said Boyd, noting the degree of difficulty was increased with a tight time allowed and because “the ground’s a bit shifty.”

Double-clears in show jumping were achieved by only three of the 41 horses who started today, whittled from the original field of 55.

Brendan Furlong of presenting sponsor B.W. Furlong and Associates gives a giant check for $5,000 to Boyd Martin. He probably won’t be able to deposit that through the drive-thru window.

Going into that final segment, the division’s leader was Californian Tamie Smith. She won the dressage on Danito, with En Vogue second; then the horses switched places after cross-country.

Earlier in the day, Tamie won the 3-star Long with the interesting Argentine-bred Solaguayre California, and she looked to be a favorite for collecting another blue ribbon with one of her mounts in the 4-star Long.

But Danito had two rails down and 1.6 time penalties, putting him fourth on 41.5 penalties. Things went even worse for Tamie as the competition drew to a close, Last to go with En Vogue, she had three rails and 0.4 time penalties to finish third on 39.5 penalties.

Asked why En Vogue had her rails, Tamie said, “I think she tried her guts out yesterday and I think it’s hard when you’re not on super-great ground.”

On show jumping footing like the fluffy mix at the Kentucky Horse Park, she said, “They can really trust that the ground feels good when they’re landing.”

Tamie Smith and En Vogue. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

This afternoon, it was “a little stingy after they ran 10 minutes (on cross-country),” she pointed out, while adding En Vogue’s show jumping can be “hit or miss.”

The Horse Park has been trying to raise money for more modern footing, but in lieu of that at this point, the base has been redone and they had a footing expert on hand to make the grand prix ring’s surface as hospitable as possible.

Tamie kept things in perspective, noting she still was pleased with her finish.

“Five years ago, I would have been doing backflips to have two in the top five at a 4-Long; my expectations have just risen a little bit,” commented Tamie, who believes (and I think righrly so) that she is the only grandmother to have completed the 5-star course at the Kentucky 5-star. Her daughter, Kaylawna, presented her with a granddaughter, Kennedi, five months ago.

Second place in the 4-star L went to the horse who bested En Vogue in Kentucky’s 4-star Short, Oskar, ridden by Jersey Fresh regular Alyssa Phillips. His score was 38.5, including 4 penalties for a pole down.

Alyssa Phillips and 4-Star L runner-up Oskar.  (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

“He jumped phenomenal, and I couldn’t have asked him to be better,” said Alyssa, who hopes to try another 4-star L with him this fall.

“The cross-country course was more technical than it walked. He learned a lot after yesterday and he came out today and jumped really well.”

The weekend was a highly successful one for Jersey Fresh, which was cancelled last year because of the pandemic. (Click here to see coverage of cross-country at Jersey Fresh.)

When the U.S. Equestrian Federation eased its Covid protocols and decided to permit fans to attend shows, the event hopped right on it and got a great tailgating crowd for yesterday’s cross-country over a route designed by Morgan Rowsell, who had advice from the competition’s former course designer, Mark Phillips. Morgan also served as co-organizer with Jane Cory.

Adam Furlong, president of the Horse Park board, noted when he was asked for his thoughts on the success of the 2021 Jersey Fresh, “Last year was a really tough year for every person on earth, so you have to keep it in the context of thinking about that.”

Although the park had to be closed down for a couple of months in the spring of 2020, Adam noted, that after that, everyone was happy just “to be able to reopen the Horse Park last year and run events successfully, albeit with very restrictive protocols, It was a tighten-your-belt kind of year.

“This is a great sense of relief and seeing the other side of the finish line, returning back to normal,” he continued, citing how good it felt “having spectators here and the enthusiasm for it.

“Everything we do here is rider- and horse-focused, so to see so many (horse) trailers here is the ultimate stamp of approval from the riders. We’re very grateful for them coming back this year, and the sponsors coming back as well.’’ In addition to B.W Furlong and Associates they also include Zoetis and Boehringer Ingelheim.

The Horse Park will be hosting another event June 19-20, featuring Beginner Novice through Advanced.

It was a great cross-country day at Jersey Fresh

by Nancy Jaffer | May 8, 2021

You might have thought the 4-star Long competition at the Jersey Fresh International Three Day Event could be a rematch between Tamie Smith on En Vogue and Alyssa Phillips with Oskar, who overtook Tamie’s lead from dressage and cross-country in the show jumping phase of the 4-star Short at last month’s Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event.

Tamie Smith and En Vogue lead the 4-star Long at Jersey Fresh. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

But after today’s cross-country at the Horse Park of New Jersey, it looked like Tamie vs. Tamie. Danito, who was first after dressage, had eight time penalties over Morgan Rowsell’s course, while En Vogue collected only 2.8 time penalties.

“I couldn’t have asked them to be better, they were really amazing,” said Tamie.

