Briarwood Derby Day is an unusual show with a special charitable mission

by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 14, 2018

By Nancy Jaffer
July 14, 2018

It doesn’t really seem as if being held for just eight years qualifies a horse show as a tradition, but the Briarwood Derby Day is an exception to that rule.

Started by N.J. Horse Shows Association President Katie Benson in memory of her husband, Jack, Derby Day is a major fundraiser for the Hunterdon Regional Cancer Center. Jack was treated at the facility, and the ties have remained strong between the center and Katie, as well as her clients and the Bensons’ friends.

Last week’s Derby Day, held at the Princeton Show Jumping grounds in Skillman, raised $41,806 for its cause. All proceeds, less the cost of running the show, went to the charity. In addition to entry fees, sponsors and donors, money is raised by a jumper class, “Ride for the Pledge,” in which sponsors give as much as they like per jump for the riders they sponsor. Participants have 60 seconds to jump as many fences as they can.

“Derby Day started as a tribute to Jack and his contributions to the industry and how we horse show based on what he taught us,” said Katie.

The late Jack Benson, the inspiration for Briarwood Derby Day.

“We’ve certainly carried that torch along, but now a lot of people who are involved in the competition never met him. They feel the excitement of Derby Day because it’s a specialty horse show. The people who put this together, everybody pulls not at 100 percent, but at 120 percent.”

Sponsors included CWD Sellier; Dover Saddlery, for the first time and Horse Flight, which paid for a golf cart that provided rides from the parking lot to the arenas. The cart was driven by John William Benson Jr., Katie and Jack’s son, who came up from his home in Miami where he works in commercial real estate. The Bensons’ daughter, Elizabeth, was teaching a camp at Auburn University, where she was an NCAA equestrian star, and couldn’t get away.

The family link among the Bensons, Briarwood and those at the show extends beyond blood relations. Brian Livell, who designed the derby courses, has a long history with Briarwood. His grandmother, Shirley Grisewood, was the show secretary for years; his grandfather, Norman, was often the announcer.

“I grew up riding with Jack and Katie,” said Brian, who owns Hunter Hill Farm in Pipersville, Pa., where his wife, Corey Golden, rides and teaches. “So for me,” he noted, “this is a fun special day to be part of. It’s like coming full circle.”

Everyone at the show seems to have some connection with Briarwood. Kelly Matthews of Derby Day sponsor Brown & Brown Insurance, who was helping out with the awards, said the memory of Jack—a family friend—makes the occasion special.

“As a Briarwood family, we are here to help and make it a successful day,” said Melissa Ho of Princeton Junction, who was working the awards booth with Kelly. Melissa didn’t know Jack, but her 13-year-old daughter, Erica Lee, trains with Katie.

The five-ring show drew 250 horses and included several derbies. The feature was the $2,500 Rutgers Landscaping National Hunter Derby, won in come-from-behind style by Kianna Luscher of Hawthorne on the Mecklenburg mare, Carissima W. The class, which drew 52 entries, brought 12 back from the classic round for the handy round.

$2,500 Rutgers Landscaping USHJA National Hunter Derby winner Kianna Luscher and Katie Benson. (Photo© 2018 by Nancy Jaffer)

Kianna, a 20-year-old Fordham University Law School student, is a regular at hunter derbies with her 13-year-old mare.

“She’s very, very handy. She has a really big step and can turn on a dime, which I think is the fact that she used to be a jumper. I can go in and gallop; she’s easy to find a distance on, very sweet and no spook,” said Kianna, who trains at On Course Riding Academy in Lafayette with Katie Moriarty.

Kianna Luscher and Carissima W on course. (Photo© 2018 by Nancy Jaffer)

Carissima, her former junior hunter, now competes in the amateur-owner classes. Kianna keeps on her good side by bringing her munchkins from Dunkin’ Donuts.

“She’s very food-motivated,” explained Kianna.

Daphne Smith, 10^th in the national derby on Right O’Way, left Oley, Pa., at 5 a.m. to get to the show. But it was worth it for her.

“It’s always a fun event to come out here,” said 17-year-old Daphne.

“We always get a big crowd from our barn, Valley Mist Farm. A lot of people do the derby, there’s not a whole lot of derbies that we do, it’s for a good cause. We have a lot of fun doing it.  It’s a far drive, but it’s worth it.”

