If you’ve been looking for a way to introduce your child to horses, Pony Pals could be the ticket.
The program presented by Somerset County’s Lord Stirling Stable for children and their parents is designed to get children and ponies together, while encouraging child-parent interaction. Pony Pals is scheduled for July 7 at the stable, 256 South Maple Ave., Basking Ridge.
The program, which runs from 11 a.m.-noon, was created for 2- to 4-year-olds. It features a pony-themed story and a lead line pony ride. The fee is $10 per child/parent pair and $5 for each additional sibling age 2-9 years.
Pre-registration is required online at www.somersetcountyparks.org, by phone at 908-722-1200, ext. 5010, or in person at the Stable office. For additional information, call Lord Stirling Stable at 908-722-1200, ext. 5010.
The Garden State Horse Show, once New Jersey’s largest hunter/jumper competition, is moving next year from the Sussex County fairgrounds to the U.S. Equestrian Federation Foundation’s historic Gladstone facility.
Garden State, set to run its 69th edition April 27-May 5, is following the lead of the Monmouth County Horse Show, which left Freehold for the foundation grounds in Somerset County two years ago. The third edition of what is now called Monmouth at the Team is set for Aug. 12-20, but Monmouth has long been billed as the oldest continually running show in the country.
With the move, Monmouth became a boutique one-ring show, rather than a multi-ring affair, in a setting that is a big selling point. People enjoy riding in the same arena (albeit with new state-of-the-art footing) where the likes of show jumping legends including Bill Steinkraus, Frank Chapot and George Morris trained. A Monmouth trademark is the hospitality in a ringside tent, offering a warm welcome, music, and plenty to eat and drink. High-end vendors and a good sponsor experience complete the picture.
One thing Garden State and Monmouth now have in common is their manager, Tucker Ericson, an insurance executive and horse show judge who splits his time between Ocala, Fla., and Far Hills. He also manages the successful Country Heir shows in Kentucky.
“Tucker’s an excellent guy. I couldn’t be more thrilled,” said Tim Cleary, 61, who stepped down as Garden State’s manager after this year’s show.
Garden State is run by the alumni of the Junior Essex Troop of Cavalry, which originally was based at its own farm in West Orange. The troop was open to boys between the ages of 10 and 18 who trained in the cavalry tradition. But after the farm was sold following the 1983 show, troop membership declined and finally, the organization for young people could not continue.
Even so, the former troopers were a tight-knit group who kept the show going, first at Chubb Park in Chester, before moving to Sussex in 1987 when Garden State outgrew the Morris County venue.
Recently, however, entry numbers dropped as the needs and desires of exhibitors changed with the times and more shows crowded the calendar.
“We were struggling. This year, we really worked hard to try and make ends meet,” said Tim. The former troopers who did much of that work also are getting older, and while they enjoyed their annual reunion at the show, the amount of effort it required was becoming daunting. Concern arose that Garden State might not continue.
So Tim, who works as an announcer at the Monmouth show, believes the new approach for Garden State is the perfect fit and will insure that the show can go on.
“I think it’s awesome. I couldn’t be more thrilled about the whole thing. It’s the tradition of Troop locking up with the tradition of the Team,” explained Tim, an associate professor of equine studies at Centenary University in Hackettstown.
Tim noted that having only one ring makes it “almost like an indoor.” The show is nine days (the first two days’ offerings are not recognized by the U.S. Equestrian Federation) so it can accommodate the wide range of classes Garden State always presented for all levels in multiple rings, but there also will be some editing to make sure every division presented makes sense.
“Trying to determine what the consumer wants is critical,” said Tucker.
Tim appreciates the way Garden State 2019 is developing.
“We were a horse show trying to be an event, and I kind of look at it now that we’re going to be an event surrounded by a horse show,” said Tim.
Tucker, 49, bought the Monmouth show with his cousin, Michael Dowling, an assistant professor of equine studies at Centenary, where he also is a coach of the intercollegiate riding team. It provides a template for Garden State’s evolution.
