It’s never too soon to plan ahead, and excitement soon will be gearing up for the 2020 FEI World Cup finals in Las Vegas April15-19–especially since the show jumping/dressage combo it will be returning to its traditional home, the Thomas & Mack Center.
The 2020 finals for show jumping and dressage originally were going to be at the MGM Grand Hotel, because of space limitations at Thomas & Mack that wouldn’t permit all the dressage judges to be seated at the same level. But a $75 million renovation has changed that, and it will be nice to be in a familiar location. The finals have been held six times at Thomas & Mack, beginning in 2000, although dressage did not join the program until 2005.
New Jersey riders and trainers made their mark at the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan®, winning an array of championships and reserves across a wide range of divisions. The show at the Kentucky Horse Park drew an impressive 387 competitors from 42 states for a shot at $100,000 in prize money and end-of-season glory.
Bridget Hay, who breeds her own mounts at her Hunterdon County farm, took the Intermediate II Open Championship on Faolan, an Oldenburg stallion. Faolan (Freestyle x Wyoming by Weltstern) is the full brother of Bridget’s Fitzhessen, who sadly died young. Faolan has proven to be a worthy successor, who took his title with a score of 67.794 percent.
Bridget Hay on Faolan. (Photo copyright 2018 by Susan J. Stickle)
“We’re both new to this level and we’re still gaining experience, but he’s unflappable so the atmosphere wasn’t really a concern for me,” said Bridget.
“He tries his heart out in the ring, and I was thrilled with him. He gives me everything. I don’t think I’ve ever smiled so much in a ride in my life. I just love this horse.”
Bridget’s close friend, Alice Tarjan of Oldwick, was a big winner. She earned the Intermediate II Adult Amateur division with a 69.069 percent on her 8-year old Hanoverian Candescent (Christ x Farina by Falkenstern II), then went on to take the Grand Prix Adult Amateur Championship (64.203 percent) with the mare.
“I’m thrilled, because she’s a young horse and the quality keeps getting better and better,” said Alice.
She bought Candescent with the idea of joining her friends who do show jumping, eventing and fox hunting. She was looking for a black horse with white socks, a favorite combination since her Somerset Hills Pony Club days with her quirky first horse, Licorice, who was marked that way. Candescent, who came out of the Hanoverian auction as a four-year-old, “she was quite sour when I got her and not so easy to ride,” she recalled.
“Then as we got going, it became clear she would be best as a dressage horse, so here we are. Even though it’s her first year at this level, so it’s still a work in progress, she does all the movements really well and now it’s just improving the transitions and consistency,” Alice said.
She rode different horses in the Third Level Adult Amateur Championship. Alice was champion with a mark of 75.043 percent on her seven-year-old Oldenburg mare,m Donatella M (Furstenball x Dorina by Jazz Time) and reserve at 74.017 percent with her six-year-old Dutch warmblood stallion, Harvest (Connaisseur x Naomi by Ulft).
Donatella started her day by taking offense to a Kentucky Horse Park police horse and got so upset she was rearing in the warmup.
“But then once she was in the ring, she was fine,” commented Alice. “Harvest is such an incredibly good boy and very different from Donatella. He’s like a computer: whatever you put in is what you get out. There’s nothing lost in translation. He’s so straightforward – you just kick, he grunts, and off he goes.”
Alice is an extremely well-educated amateur, who knows how to pick young horses and bring them along.
“When I look for a horse, I have a certain type and presence that I like, and I know it when I see it. Then I enjoy teaching them how to show off the brilliance that’s inside of them, and I do it by focusing on bringing out movement, not necessarily dwelling on correctness of technique. It may be a little different way of approaching things, but it works for me.”
Reserve in the Grand Prix Open Freestyle Championship went to veteran trainer Heather Mason of Lebanon with her 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Warsteiner (Riverman-ISF x Welona by Roemer) on 71.542 percent.
“He was super, I’m so happy with him,” Heather noted. “He’s just a lot of fun. His energy level was good – we did 22 one-tempi’s, and I stopped counting the two’s.”
Heather took the Intermediate I Open Championship with a score of 72.157 percent on her 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding Romantico SF (Romancero H x Wesermelodie by Wenzel I), a fighter who won a battle for his life.