It’s all coming together for para-equestrian Katie Jackson

by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 8, 2018

By Nancy Jaffer
July 8, 2018

On her left leg, Katie Jackson wears a sleek black Cavallo boot. On her right leg, it’s a prosthetic device and a running shoe.

On Katie Jackon’s left leg, reflected in the mirror, she wears a boot; on the right, she rides with the stump of her amputated leg. (Photo© 2018 by Nancy Jaffer)

When she mounts Diesel, her statuesque black Oldenburg, she swings her right leg over his back, then settles in the saddle and removes the prosthetic. After a quick zip to her specially tailored breeches that fit neatly over the stump of her leg, she’s ready to head out.

The moves are so smooth, you might think she’s been doing them all her life. But it’s only since 2015 that Katie’s leg was amputated above the knee after she was diagnosed with cancer.

“If I lose my leg, I’m going to keep riding,” she had vowed before the decision to amputate was made.

And so she has—over the weekend, the 38-year-old athlete and Diesel competed with nine other horse/rider combinations at Wheatland Farms in Virginia. The invitational event is one of the components to qualify for the short list ,from which will be chosen the U.S. para-equestrian team that goes to the FEI World Equestrian Games in North Carolina.

Katie mounting up. (Photo© 2018 by Nancy Jaffer)

A lot of people have come together to put Katie in contention for a place on the squad that will meet the world’s best at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in September. Her original goal was to go for it with her horse Royal Dancer. After he sustained a minor injury during the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Florida last winter, things went off track.

“Such is life and horses,” she shrugged. Her life, however, took a sudden turn upward one day during the show while she was having a casual meal with Rowan O’Riley, who sponsors para rider Becca Hart.

Knowing that Katie was only able to tack-walk Royal, Rowan noted she was going to be away for a week and suggested her luncheon companion could keep going by riding her horse, Diesel, and taking lessons with Catherine Haddad Staller, her trainer at that time.

“I had a lovely instant connection with him, but at that point, it was just a week,” said Katie about Diesel, a 15-year-old son of DeNiro.

“I really loved working with Catherine. It was just one of those stars aligning that a few weeks later, Rowan decided to sell Diesel and gave me a call.”

Out for a ride on Diesle, Katie looks like an able-bodied rider from the left. (Photo© 2018 by Nancy Jaffer)

Katie, who fits together beautifully with Diesel, noted, “I’ve been learning so much from him and so much from Catherine. He’s got a kind, willing personality. He knew his program and I was able to be introduced into his program in a way that made him open to it. It wasn’t about a leg being gone. It was about riding and understanding what he needs to do.”

The gelding, who has been in training with Catherine’s assistant, Michelle Brady, is “a kind soul and a sweet horse. He works hard and wants to please—that made the match,” observed Katie, who has a cheery, can-do, bubbly demeanor, one key to her success.

The system used by Catherine, a top international rider based in Tewksbury Township, became just what Katie needed, because it isn’t dependent on the lower leg.

“We train from the seat and weight and a little the turning of the thighs,” said Catherine.

“For Katie, it was the perfect system match. We had an instant mind meld.  I teach her like an able-bodied rider. Whenever we need the lower right leg, we substitute the whip if needed, but (even) more, we substitute thought, rather than action.”

Removing the knee rolls from the saddle made a big difference as well.

“The stump appreciated taking it all away,” said Katie, who tends to speak of that appendage in the third person.

“I went from all this stuff to block it in and support it, to just a little Velcro that helps keep it stablilized. It’s the happiest it’s been. I dealt with a lot of pain where the femur would bang into it and bruise internally and get a lot of muscle cramping. The Stubben saddle has been a game-changer for me.”

Katie, Diesel and Catherine take a relaxing walk after arena work. (Photo© 2018 by Nancy Jaffer)

Katie travels regularly to New Jersey from her Austin, Texas, base, where the dentist manages a practice. Patients are cared for by Katie’s associates, since it is too painful for her to stand in the position that she would need to use while working hands-on.

Her husband, Yancey, who is in the home construction business, has learned a lot about the horse game as he helps his wife. Other pieces of the effort to get to the WEG fell into place because Katie became friendly during the Florida circuit with veterinarians Brendan and Wendy Furlong who coincidentally–just like Catherine’s husband, Dr. Greg Staller–have an equine clinic in Tewksbury.

