by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 1, 2021
“It’s always so hot for this show,” I heard a rider say as she walked her horse toward the ring during the Summer Days dressage show at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation in Gladstone yesterday.
Well yes, because it’s summer in New Jersey. Now if it were called Autumn Days, that would be a different matter.
“This doesn’t feel super, super hot to me,” said Technical Delegate Andrea Davenport, citing a “nice breeze,” but she admitted, “I might be a little bit biased because I live in Mississippi.”
It was impressive to see how riders and their mounts coped with temperatures that started in the low 80s and went into the 90s as things progressed at the two-day competition, presented by the Eastern States Dressage and Combined Training Association. There were a lot of faces glowing with both perspiration and smiles as competitors rode in the historic arena.
Even as temperatures soared, “The wonderful thing about this show is that there is so much history here that people still want to participate. We all strive to be at a place like this,” said show manager Lisa Toaldo, a dentist who is a former ESDCTA president.
“It’s one of my favorite shows to run. I love supporting the USET Foundation.” Lisa emphasized.
At the same time, she noted how grateful she is for all the volunteers. The show couldn’t run “if it wasn’t for them out here in the heat, taking time away from their own schedules.” In return, they get gas money, food and little souvenirs, such as an ESDCTA pin.
Summer Days is becoming a tradition on many calendars.
“We come every year. We love it. The footing is nice, the people are so friendly, It’s an honor, these are prestigious grounds with lots of history,” said trainer Kathryn Mills of Lucky Shoe Farm in Hellertown, Pa.
She had done a lovely running braid job on the neck of Bugatti, an unregistered Friesian who she suspects may have some Dutch harness horse in his ancestry.
Bugatti’s running braid job. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
After finding him as a completely untrained five-year-old, Kathryn handed him to her assistant, Emily Shewell, saying “Here’s your project. See what you can do with him. Five years later, he’s showing Fourth Level and doing some Prix St. Georges work. They’re planning on going to Dressage at Devon this fall.
Emily Shewell and Bugatti. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
Bugatti, who earned 66.795 percent in Fourth Level Test 1, “is a giant teddy bear,” according to Emily, who says, ““He loves every person, every horse, every dog. He’s a sweetheart.”
Summer Days usually is held in July, when one suspects it could have been even warmer this year, but it was moved into June because the Olympic dressage, para-dressage and eventing horses were to quarantine in July at the Foundation stables before heading to Tokyo. That didn’t happen at nearly the last minute due to the lack of suitable flights to get the horses to Japan from the U.S. (they are quarantining in Germany instead) but the show went ahead with the new date.
With the heat, jackets were optional and there were some scratches, yet even so, the show wrapped up into the late afternoon as scheduled. Some classes were a competition among a group of horses, with as many as six entries. Others had only one entry, perhaps someone who wanted a judge’s opinion on the progress of their horse, or was using the show as a qualifier for the GAIG/USDF Regional Championships or the 2021 Col.Bengt Ljungquist Memorial Championship.
Alice Tarjan of Oldwick was looking to qualify for Regionals on Serenade, who earned 75.217 percent in the Grand Prix. The 8-year-old Hanoverian mare won the Lövsta Future Challenge Grand Prix in Florida this year and was the national 4-year-old champion early in her career. The American-bred Serenade was purchased as a foal from Maryanna Haymon in North Carolina; Alice has an eye for spotting equine talent in the youngsters..
Alice Tarjan and Serenade do their version of airs above the ground in the Grand Prix. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
Serenade is so graceful in the arena. Alice agreed with me that if Serenade were a person, she would be participating in ballroom dance competition.
Last month, Alice finished sixth in the mandatory observation trial for the Olympics. Her ride for that competition, Candescent, is back in work after a break, but she hasn’t been in enough classes this year to qualify for the U.S. Equestrian Federation Festival of Champions national championships at Lamplight in Illinois next month. Alice is hoping she’ll get a wild card nomination for the competition.,
It’s always fun to see what exhibitors will come up with for their musical freestyles, and I had a feeling what Kim Herslow would do with the Lusitano Elvis HI in the Intermediate I to music. Can you guess? You’re right, it was a compendium of Presley’s hits.The best part comes at the end, with the announcement that “Elvis has left the building.”
