Coping with the Covid season–Heather Mason has found her method

by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 6, 2020

Heather Mason was the U.S. Dressage Federation’s owner of the year in 2019. In 2020, however, like so many others during the pandemic fallout, “We are taking it one week at a time,” said the trainer, who owns Flying Change Farm in Tewksbury.

This is not the year for lofty aspirations.

Heather was riding the Grand Prix at the Red Tail Farm show yesterday in Bedminster–after the show’s first day was cancelled due to the tropical storm, which left the venue relying on a generator while more than 500,000 power company customers in New Jersey were stranded without electricity. Will 2020’s insults never end?

Heather Mason and Warsteiner. (Photo © 2020 by Nancy Jaffer)

Heather has tailored her expectations to match the circumstances. She is shooting for Regional Championships, but the USDF’s National Championships at the Kentucky Horse Park in November remain a question mark. After seven people attending a show at the park were found to be Covid positive last weekend, this week’s U.S. Equestrian Federation Pony Finals were cancelled, followed by a decision to scrap the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association’s Green Incentive and International Hunter Derby Championships.

Last night, the U.S. Eventing Association announced it was cancelling its American Eventing Championships at the end of the month for health and safety reasons, amid concern about competitors coming to the park from 41 states.

There’s time before the November USDF Championships to see what develops, but “If things start looking worse again around the country, we probably won’t go to Nationals,” Heather observed.

She never planned on riding at the USEF’s National Championships in Illinois this month, though she has one client who is thinking of going.to the venue, where hunter/jumper shows have been held for weeks and the dressage festival is definitely scheduled to take place..

Once Covid struck, Heather decided early on this year not to show her younger horses, giving them an extra season to mature and perhaps start competing at a higher level than they would have entered this season. So she’s focusing on her Grand Prix mounts, noting that they are older, so she wants to make the most of the time she has left with them. They are Lincoln, a 15-year-old bred by Cornell University, and Warsteiner, 17, a KWPN by Riverman out of a Roemer mare.

Grand Prix winner Harvest with Alice Tarjan riding. (Photo © 2020 by Nancy Jaffer)

Warsteiner earned 72.283 percent at Red Tail to finish second behind another Tewksbury resident, Alice Tarjan, on Harvest (73.152).

Discussing Warsteiner, Heather said, “He’s still getting better. As long as he keeps getting better, I’ll continue showing him.”  Her plan was to do “the bare minimum” to get her horses qualified for Regionals. So she was happy to go to a show just a 20-minute drive from her farm. Warsteiner’s test gave him his final qualifying score.

“We get a lot of good people coming to Red Tail. It was a pretty heavy duty Grand Prix class for a  one-day show,” she observed.

Listing Warsteiner’s pluses and minuses, she conceded, “He’s not as sensitive as I would like,” then happily added, “but he’s so reliable.” However, she pointed out that he “doesn’t get a good walking score because that’s his `talking movement.’ He whinnies (at the walk) every test. He just wants everybody to watch him.”

Healther and Warsteiner have known each other for more than 14 years. (Photo © 2020 by Nancy Jaffer)

Always practical, Heather is looking on the bright side of a generally dismal 2020.

She categorized it as “kind of an in-between year,”adding, “it was nice we could get out and still show,” without doing as much as she usually does in her jam-packed schedule.

But Covid has made one big change in her approach. During her decades as a trainer, Heather, 51, said, “one thing I never imagined with my business is doing virtual lessons, but now I am doing those via FaceTime and WhatsApp.”

Some of her New York clients, who usually ship to her farm or attend her clinics in their state, are now being taught via FaceTime. That also applies to clients from Monmouth County. She usually travels more than an hour to work with them, but the state’s Stay at Home order in March gave that more than a half-halt. Another person who is taking advantage of Face Time is a new client from Vermont, who was supposed to come to New Jersey for a weekend in March, when things started closing.

Heather has been too busy to go to the USDF’s annual meeting in recent years, but she’ll dip into another virtual experience this fall because the organization’s convention will be on line, a boon to trainers like herself who have a lot going on.

Heather was pleased with Warsteiner’s test at Red Tail. (Photo © 2020 by Nancy Jaffer)

In her case, that means riding 10 horses a day, in addition to giving lessons. Heather’s younger horses are on hold for her. They include a “late developer,” the 8-year-old Nicene, being ridden by Alex Crossen at Third and Fourth Level. Alex, an amateur, will do one more year with the horse before Heather takes over. Nicene’s 7-year-old full brother, the 17.1-hand New Beginnings, won Regionals last year at First Level and First Level Freestyle. Both are by her stallion, Nimbus. Another project is  a 3-year-old by Jazz out of a Krack C mare. “He, I think, will be really nice. He’s pretty level-headed,” said Heather, who plans to show him in 2021.