Katie stayed with the Furlongs in Florida and they extended the invitation to her in New Jersey as well, so she is their guest in Pittstown, a short drive from Tewksbury and Catherine. The backing all around from people who have become part of Katie’s team and others rooting for her has made it work.

In Bedminster, the June Red Tail dressage show made a provision for her to practice her freestyle in a competition atmosphere. The judge marked her at 74.5 percent, which Catherine said, “brought tears to my eyes.”

Katie expressed gratitude to everyone who has become a part of her quest, from Greg Staller and farrier Chris Pinola, who care for Diesel, to Brendan Furlong, who works with Royal Dancer, and beyond that, to others she doesn’t even know.

She mentioned, “The environment of support that has come around me, people cheering for me in other countries through social media and the power of friends and family. You hear stories, `My friend in India is praying for you.’

“It makes a difference and lifts you up and gives you strength you didn’t know you had. It’s probably the most humbling thing I have ever encountered.” she said.

Katie is a long way from where her journey started in a very dark place three years ago, when she was diagnosed with an aggressive type of tumor growing behind her right knee.

“We were fortunate that it didn’t appear to have spread,” she said, but at the same time, “It’s devastating. It’s a blow. You never expect to have that kind of news, especially at 35 years old. It knocks you off your path and you feel pretty lost for quite a bit. It changed the trajectory of everything from my career to my business and family life,” she recalled.

But giving up riding was never even a thought. Katie started riding as a child in Oregon, and became  focused on dressage.

“Dressage always has been something I’ve loved; the connection you have with the horses, the detail and just the beauty of it,” said Katie, who had earned a U.S. Dressage Federation silver medal on Debbie Hubbard’s Winterstolz.

After getting in the saddle again following her operation, she began training with Kai Handt,  chef d’equipe of the U.S. para team.

“He was able to get me back riding and competing,” she said. Katie rides as para-equestrian Grade V, in which competitors do multiple flying changes, half-passes and other advanced movements. The para scale starts with Grade I, which is walk only.

She finished 2017 at the top of the United States Dressage Federation’s Grade V standings, and also was ranked third on the FEI Para-Dressage Grade V World Rankings List.

Katie rode in the Dressage Showcase at the FEI World Cup finals in Omaha last year. (Photo© 2017 by Nancy Jaffer)

With her goals for the WEG and 2020 Paralympics in sight, Katie reflected how she got to this juncture.

“Cancer gave me perspective on doing what I love,” she said. As a teenager, she made the decision to go to college and pursue graduate studies, though at one point, “I really wanted to keep riding and training and push myself to see what I could do as an equestrian,” she remembered.

But Katie never rode at her current level when she had both legs.

If she had not undergone the amputation, riding “would have been what I fit in in the evening and weekends,” she pointed out.

Learning that she needed the amputation, she grasped at the idea of being able to do dressage as a para-equestrian. It was comforting because “it’s a known and something close to my heart.

“This opportunity has been incredible. It’s been a gift to push myself and do this and also has helped me through the cancer and the loss; physical loss, loss of the journey and path you were on. It’s given me kind of a new purpose and a reason to get up and push hard every day and do something that’s hopefully bigger than me.

“If you could make lemonade from lemons of having something happen, this has been pretty incredible,’ said Katie.

“It has not been easy, but there are things that have aligned and you just put it out to the universe.”

The Garden State show is on an exciting journey to Gladstone

by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 1, 2018

By Nancy Jaffer
July 1, 2018

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 69^th 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.

The 2019 Garden State Horse Show will be able to take advantage of the iconic background provided by the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation’s historic stable for the Monmouth at the Team show over the last two years. (Photo© 2018 by Nancy Jaffer)

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.

Men who grew up in the Junior Essex Troop have an annual reunion as they put on the Garden State Horse Show. (Photo© 2018 by Nancy Jaffer)

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 Cleary, former Garden State Horse Show manager. (Photo© 2018 by Nancy Jaffer)

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.

Tucker Ericson, manager of the Garden State and Monmouth at the Team shows. (Photo© 2018 by Nancy Jaffer)

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.

Guests in the VIP tent have a great view of the action at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation during Monmouth at the Team. (Photo© 2018 by Nancy Jaffer)

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.

Ryan Wood on Ruby, winner of the Preliminary Essex division at this year’s Mars Essex Horse Trials. (Photo© 2018 by Nancy Jaffer)

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.”