That phrase often was used by announcers at the conclusion of Elvis’ concerts in order to disperse audiences hoping in vain for one more encore. The freestyle was put together by Boy de Winter of Music-Motions in the Netherlands, a musician Kim is bringing to her Upper Creek Farm in Stockton this September for a symposium with Linda Zang..
Kim Herslow and Elvis have “left the building.” (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
Kim has been working with Elvis for four years and advises, “He definitely wants to be a player. We’re having fun out there.” She got a good score of 71.600 percent and is looking toward Lamplight and Dressage at Devon, as well as returning to Florida in 2022 for the first time in two years. After Devon, she wants to focus on moving up to the I-2 and the Grand Prix, “all in the right timing for him.”
As a Lusitano, he is a different ride than a warmblood, Kim pointed out.
“You have to understand how to balance them correctly. That’s the challenge with them because they’re so willing to do however you ride them and there’s a lot of movement. It took me awhile to learn with this horse,” said Kim, who has been riding him for four years and focusing on teaching him to use his core and back more without bracing his neck.
The array of breeds at Summer Days made me realize once again how any type of horse can adapt to and benefit from dressage. A case in point is Solasta, an off-the-track thoroughbred who got a very credible 69.583 percent in First Level Test 3 with owner Krysia Potter of nearby Lebanon. She got the 11-year-old for $2,500 when he was five, after.the Storm Cat grandson raced 42 times and earned $100,000.
Krysia Potter and Solasta. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
Kryisa is the daughter of Pam Potter, a well-known New Jersey jumper rider from a few decades back. An amateur who sells insurance for a living, Krysia. says she’s primarily a hunter/jumper rider who is her own trainer. Solasta does all that (and eventing too), but for her side-trip into dressage, Krysia works with trainer Carolyn Laurent.
Of Solasta, to whom she has promised that he will never be sold, she said about his time in dressage, “He prefers to jump. But this is great for our jumping and it helps build everything else we need in between the fences.”
Krysia is going for a U.S. Dressage Federation bronze medal and would like to end the year at 1.15-1.20 meters in the jumping.
Fontenay, a Hanoverian by Furst Jazz, impressed the judges enough in the USEF Four-Year-Old test to earn a whopping mark of 86.2 percent, a big improvement over his still very respectable score of 71.300 they day before when he seemed a bit overimpressed by his surroundings.That was understandable, considering it was his first time being ridden at a show.
Katryna Evans and Fontenay. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
The youngster is owned by trainer Cesar Parra, but he handed the reins over to his senior trainer, Katryna Evans, because at 58, he understandably doesn’t want to be sitting on youngsters.
“I’m getting too old to come off,” he laughed.
“I think this is the best horse I have had in my life so far. This is like the horse with a dream, the best I could find in the world last year.”
Cesar, a Pan American Games and Olympic veteran based in Readington, said the horse earned 9s in the walk and trot and 8.9 in the canter. He came to the U.S. just three weeks ago, but Cesar is hoping to take him to Lamplight “if he’s up to it.”
Four years ago, Cesar made a commitment to having Americans work for him. Katryna, a native of Colorado, spent six years in Germany and got a degree from Warendorf. “She rides like a German,” said Cesar.
For Summer Days results from day one, click here
For day two, click on this link
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by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 28, 2021
The Horse Park of New Jersey got an infusion of energy today, as four new members were elected to the board during its annual meeting. The trustees not only have impressive resumes, they also are devoted to the facility in Monmouth County.
That’s crucial, because as board president Adam Furlong noted, “The park is 30 years old and starting to show its age.”
He credited Horse Park Manager Adam Hendrickson and his crew for keeping things going. But the park needs a lot of things, Furlong said, noting, “The board has identified several million dollars of spending that we need to resolve toward the future well-being and success of the park.”
A big effort was made to keep the Horse Park in shape despite the difficulties of the pandemic year. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
The question is, how to obtain that money to cover the park’s needs and enable it to compete with other facilities in the region? Furlong noted the park welcomes those who want to be part of the solution and added it is receptive to feedback. In an effort to come up with a way forward, the board voted this evening to create a steering committee for future development and planning, Furlong stated.