“The guys from Junior Essex Troop have worked so hard for so many decades on creating a horse show that became a priority to many in New Jersey and surrounding states. At the same time, the industry has put such an emphasis on footing, hotels, restaurants and a special boutique experience,” Tucker observed.
The Somerset Hills where the foundation is located has many amenities close at hand. For instance, there are four high-end restaurants in the borough of Peapack and Gladstone, along with several smaller dining establishments that are a drive of three or four minutes from the showgrounds.
“What Monmouth at the Team has done has shown horse shows that a show like that can thrive. We certainly love Sussex County, but that (the fairgrounds) is such an overwhelming facility to try and get your arms around. Gladstone enables us to do something that’s achievable on the high end, so we can provide that experience an entire family would enjoy,” Tucker continued.
He views hospitality as “so critical” to enable even those who aren’t riders to have some fun. There are gifts for competitors who win first place in every class and the championships, all part of making “the entire experience something people look forward to and not just another run-of-the-mill horse show. Having the entire show focused on one ring creates an atmosphere where the spectators are really enjoying the sport again. That energy at the USET Foundation is hard to replace,” continued Tucker, who compared the concept to the Devon Horse show, which has a main ring and a smaller, ancillary ring often used for warm-up.
Although sponsors will have the opportunity to be involved with two shows at the same facility, Tucker noted Garden State will be “distinct and separate” from Monmouth at the Team. At the same time, Monmouth will be an experience “that we want to replicate, in some regard. I’m sure Garden State will create some of its own nuances” to keep it distinct and separate. That’s especially true since one show is in the spring and the other is in the summer, which means they won’t become redundant. Meanwhile, Tucker is hoping that Garden State will help bring some new people to Monmouth at the Team, and vice-versa.
Another benefit, from Tucker’s viewpoint, “is that we get to promote the USET Foundation at the same time. So many kids growing up today don’t understand the roots of our sport and the mission of the foundation. Every chance we get to promote that facility and help them raise money for our teams and games around the world, it’s so critical to carrying on a tradition that is a whole exciting offshoot of bringing horses to the team (facility).”
Unlike Monmouth, where the highest rating is B, subject to USEF approval Garden State will continue to be rated AA for hunters during its seven recognized days. As usual, it also will have a show jumping grand prix with a purse of at least $25,000. Monmouth does not have a grand prix.
Tucker is hoping that by the time Monmouth at the Team gets under way, a sponsorship packet and tentative schedule for Garden State will be available so people can get an idea what the show will look like.
“Bringing in the community and sponsors will be critical,” Tucker pointed out.
Monmouth’s offerings are similar to last year, but an extra B-rated day has been added to give people another chance to earn points or ride in a division if they’ve been shut out of it earlier in the show because there were so many entries.
“It’s our way of being able to include everyone,” said Tucker.
News about Garden State’s move comes on the heels of word from the Mars Essex Horse Trials, held in June at Moorland Farm in Far Hills, that plans call for its new advanced division in 2019 to have its dressage and show jumping phases at the foundation, with cross-country remaining at Moorland.
The momentum is impressive since the ball got rolling three years ago with the Gladstone Gathering at the foundation. That cocktail party with a purpose brought together more than 200 supporters of horse sport an d representatives of equestrian organizations.
It was a first step toward greater utilization of the foundation’s facility and increasing equestrian involvement in the Somerset Hills. The Gathering sparked the rebirth of the Essex Horse Trials, formerly presented on foundation property, which hadn’t been held for 19 years until it was reorganized in 2017. The Horse Trials are not an anomaly.
Newer facilities in Skillman, run by Princeton Show Jumping, and in Asbury, Warren County, where The Ridge has a series, also are adding life to the state’s show scene.
“It seems to me that the equestrian community in New Jersey is gaining strength again as far as high-end horse shows and people really trying to identify a strategy and a vision that is going to work,” said Tucker.