“He was laid up for a year with an injury, and I only had about two rides on him when he went in for colic surgery the week after I returned home from last year’s Finals,” Mason remembered. “But amazingly, here we are. He’s not an easy horse, which is how I originally ended up with him for just $1. He’s back and better than ever.”
In addition, Romantico won the Prix St. Georges open with a score of 69.926.
Heather also owns homebred Nicene (Nimbus x Pamela by Portofino) ridden at the championships by Alexsandra Krossen of Basking Ridge. Alexsandra was there when the now-six-year-old Oldenburg mare was foaled, a relationship that has matured to great effect. She won the reserve championship in the Second Level Adult Amateur Freestyle with 69.533 percent, and the championship in the First Level Adult Amateur Freestyle with 72.700 percent.
Alexsandra Krossen on Nicene. (Photo by Jennifer Keeler)
“We’ve choreographed her freestyle to suit her strengths,” said Alexsandra.
“She was the first foal I ever saw born, but I never thought I’d ride her because she was not an easy baby. She is a chestnut mare in every sense of the word. But she is also a worker when you ride her and usually doesn’t put a foot wrong.”
The points Heather’s horses earned at the championships put her at the head of the class in the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s Leading Dressage Owner standings—even in front of Betsy Juliano, who owns Adrienne Lyle’s FEI World Equestrian Games mount, Salvino, among her other horses.
Amy Gimbel of Tewksbury made a triumphant return to the championships with the U.S. bred mare, Eye Candy (UB-40 x Wednesday by Weltmeyer.)
“After Regionals two years ago, I was looking forward to coming back to the Finals after doing so well in both 2014 and 2015. But one day she came in from the field and wasn’t quite right. What we thought was cellulitis ended up being a much bigger issue, with a serious injury to her foot. We spent the winter hand-walking and she was laid up for eight months. It took so much time and patience, all the while wondering if she’d ever be able to come back. But here we are finally, and I feel so lucky to be here,” she said.
They won the Fourth Level Freestyle Adult Amateur Championship with 71.467 percent and also took reserve in the Fourth Level Adult Amateur Championship with 67.407 percent. “She can be a little sassy and sometimes I never know where that sass will come out, so we built our freestyle to allow for some flexibility,” Amy pointed out about the Dutch warmblood.
He was not only a great horseman, but racehorse trainer J. Willard Thompson also should be remembered as a great gentleman. The horse world lost a much-admired figure when he died Saturday at the age of 83 after a long illness.
A fixture at Monmouth Park for more than a half-century, Willard’s involvement in racing began when he was a steeplechase rider before switching to training in the early 1960s. He dominated the New Jersey racing scene in the 1970s, winning three consecutive training titles at Monmouth Park from 1975-1977 and two at the Meadowlands in the 1980s.
J. Willard Thompson (photo by equiphoto.com)
Willard was back in a big way several decades later, when he took the 2001 Monmouth title and had record earnings that year of nearly $1.6 million for his runners, many of whom raced in the colors of his Quiet Winter Farm. Some his most recent stakes winners included Jenny Bean Girl in the 2007 Jersey Girl Handicap and Pinot Grigio, who took the 2014 Open Mind Handicap.
In 1996, Willard won the first Virgil “Buddy” Raines Distinguished Achievement Award, honoring men and women who demonstrated a continuing commitment to the sport of thoroughbred racing and whose conduct has been exemplary for professionalism, integrity and service to the sport.
“It’s very hard to imagine Monmouth Park, and racing, without Willard,” said John F. Heims, Monmouth’s racing secretary.
“I’ve had the privilege of calling Willard my friend for nearly 20 years. We had spent countless hours in his office, the clocker’s stand, frontside and my office talking horses, politics and everything in between. With Willard, the generation gap just slipped away as age made no difference. He was kind and generous to everyone in this sport and his passing is a tremendous loss for our industry.”
From 17,863 starters, Thompson won 2,137 races, good for earnings of $30.5 million. With his longtime assistant, Sergio “Victor” Rabadan, Thompson’s most recent starter as a trainer was Snowday on Oct. 26 at Laurel and the most recent starter for his Quiet Winter Farm was Arnold Ziffle, who finished third at Laurel as Willard watched on the internet, just a few hours before he died.