One disappointment Heather doesn’t have to deal with this year is what some of her contemporaries faced when the Olympics were cancelled. She never had ambitions for making that team.

“I decided the Olympics is a little too much life-consuming,” she explained.  “I’d have to cut back on my number of horses and concentrate on one or two. I  like variety, so that’s a little bit of a problem for me.”

Heather keeps “plenty busy” with stalls full of her old retired Grand Prix horses, horses in training, clinics and a “small but great” group of boarders. They are on a schedule with social distancing, tacking up outside and keeping their equipment in their cars to make sure everyone stays safe.

The times are certainly unusual.

Well-known international rider Catherine Haddad-Staller showed a smile after finishing her Grand Prix with Frankie, who did well–especially considering that Catherine’s arena was under water the day before they went to Red Tail. (Photo © 2020 by Nancy Jaffer)

“Shows are so different,” she commented. “There’s a bare minimum of people, no one milling about. They’re doing their thing and leaving.” On the plus side, “it makes spookier horses much easier, because you don’t have to worry about running anyone else over when you’re headed to the ring.”

Even so, she said, she’s looking forward to the time when finally, “it will be nice for parents and other people to be able to come and watch.”

More competition cancellations going into November

by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 4, 2020

You could see it coming.

A virtual Town Hall yesterday with U.S Hunter Jumper Association President Mary Babick highlighted the problems involved with the Covid-related cancellation of major competitions, such as the USEF Pony Finals, which were scheduled to start today.

So it was no surprise this morning to learn that the Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships and the Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship, scheduled for August 11-15 at the Kentucky Horse Park, had been cancelled. At the same time, USHJA also called off its AON/USHJA National Championships, slated for Nov. 16-20 in Las Vegas.

People had complained about the short notice of cancellation given to Pony Finals competitors, some of whom had already come quite a distance to arrive at the Kentucky Horse Park before the show. When seven people at the Kentucky Summer Horse Show held last week were found to be Covid-positive, the last day of that show (including the USHJA Pony Derby Championship-East) was cancelled and the USEF Pony Finals also became a victim of the situation.

Medical advice called for a two-week gap between the time Covid-positive people were found on the grounds Aug. 1 and the start of the championships, but there were just 10 days between the dates of those shows. That was “the straw the broke the camel’s back,” said USHJA President Mary Babick, noting she has been told by medical professionals that a Covid “outbreak” consists of two people.

USHJA President Mary Babick.

During a USHJA board meeting last night, cancellation seemed to be the only alternative.

The board was following national health recommendations and the recommendation to cancel the championships presented by the USHJA International Hunter Derby and Green Hunter Incentive Taskforce.

“We feel strongly that we must take the necessary steps to help minimize risk and exposure of the COVID-19 virus to ensure our sport can continue in the future. Canceling was a difficult decision, but the Board believes that it was the correct, safe and socially responsible choice,” according to the USHJA.

“The health and safety of our members, staff, volunteers and their families is our priority,” Mary commented in a statement.

In an interview, Mary said she told the board, “Whatever we do, we need to do it all the way now. So if we’re cancelling, we have to let people know now, and if we’re going, we have to stick with our decision.”

Cancelling the Las Vegas show stemmed from the board’s feeling that people should not be encouraged to travel across the country, amid hopes riders will “stay more regional, and cancellation of all of our national championships was in our best interest at this moment.”

About 10 hours after the Green Incentive and International Derby championships were scuttled, the announcement came that the USEF’s East Coast junior hunter championships were also cancelled.

“This is a decision not taken lightly and we are mindful of the negative effect this will have on exhibitors’ plans and schedules, but feel this is the only way to ensure a safe outcome for all,” said a statement from USEF.

“No fees of any kind have been charged to anyone who has entered the shows. Exhibitors do not need to take any action with regard to the show office and all entries will be canceled. We hope that moving forward our exhibitors and members will place their safety and the safety of others above all else during these trying circumstances.”

Mary, who has been nominated for another four-year term at the USHJA’s helm, looks ahead to 2021 saying,”I don’t know what’s happening with Covid,so I think we’ve got to create a regional finals structure, to encourage people to stay more local If we can.

For next year, “I think we have to acknowledge that Covid might still be around. It’s best that we plan for regionals, Then, If we can do national (championships), great.”

