Most horse shows allow riders little time for relaxation these days, what with evening classes, ranking points and plenty of cash on the line.
But the two weeks of showing at Lake Placid, which just marked its 50th anniversary, enables those taking part to combine a vacation with competition. It’s known as a family destination, offering opportunities for boating, hiking, fishing and kicking back in the scenic beauty of the Adirondacks.
The U.S. Equestrian Federation Heritage Show has quite a history. The grand prix winners over the years have included many of the best horse/rider combinations in the country, from Rodney Jenkins and Idle Dice to Michael Matz with Jet Run and Leslie Burr Howard on Albany. The final Olympic selection trials for the 1984 and 1988 Olympics were at Lake Placid.
While the show struggled at one time, noted Lake Placid’s chairman, Philip Richter, it has since found itself and people have come back in droves. It turned around in recent years despite a crowded calendar, with such major big money shows as Canada’s Spruce Meadows, the Great Lakes shows in Michigan and Tryon in North Carolina on its dates. Even so, there were so many entries at Lake Placid this year that 100 horses had to be turned away because the facility was at capacity.
“It’s just a reaffirmation of how different these two weeks are from the run-of-the-mill shows,” Philip maintains, noting that people get tired when they camp out for months at a showgrounds.
At Lake Placid, “people enjoy a vacation with their horses. It’s short, it’s special with some great competition,” he said, noting both grands prix are now $100,000 classes on turf. That’s indicative of the money that has been put into the show over the last few years, with $1 million spent three years ago on all-weather footing. Last year, $200,000 was devoted to a new ring with all-weather footing.
Lake Placid Chairman Philip Richter (left) does a little of everything at the show, from making presentations to competing in the amateur-owner jumpers and insuring things run the way they should. (Photo by The Book LLC)
“We have to keep reinvesting in the grounds,” said Philip, “Our view is that having a bunch of money in the bank isn’t doing us any good. We’re not in the business of making a profit for profit’s sake; we’re in the business of reinvesting in the grounds and having the exhibitors come back again.”
Improvements on the horizon include increasing the power to industrial grade to cope with demands such as fans, microwaves. refrigerators and a variety of devices used in the stables.
Philip also wants to improve the drainage in the wash rack area and take steps for the show to end earlier in the day so people can have more time to enjoy their surroundings.
“We know we have to improve a lot,” said Philip, but he added, “There’s a lot of low-hanging fruit.
“We’re working on various three- to five- to 10-year plans for the horse show,” he explained, noting long term that also includes looking at making Lake Placid an FEI (international equestrian federation) show. If the sport continues to move that way, he pointed out, “we can’t ignore that.” However, at present, it doesn’t have the amount of land necessary for all the stabling and rings required.
“We strategically really have to be on our toes and understand how the sport is changing and change with it if appropriate,” said Philip.
“Changing with the times” also means an upgrade to the food at the show, with more healthy and vegetarian options, and updating the clothing and accessories sold in the show’s store.
Another goal is to get some of the grant money that New York State has allocated for the Adirondack State Park. The process should be helped by the results of a study from the State University of New York at Buffalo about the show’s economic impact on the Adirondack region.
Two years ago, Philip succeeded the late Richard Feldman, the captain of the show for decades who was revered for his dedication to it. The show is now run under a different operating structure, an executive committee of five members—including Philip, Collin McNeil, Louis Jacobs, Tim Hooker and Brian Sweeney–who make decisions that must be approved by the board of directors, which includes new, younger people who are actively involved in the show.
“There’s so much history and heritage in these rings,” said Philip.
“We’re trying to keep the nucleus of what we’ve got, but modernize and improve every day and aggressively go after some of these things that can continue to make the show competitive.”
Mane Stream in Oldwick is seeking volunteers age 14 or older to provide support with Equine Assisted Activities for individuals with special needs. Duties include grooming and tacking up the horses, as well as assisting riders and therapy clients during riding lessons and therapy sessions. Prior experience with horses is not necessary in order to become a volunteer.
A 2 and 1/2-hour orientation and training session is mandatory to ensure the safety of participants. The session will provide an overview of the programs offered by Mane Stream and explain the responsibilities of a volunteer. The follow-up training session will provide a closer look at horse behavior and will involve hands-on practice of the skills introduced at orientation. Come 45 minutes earlier and complete the camp training all in one day to be ready for next summer.
The orientation and training schedule: Aug. 22, 6:30-9 p.m.; Sept. 21 3-5:30 p.m., Oct. 22, 6:30-9 p.m. Camp Trainings is held 45 min before each Orientation & Training
It is important to register as soon as possible as orientation and training is limited to 16 people. For more information or to register for an orientation and training session, go to the website and create your volunteer profile at www.manestreamnj.org or call volunteer coordinator, Rebecca Jablonski at (908) 439-9636.