Thompson was married to the former Carol Hofmann, a show jumper who rode for the U.S. Equestrian Team and died in 2013. An Olympic alternate in 1968, after the Games Carol accepted an invitation from a friend to “come to Aiken, S.C. for a quiet winter.”
On her second day there, Carol met Willard, and after that, as she always said, “It was definitely not a quiet winter.” But least that gave the couple a name for their Colt’s Neck farm.
Last year, Willard finished a novel, “The Mission,” that he had begun in the 1960s.
As he recalls in the book’s preface, the draft “was lost moving back and forth between Florida, South Carolina, and New York and never finished. Recently, I found the book in the bottom of my desk drawer. Now, at the age of 82, I finally got around to finishing it.”
The book, available from Barnes and Noble and Amazon, centers on a man who has everything, but is bored, and decides to rob the bank where he works.
“Things seemed simpler back then and in other ways, they’re still the same — people still yearn to be successful without really knowing what that is and whether they have achieved it,” Willard observed.
Proceeds from the book will go to the Retired Racehorse Project in Maryland. Here is a link to the book’s website.
Willard’s survivors include sons Glenn and Stewart; daughter Julia and nine grandchildren: Julia, Parker, McKenzie, Wyatt, Mizuki, Taylor, Landon, Shelby and Bradyn.
A celebration of Willard’s life will be held in the spring to coincide with the opening of Monmouth Park’s 2019 racing season.
It seems like common sense to acknowledge that New Jersey’s horse industry is part of the agricultural community, but everyone doesn’t see it that way.
To some who raise crops, “Horse people are not farmers. That’s the mentality,” noted equine veterinarian Brendan Furlong, recalling a comment from an acquaintance whose business is growing vegetables. And that farmer isn’t alone in his viewpoint.
In an attempt to change the mindset, members of the horse industry got together with farmers this week at the Desiderio family’s Tranquillity Farm in Chester during the “Equine is Agriculture” gathering.
Explaining the effort to have representatives of both sectors at the meeting, Brendan said, “We’re trying to integrate them.”
Such a move seems long overdue, considering their shared concerns about such issues as farm labor, farmland preservation, waste management and the pressures of development, as well as the often-burdensome regulations that go with the territory in the country’s most densely populated state.
Brendan’s Oldwick-based practice, B.W. Furlong Associates, partnered with the New Jersey Farm Bureau, Califon Animal Hospital (one of its owners, Mary Beth Hamorski, is a past president of the N.J. Association of Equine Practitioners) and John Deere/Central Jersey Equipment on the program. It drew 135 people to the show stable’s indoor arena for the lively session.
Brendan’s son, Adam, a vice president of both the Furlong practice and the Horse Park of New Jersey, said that as a member of the New Jersey Agricultural Society’s Leadership Development Program, he learned, “There was a sense the equine community was separate from the agricultural community.”
He put in a call to discuss the subject with Somerset County hay farmer Ryck Suydam, the farm bureau’s president, who is well aware of the horse industry’s importance to larger New Jersey agricultural picture.
“Our interests are perfectly aligned with each other,” said Ryck. “What is good for the hay farmer is good for the horse owner and vice versa.”
The two began planning for the event about a year ago. Ryck said this is the first in a series of such get-togethers, with another already requested for Gloucester County.
Such meetings facilitate what he called “old school networking,” with people getting together beforehand and afterwards to share their points of view.
“It’s better face-to-face that it is in an email or a tweet,” Ryck continued. The last time the Farm Bureau did something similar, when the subject was changes in farmland assessment, three such meetings were planned. “We wound up doing 11,” he said.
The question is why there has been a lack of cohesiveness between equestrian interests and non-equine farmers in the Garden State, where the horse is the state animal.
“I don’t think either side is to blame,” observed Adam.
“Equine is very definitely a big component of agriculture,” he continued, explaining organizers of the event want to “create a more singular voice. If we look out for interests of the equine community, it’s going to go hand-in-hand with the agricultural community. Likewise, we should support farm legislation in general.
“If commodities go up in price because land values skyrocket, or it becomes too inefficient to farm here, it will have a negative impact on the equine community in New Jersey. People are moving out; it spirals.”
