Program in Gladstone aimed at helping dressage riders step up to the podium

by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 1, 2017

By Nancy Jaffer

November 1, 2017

The horses who were part of the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s development dressage training  and evaluation session in Gladstone someday may be on an American team at a major championship—or they may never rise to that level.

But the help their riders got during the October sessions from U.S. Development Dressage Coach Debbie McDonald and other key professionals was geared to giving them a leg up, not only with their current mounts, but also with the horses they may ride and train in the future.

Development dressage coach Debbie McDonald instructing Allison Kavey, who rode Cacharel in the clinic, said, “It was a great opportunity for this horse and me to get this level of instruction before we went to Florida.” (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)

It was, as always, fascinating to watch Debbie work with the riders in her gentle but effective way, counseling here on improving a pirouette canter along the way to making a pirouette better, or there, on improving the contact through positioning, rather than pushing the horse into it.

The four-day workshop at U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation headquarters, where so many Olympians have trained over the decades, offered an important step for those aspiring to represent their country someday. The program, which also runs in other regions, is part of a revamped effort to link the elite horse/rider combinations competing at the Olympics, World Equestrian Games, World Cup finals and Pan American Games with those on the rise at lower levels. The greatest pairings cannot go on forever, and the U.S. needs a pipeline for cultivating talent able to proceed through the ranks.

Emily Donaldson of Pennsylvania was thrilled she and her two horses could participate. One is a 12-year-old who just started Prix St. Georges/I-1. The other is an eight-year-old still working on flying changes. Being involved with the clinic made a difference for her and her mounts.

“It’s just been amazing. You think, `If I could do this every week, gosh, what would happen with my training?’ You have to be a sponge and soak every bit of it in and sort of run with it when you go home,” said Emily, who is fighting breast cancer and undergoing chemotherapy, but pushed hard to make sure she could take advantage of the clinic.

Emily Donaldson and Audi honed their skills during the clinic. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)

“The USEF is so generous. It’s amazing what they have provided us with. My goal is to be a team rider.  As a pro, it’s hard to find time for yourself. Just being here…it’s been amazing.”

Debbie remembers when development programs often were under-funded, since money originally allotted “would get pulled because it was an Olympic or a WEG (World Equestrian Games) year.” While that was “totally understandable” as Debbie said, it also was frustrating.

But the game changed when the program got support from USET Foundation Trustee Akiko Yamazaki (best known as the sponsor of Steffen Peters) and the Red Husky Foundation. In addition, Elizabeth Juliano has contributed as the founding sponsor of a physiotherapy initiative, represented by Andy Thomas in Gladstone. The program also included a session with a sports psychologist, as well as evaluation of dressage tests by Olympian and judge Charlotte Bredahl.

“Every year I do this,” said Debbie, “I get a bigger vision of where this could go. I might still want to tweak it a little bit, but this year, I feel so much more engaged with the riders and I feel like I’m helping them set goals and future plans.”

Riders came from as far away as Iowa and Illinois to take advantage of the program. Not every region has an abundance of resources for dressage, so that makes the program doubly important.

“Finding some good eyes on the ground is difficult in some of these places that people live,” said Debbie, who also watched how the participants’ own trainers worked with them.

Former U.S. dressage chef d’equipe Jessica Ransehousen, who rode on Olympic teams during this country’s dawn of dressage consciousness, was on hand with Emily, who is her student. When Jessica was leading the U.S. squads, there was no program comparable to this, and it was hard for many people to find a pathway to the top.

Jessica appreciates the availability of such former top competitors as Debbie and Charlotte.

“I think what’s going to happen is these people (the riders in the development program) are going to talk to their friends who are then going to want to come into a program like this. It’s going to get bigger and bigger,” Jessica said.

“We want to encourage those riders who have already been to the top to put some time into it,” she continued, discussing the way veterans can reach out to those aspiring to achieve a higher level of performance.

Jessica noted that while she can tell Emily something in her weekly lessons, “Debbie can say it in a little bit of a different way, and suddenly it clicks.”

Missy Fladland, who is based in Iowa, called the clinic “top notch.”

Missy Fladland and Sundance 8 (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)

“The experience has been great. We’re meeting not only other professionals that we can connect and network with. Debbie and Charlotte both have an ability to fine-tune the little things in the rider and horse to make it look seamless,” she commented.

“Where the program is going to go for the U.S. and the future of dressage is just unstoppable. For me, this experience has been amazing, unbelievable.”

The revamped program includes evaluation as well as training. As the USEF’s managing director for dressage, Hallye Griffin explained it, after the session, some people may be selected for membership that will enable them to obtain grants. In the past, athletes applied for grants, but there wasn’t a lot of individual follow-up with those who were chosen.