“Some of that certainly is because of the economy. It’s a lot easier to succeed in promoting a strong vision when the economy supports it. When the economy does dip again, if you’ve proven yourself as a standout and people are pickier with how they spend their dollars, they are going to go to those standout shows and make sure they are the ones that have legs and longevity. I’m always trying to think of ways to have the horse shows work together and share some synergy, whether it’s a vendor or an award, or ideas.”
As he sees it, “There’s a desire to want to keep people locally. If everyone goes away for the entire summer or stays on circuits longer from the winter, if we don’t give them a reason to come back to New Jersey, then shame on us. They may now have a reason to come back to our community and embrace our show.
“We’re giving trainers and exhibitors a reason to stay in New Jersey now. As long as we continue to do that, it’s going to help the area thrive and make people think twice before they’re willing to spend thousands of dollars to travel away, when they’ve got something special in their backyard.”
Take a look at some of the people, horses and scenes from the Mars Essex Horse Trials at Moorland Farm in Far Hills. Relive a fun weekend in these photos taken at the second year of the iconic event’s revival, which enjoyed perfect weather that defied the gloomy forecasts of thunderstorms.
Not only is it ready to host an Advanced division (Preliminary was the highest level offered this year and in 2017), it plans to supplement its location at Moorland Farm in Far Hills with a side-trip to the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation headquarters in Gladstone, where Essex was held until lack of cross-country space at the foundation site led to its termination after the 1998 edition.
The Advanced section would have its dressage and show jumping Thursday and Friday at the Foundation, where the historic arena has top-flight, up-to-date artificial footing. The Advanced entries would return to Moorland Saturday for cross-country, but all the other divisions will do their entire competition at Moorland, where the surface is turf for each segment. That concept would double the length of Essex, which has only been held on the weekend for the past two years.
Guy Torsilieri, an Essex board member and a key player in bringing Essex back to the scene in 2017 after a 19-year absence, noted Essex had permission to do Advanced for 2018, but passed.
“We chose not to do it this year because we’re still growing and working out the kinks as we re-invigorate Essex,” he said.
“We could do the total Advanced package here (at Moorland), but the turf and footing becomes questionable for the show jumping and dressage if we get weather conditions. Turf is the best—until it isn’t; until you get three inches of rain the night before, like we did last year and our dressage fields were flooded.”
The solution this year involved moving dressage away from the boggy area where it was held in 2017, and prime weather meant the show jumping arena was perfect. But the climate doesn’t always cooperate.
Guy and Ralph Jones, who co-chairs Essex with cross-country course designer Morgan Rowsell, had discussions with foundation Executive Director Bonnie Jenkins and Jim Wolf, the assistant executive director, about moving two-thirds of the Advanced test to Gladstone.
“The big story is tying in the traditional home of the Essex Horse Trials with its modern home. It’s gone full circle,” said Jim, who is a member of the Essex board.
Putting the historic foundation facility in the picture adds cachet to the event.
“I always say about Gladstone, when you walk into that stable, the walls talk, all those people who have been there, the history, you can’t replicate that anywhere else in the country,” Jim commented.
“I look at those stables and think about the famous horses that have been there that represented this country. For a rider to ride at a horse trials and be able to have their horse in the same stall as some of those horses is an amazing experience.”
This need to schedule Advanced dressage and show jumping at Gladstone raises a question for Guy about when he should put in a permanent ring with synthetic footing at Moorland, site of the Far Hills Race Meeting each October. He isn’t ready to do that yet, so Gladstone offers a perfect solution.
Asked to sum up where he thinks Essex is at the moment, Ralph said “This is all going according to plan.” He was pleased that the weather cooperated over the weekend (unlike what was predicted) and more than 2,500 people came out on the second day, when a car show was among the activities featured.
Putting everything together “really is a balancing act,” observed Ralph.
“You want to hold a very good equestrian competition. On the other hand, you want to make it a show, a country weekend and a family weekend for the community. The people here at Moorland Farm are dedicated to that. Putting on a good show is your best marketing. In the end, it’s really word of mouth that will bring this fixture back to the magic it was, the old Essex. And that’s really our goal, to bring it back.”