Mane Stream is a non-profit registered charitable organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life for individuals with physical, developmental, emotional and medical challenges through a diverse program of equine-assisted activities, therapy services and educational initiatives. Mane Stream is designated as a Premier Accredited Center of PATH: Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship, International, which provides education, accreditation and resources for the equine-assisted activities industry.
John Adams on future generations celebrating the Declaration of Independence:
“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty; it ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”
After 30 years as one of New Jersey’s best-known equestrian facilities, Duncraven will be going on the market this month.
The 75-acre farmland-protected property in Titusville, Mercer County, is continuing to host horse shows run by Claudine Libertore while it is still owned by Tim Fedor, but it basically shut down as a boarding operation in May.
An aerial view of Duncraven.
Explaining his reason for selling, Tim said, “I sat down with my wife, we’re empty nesters now, and we decided to move on and probably head south.” He would like to see Duncraven remain as a boarding stable and/or show facility. Thank goodness its farmland protected status means it can’t turn into a housing development, as too many of our horse farms have done.
Naturally, Tim has many memories as he looks back over his time at the property. But he noted, “The one thing that stands out the most is meeting all the people and some of the young kids who come in as boarders and how they develop and change.
Duncraven is still the scene of many horse shows. (Photo by Paws and Rewind)
“The horses teach them a lot of responsibility and give them a lot of self-confidence. I’ve seen some dramatic changes in young women who come in as shy and timid and leave very confident, grown-up people. I’ve had customers who have been with me over 10 years and I’ve seen them go from 9- or 10 years old until they go off to college. It’s a pretty neat process to watch.”
The property initially was purchased as an investment for potential development. It was envisioned “as an equestrian estates type of development,” Tim recalled.
“Then my family kind of took a 360 and was more into preserving things. We also owned 75 acres across the street, which we sold to the Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space Program nine or ten years ago.”
A closoe-up view of the barns.
Getting involved with Duncraven “was quite the learning curve,” said Tim, who had not even ridden a horse when he started.
Trainers who have leased stalls at Duncraven have included the late Gary Kunsman, eventer Buck Davidson and show jumper Kevin Babington. But one constant through the years has been the facility’s own head trainer, Nancy Wallis.
“She has been with me the entire time. She is the most incredible person there is. The most hard-working, generous; I can’t possibly say enough about her. I don’t think I would have made it 30 years without her,” he emphasized.
The Duncraven property is a scenic place for shows. (Photo by Paws and Rewind)
Nancy, who freelances and does a lot of course design, has more than a sentimental attachment to Duncraven.
“It’s like the end of an era,” she said.
“If we ever had a Duncraven reunion, there would be 500 people there: People who have been affected through that business, whether working there, as a student or attending horse shows. Maybe we’ll all be standing by the ingate next year– it will just be somebody else’s place.”
Want to improve your core strength through the movement of horses? Mane Stream in Oldwick is offering a five-week Women’s Pelvic Health Group Program starting July 17 from 1:30-2:30 p.m. It offers exercises you can do at home, along with education and support.
“The pelvis is the core of our movement experience- it is integral to almost all of our body’s movement, balance, and posture,” according to Mane Stream’s promotion of the program.
The sessions will be led by Gina Taylor, a licensed occupational therapist, PATH International (therapeutic riding) Certified Instructor with Advanced Standing. Sign up online https://bit.ly/2J9ZOL3 or email Gina at gina@manestreamnj.org
Looking for something patriotic to attend on the Fourth of July, as long as it has an equine element?
Celebrate the 243d anniversary of the Declaration of Independence signing at Ringwood Manor in Ringwood State Park, located in northern New Jersey.
There will be crafts, demonstrations and children’s activities from 11 a.m.-4 p.m., while the Manor is open to the public from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. for self-guided tours.
The main program begins with an explanation of the historical background of declaring independence at 2 p.m. Re-enactors will perform a militia muster and debate between loyalists and “rebels.” News that the Declaration has been signed and the document itself will be brought at 2:30 p.m. by three horseback re-enactors — Chris Arzt on Jäger, a Standardbred; Brett Bokman on Pistol, a Quarter Horse and Joe Puccetti on Vic, a 100 percent Foundation Morgan.
The dramatic reading of the Declaration will be followed by a flag ceremony and a salute to the new nation at 3 p.m.
You can do it all, pay homage to a key moment in our nation’s history and still have time for your barbeque.