At the same time, she added, “We can’t presume we’re going to be able to go forward with business as normal.  I don’t think this disease understands the calendar year.”

Meanwhile, the board is working on is discussion of the always-controversial mileage rule.

“That will eat up a lot of our bandwidth,” she commented.

Ralph Caristo had two horses eligible for the International Derby, but wasn’t counting on having them be part of it.

“We were on the fence about going,”  he explained. If his Quickborn 7 and Sedona competed in Kentucky with his daughter, Heather Caristo-Williams, aboard, she would have had to quarantine for two weeks upon returning to her home in New York, due to state regulations that affect people coming from Kentucky and 34 other states and territories.

Heather Caristo-Williams and Ralph Caristo

That might have meant she risked not being able to compete at HITS just down the road from her home in Saugerties, N.Y., during the big Labor Day weekend show that includes the Platinum Performance $100,000 Hunter Prix Final and the Diamond Mills $250,000 Hunter Prix Final.

But even if the championship in Kentucky hadn’t been cancelled, “It’s very likely we would have stayed home,” Ralph mused, saying he thought calling off the fixtures was the right thing to do.

“There’s a lot of disappointment in life,” he observed, “but there are a lot of things in life that are a hell of a lot worse than us missing a horse show.”

“I think it has opened a lot of eyes about what our business is vulnerable to and what our lives are vulnerable to. Hopefully, we won’t see this again in our lifetimes, but who knows?”

Top hunter competitor Amanda Steege, based for the summer at Pinnacle Farm in Califon, called the International Derby “usually one of the highlights on my schedule, something I plan my whole year around.”

Her team, however, made the decision in June to do shows “on a more local, regional level” rather than traveling to a venue like Kentucky, which is 13 hours away, as opposed to two hours for shows in Saugerties and Princeton.

With the five-year-old horses in her barn, she was able to take advantage of a USHJA provision for 2020 that will enable them to start their green careers again next year.

“This year, you make potential plans, but you cancel or adapt at any moment,” she observed.

When Kentucky became one of New York’s “quarantine states,” it got more difficult for people to travel, she noted.

Amanda Steege and Lafitte de Muze.

Discussing how she is handling 2020, Amanda said, “It feels like a year of practice, a year to catch up and see where you’re at.

“I enjoy going to a few more local events,” she added, noting that Lafitte de Muze, who would have been a threat in the International Derby Chapionships, won a $25,000 derby at Saugerties.

“I felt very comfortable there, they were enforcing (wearing) the masks,” she said, adding that the Princeton show was also well-run.

UPDATE: viewing, services for Ricci Desiderio

by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 28, 2020

A viewing for respected trainer Ricci Desiderio, who died last month, will be held from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. tomorrow, Aug. 5, at his Tranquillity Farm, 300 Old Chester Road, Chester, NJ. It is being arranged to allow for social distancing.

Services on Thursday will be by invitation only because of Covid limitations on the number of people who can attend. Those who wish to make a contribution in Ricci’s memory can do so with the Arabian Horsemen’s Distress Fund, 236 Henry Sanford Road, Bridgewater, CT 06752 or online at https://www.horsemensdistressfund.com/

Thousands of people are mourning the loss of this equestrian who was also a devoted famliy man.Being a hard worker was an integral component of his identity.

“He was like the Energizer bunny, he would go and go nonstop,” recalled Kim Bonstein, who used to give lessons at the Desiderio family’s picturesque Tranquillity Farm in Chester Township.

When she suggested Ricci should slow down, the dynamic horseman told her, “Nope, I’m doing this for my kids, it’s what I’m leaving them.”

On July 27, said Ricci’s son, Michael, “We finally got him to take a day off.”

The Great Lakes Equestrian Festival in Traverse City, Mich., was dark that Monday, so the Desiderio family went boating with friends on nearby Torch Lake.

According to Michael, Ricci was walking on a sandbar when he collapsed after suffering a heart attack. A doctor who was in the area came over and tried to revive him, but had no luck.

Ricci, a legend in the Arabian horse world and an important figure on the hunter/jumper scene, passed away at age 63.

“He was the backbone for everyone; honestly, he helped everybody. He was totally unselfish. He was trying to make everything better for the horse community,” said Michael.

Ricci and his family (Photo courtesy of Michael Desiderio)

Toward that end, Ricci was a member of the Morris County Agricultural Development Board. He was well aware that horse farms are a way to save open space in the most densely populated state in the country.