Essex is run for the benefit of the Greater Newark Life Camp in Pottersville, where approximately 300 Newark area youth each summer spend time learning about the environment and otherwise stretching their talent and imagination. More than 130 volunteers have enabled Essex to flourish. Without them, Ralph noted, “we wouldn’t be able to do it.”
The Preliminary Essex Division, offering $20,000 in prize money, was held on Saturday (click on this link to read the story), but there was plenty of action on Sunday for the Training, Novice and Beginner novice levels.
Donna White of Newton and her longtime partner, High Stakes (better known as Cowboy), won the Training B division. She has owned the unraced thoroughbred for 10 years. He started out with her trainer, Holly Payne Caravella.
In a story I wrote for Practical Horseman magazine in 2016, Holly recalled how and why she bought Cowboy.
“His owners had started endurance riding him in Arizona,” she told me.
“They sent me a video, set to music. He was trotting and galloping with his head in the air on a straight line toward the camera, so you couldn’t see anything about his stride or way of moving. Then the cowboy riding him got off and tied his shoe—and the horse just stood there. After that, they threw a tarp over him and he was still motionless. I looked at the video and thought, `This horse is a saint.’
Donna seconds that thought.
“He’s a Training Level packer,” said the 51-year-old rider, who works in analytics for a pharmaceutical company.
In the large Training Rider A section, Valito topped a field of 27 for Dawn Eastabrooks of Tewksbury.
The United Airlines flight attendant was cheered by a crew of United employees who had come out to watch her long-held dreams with Valito finally come to fruition.
Her challenges with the horse included one at Essex last year, when he “balked at the water jump” and that was that. This year, she led all the way through, from dressage and cross-country to a clean round in show jumping. She admitted she was shaking as she cleared each stadium fence (“It was a lot of pressure”) and finished on her dressage score of 30.50—oddly, the same score as Donna earned in her division.
Dawn, 50, bought the Hanoverian/thoroughbred cross Canadian sporthorse as a four-year-old and has owned him for nine years. She credited her trainers, Corey Edwards and Meg Kepferle, who spent time with him over the winter, with helping her get to the point where she could win.
“I’ve had my trials and tribulations, but he showed his true potential today,” she said, the thrill of it all written in her smile.
Dawn and Donna enjoyed their victory gallops in the awards ceremony. Hannah Simmons left her horse on the trailer, so she brought along her new dog, Tonks, who proudly wore the fourth-place ribbon she had earned in Training Rider B. The rescued pup had just been adopted Wednesday, but already was a natural for the spotlight. Click on the video to watch.
Several special awards were given out. They included the Jean and Elliot Haller Perpetual Trophy for Horsemanship. The trophy is named in memory of the couple who owned Hoopstick Farm in Bedminster, where Essex started. The award went to John Nunn, the owner of the Bit of Britain tack shop in Pennsylvania, who competed in the Preliminary division.
Sally Ike, a member of the Essex board, chose him for the honor because of his sportsmanship and his contributions to the sport. “He loves the sport. He just has a smile on his face every time you see him. He loves being here. When I think of what he has done with Bit O’ Britain, giving back to the eventing community, it was a no-brainer.”
The Golden Nugget Memorial Trophy, donated by Clarissa Wilmerding, goes to the lowest-scoring member of a Pony Club (low is good in eventing) who has completed all three phases at Essex. It went to Radnor, Pa., Pony Club member Marina Cassou, 13, second in Beginner Novice Rider A on The Dude.
To see a gallery of photos from Essex, click on this link
For results of the Essex Horse Trials, go to this link.
The energetic 17-year-old Sussex County artist Shya Beth is broadening the exposure of her creations. Her work has often been seen at jumper competitions, such as April’s Global Champions Tour stop in Miami Beach. But she reached out to the eventing community by displaying the latest iteration of her Blue Jean Jumper creation at the Essex Horse Trials in Far Hills.
Shya has been invited to exhibit at the September FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon, N.C. She’ll be showing her five life-size sculptures representing show jumping, dressage, driving and eventing. The interesting twist is that they get signed by athletes and others prominent in the sports they represent.