“Danito is a little green and I started off a bit slower and just gave him time to get into the rhythm of the course. I was able to kick it up a couple notches throughout. If I could have come out of the box straight away like that, he could have been really close to making the time.”

En Vogue has 27.1 penalties total, while his stablemate is on 31.9. And could Boyd Martin be any closer with Luke 140? That’s mathematically impossible, because his mark is 32.

Boyd Martin is a picture of determination on Luke 140. Look at his expression! (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

The division, which is an Olympic selection trial at the event presented by B.W. Furlong and Associates, drew an amazing 55 starters. It ends this afternoon with show jumping.

But don’t count out Phillip Dutton on Sea of Clouds who made a meteoric rise after dressage, where he was tied for 29th, when he finished 14 seconds under the optimum time of 10 minutes on cross-country. Now Phillip is tied with Karl Slezak on 33.6 in fourth place. Anyone watching Phillip could see he was really booking it. He was annoyed that a glitch in the start box for the Kentucky 5-star left him with 5.2 time penalties on Z, putting his eighth, so at Jersey he made sure nothing like that would happen again.

Phillip Dutton poured on the speed with Sea of Clouds to move up 25 places after cross-country at Jersey Fresh. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

Tamie also leads the 3-star Long at Jersey with Solaguayre California (26.7) while Phillip is right behind her on Quasi Cool with 27.4.

The finals of that division will also play out tomorrow, but two sections wrapped up today. The 4-star Short went to Elisabeth Halliday Sharp and Cooley Moonshine, (32.8), a 9-year-old in his first 4-star season, with Boyd one penalty behind on Long Island T, who rerouted after a cross-country fall in the 5-star at Kentucky.

Liz Halliday-Sharp and Cooley Moonshine won the 4-star S. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

The 3-star Short went to Cosby Green on Buck Davidson’s former rider, Copper Beach (33.2).

Check back to this website tomorrow for details on the competitions that are doing their show jumping on Mother’s Day.

Spectators are welcome at the Horse Park, with tickets available at the gate. There was a great crowd today–how refreshing to see people enjoying the outdoors, tailgating and spending time with friends. Kentucky was not allowed to have fans attend under U.S. Equestrian Federation Covid protocols, and it left a big hole in the proceedings.

Local New Jersey favorite Holly Payne Caravella was fourth in the 4-star Short with CharmKing. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

Morgan was understandably happy with the huge entry, especially since the competition was cancelled last year because of Covid.

“People trust us with their valuable horses and their horses that they potentially are trying to get ready for Tokyo,” said Morgan.

“You couldn’t ask for anything more. The footing is great and the rain didn’t come and everybody’s riding well and the frangible pins are keeping people out of trouble. We’ve got some vendors, a lot of parking spots are full, that’s what we like to see. It sets us up for next year.”

Another honor for Candescent; she’s on the dressage short list–UPDATED

by Nancy Jaffer | May 3, 2021

She was meant to be an eventing horse, or perhaps go out in the hunt field. But once Candescent’s potential was glimpsed by Alice Tarjan, it was obvious that  neither of those destinies would be in the mare’s future.

The four-year-old Hanoverian Alice imported from Europe after viewing a videotape obviously was going to be a dressage horse, her new owner realized almost immediately.

Alice and Candescent. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)

“As soon as she came off the plane and left quarantine, it was like, `Oh my gosh, the horse is a freak.’ She’s super scopey.”

Seven years later, Alice and Candescent have been put on the short list for the U.S. Olympic squad in their discipline.

A total of 12 riders were named with 15 horses. They include Adrienne Lyle with Salvino, number one in the standings (Adrienne was also named with Harmony’s Duval); multi-medalist Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper, number two; and Olivia Lagoy-Weltz with Lonoir, a prospect she trained up from Third Level. Others on the list are,Sabine Schut-Kery and Sanceo, who, like Candescent, is a horse the rider has brought along through the ranks and Nick Wagnman, who has two horses on the roster, Don John and Ferano.

Candescent was ranked number 13, and with Alice, is number 395 in the FEI (international equestrian federation) standings, having made a huge leap up the ladder from number 545 last month. See, Candescent can jump after all!

While Alice is under no illusions that she’ll be heading for Tokyo to ride with the flag on her saddle pad, there are plenty of big competitions on the horizon to point toward, including the world championships in Denmark next year and the Paris Olympics in 2024. Meanwhile, she’s looking forward to the mandatory outing for the short list riders in June at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Club in Wellington, Fla.

Alice and Candescent have established a close relationship during years of training. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

“It’s definitely fun to have made the list. What an honor to be listed with all those people. Almost everyone on that list is a team rider,” noted Alice, who has never been on a team.

Candescent’s selection is a tribute to her owner’s patience and skill, since she is “not so easy to bring along. She’s a special one, I’ll say that,” Alice noted.

“She’s a bull on the ground, she’s a bull under saddle. They call her `the monster horse’ for a reason. She has no respect for people or anything basically,” Alice recounted.