“We have started networking in the community for outside-of-the-box thinking–we really need to reframe how we look at, and solve, the problem,” he explained.
Those new trustees should have some ideas about that. The group includes Doug Raynor, chairman of the Upper Freehold Township planning board and joint master of the Monmouth County Hunt. He owns a company involved in construction.
John Layton of Juliustown is a driving enthusiast who is a carpenter and owns a small farm. He is an expert on building and maintenance, which will be handy for the park.
Christine Odegaard of Allentown has organized the park’s Turkey Trot carriage driving event for the last two years and is an eclectic rider who enjoys trail riding, fox hunting and showing. Trained as a veterinary technician, she is an expert hand with video.
Kimberly Wojcik of Hightstown has been the Volunteer of the Year for the park and is on the Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event committee. She’s been a special agent for both the FBI and the Secret Service.
They join Erin Gale, who holds one of the Department of Agriculture seats on the board, and financial analyst Melissa Sinopoli of Morristown, who was appointed by the board to fill an unexpired term.
(We also should mention that Bruce McNab was named a trustee emeritus. One of the founders of the park, “he supported it in countless ways for 30-plus years,” Furlong said)
The issue of finance is difficult because, as Furlong pointed out, horse parks elsewhere often are funded by the states where they are located. Despite its name, the Horse Park of New Jersey operates without state funding, and rents the land from the state Department of Agriculture which in turn has an arrangement with the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Since the park doesn’t own the land, it can’t be used as collateral for any loans, which means going to grants and “considerable fund raising projects,” even as the park is getting ready to welcome a new $65,000 tractor.
The wish list going forward includes an anticipated $2 million for footing for all the rings, $1 million for new stabling and $300,000 for a new septic. Among other needs are $185,000 for new water trucks for ring maintenance and another $2 million in building renovations, repairs, wells and improved bathrooms.
Meanwhile, there is ongoing investment in cross-country fences, with 11 new frangible obstacles, some obtained through the U.S. Eventing Association program for that purpose. Some portable fences also have been added to the inventory.
The Horse Park, like so many other venues, was affected by the pandemic last year. The U.S. Equestrian Federation shut down the shows it licensed from March 20-June 1, 2020. That meant the Horse Park couldn’t hold its featured Jersey Fresh International.
“The pandemic was a learning experience for each and every one of us,” Furlong pointed out.
Board members and volunteers stepped in during a difficult time, doing everything from mowing grass to loaning trucks as needed to the park.
But on the other hand, the horse trials held in June and July 2020, once competition resumed, produced the largest revenue and the greatest number of entries in the park’s history. The same was the case with Jersey Fresh this year.
“Jersey Fresh 2021 was about as perfect an event as we could have,” said Furlong, citing it as a return to activity, complete with spectators, tailgaters and vendors, all of which had been missing from competitions for more than a year.
Tailgaters turned out for the Jersey Fresh International at the Horse Park of New Jersey, glad to be at a competition again. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
Three events that couldn’t be staged at their usual venues in 2020 reserved again for this year.
A phase one federal Payroll Protection Program loan to the park was forgiven, but the facility did not get a phase two loan.
Meanwhile, understandably, revenue fell 26 percent and expenditures fell 22 percent as net income dropped by 77 percent. The park’s profit margin in 2020 was 2 percent. It had been 7 percent in 2019.
But after being locked in for a good part of 2020, people were ready to get out of their homes, and that’s where the Horse Park has an edge.
“We know we have great land and location, and those two things will always be an advantage for us,” said Furlong.
“So we need to continue to build on all of the momentum we have had in the past 12 months, as everyone has realized how great outdoor space is.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 26, 2021
A legend several times over, show jumper Harry de Leyer died yesterday, according to his daughters, Christine.and Harriet.
Harry de Leyer walks out of the ring at Madison Square Garden during Snowman’s retirement ceremony at the National Horse Show. (George Axt Photo)
A ferocious competitor in the show ring, a longtime trainer at the Knox School and a resistance member in the Netherlands during World War II, he was best known for his partnership with Snowman, an $80 ex-plow horse he rescued from a trip to the slaughterhouse and turned into a national champion who captivated the country.