Citing the Horse Park’s struggle to obtain more funding, Adam observed, “the only way get it is if more revenue is counted in through agriculture and/or equine and showing the state this is a revenue-producing industry for them.”
Speakers included Brian Smith, chief of legal affairs for the State Agriculture Development Committee. He discussed the right-to-farm act, which offers protection to agricultural operations. Its website is worth a look at http:nj.gov/agriculture/sadc/rtfprogram, particularly for those whose operations are having trouble with neighbors taking issue with farming in their area.
Ed Wengryn, a farm bureau research associate, offered welcome news that the much-hated sales tax on boarding horses, which went into effect in 2006, may soon be a thing of the past. A bill pending in the state Legislature is designed to repeal it, but a provision to make it retroactive didn’t fly because it would be too costly and complicated to refund the money collected over the last 12 years. Equestrian interests have been trying for more than five years to kill the fee, which is a “storage” tax, similar to what you would pay to keep your sofa and bookshelves at a facility somewhere.
“Horse are livestock, they are not furniture,” Ed pointed out. The bill, which has been passed by the Assembly, will go through the Senate budget process and from there to a floor vote.
Brendan gave an equine health update, discussing the importance of turnout and ways to feed horses more naturally (less grain, more forage), cutting down on the chances of colic in the process.
Organizers of the meeting are hoping more horse people will join the Farm Bureau and help its efforts with their support. The cost is $150 for a regular membership, $60 for an associate membership and a $210 corporate membership. Fine out more at https://njfb.org/join/.
The bureau offers information on current farm issues through a weekly newsletter, a quarterly publication and its website. Among many other initiatives its efforts include working with legislators, providing leadership development for young farmers and focusing on immigration reform to ensure a stable and affordable source of farm labor.
“I hope the Farm Bureau increases their membership out of this,” said Adam.
“I want the farming community to think about changing the mindset, being supportive of each other and really acknowledging how much our interests are aligned.”
The phrase “old-fashioned fun” is too seldom heard these days in connection with equestrian sports, which tend to be high stakes, played with horses bearing even higher pricetags.
So it was refreshing to roll back the clock this weekend at the Masters’ Chase, “a family-friendly day of amateur horse racing” put on by the Peapack-based Essex Fox Hounds (essexfoxhounds.org) and the Countryside Alliance of the Somerset Hills. It all took place on the great lawn at Natirar, a former estate in Peapack now owned by the Somerset County Park Commission.
Don’t confuse this with the 98th Far Hills Race Meeting, which will be run a little more than a mile down the road next Saturday at Moorland Farm in Far Hills. That’s serious business, professional steeplechasing complete with pari-mutuel wagering this year for the first time, and $850,000 in purses. (See the On the Rail section of this website for more information about the Far Hills Race Meeting.)
The Masters’ Chase didn’t offer purses; its prizes were ribbons, small trophies and lots of candy for the kids taking part, along with opportunities for real amateur riders to get a taste of what it’s like to race, the thrill of pounding hooves and cheers from the crowd. Some competitors, like the team that won the baton relay, wore racing silks. Others were togged in hunting attire or show clothes. But few crossed the finish line without smiles on their faces.
The relay was lots of excitement for the six teams of four participating, particularly with the trickiness of passing off a baton while barely pausing in mid-gallop.
Nancy McCaffrey was grinning broadly after coming in first in the Senior Fieldmaster race on Simon. Her trainer, Ann Sullivan Scher, had warned her that Simon was rather slow. Nancy, of Far Hills, was glad to find that wasn’t the case in this instance.
“It was fantastic,” said Nancy of her racing experience over fences. “He was just so strong. He just wanted to win.”
Ann, who brought eight horses to the Masters’ Chase, recounted Simon’s interesting history. He is by Sale Johnson’s stallion, Golan. His granddam is Isle of Erin, a great show ring performer for the Scher family. Simon was trained by top show jumper Laura Chapot and was the high money-winner in the Preliminary division in Florida years ago. He also jumped with Sarah Segal in amateur classes and has spent time hunting.