“She just does what she wants.”

When Alice first saw the mare on the video, she was intrigued. Candescent is by Christ 3, who has produced jumpers as well as dressage horses.

“I wanted a horse that was black with four white socks,” explained the Oldwick resident, “and it’s not easy to find a jumper that is black with four white socks. Her immediate thought was, “Maybe it could jump.”

The mare’s coloring is a throwback to Alice’s childhood pony, Licorice, black with four white socks, and so she has a fleet of black horses with white socks, as we’ve recounted her fixation here previously.

Candescent’s talent has been impressively on display for several years. In 2018, Candescent and Alice won both the amateur Intermediate A and B competitions during Dressage at Devon, then went on to take the A and B classes at Devon the next year.

In 2019, Candescent had three straight victories in the U.S. Dressage Federation Championships in the amateur grand prix category. She won the USEF Grand Prix National Championship in Illinois last year, and this year, highlights included a win in the Grand Prix Special in Wellington last month.

Candescent missed an April outing at the new World Equestrian Center in Ocala when she sustained a cut requiring stitches in a trailer mishap, but Alice had planned to rest her for a while anyway. She’s back home in New Jersey now, before heading for Florida again.

Alice is looking forward to the mandatory short list outing, and competing under the lights in a new venue. During the Florida season, the horses show at the Global grounds, about a half-mile from PBIEC. Happily, Candescent isn’t put off by a new location.

“She doesn’t get bothered by a lot,” said Alice, who works with trainer Marcus Orlob of Annandale.

“It will be fun to do, and interesting to see how it plays out.”

Candescent at the dressage championships. (Photo by Susan J. Stickle)

Alice was intrigued by the fact that she was a member of the Somerset Hills Pony Club when she was growing up, as was Devin Ryan, the only New Jerseyan on the Olympic show jumping shortlist, where he was named with Eddie Blue. Now Alice is waiting to see if Doug Payne, who also belonged to the club and used to help her with Licorice, will be named to the Olympic eventing short list. He was 12th at the Land Rover Kentucky 5-star last weekend with Vandiver, but the fifth-best American (foreign riders filled seven spots in the top 12.)

While Kentucky was a U.S. Olympic selection trial, there’s one more test in that category before the short list is named. It’s the Jersey Fresh International Horse Trials, which gets under way Thursday at the Horse Park of New Jersey in Allentown. Read more on this website in the story below, or at this link.

You can weigh in on the future of Lord Stirling Stable

by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 22, 2021

As an advisory group considers the future for the  Somerset County Park Commission’s Lord Stirling Stable, which stopped offering riding lessons when the pandemic began, a survey has been sent out to aid in developing a strategic plan for reopening the facility in Basking Ridge.

The mailing list includes those who have utilized Somerset County park services, so feedback is coming not only from Somerset County residents, but also from those outside the area. The general public has a chance to participate as well through tomorrow, via social media and this link.

The Park Commission is interested in increasing activities at the park on the edge of the Great Swamp, where the stable is set on 450 acres that includes 14 miles of trails. Among a variety of questions, the survey asks what type of activities respondents participated in at Lord Stirling, from riding lessons, hunter paces and trail rides to dog walks, pony rides and special community events.

It also seeks answers to what non-equestrian activities interest respondents, including snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, nature walks and bird watching. It solicits suggestions for other activities, as well asking respondents to rate what Lord Stirling previously offered, in terms of quality of riding instruction and choice of horses, as well as the park’s atmosphere. The committee also wants to know what the primary reason for coming to Lord Stirling in the future would be for potential visitors, including horse activities, non-riding activities or new services.

“Lord Stirling Stable has been a crown jewel of the Somerset County Park Commission for more than 50 years, and we are committed to maximizing its benefits to our visitors while protecting its environmental sensitivity and diversity,” said Somerset County Park Commission President Mark Caliguire. “This survey and the input from the public will help us determine how to improve our current programs and expand permissible uses of the property for the residents of Somerset County and their guests.”

Although there was discussion at one time of reopening the stable to the public for lessons this year, there are only limited activities during 2021, including boarding more than two dozen private horses and organized dog walks.

Geoff Soriano, the commission’s executive director, noted the road to reopening involves a lengthy process. The advisory committee meets every two weeks, while its sub-groups get together more frequently to explore different aspects of the panel’s mission in depth. Research includes visit to other county stables around the state.

Once the business plan is developed and reviewed by the park commission, it goes to the county commissioners for approval. Additional funding may be needed to buy horses (the lesson horses were sold last year), and a stable manager will have to be hired. The process, Geoff advised, “could take some time.”

He noted, “The goal has been to get the stable back up into a programmatic mode by January 2022. What is the right time to really launch this new and exciting stable, this re-do? Should it be in the doldrums of winter or should we wait until in the spring? This is not something anybody has decided, yet it’s an idea that’s out there. Within those parameters, that’s kind of the goal.”