Harry was a showman as well as a horseman, known for throwing his hunt cap into the air after a clean round. Always a crowd-pleaser, he did so much for horse sport by connecting with the fans.
He relationship with the horse of a lifetime was turned into an award-winning documentary “Harry and Snowman,” directed by Ron Davis, which received wide acclaim. The rider and his one-of-a-kind mount also were the subject of a book, “The Eighty Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse who Inspired a Nation,” written by Elizabeth Letts.
Arrangements are in process for Harry, 92, who had been in a Virginia nursing home.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 25, 2021
The state animal is honored in June with the Month of the Horse. Years ago, it was a big deal, celebrated with a number of promotional occasions. They included “open barns” on various farms, major competitions (the Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event used to be in June) and a special multi-dimensional offering called the Equine Expo at various locations. Then there was the Festival of Champions at the U.S. Equestrian Team in Gladstone, where everything from grand prix jumping to reining and dressage was featured.
A horse’s head is atop the state seal of New Jersey. So of course it’s the state animal.
Although all that has dropped by the wayside (but of course there are still plenty of shows in June, including Middlesex at the Horse Park of New Jersey) it’s worth noting that the Garden State’s equine industry contributes $3.2 billion to the state’s economy. June is also a time to reflect on how much in the state is horse-oriented, including the Horse Park and a variety of other showgrounds; the USET Foundation, the Rutgers’ Equine Science Center, dedicated to research and education, and of course the racetracks–Monmouth Park, the Meadowlands and Freehold Raceway. And let’s not forget the Cowtown Rodeo in Salem County. Equestrians enjoy easy access to top veterinary practices, tack shops, feed stores and plenty of trails, despite the fact that New Jersey is the country’s most densely populated state.
So this is the month we should count our equestrian blessings. Why not consider bringing back the Equine Expo; done properly, its varied attractions might attract more people to join the band of equestrians who call New Jersey home.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 24, 2021
At 11 p.m. on a frigid December night, as far north in Germany as you can get without reaching the Danish border, Mary Gadek Bancroft and trainer Holly Payne Caravella found an exciting eventing prospect.
The conditions weren’t optimum for trying the eye-catching grey gelding. It was pitch black outside, where, inexplicably, someone was noisily banging on equipment, and there were only two fences, a vertical and an oxer, available in the indoor ring. Yet the Holsteiner they came to see had them at hello.
Holly and Charm King have rapport. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
“He looked like a big pony. There was just something about him,” Mary observed.
“He was cool. He had a great jump. He had a great attitude and was super athletic,” recalled Holly, who was pointed toward the horse by Francesca Pollara, the same agent who works with eventer Will Faudree.
“We took a little bit of a gamble on him because obviously, it wasn’t like we could take him cross-country schooling,” Holly pointed out. She had decided on making the visit after watching a video of him show jumping and while she saw 10 other horses on that quick trip to Germany in 2016, he was the real reason she and Mary got on the plane.
Meanwhile, the horse had enchanted them with his “overgrown pony” looks and winsome expression. Not for nothing was he called Charm King.
“He bats his eyelids, and people do anything for him,” observed Holly, but the 10-year-old gelding has the ability to pay back for the attention and bananas he gets. Last weekend, for instance, he went wire-to-wire for his first Advanced horse trials victory, when the field at the Horse Park of New Jersey included Olympians Boyd Martin and Phillip Dutton, as well as several other big names. Also in the lineup was Lillian Heard, who had ridden Charm and done “an awesome job” when Holly took a pregnancy break before giving birth to her daughter, Harper, in January.
Holly and Harper. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
As Holly pointed out about Charm King “He lived up to his name, the most appropriate name for a horse I’ve ever had.”
His breeding is classic. He is by Cassito, descended from Cassini I, and out of a mare by the thoroughbred Heraldik, known as a successful sire of eventing horses. Heraldik’s name also appears in the bloodlines of Michael Jung’s superhorse, La Bioesthetique Sam, among many others.
Holly brought Charm to Aiken, S.C., in 2017, signing up for a Training Level event before taking him for a cross-country school. But she wound up scratching from the event, because introducing him to cross-country revealed he wasn’t ready for that kind of test in competition.