Now, after they have been selected, the areas where they need more help are identified and they are put in touch with experts in those fields, whether it’s physiotherapy, statistical analysis or others. The process also calls for a six- month review to determine whether they have reached the targets set for them, perhaps moving up a level or getting a certain score.

The development clinic was preceded by a day-long Discover Dressage™ USEF/U.S. Dressage Federation Emerging Athlete Program for the under-25 group, directed by USEF Dressage Youth Coach Dressage George Williams and Charlotte, the assistant youth coach. Discover Dressage’s president, Kimberly Van Kampen, is a longtime supporter of the discipline.

The emerging athlete component is part of the same initiative that offers a clear road for getting to the top.

“The aim of a pathway is to make sure that there is education, coaching and competition support at every level, and a clear vision of what it takes to get to the next step, if that’s what people want to do,” said USEF Director of Sport Will Connell.

“You plant a tree and you watch it grow. This is about finding people that are starting out in their international career and helping them grow.”

The Far Hills Races offer a day like no other

by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 22, 2017

By Nancy Jaffer
October 22, 2017

It had been years since I attended the Far Hills Race Meeting, once a “must” stop for me, but now off my calendar because it often conflicted with the Dutta Corp. Fair Hill (don’t confuse the names) International Three-Day Event in Maryland. This year, though, Fair Hill was last weekend, leaving me free yesterday to head back to the races a few miles from my home in New Jersey.

For those unfamiliar with the Far Hills phenomenon, I should explain that it is a day when everything seems to stop (including the traffic) in this tiny Somerset County town, where as many as 40,000 racegoers have descended on it in previous years.

The whole day is about the steeplechase races. Stores close, trains to the Far Hills station are packed, sidewalks are jammed and caterers stay up all night to prepare the feasts served at coveted tailgate spots on the hill at Moorland Farm. Want to buy a ticket at the gate? That’ll cost you $200.

I could go by car only so far on the road to the races, because the traffic was overwhelming. So my husband dropped me off and I started walking, carrying a couple of cameras and other gear. A woman in an SUV obviously felt sorry for me and kindly asked if I’d like to ride with her. I didn’t see the point, since the line of cars had been proceeding even more slowly than I was, and she agreed that we’d probably arrive at the same time. She was right. We ran into each other near the first turn on the race course and caught part of the first race, the Gladstone, together.

Menacing Dennis, second from the lead here, was the winner of the $50,000 Gladstone, the first race at Far Hills. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)

Turned out she was Laura Traphagen, a former show ring competitor and friend of the family with whom I used to board my horses in New Vernon (about 20 minutes from Far Hills). That’s how it is on race day at Moorland; you’ll see people who have some connection with you that has nothing to do with racing.

I noticed that eventer Holly Payne-Caravella had sent out a tweet Friday saying she would be at the races (like me, she had been obligated to go to Fair Hill instead when there was a date conflict.) I found her at a space in the front row that her family has had for 30 years, although she sadly pointed out that since she last attended, a big tent had been erected in front of the their location, so the Paynes’ view of the racing was blocked.

Holly and her brother, Doug, also a successful eventer, had ridden in the pony races that once were a feature at Far Hills, and of course, we started talking about the old days. I had her there, since I can remember going to the races in the 1960s (before she was born), when there may have been about 5,000 people maximum on hand, most of whom were wearing tweed and knew each other. The crowd often used to include Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who had a home in Peapack and hunted with the Essex Foxhounds.

Long ago, the races were sponsored by the Essex,  so the local hunt could thank farmers across whose property they rode. The races moved to Moorland, then a private estate, in 1916.

A stuffed fox decorating a hillside parking space at Moorland Farm is a reminder that the races were once associated with a hunt, but no longer. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)

For years, they were called the hunt races by those in the know. Essex hasn’t been involved for decades, however, and the crowds grew after the races were marketed as “Family Day in the Country” during the early 1970s. The races have raised millions of dollars for charity, benefiting Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset (where the Steeplechase Cancer Center is located) and RWJ Barnabas Health, as well as the Cancer upport Community.

As Holly noted, folks in the know these days call Far Hills “the races.” Those not in the know call it “the hunt,” which annoys me (I work in words, after all) since the steeplechasing has nothing to do with a hunt anymore. But those folks often don’t even know what the occasion is about anyway; they’re just there to eat, drink and be merry.

They also make fun side bets. Although it was hoped that pari-mutuel betting would be in place for this year’s races, it didn’t work out and 2018 should be the first time it is in effect.