The race was led by Karen Murphy, joint master of Essex with Jazz Merton. She set a sensible pace for the 10-horse field over fences at various heights arranged around the lawn, then peeled away before the home stretch to allow the contenders to battle it out on the flat.
There were similar races for juniors and ponies. Karen rode at the head of the pack for all of them, alternating among her three gray horses; George Clooney, Sean Connery (do you see a naming pattern here?) and Bentley.
Jackie Gattoni of Bedminster got popped off her horse, Levi, over a fence in the Senior Fieldmaster race, but true to the sporting spirit, came back with him to win one section of the Senior Foxhunter Flat Race in a close call over Nancy and Simon.
While Simon has quite a background and lineage, the day drew all kinds of horses and ponies, like the black-and-white pony aptly named Oreo, ridden by Ian Ucko. The little paint ran gallantly in several races, before taking a break to nibble grass and get some love.
The smaller children were involved in stick pony races for three age groups, making early converts to the equestrian scene. The winners got three-streamer blue ribbons; all the other participants got rosettes with checked streamers on either side of the main ribbon.
The next age group up had the option of a lead-line race, in which the leaders walked, or a match in which the folks holding the line could run.
Take a look at the video below to get the flavor of the Masters’ Chase, which started off with an appearance by Essex huntsman Bart Poole and the hounds, who made friends with the kids. In the stick pony race, watch for the little girl in pink boots who dropped behind the rest of the field but didn’t give up.
While racing was the afternoon’s focus, there were other things going on as well.
Prudence Theriault of Kinderhook Lake, N.Y., was recruited for the new vendor village by her friend Penelope Ayers, who organized the initiative in a tent on one side of the racecourse.
“I love the combination of the jewelry and the horses; I have fox earrings and pawprint jewelry for the dog lovers,” said Prudence, who designs the pieces she sells. Other vendors offered dog beds, paintings, honey and a variety of knick-knacks.
Tailgating was right next to the track, enabling mounted riders and their friends to mingle and grab a sandwich or a drink. Mary Lane sat comfortably on her horse, Denali, sipping champagne (what else?) from a plastic glass.
“That’s what makes it a race day,” she said cheerfully of the bubbly.
Wallis Weiner-Trapness was next to her, enjoying the ambience aboard her mare, Brons Flicka (a great-granddaughter of Bold Ruler).
“I’ve been involved in this event since it started (in 2013),” said Wallis.
“I love competing in it. It takes me three months to get the horse quieted back down. It’s a great day of friends competing against each other. It’s a great venue and it’s getting bigger and bigger every year.”
Wallis pointed out that Essex started the races that became the Moorland meeting. The steeplechase originally was done as a thank you to farmers and landowners over whose acreage Essex hunted. The fixture became known as “the hunt races,” and although the hunt is no longer involved, some people insist on referring to the Moorland races as “the hunt.” Anyone who calls it that obviously doesn’t know what they’re talking about…
Sally Ike, who missed much of the action because she was the “front gate host,” had a chance to see everyone at the end of the day for socializing and reminiscing.
“It reminds me of what steeplechasing was like in the old days. It’s a family outing and a community-based thing and it was a great deal of fun,” said Sally, who chairs the Essex hunt committee.
“It’s an opportunity for our neighbors to come together on a Saturday afternoon and just enjoy being out and watching the races. What struck me was the public coming in to watch. That’s the kind of atmosphere we want to have.” She would also like to see more riders participate.
This year, members of the Windy Hollow and Amwell Valley hunts took part.
“We had a great group of people,” said Karen Murphy, who thanked the park commission for its cooperation.
“I absolutely loved it. This is super fun. It was super inviting and nice,” said Gabrielle Sterling of Amwell.
Ed Wiley, joint master of Windy Hollow, noted, “I think the concept of getting the various equestrian organizations together to enjoy a day of good sport is fantastic, and I thank the Essex Foxhounds for accomplishing that task.”
The U.S. Equestrian Federation just awarded a slew of championships for the Garden State Combined Driving Event’s Oct. 11-13 2019 edition. The divisions will include all Intermediate Classes: Single pony, Pair pony, Pony Fours, Single Horse, Pair Horse, Horse Fours, and all preliminary classes:VSE (if offered), Single pony, Pair pony, Pony Fours, Single Horse, Pair Horse and Horse Fours.