“He was so spooky. He was just over-jumping; jumping everything four feet in the air,” she explained. Worried that he would scare himself, she waited a little longer to compete Charm, training him to jump across fences and keep galloping, helping him learn to brush through the brush jumps, for instance, rather than launching himself over them. In September of that year, he won a 1-star in Virginia and two years later, topped the 3-star Short at Plantation Field in Pennsylvania.
A couple of times, Mary noted, Charm shut down on cross-country, “and it turned out it was all about allergies. He couldn’t breathe. It took a lot to figure out,” she said, giving credit to his team, which includes Dr. Greg Staller and farrier Sudie Donatasky, as well as groom Elle de Recat.
Holly rode her veteran, Never Outfoxed, while she was pregnant, and after she and her husband, Eric Caravella, welcomed the baby, she waited only until the beginning of March to get back into her job in earnest. She had tried to remain as active as possible in order to stay in shape through her pregnancy, and that worked.
“I think my first day back, I rode five horses. I was just going to jump back into it,” she noted.
That’s typical of Holly, 38, who comes from an eventing family. Her brother, Doug, is the traveling alternate for the U.S. Olympic eventing team with Vandiver. Growing up in Tewksbury Township, the two pushed each other to achieve, and were members of the Somerset Hills Pony Club.
The Payne family in 2012: Doug, Richard, Marilyn and Holly.(Photo © 2012 by Nancy Jaffer)
Their mother, Marilyn Payne, has been a judge at two Olympics and still competes at the lower levels, as well.as running a training business. Holly likes to say Mary knew her before she was born. Mary rode with Marilyn and spent time with Holly and Doug as they were growing up.
After Holly graduated from college, she began teaching Mary. Eventually, Mary bought into the Never Outfoxed syndicate. When Holly flew to England to do the Burghley 5-star with Fox, she stayed in a house Mary and her husband, Ian, owned there, where a conversation began about buying another horse.
Mary, a former president of the Eastern States Dressage and Combined Training Association, says Holly “has an incredible talent for understanding a horse, and they know she understands them.
“She’s very effective in telling them what she wants and guiding them. They look for it. She’s so one with the horse.”
Mary has had a chance to ride Charm, remembering the time she took him to the Somerset County Park Commission’s Natirar in Peapack for a gallop.
“It was the fastest I’ve ever gone, it was so much fun,” she said.
Holly Payne Equestrian is based at Hart Farm in Tewksbury, located just a few minutes from Marilyn’s Applewood Farm, where she lives with her husband, Richard. It was the always-knowledgeable Marilyn who asked Holly whether she would compete in the Horse Park’s horse trials. Holly didn’t even know the facility was having a June event. She had planned to go to the Bromont, Quebec, event this month, but it was cancelled due to Canadian Covid restrictions. Since the Essex Horse Trials in July isn’t offering Advanced, Holly envisioned a long break from competition until Millbrook in August. But the June horse trials filled the bill, especially since she had finished fourth in the 4-star Short at the Horse Park’s Jersey Fresh in May, so it was familiar territory for Charm.
Holly and Charm at the Horse Park of New Jersey. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
Although he was fit, there was no opportunity to school cross-country beforehand due to a variety of circumstances. So when Holly walked Morgan Rowsell’s course on Sunday she thought, “I don’t know if this is the best idea. I kind of thought it would be a lot softer. It was kind of a move-up course; it was hard enough.”
They had no problem with the fences. All of the 26 entries had time penalties on the route, but Charm collected just 6.8 to add to his winning dressage score of 26.81 penalties. With no show jumping errors, they ended on 33.6 penalties to stay ahead of Buck Davidson and Cooley Candyman (35.9).
Charm will do the American Eventing Championships in August at the Kentucky Horse Park, where he will goAdvanced.
“You don’t get many opportunities to run on that terrain until you show up for the 5-star,” said Holly, who may do that Land Rover competition next spring if Charm is ready. But first, she’ll be at the 4-star Long at Morven in the fall with her ever-improving mount.
“Eventually, I hope he’ll be a team horse. That’s the idea. We’re trying to bring him along slowly and make sure he has a really solid foundation,” she said.
Charm is easy in some ways, and not quite as simple in others.