Michael Manasia of New York, who is looking forward to parimutuel betting at Far Hills and Virginia Ranger of New Vernon show they are into the partying with their lampshade hats and good humor. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)

Under-age and excessive drinking had become a problem at the races, so this year there was a real crackdown and increased presence of law enforcement. There also was an initiative between Lyft and Beam Suntory (Makers Mark) to offer some free rides home from the event.

I have only anecdotal evidence of how the initiative worked from what I experienced, but walking out of Moorland in the past, I’d often run into stumbling, falling-down drunks. I encountered none of that this year, and the young people with whom I spoke seemed fine. I did wonder, however, why so many people searching for the Far Hills train station to return home were walking in the direction of Peapack instead. I gave out directions to a good number folks to get them back on track, so to speak.

Conditions were optimum both for the horses and the spectators, while the autumn colors of the trees added just the right artistic note to the incredibly scenic picture as spectators spread across not only the hillside, but the infield as well..

“It’s a beautiful day, the racecourse is in perfect shape and I’m tickled pink,” said Guy Torsilieri, president of the National Steeplechase Association, who chairs the race meeting with Ron Kennedy. He noted sales were “a little off because we really aggressively launched that campaign against underage drinking and I’m okay with that. If they figured out they couldn’t come here and drink, it’s fine with with me.”

Non-racing sport horse competition is my mainstay.  I used to cover racing (most notably, I wrote about Secretariat’s Belmont victory that secured the Triple Crown in 1973, the first time in 25 years that a horse had taken that honor.) But I’ve been away from racing for a long time, so I was looking for a sport horse link—and I found it.

That first race, the $50,000 Gladstone for three-year-olds, was won by Menacing Dennis, after Snuggling, first across the finish line, was disqualified for interference and placed third. Dennis is trained by Julie Gomena, who was a winner at the 1994 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event.

The feature at Far Hills is the $400,000 Grand National Steeplechase, which dates back to 1899 and has been run in various locations, including Saratoga and Belmont. It’s the richest steeplechase in the U.S.

The honors went to Mr. Hot Stuff, an 11-year-old son of Tiznow who had an undistinguished performance in the Kentucky Derby as a three-year-old. He’s owned by Gil Johnston, who also owns show jumper Leslie Burr Howard’s top ride, Gentille van Spieveld. See, there’s that connection. Gil also gave me a little scoop when she told me that a new mount, Flo, has been purchased for Leslie.

Mr. Hot Stuff was third going over the final fence in the $400,000 Grade I Grand National, the Far Hills feature. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)

As the horses headed to the finish line, where a solid mass of people watched along the fence, Mr. Hot Stuff showed his class by passing the battling Modem and All the Way Jose to win by a nose.

But heading toward the finish line, Mr. Hot Stuff (right) put on a surge to overcome Modem (center) and All the Way Jose, winning the Grand National. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)

Although Mr. Hot Stuff has had some soundness issues, and often needs to go back to Gil’s Tennessee farm for a year or so to recuperate, she believes in him and her patience has paid off. Mr. Hot Stuff appears likely to be the National Steeplechase Association’s leading earner of 2017.

“He’s a cool horse,” said trainer Jack Fisher, who pays off the thoroughbred in his favorite mints.

Gil bought him as a five-year-old at auction, without knowing whether he could jump. But she had confidence, since he was “an athletic-looking horse.”  At the moment, she has no plans to retire him, but when they hang up his saddle for good, he’ll be living at her Tennessee farm along with 20 or so other retired horses.

The last race, the 3 and ¼-mile New Jersey Hunt Cup over timber, brought me together with people from the eventing world. Nina and Tim Gardner, who own Jennie Brannigan’s best-known eventer, Cambalda, were in the winner’s circle after their 9-year-old gray, Where’s the Beef, took charge of the seven-horse field.

Nina and Tim Gardner, familiar faces at three-day eventing, with Ivan Dowling who trained their New Jersey Hunt Cup winner, Where’s the Beef. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)

Jennie reconditioned the gelding by Rockport and rode him in several eventing competitions “to get him going and relaxed,” Nina said. The rider made her debut as a jockey in March 2015 with the horse, finishing fourth in an allowance race on the turf at the Aiken Spring Steeplechase. He was ridden at Far Hills by Mark Beecher. The Gardners, residents of Maryland, are now looking to have their horse start in the Maryland Hunt Cup.

The trophies at Far Hills have great meaning beyond being souvenirs of a win.