She’s looking for sponsors to help her Blue Jean Horse Project get to WEG and other shows. Shya also needs blue jeans for her project, and has donation drop-offs at Coach Stop Saddlery, Bedminster; the Centenary University Equestrian Center, Long Valley; Horsemen’s Outlet, Lebanon and Tractor Supply in Sussex, Blairstown and Flanders.
In addition, Shya requires all kinds of tack and a cart of the type used for driving, none of which has to be in usable condition.
Her inclination toward horses and art was inspired by her mother, Mary Beth, a stained glass artist and horsewoman who home-schools her.
It was three years ago that Shya came up with the idea of making life-size horse sculptures, assembled on wooden frames, covered in denim from those donated used blue jeans.
“I think using denim to create these sculptures is not only a unique medium, but also a way that everyone–equestrians or not– can feel connected to this project,” she said.
“Nearly everyone wears jeans, whether they are a pair of NYC designer jeans or a farmer’s old Levi’s. Everyone can feel a connection to this project, which will ultimately help more horses.”
Eventually, the sculptures will be auctioned off after an exhibition. The money will go to equine charities—mustangs are a particular interest of Shya’s, as well as the working donkeys in Third World countries
Citing the abuse of horses around the world, she said, “I want to do as much as I can to help our equines.”
After a brilliant return to the eventing calendar in 2017 following a 19-year absence, the Mars Essex Horse Trials had a hard act to follow for 2018. But today, more big names competing in the Preliminary division and a promise to add the Advanced division next year (more on that tomorrow) demonstrated this beloved fixture isn’t just getting older, it’s getting better.
The new Preliminary Essex section, with $20,000 in prize money, offered a greater challenge cross-country than the Open Preliminary and Preliminary Rider divisions.
“I added the Essex Division to give more excitement to the game,” said cross-country course designer Morgan Rowsell, who co-chairs Essex with Ralph Jones.
The concept worked. Buck Davidson was the marquee rider who appeared last year at Moorland Farm in Far Hills, taking first through fourth places in prelim. But this time, there were a lot more recognizable faces, from Ryan Wood, who earned the $8,000 winner’s share of the Preliminary Essex purse, to second-place Michael Walton (he also is known as a show jumper); Buck, of course; Sally Cousins, Madeline Blackman, Courtney Cooper, Sara Kozumplik Murphy and a few more of whom you may have heard.
The cross-country course was inviting, while offering exactly the right amount of questions to make horses and riders really pay attention.
“It was a very strong track. I walked it this morning and thought there were enough questions and terrain and very well-presented jumps,” said Ryan.
“By the end of it, I thought it was going to be a good round if you went clear and under time. It proved it to be just that. There were a couple of rider falls and multiple run-outs and I was lucky enough to be on a very experienced horse, Ruby, who finished on her dressage score of 27. So she led from start to finish,” noted the Australian citizen, who is based at Phillip Dutton’s farm in West Grove Pa.
Nine horses, or less than a third of the 30 who finished the division, got around without time penalties. They found themselves with another challenge when facing Chris Barnard’s show jumping route later in the day in front of a cocktail party held in the Hoopstick Club, named after the Bedminster farm where Roger Haller, his family and friends first staged Essex in 1968.
“It was interesting to see the rails that were coming down,” said Ryan, who was tied for eighth on another mount, Ben Nevis, and 11th aboard Chusinmyconfession.
“I was a victim of a rail on each of my other horses,” noted Ryan, while praising the designer’s ability.
“Jump one looked like the softest jump on the course, a little bit of a rampy oxer, but it came down more than any other jump on the track. I thought the treble (triple) looked tough and it jumped better than any other combination. I was lucky enough to have two practices at it before piloting Ruby around.”
Not everyone was as lucky. Take Cole Horn, who had been standing second on Cooley Sligo after cross country. He dropped three rails to finish 13th.