Holly and Charm show jumping at Fair Hill. (Photo © 2019 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
“He has a cheeky factor,” Holly advised, so in preparing for a dressage test, she always he’s the first horse Harper rode. He is a pet at home and you can put him in your pocket.”
Working him, she noted, is what “brings out the attitude. If you keep him in first gear, he just stays there.”
Holly/s strategy is to “keep him happy and confident. I think he has a big future ahead of him. He’s a very special horse.”
Whatever destiny is in store for Charm, he will always be loved.
“He’s game for anything. He’s just the sweetest boy, a total cuddlebug and a total cookie monster,” chuckled his groom, Elle, who also noted that he has grown in his competing role, becoming “a lot more confident and knowledgeable and self-assured.”
The best part, though, she said, is watching him with baby Harper.
“He immediately goes so gentle and Harper loves him,” continued Elle, speculating that Charm is “going to be her unicorn when she gets older.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 22, 2021
Luke 140, Boyd Martin’s Jersey Fresh 4-star Long winner last month, won’t be his mount for the Olympics.
Boyd Martin and Luke 140 at Jersey Fresh. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
“Unfortunately Luke 140 looks like he has tweaked his leg on his last gallop,” said Boyd, explaining why the horse who was his humber one mount for the Games isn’t going to Japan.
“.My gut feeling is that if I push on with him towards the Tokyo Olympics that it could turn into a bad injury.,” noted Boyd, who will be riding the second of his two back-up horses, Tsetserleg, on whom he earned double gold at the 2019 Pan American Games.
“Luke is a young horse and has a huge future ahead of him and I believe its better to save him for another day,” Boyd explained.
“This is a heartbreaking decision, as Luke has been in fantastic form in his training in the build up towards Tokyo. I am very grateful that I have a tremendous replacement horse in Thomas (Tsetserleg) who is also in sizzling condition. I would like to thank and tell the group of owners behind Luke how sorry I am.”
Boyd and Tseterleg, who is now his mount for Tokyo. (Photo © 2019 by Nancy Jaffer)
Boyd at Thomas fell near the end of the course at the Land Rover Kentucky 5-star in April, which is why he wasn’t the selectors’ number one choice for the rider.
But they think Boyd is so important to the team that he was named with two direct reserve horses. On Cue, the mare on whom he finished fourth at Kentucky as the top-placing American, is still waiting in the wings if necessary.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 22, 2021
A highly successful horse show held last autumn to benefit Kevin Babington will have an encore Oct. 10 at Duncraven in Titusville, with stable owner Tim Fedor offering the facility again to help the fund-raising effort.
Kevin, a U.S.-based Irish show jumper, suffered a severe spinal injury in a 2019 fall at a show. Although he was left as a quadriplegic, he has never stopped fighting to regain function, and has made some progress in a very long battle. Most recently, he received a stem cell transplant at the Mayo Clinic, but he still has a long and costly road ahead of him.
The show is still in need of division sponsors as well as basket / item donations for the raffle.Those who would like to sponsor a division or donate something contact jroslowski@hotmail.com or (609)-439-8983. Volunteers are also needed.
Meanwhile, donations to the Kevin Babington Foundation are now tax deductible, as it has become a 501 c3 organization. The foundation not only helps the Babington family handle the enormous expenses involved with Kevin’s situation, it also provides funding and support for equestrians with spinal cord injuries. The foundation works to educate riders, trainers and show organizers about the most current safety measures designed to reduce the risk of spinal cord injury.. To donate, click on this link
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 21, 2021
There will be spectators at the Olympic Games, as five agencies, including the International Olympic Committee and the government of Japan, decided today to permit a limited number of fans in the stands up to a maximum of 10,000 people.
That means the faces the athletes see will not be photos on cardboard (as seen at the Land Rover Kentucky 5-star in April). That will add to the atmosphere as the competitions take place, and come across to add a sense of excitement for those watching on television. However, spectators will not be allowed to cheer–speaking in a loud voice or shouting is prohibited. Instead, the authorities will establish “new safe and secure ways of cheering and supporting the athletes”.
The long-awaited decision on fans has a number of caveats, however. The spectators will be Japanese–foreigners were banned months ago.