In the second race, 2 and 1/8 miles on the turf, Whitman’s Poetry scored the victory. The race is named in memory of trainer Harry E. Harris, whose daughter, Diane, presented the trophy. Diane’s late mother, Muriel Harris, was the secretary of many of our local horse shows in the Somerset Hills several decades ago, and Diane was quite a rider herself. She had a top pony named Little Bronze Wing, but isn’t involved with horses these days. Still, seeing her brought back memories.

The trophy for the Peapack race, a two and 1/8 mile competition for fillies and mares that was won easily by Lady Blanco, is particularly special. It is a new one in memory of Betty Merck, a great lady who was a former master of Essex and an avid steeplechase owner whose horses won at Far Hills. The beautiful silver cup was bought a few years ago, before she passed away, and now has been pressed into service as a special memento.

Lady Blanco opens up a huge lead in the Peapack against the backdrop of the hillside and tower. I saw her in the post parade and sensed she would win. “She’s all business. She’s very sweet, but she’ll run over top of you if you’re not careful,,” said owner Amy Taylor Rowe, noting it was only her second start. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)

The races, sponsored by the Open Road Auto Group and Peapack-Gladstone Bank, really have become an extravaganza with many moving parts, including a vendor village and giant viewing screens. Those tweedy folks who attended in the 1960s and before wouldn’t recognize their event.

Ron Kennedy, who co-chairs the races, said he got up at 5:30 a.m. Saturday after a few hours of sleep to make sure everything was on target at Moorland. He keeps a pad of paper and a pencil by his bed to keep track of thoughts he has during the night about what has to be done.

The race meeting, he pointed out with a good-natured smile, “is so explosive. It’s like a cannon—there’s no chance to get ahead of it.”  But the organizers do an excellent job in managing their once-a-year-day.

If Moorland sounds familiar to you, maybe it’s because you identify it as the home of the Essex Horse Trials, which was reinstituted in June after a 19-year absence from the scene. It will host the trials again June 23-24 2018, offering another chance to spend time at one of the most beautiful locations in New Jersey.

Stars and rising stars highlight USEF Talent Search Finals East

by Nancy Jaffer | Oct 8, 2017

By Nancy Jaffer
October 8, 2017

Two of the biggest names in equitation headlined the weekend’s Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals East, with Taylor St. Jacques (a star at Devon this year) leading the standings after three phases, only to drop to second in the final rankings after 2015 ASPCA Maclay winner McKayla Langmeier showed her prowess once again.

McKayla Langmeier won the Platinum Performance/ USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals East on Skyfall. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)

The two days of competition at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation in Gladstone, N.J., ended with the special format of the Final Four, in which the top candidates after three phases (flat, gymnastics and a 12-obstacle course) rode their own horses over an eight-fence route, then took each of the other three participants’ mounts around it as well.

The Final Four is a real equalizer. For instance, while McKayla has had her mount, Skyfall, for five years, Taylor Griffiths, who finished third, had only met her ride, Caracas, last Tuesday. On the other hand, that big gray carried Halie Robinson to the West Coast Talent Search title last month, so he definitely had the right stuff.

No one was perfect in the Final Four. McKayla had a rail with Caracas and also a cross-canter mishap on a turn, but Taylor knocked down the second element of a wall-to-oxer double. That counted strongly against her because it happened on her own mount, the fabulous Charisma, who won the Grappa award as Best Horse in the final. Meanwhile, in the plus column for McKayla was the way she rode the first line in a neat nine strides, rather than a scrambling eight.

Taylor St. Jacques and Charisma. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)

McLain Ward, who judged the class with fellow grand prix show jumper Jimmy Torano, called the Final Four concept “phenomenal,” citing the way it worked out at this championship. (Interestingly, the Final Four horse-switching for the World Show Jumping Championships, after which the Talent Search segment was modeled, has been dropped. It seems show jumpers are just too expensive these days to be swapped off.)

But it still works at the Talent Search.

“For me, it was exciting right to the very end. I think that’s the beauty of it; it changes, there’s ebbs and flows, it’s not one mistake and you’re out,” McLain said.

“Riders have a chance to rebound and fight back. Taylor fought back and made it very close. There was not a lot of room for McKayla to make a mistake, she had a beautiful last round and got the job done.”

McKayla was surprised to find out she had won. While she and Taylor St. Jacques were waiting for the announcement, neither was sure what the outcome would be.

Talent Search judges McLain Ward and Jimmy Torano work on laying out the final course for the class. (Photo copyright 2017 by Nancy Jaffer)

The Talent Search process is an educational weekend that serves riders on the rise who apply themselves. Taylor Griffiths is only 14; Abigail Brayman, who was fourth, is still polishing her resume. Nina Columbia used it to get a foothold on improving her position on the Big Eq scene. Nina, 16, of Kinnelon, was the top-placing New Jersey competitor in the field of 52, finishing eighth.