Ruby, an 8-year-old Oldenburg mare by Royal Prince, is a New Jersey-bred from Summit Sporthorses, Ilona English’s farm in Ringoes. The clever chestnut is a half-sister to Powell, another Summit horse on whom Ryan won the Jersey Fresh International CCI 3-star in 2016.
Watch this video to find out more about Ruby.
Ryan hadn’t been to Essex previously, but he’ll return.
“I think it’s phenomenal. I can’t wait to come back. I will be promoting it to everyone in Pennsylvania,” he said.
Click on this video to see Ryan’s award presentation and his well-deserved victory gallop.
Another first-timer from Pennsylvania, Kaitlin Clasing, won the Open Preliminary division aboard Warren LVS on his dressage score of 29.80. She came from second place with her clean round to pass overnight leader Elizabeth Bortuzzo on Belongs to Teuffer, who dropped three rails.
A professional trainer who is married to another trainer, Daniel Clasing, Kaitlin had hoped each of them could win their division at the same event for the first time. But Daniel’s two rails down iwth Captivate in the Preliminary Essex division dropped him from a tie for fourth to 10th place, so that dream has to live another day. “We keep waiting for that weekend to happen,” Kaitlin said.
She has been working with Warren for the last two years, since he was four. Kaitlin was particularly pleased with his show jumping, since she noted he thought he had worked pretty hard on cross-country.
The Preliminary Rider division went to Juliana Hutchings-Sebring of Fair Hill, Md. It was her second victory in a row with Welbourne, who also won at Plantation Field. She got the Dutch warmblood two years ago in a trade.
He had come to her to be sold, because he was unsuitable for his older rider. But the sellers wanted a quieter mount and found it in her barn’s best lesson horse. Juli wasn’t sure she should give up that patient paragon.
“I was like, `An 8-year-old Dutch warmblood or a 12-year-old school horse I got for free who had arthritis but was a good horse and serviceably sound?’ It was funny, I really debated whether or not to take this horse for free. I’m obviously glad I did.”
She noted, however, “He’s a tricky horse, because he’s very spooky. This was the first event where he didn’t look at anything in cross-country or stadium.”
She was the only rider in her division who made the time on cross-country, moving her up from sixth after dressage, and her flawless stadium round kept her on top.
As a Fair Hill resident, her ambition long has been to ride in the Fair Hill International, and she hopes to compete in the 2-star there in the fall of 2019.
Be sure to attend this weekend’s Mars Essex Horse Trials, a special eventing competition at Moorland Farm in Far Hills. Although it’s only in the second year of its re-emergence on the scene, Essex has gained more than 40 entries over its 2017 total, and is drawing some very recognizable names.
Beginner Novice and Training divisions go on Sunday June 24.
The big news is that Essex will be making a huge leap in 2019 by offering an advanced division. It didn’t take long for this special competition to make it to the big time.
Essex runs in conjunction with a car show that has been switched to 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday June 24 (from Saturday). The show includes trucks, hot rods, motorcycles and race cars) contact gusandbuckys@gmail.com.
On June 24, highlights include the Tewksbury Foot Bassets giving an exhibition at 1 p.m.
The Essex Food Court will be open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., as will the Willow School Kids’ Tent
Essex was a respected fixture in the Somerset Hills and beyond through 1998, after which it disappeared from the calendar. Its return last year in a new location drew big crowds to watch riders over a brand new course on terrain best known as the home of the Far Hills races.
There’s an advantage to planning ahead. General admission tickets purchased in advance are $15 per person for two-day pass, while at the gate, they cost $20 per day, or $30 for two days. Children 14 and under are admitted free.
The doors are locked at Beval Saddlery Ltd. in Gladstone, a fixture in the Somerset Hills for 63 years.
Beval Saddlery in Gladstone
Although a paper sign tacked up at the entrance said the store is closed “temporarily,” area equestrians are uncertain of what that means, since the shutdown began at the end of May. In April, the Beval store in New Canaan, Conn., was shuttered. The Beval website is no longer operating. The other Beval outlet, in North Salem, N.Y., remains open, however, and once again can be reached by phone.