If you haven’t ever attended a driving event, Garden State will offer an opportunity to learn about an exciting sport. Seeing the horses compete cross-country in the marathon, as they have to work their way through complicated obstacles, is really fascinating. The elegance of the dressage and cones phases also is worth watching.
At the end of three phases of competition, 2017 ASPCA Maclay winner Maddy Goetzmann and 2018 North American Young Rider show jumping individual gold medalist Daisy Farish were 1-2 in the Platinum Performance USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals East. But it wasn’t over yet.
Yesterday’s flat and gymnastics segments–as well as this morning’s show jumping—each were won by Maddy, who looked as if she were gearing up to take the whole thing this afternoon at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation headquarters in Gladstone. Her total for the three phases was 421, to 406 for Daisy.
The only segment left to contest was the Final Four, where the top quartet of riders started with a clean slate to compete over a shortened course, then rode the same route aboard each of the other finalists’ horses.
While Maddy earned a 90 on her mare, Faemes Van T Poelzelhof (AKA Famous) Daisy got an 88 with Arsouille Des Etangs, the horse she brought to the party. So Maddy was still ahead at the end of round one.
Maddy stayed one point in front of Daisy when each rode Cooper Dean’s Braavos. But the game changed in the third round when Maddy was on Arsouille, who cross-cantered, where the horse is on one lead in front and the other behind.Judge Ralph Caristo, who noted the young women had been “neck-and-neck” called the mishap “a slight bobble” but after everything was added up, that little mishap gave the title to Daisy by a single point.
In Ralph’s view, however, “To me, they were both the winners of this class.”
Last month was the first time that FEI World Equestrian Games has not used a Final Four format to decide its individual show jumping titles, but the other Talent Search judge, Chris Kappler, likes the concept continuing as part of this competition.
“I can understand why they have taken it out of the WEG, because of such big jumping,” said Chris.
“But I think it’s still very important. It makes this class different and distinct. You really get to see the horsemanship, the feeling, that these riders can give. We tried to have a somewhat simple course…that riders really had to use their eye…and their ratability and feeling for the horse.”
Maddy and Daisy, who are close friends, held hands as they waited for the announcement about who had won, then embraced as they heard the decision. Daisy’s score in the final four was 349, to Maddy’s 348.
“I knew it was going to be close, and I wasn’t sure which way it would go,” said Daisy, a 17-year-old high school senior from Kentucky.
“I felt the same way as Daisy…when it was just us two, the final two, and Daisy won,” said Maddy, briefly breaking into tears, “it was a very proud moment, we’ve been dreaming of this for awhile, she’s been one of my best friends for a long time.”
Maddy, who is coached by Stacia Madden and Beezie and John Madden, is headed in the next few weeks for the USEF Medal finals and Washington International horsemanship championship with her longtime ride, San Remo VDL. She isn’t sure if she will try the Talent Search again. Unlike the other finals, which are only open to juniors under 18, riders can compete in the Talent Search until they are 21. But she’ll be starting at Fordham University in September 2019, so what the New York resident does after that is to be decided.
Cooper, who finished third with a score of 311, works for Heritage, the farm headed by Andre Dignelli, the 1985 Talent Search winner who is also Daisy’s coach. A 19-year-old from Alabama, Cooper was reserve champion in the Medal last year. He noted that two weeks ago, he didn’t know what horse he was going to ride, and gave heartfelt thanks to Andre, the judges and God “because I wouldn’t be here without his support. To come here is a dream come true.”
Asked what he does at Heritage, he said, “I ride as many horses as I can. When they need me to be there at 3 in the morning, I’ll be there at 3 in the morning. Whatever needs to be done, if they need me to do it, I do it.”
Lili Kaissar, fourth on a score of 309, is going to Vanderbilt University in the fall of 2019 and hopes to become an equine vet.
The 18-year-old New Yorker was the only Final Four competitor who rode her own horse, Salt Lake. The dark brown gelding, who has an endearing habit of sticking his tongue out of his mouth as he goes around the ring, was named Best Horse of the finals.