“He was a super friend of agriculture, all kinds of agriculture, because we support each other–horses need hay and grain and open space,” said Ryck Suydam, president of the New Jersey Farm Bureau. The Desiderios hosted an “Equine is Agriculture” gathering with the Farm Bureau two years ago to bring together two complementary industries .

“He was a super advocate for equestrian sport and agriculture as a whole,” observed Ryck.

Ricci grew up working 60 hours a week for his parents’ equestrian operation, and had quite a career training Arabians. He became involved with hunters and jumpers after marrying Stephanie Campas, who was an equitation star as a junior rider and went on to be a trainer.

Ricci and Stephanie Desiderio.

Ricci understood a variety of breeds and disciplines, and knew how to use his knowledge of them to their benefit.

“He helped launch Arabian hunters and jumpers and get it to where it is. When Arabian sport horses came into view in 2003, he owned and trained some spectacular horses,” said Allan Ehrlick, a three-time Canadian eventing Olympian who is an Arabian Horse Association steward.

“He was very kind, a good person, big-hearted,” said Allan.

He called Ricci “passionate about his people and his horses and he was a loyal, loyal true friend. It is a huge emotional loss for me,” Allan noted.

Ricci and Stephanie at the beach with sons Michael and Vinny. (Photo courtesy of Michael Desiderio)

Ricci was the only trainer Lynne Porfido ever had, guiding the Bernardsville resident to great success in the Arabian ranks over a quarter-century after she started riding as an adult.

She was impressed when someone needed help, whether it was getting a horse in the ring, or convincing one to get on a trailer, Ricci would be there even if he didn’t know the people involved. He was a caring person.

Lynne recalled how Ricci would run alongside her son, Cole, when the boy was a beginner riding his pony, “always making sure he was safe.”

Now 18, Cole is riding with Michael in the jumper ranks. But Lynne remembered that at the Arabian Youth Nationals, her son got a top 10 in the English class in the main ring, where he worked with Ricci, then headed to another ring to win the national championship in the purebred equitation over fences class, where Michael helped him. Family teamwork at its best.

Of Ricci, Lynne commented, “He had the biggest heart, he was the most giving person. He always put himself out there for people. He leaves a huge hole in our circle of friends.”

Emil Spadone, who trained Michael for several years when he was starting out in the hunter/jumper/equitation ranks, got to know the Desiderios at that time “and what good people they were.”

As he observed about Ricci, “Above everything, he was a family man. His family was everything to him, and he was everything to them.”

Ricci with Stephanie and his family. (Photo courtesy of Michael Desiderio)

In a 2007 interview, Ricci talked about buying old houses, fixing them up and flipping them to earn enough money to buy his farm.

He passed along his work ethic to the rest of his family. In addition to Michael, daughter Alexandria and son Vinny are also riders, while Anthony pursued the law, rather than horses.

Michael and Stephanie Desiderio.

“All the kids help us at the farm,” Ricci said in the interview.

“They help us ride horses, help us train horses, help us set up. Everything,” he commented.

“I could have done a lot of other things with my money than buy a horse farm, but since we all do it, it makes a difference.”

Another man who was close to Ricci, hay farmer Frank Carrajat, who owns Snowbird Farms on Schooley’s Mountain, was in disbelief about Ricci’s death.

“How somebody so full of life could go so suddenly…” he wondered sadly.

Recalling how he was scared to death meeting Ricci when he was a 20-year-old country boy delivering hay to the big-deal trainer for the first time, he chuckled.

“I hope that isn’t straw you brought me,” Frank remembers Ricci saying,noting, “and now I know what a joke that was, but that was him.”

They soon became close, and next thing he knew, he was driving the Desiderios’ horses to Albuquerque while he, Ricci, Stephanie, the kids and a dog were all in the truck. Trips to Oklahoma, Idaho and Florida followed.

“He wanted me to succeed with what I was doing, just as much as I wanted to,” said Frank, remembering how the two of them would call each other on the phone when they were making long trips alone to keep each other awake.

“If somebody needed something, he was there. He touched a lot of people,” said Frank.

After learning of Ricci’s death, Frank sat at his picnic table at Snowbird Monday night, thinking about his friend.

“If it wasn’t for Ricci, I wouldn’t even have this place,” Frank mused.

“He played a big part in trying to get the ball rolling.”

The Desiderios have 22 clients at the Great Lakes Festival. Instead of coming home right away, Michael said, they will stay the rest of the week so their horses can show.

Michael is channeling his father in that decision, and he has it right, said Frank, who knew Ricci so well.

“That’s absolutely what he would do.”