McLain said of Nina, “The girl was close all week, we thought the world of her. She had a nice way with the horse, a nice attitude, nice feeling.”

Nina got introduced to horses by the time she was three at the Smoke Rise Riding Club, where her grandmother, Barbara Columbia, also rode. Barbara was on hand to watch her granddaughter, along with Nina’s father, John Columbia, who drives her to lessons three times a week at Beacon Hill in Monmouth County, a long way from the family’s home in northern Morris County.

After riding with Robert Beck in Long Valley, Nina started taking lessons with Stacia Madden at Beacon Hill a year ago.

“She’s provided me with the most amazing opportunities,” said Nina, noting she also found her finals horse, Checkland.

Nina Columbia and Checkland. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)

“He’s the most amazing partner, he saves me and he’s awesome,” said Nina, a junior at Kinnelon High School.

She made her Talent Search debut in 2016, but this time it was a different story.

“I’m taking the lessons I learned last year and applying them to this year,” said Nina. While it can be challenging to take part among a legion of top riders, she noted, “I’ve been really working hard. I’ve been thinking a lot. Stacia taught me to think, to plan, to take a breath. That’s what I’ve been doing, and it’s paid off.”

“Any time you’re competing against top riders, it brings your level of riding up to the next level,” Stacia said about Nina’s performance.

She takes pride in her student’s improvement.

“Everything is just starting to come together at the end of the year,” commented Stacia.

Nina is hoping to ride NCAA at college, and is interested in pursuing the horse business professionally, but first, she’s focusing on the the Medal and Maclay finals this autumn.

More items of interest:

• The top 10: 1) McKayla Langmeier; 2) Taylor St. Jacques; 3) Taylor Griffiths; 4) Abigail Brayman; (Check out who trained them in the main story above); 5) Addison Piper (trained by Emily Smith); Alexandra Pielet (Val Renihan); 7) Carly Hoft (Don Stewart); 8) Nina Columbia (Stacia Madden); 9) Daisy Farish (Andre Dignelli); 10) Michael Williamson (Don Stewart).
• The other Jerseyan in the finals, Emma Callanan of Tewksbury Township, also had a credible performance to move from 21^st following the gymnastics phase to wind up 11th after earning a 90 that was the third-highest score in the Sunday morning jumping. She is trained by Dana Hart Callanan.
• During the gymnastics phase, riders had to go from a one-stride double of verticals to a one-stride double of oxers in five strides. Later in the course, they had to ride the same line in reverse, but with six strides between the combinations. It was interesting to see how many riders ran out of room the second time and chipped at the first element of the final combination.
• In the Sunday morning course, the water jump banked with mums was a bogey for some, but only a few in the top 15 had difficulty there, and all of them did clear it,  just not necessarily in great style.
• McLain had words of encouragement for those who struggled: “Whether you were successful or not in the jumping course, I hope you learned something and you understood your own riding strengths and weaknesses and that of your horse better. Not everybody’s going to master it, but they should leave not feeling defeated. They should leave thinking, `This is what i need to do to get better.'”
• The tests need to be reflective of the times and the standard of the sport. “We’re not preparing kids to go hunting anymore,” said McLain.”We’re preparing kids to jump the Nations’ Cup Final, and I think that needs to be reflected in all the equitation finals, in my opinion. Otherwise, it’s not relevant.”
• McKayla is coached by her parents, Linda (also a Maclay finals winner) and Kenny, as well as Missy Clark. Missy also trained Abigail Brayman. Taylor St. Jacques is trained by Andre Dignelli, who judged the West Coast finals, and Taylor Griffiths gets her coaching from her stepfather, Frank Madden, and her mother, Jen Madden.

McKayla Langmeier with John Brennan; her parents, Ken and Linda Langmeier, Missy Clark and Emily Smith of Platinum Performance. (Photo copyright 2017 by Nancy Jaffer)

• Discussing McKayla, Missy mentioned her “work ethic: A-plus; talent: A-plus; Dedication: A-plus; Interest level: A-plus. All of it. She has worked so hard for so many years and always is so respectful and polite and appreciative. She’s a good one.”
• Everyone was thrilled to have judges of Jimmy and McLain’s caliber. “Not only are these two guys so knowledgeable, their level of passion is through the roof,” Frank Madden pointed out.
• McLain got a laugh when he revealed the reminder to be kind that he wrote at the top of his scorecard, “Remember, your daughter might be here in a few years.”