The other riders’ mounts were leased or borrowed for a class that goes above and beyond what is required in most equitation finals. That was reflected in the fact that there were only 33 starters this weekend, down from 52 last year.
The idea of the Talent Search is to discover riders who have the ability to go on and perhaps someday represent the U.S. internationally, the way such previous winners as McLain Ward, Richard Spooner and Charlie Jayne have done.
“I think the great part of this final is the people who have won it in the past, and just looking at where they have gone in their riding careers,” said Daisy, who emphasized that her life will include “something to do with riding” after she goes to college.
Frank Madden, who trains Lili with his wife, Jennifer, noted that in 1982, when the Talent Search began, the only other equitation finals were the Maclay and the AHSA Medal (now the USEF Medal). Then the Washington International Horse Show put in a final, and soon a host of other championships were on the calendar.
“I think people have so many options and they made the standards of this more difficult than it had been,” Frank observed.
“You need a special horse. I think a lot of people have made the choice, (and say) `Maybe we’re not ready for this’,” he commented, though he suggested professionals need to keep an eye on what’s happening “so we don’t let it turn into 25 kids.”
Other trainers suggested lower numbers might stem from the advent of an easier option, the new USHJA jumping seat championship that has 3-foot, 3-inch fences, as opposed to the 1.20 meter (over 3-feet, 9-inches) that is the maximum obstacle height in the Talent Search, which also requires a water jump.
In other years, we’ve often seen competitors who really weren’t ready for the Talent Search challenge. Some of them may have opted for the USHJA class this year. The riders who participated this weekend all rose to the occasion, without the unhappy outcome for some that has happened in other years.
Stacia Madden pointed out that the sensible courses devised by Ralph and Chris were most welcome. The gymnastics at the Talent Search, for instance, had “historically been kind of a sticky wicket,” she noted, citing the fact that segment often relied on gimmicks. This time, it was more straightforward, including a serpentine of four fences down the middle of the ring, which gave the judges the opportunity to see “how their legs their hands, their seats, all work together; their eyes, using all their aids,” Chris explained.
Stacia was grateful that the gymnastics “were going to be something productive to treating these horses well and working on their jumping style and rideablity and letting judges judge the class, instead of the gimmicks. Ralph and Chris took this very seriously to make sure it was very standard and straightforward. I think the horses and riders were able to all solve the problems and come away feeling like they learned something.”
Asked what he thought of the event, managed by international judge David Distler, Frank–who has attended since the first finals–said, “Class is a word that comes to mind. This is such a class place, a class event for 33 classy riders here this year and two very classy guys judging it. It was the best of all the USEF finals I’ve been to.”
Meet the rescued horses at Mylestone’s open house from noon-4 p.m. Oct. 7.
Taking care of the horses who have been through so mujch and promoting responsible horse ownership takes a lot of time and expense. Mylestone is eager to share with visitors what goes on at the farm in Warren County..
The rescued horses will come up to the fence to greet visitors. They are eager for a friendly pat on the neck and hello. For those who have always wanted to meet a horse (or two) close-up, this is a great opportunity.
Mylestone is located at 227 Still Valley Rd (Pohatcong), Phillipsburg. For more information, call 908-995-9300.
The horse Park of New Jersey’s schooling fun show Oct. 28 offers a hunter derby, hunt teams, gambler’s choice, trail obstacle course, western games and dressage test of choice.
The show, which benefits the park, will have points for the Thoroughbred Incentive Program, ESDCTA, and junior and amateur awards. Go to http://www.horseparkofnewjersey.com for details.
Billed as a “family friendly day of amateur horse racing, just like the old days,” the Masters’ Chase is set for Oct. 13 at Natirar, the county park on Route 202 in Peapack. Gates open at noon, with the first post time at 2 p.m.
The event is presented by the Countryside Alliance of Somerset Hills and the Essex Fox Hounds. Games and stick pony races are on the agenda along with the regular horse races.
Those who want to picnic on the hill for the view can do so for $40, although no alcohol is permitted. Tailgating on the course is $500 per space. Those who prefer not to pay for parking can leave their vehicles in the park’s public lot and take the short walk over to the races.
If you want to race, get the entry blank at www.essexfoxhounds.org. Those who have questions can contact Karen Murphy at 908-727-0222.