A free barn safety and fire prevention program will be held from 6:30-7:30 p.m. July 23 at the
Horse Park of New Jersey in Allentown.
Presented by the Garden State Horse & Carriage Society, it will include a power point presentation in the indoor arena, followed by hands-on training with a fire extinguisher.
A signed waiver may be required for the hands on training, which could be limited depending on the number of people who want to do it..
The presenters will be firefighter John Perrotto and a member of the Fire Academy staff. Those attending are asked to bring their own chairs.
A veteran pairing won the featured Advanced division at the MARS Essex Horse Trials today, as Will Coleman and the dependable Obos O’Reilly took the title by a wide margin.
Their beautiful trip around the formerly soggy course at Moorland Farm in Far Hills put a happy ending on a tumultuous few days for the division, being held at the event for the first time.
It drew 38 entries and an array of high-profile riders in addition to Will, who has been on the Olympic and FEI World Equestrian Games teams.
They included Olympic multi-medalist Phillip Dutton, Buck Davidson and Boyd Martin (who wound up winning the Preliminary Essex division yesterday). Those three, however, were among a total of 26 scratches in the Advanced ranks, with 18 bowing out after dressage, two retiring in stadium jumping and six overnight withdrawals.
A week of rain preceding the event, which was revived three years ago after a 19-year absence from the calendar, made things difficult despite impressive efforts by the organizers. The Advanced dressage and stadium jumping, which were supposed to be held Friday, were put off until Saturday, and the cross-country moved from Saturday to Sunday to allow the ground more time to dry.
There is no all-weather footing at Moorland, home of the Far Hills Race Meeting, so the grass surface for stadium jumping was not optimum, despite lots of divot-stomping and being rolled by heavy equipment. Some riders decided it was better to err on the side of caution than to take a chance with their horses. There were no fault-free trips in stadium among the 19 who did ride.
Although the footing was much improved this morning, course designer and event co-manager Morgan Rowsell felt it hadn’t tightened up enough. He decided to leave out nine jumping efforts on the last line, ending the course at the Buckeye Brush, a narrow obstacle after the Mars Sustainable Bay water jump.
“There was only one good question after that, so why force them to run through the deep going,” Morgan explained.
“Why not just play it safe,” added Morgan, noting the riders had expressed some concerns about the surface.
In the end, 11 horses started on cross-country. There were two falls on course, both at the airy Ditch Me Once oxer over a stream, six strides from the Von Stade road crossing, but those involved—human and equine—were able to walk away.
The course drew praise from those who did finish.
“I thought it rode great. It’s a shame we didn’t get to run all of it,” said Will, who complimented Morgan’s efforts. At the same time, he understood why some riders scratched as they were thinking ahead to future competitions, such as Phillip Dutton with Z, who is going to Aachen this summer.
I chatted with Will about his time at Essex, an event he cited for its “character,” and the regard he has for Obos.
Missy Miller made a big leap from 30th place after dressage to finish second on Quinn. She trains with Phillip Dutton, and although he and so many others scratched, she saddled up for cross-country and rode beautifully, finishing on 59.8 penalties.
It was only the second time Missy and Quinn have done Advanced, so you can see why she had a big smile on her face.
Hometown favorite Meg Kepferle of Long Valley was thrilled with Anakin, who finished third on 61.5 penalties after placing 23d in dressage.
“I never thought I would get to this level, to be honest,” she said, after joyfully crossing the finish line.
“After all the rain and the chaos of the weekend, in the back of my mind I was going to scratch,” she recalled.
However, “It just kept working out,” she said, noting how good her show jumping phase was, with only one rail down on a very difficult course set by Chris Barnard.
Meg made her final decision about running today with some outside help.
“I’m lucky to have some good advisors who told me it’s going to be fine. It was really good.”
Juli Sebring, who finished last in dressage in 38th place, made up for it on cross-country with Welbourne, winding up seventh overall with 121.8 penalties.
She got socked with time penalties because she stopped after veering off into the wrong galloping lane after the first fence, but when she learned she wasn’t eliminated for that, she literally got back on track and came home with a big smile on her face.
“My horse rode amazingly well. The footing rode fine,” she said.
Essex and the classic car show that ran with it today at the venue benefitted from weekend weather as sunny as the week was rainy. Attendance for the weekend was approximately 5,000, as ticket holders took advantage of vendors and activities for children in addition to watching the competition.
The efforts of the energetic volunteers drew raves from exhibitors about how helpful and friendly they were. I asked Ruth Beesch, who events at a low level and keeps her horse in nearby Tewksbury, why she decided to volunteer at Essex as an “event ambassador” who explains the sport to sponsors.
“It’s a local event that’s already becoming a premier event,” she told me.