The “temporarily closed” sign on the door of Beval’s in Gladstone.
Michael Joyce, Beval’s landlord in Gladstone, said the closure was due to non-payment of rent. He added he has been in email contact with Beval’s owner, Solera Capital LLC, about the company’s hope of reopening.
“I would hate to see them close permanently,” he said.
Solera, a private equity firm, has been in the headlines this month due to financial problems with one of its holdings, Latina Media. Both its co-presidents have resigned, according to an article in the New York Post last week. Another Solera property, Calypso St. Barth’s, went into Chapter 7 bankruptcy last November after vendors claimed they hadn’t been paid. Solera did not respond to phone and email requests for comment about the Beval’s situation
Founded in a garage in 1955 by Bev Walter and Al Merrill (hence the name), Beval Saddlery started off in Bernardsville before moving to what became its longtime home in Gladstone in 1984. Bev had learned to fix leather goods while he was in the armed services, and his equestrian background made the new enterprise a natural. While Beval’s started as a repair business, expansion into sales came fast.
Beval’s was a bold arrival in a time when the business was dominated by Miller Harness Co., H. Kauffman & Sons and M.J. Knoud, all in New York city. Eiser’s, first in Newark and then in Hillside, offered saddlery and equipment closer to home for those in New Jersey.
When Beval’s appeared on the scene, “it was on top of the trends but keeping with tradition,” recalled Sue Benson, who enjoyed visiting the store in the days she was showing, even though it was a bit of a drive from her Long Island home.
Al dropped out early, leaving Bev to implement his innovative concepts. Bev’s wife, Lois, and son, Mark, along with Tom Spinks, were involved in running the company as it expanded and its reputation for quality leather and furnishings grew.
Lois, who is retired in Arizona, remembered a few of the innovations marketed by Beval’s included saddles in tree sizes and stretch breeches. Of Bev, who died in 1993, she noted he was a born entrepreneur, who succeeded with “perseverance and dedication.” His talent played well in an area where opportunities to fox hunt, show and trail ride abounded.
“Maybe we were in the right place at the right time,” mused Lois. She noted that when Beval’s started, many items of tack and equestrian apparel were made overseas and they didn’t always fit U.S. horses and riders to the optimum. Bev visited factories abroad and helped improve fit and quality.
Sue Benson joined Beval’s in the mid-1980s, developing the direct mail business and putting together the company’s first catalogue. Beval’s was synonymous with quality, and people wanted what it provided.
“We started doing gangbusters; the growth was amazing,” said Sue, who now runs an equestrian branding site, somsersetequestriantrading.com.
In addition to the stores in Gladstone, New York and Connecticut, at its peak, Beval’s also had a mobile unit and shops on the HITS showgrounds in Saugerties, N.Y., as well as at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Fla.
When Sue started her original somersetsportart.com business, Beval was her client until 2007, when a private equity firm bought into the company. Solera became involved in 2012, she said.
Beval’s was an institution in Gladstone, a key player in the equestrian community. It was known for not having sales, with the exception of its once-a-year bargain days in February, when people would line up before the store opened and so many came looking for a bargain that valet parking had to be provided, Sue recalled.
Other highlights Sue mentioned were the big parties, especially the Equus in October fixture held to benefit the Somerset Hills Handicapped Riders, now Mane Stream, in Tewksbury.
Beval’s hosted many fundraisers over the years, like this 2016 affair to raise money for Holly Payne’s trip to Burghley. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
“We’d clear the space and have a silent auction, band and food,” she recalled.
“It was a great American success story, “ Sue observed about Beval’s.
“It’s where I learned so much of what I still use today. They were a great team and a great brand. They did so many things right. What set them apart from being a little tack store was that they were innovative.”
He’s a character. He’s been a clown (literally). And now he’s a champion.