If a state of emergency or other priority measures aimed at preventing infection are implemented at any time after July 12, restrictions on spectator numbers at the Games will be based on the state of emergency or other relevant measures in force at that time. If there is a change in infection status and the capacity of the medical care system, the five agencies will meet to consider further measures. Masks should be worn in venues at all times. Congestion will be guided by announcements; and visitors will leave venues in a staggered manner. Spectators will be requested to travel directly to venues and return home directly.
The limit on the number of fans will be set at 50 per cent of venue capacity, up to that maximum of 10,000 people, although for some reason, students and supervisors in school programs will not be counted “as they are not spectators.” Huh?
The situation will be monitored in Japan and abroad, including the status of the different variants of the coronavirus, and all necessary action will be taken promptly. Depending on the Covid situation, the Japanese parties will look at either cancelling or reducing the scale of any live sites and public viewing events to minimize the movement of people and review any other Games-related events .A framework will be implemented to keep monitoring the status of infections and medical care, using expert advice. Vaccination of those involved with the Games will continue.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 20, 2021
After seven years in Tewksbury, trainer Sara Schmitt next month is moving her operation to a larger venue at Riverfield Farm in Annandale, which was a top hunter-jumper operation when owner Karen Peterson Da Prato ran it as a show stable..
The versatile Sara, who specializes in both dressage and driving, needed more space after seven years at Centerline Farm, so the facility a bit further west next month will offer room for driving in particular on seven times the acreage she has at present, in addition to more than 30 stalls.
Sara is as committed to driving as she is to dressage. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)
Sara called her Tewksbury operation Sara Schmitt Dressage, so guess what the name of her business will be in Annandale? That’s right, Sara Schmitt Dressage.
“My name is my brand,” she explained.
“I keep reinventing everything and doing something new because it’s fun.”
A believer in broadening the experience her students and others receive, She notes clinics will be a feature at the new venue. Olympian Tina Konyot is coming next month and the August clinic with another veteran U.S. dressage team member, Pam Goodrich,is full. Also featured in August, Tracey Morgan is offering a driving clinic on dates yet to be announced.
Sara’s stable remains involved with driving. Assistant trainer Maggie O’Leary won the training level single horse division at the Elk Creek Combined Driving Event earlier this month. She also.got her USDF dressage gold medal this year on a horse Sara trained to Grand Prix, a 19-year-old Friesian/Arab cross.
The multi-dimensional Sara, who earned a Pony Club HA as a teen, keeps busy with judging, and is working toward her 3-star FEI license.
“I’m judging a lot and I’m really learning something,” she observed.
“I think it brings something back to the table when I teach.”
Sara Schmitt competing at Dressage at Devon. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)
Sara, always energetic, still finds time to be in the saddle, working most recently with Julia Greifeld’s six-year-old Westfalen, Sunflower at Third Level with an eye toward going higher. That horse also will be ridden by Sara’s para-dressage student, Alanna Flax-Clark. Sara meanwhile is still enjoying her two-time world championships pony, a Morgan named High Country Doc. She sold him in 2005, but he came back to her for his retirement.
Ask Sara about long-term ambitions, and she ponders what appears to be a novel question for her.
“Do I have big hopes of going to the Olympics?,” she asks.
“No. But I would like to try to do another team (in driving)” said the former national singles driving champ and veteran of four world championships in that discipline.
“Not this year, but maybe in two or three years. Why not?”
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 17, 2021
No surprises here (see the lead story on this website about how things shaped up after the mandatory outing). The team is Adrienne Lyle (Salvino), the winner of the Grand Prix and Special in the outing; Steffen Peters, third in the Grand Prix and second in the Special with Suppenkasper and Sabine Schut-Kery, second in the Grand Prix and third in the Special on Sanceo. ;
Nick Wagman is the traveling reserve with Don John. The team alternates, listed in order, are Olivia Lagoy-Weltz (Rassing’s Lonoir), who was fifth and seventh-place Ben Ebeling (Illuster van de Kampert). Ben is the son of Jan Ebeling, who rode Rafalca on the U.S. team in the 2012 Olympics.
Alice Tarjan of Oldwick, was sixth in both tests with Candescent, but the mare has less CDI (international competition) experience than Ben’s horse. She is, however, a nominated entry, which keeps Alice on the bench of there’s an emergency.