“If those of us who are locals and love eventing and love our horses and our horse community don’t come out and volunteer for something like this, there’s something wrong with us.”
Erik Duvander, the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s eventing performance manager, was helping move jumps to secure the best footing on approaches to the fences for the Advanced stadium jumping on Saturday. A first time visitor to the event, he was enthusiastic about its potential and decided to pitch in.
Essex is definitely on the rise, despite the weather situation that affects any outdoor sport.
“We want to continue to grow the event and improve the event,” said Guy Torsillieri, who as the race meeting’s key player with Ron Kennedy, is the Essex event’s landlord.
“We had record rains. We never had it this wet, ever. We’re really good at making hard ground soft, but we’re not too good at making soft ground hard,” Guy observed.
Through the efforts of MARS Equestrian and other sponsors, he said that without losing the flavor of a smaller competition, “we’re positioned to make this an even better event.”
As Ralph Jones, who serves as the event’s co-chairman with Morgan noted, “We did the best we could. It was nice to have the armada of the Far Hills Race Meeting behind us to do some work on the course, because that showed the riders we would do everything we could for their safety during the competition, and that made a big difference to them, so I think we earned their respect.”
The MARS Essex Horse Trials didn’t have the weather on its side in the week leading up to this weekend’s competition, but the sun finally shone big time today, and so did the event at Moorland Farm in Far Hills.
The crowd was so large that auxiliary parking had to found, the cross-country course design was masterful and entries were excellent. Essex has a lot of elements that make it special.
“It’s what riders all dream of,” Boyd Martin said about the event after winning the featured Preliminary Essex section with Luke 140. He was first throughout the competition, despite time penalties on cross-country and a rail in show jumping, finishing on 30.10 penalties ahead of Cornelia Dorr with 31.10 aboard Daytona Beach 8.
It was Boyd’s first visit to Essex, but he was so enthusiastic, it certainly won’t be his last—despite soggy ground after days of rain. That led to a bunch of scratches in the Advanced division, which was being held for the first time. But listen to Boyd’s take on the event.
Revived for just three years since its last previous running in 1998, Essex got an amazing 38 entries for its Advanced division’s inaugural run. Only 18 riders showed up for stadium jumping, however, with Boyd on Contestor and Buck Davidson on Erroll Gobey retiring after having rails. None of the competitors jumped a clean round.
Sixteen will try the advanced cross-country at 8 a.m. Sunday. Because of the rain-drenched ground, Advanced could not run dressage and stadium on Friday as planned, and everything had to be rescheduled to take place Saturday and Sunday.
Leading the way in Advanced is Will Coleman on Obos O’Reilly with 35.70 penalties. Right behind him is Jennie Brannigan with I Bella on 37.30. Jennie had quite a day Saturday, taking first and second in the Open Preliminary with F.E. Connory and Hopscotch, respectively.
Like Boyd, Will was making his Essex debut, and he was very positive about his experience.
“I think it’s one of the best new events in America. They had bad luck this week with the weather, but I think we’re all just ecstatic with what they’ve done here and really, really excited about coming back next year,” Will said.
Cross-country course designer Morgan Rowsell, who co-chairs Essex with Ralph Jones, noted, “We got six or eight inches of rain over the last week. The only reason the footing is suspect is because the rain just came down and came down. I would rather the riders pull out if they feel this is wrong for their horses. It’s just a bad circumstance, but we’re having a good weekend.
“The riders accept and appreciate our efforts and they will be back next year. Running 16 horses, we’ll make a show of it.”
To hear Morgan’s thoughts about his cross-country course design for the Advanced division, watch this video.
We’ll wrap up our coverage of Essex tomorrow night, so be sure to come back to the website then.
Lord Stirling Stable in Basking Ridge is presenting “Pony Pals,” a program for children and their parents designed to introduce kids to ponies while encouraging child-parent interaction.
“Pony Pals” on June 29 is tailored to two groups: children 2-4 years of age and 5-7 years. A parent or legal guardian must accompany their child/children for the program at 256 S. Maple Ave.
The younger group will meet from 10-11 a.m. Activities are a pony-themed story and a pony ride. The fee is $10 per child/parent pair and $5 for each additional sibling age 2 to 9 years.
Children ages 5 to 7 will meet from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Their activities include a pony story, a game or craft,and a pony ride. The fee is $12 per child/parent pair. Siblings ages 5 to 9 may attend for an additional charge of $6 each.
Pre-registration is required online at www.somersetcountyparks.org, by phone at 908-722-1200, ext. 5010, or in person at the Stable office. Payment by cash, check, Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover is required at time of enrollment.