Who could ever forget Andy Kocher as a clown in the Washington International Horse Show’s 2016 costume class, where he won the prize for the best outfit. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
Andy Kocher, a native of Pennsylvania who grew up attending the Devon Horse Show as a spectator (“I never showed”), rode into the Dixon Oval last weekend to receive the Leading Open Jumper Rider sash as members of the U.S. Olympic and 2014 World Equestrian Games Teams remained on the sidelines along with severa other short-listed competitors for this September’s WEG.
“For me, it’s a little weird. I never thought I’d be leading rider at Devon. It’s my favorite show,” said Andy, a scrappy guy who makes the most of whatever horse happens to come his way and calls things as he sees them. You’ll always get a laugh out of a conversation with him.
He only started showing at Devon two years ago; it took him a while to get into the ring there. “I’m 35 now, so it’s been a long time,” said Andy, who won the second jumper class of the show on MKO Equestrian LLC’s Zantos II. Andy was wearing a riding jacket lacking a top button that was held together with a blanket pin, the same one he had worn when he won the first class of the 2017 show. He’s focused on the game, not how he looks. That’s an afterthought—if it’s a thought at all.
Zantos, 15, was out for a year with a tendon injury. “I nursed him back and turned him out for awhile,” said Andy, whose patience paid off.
The horse is a cribber, but Andy doesn’t hold that against him.
“I don’t think cribbing is a problem,” the rider explained. “He rips his stall doors down but I don’t care. He’s done so much for me, it wouldn’t matter what he does. I wouldn’t sell him–and I sell a lot of horses.”
Previously ridden by Great Britain’s John and Robert Whitaker, Zantos came to Andy through his British friend Paul McTeer. Andy calls him, “the most colorful man you’ve ever met in your life. He would be the most for me, and I’ve met a lot of weird people.”
He has two horses in Europe, where he prepared for his first Longines World Cup finals last spring.
“I couldn’t afford to fly all the horses home,” explained Andy, pointed out that in Europe, “It’s cheaper to show, I meet a lot of new people.”
Of Zantos, Andy said, “We bought him cheap because he’s a runway. He has one gear and if it goes well, he wins. Every time he jumps clear, he’s won a class. But he can get out of hand a lot, too. That’s a problem. He has a lot of classes that don’t go so smooth.”
At Devon, though, Andy pointed out, “He was going to be hard to beat. Someone was going to have to do something ridiculous to get him, y’know?”
Another of his victories came in the 7-year-old jumpers with La Luciole, a mare he rides for a new owner, Erica Hatfield.
“She won two ranking classes in Kentucky and a ranking class in Wellington. Her first grand prix was the World Cup qualifier in Vegas (in January). I jumped her in a 3-star in Wellington and then a 5-star in Miami then New York (the Masters on Long Island). I really threw her to the wolves. She has lots of personality. She has her own way of doing things. Over time, I’ve gotten her to be more agreeable when I need her to be.”
Kahlua also tied for the show’s Open Jumper Championship with Mattias Tromp’s mount, Eyecatcher.
All the recognition in the Dixon Oval was a dream come true for Andy, who at one time would have been happy simply to compete in the grand prix at Devon.
“Now, I’ve gotten to where I want to win a lot of classes,” he said. “You always want to do more.”
The prizes at hunter paces are usually trophies and ribbons, with the point being a fun day riding across beautiful country. But the Spring Valley Hounds are offering something more at their 2018 pace series.
There is a $500 award for the pace team that earns the most points in the paces, which continue Sept. 30 in New Vernon and Oct. 28 in Allamuchy. Pace teams in every division may participate, and must compete in two of the three paces (the first was June 17) to be eligible for the money.
Divisions include Open, open to all riders; Hunt, must be members of a recognized hunt; Side Saddle, one team member must ride aside; Fossils, riders’ combined age to be 110 or more; Family, members of the same immediate family; Junior, under 18.
The June 17 pace runs from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the showgrounds on Sand Spring Lane.
For more information, contact Val DiCristina at (908) 362-9249/ valerieofthehounds@caduc.com or the hunt secretary at (908)509-1075/SpringValleyHounds@hotmail.com. The website is www.springvalleyhounds.com.
