Are you stressed? Too bad. Here’s the more important question to be asked–how’s your horse doing?
Get the answer via an April 12 noon webinar with Dr. Carey Williams of Rutgers University.
“Are You ‘Stressing Out’ Your Horse? Understanding Types of Stress & How to Manage or Reduce Each,” is the topic for the conversation. Want to join in? here’s the link
By Nancy Jaffer
March 31, 2018
Four Seasons is more than just a horse show to its manager, Mason Garrity, and his wife, Alexandra “A.J.” Garrity, a freelance trainer.
Once part of a series that began in 1972, Four Seasons was the pet project of trainer Gary Kunsman, A.J.’s father, who died in 2010.
The late trainer/rider Gary Kunsman started the Four Seasons horse shows more than 40 years ago. (Boz Swope photo)
“It’s very important to keep my dad’s name and memory alive,” said A.J. of the fixture dedicated to Gary that runs April 12-15 at the Horse Park of New Jersey. She remembers how Gary “was out there from sun-up to sundown” not only managing the Four Seasons show, but also “helping those who were his clients, those who weren’t his clients, having a good time with everybody.”
Those she recalled attending from the old days with their clients were the late Emerson Burr, Heritage Farm and Ralph Caristo.
It’s the first big outdoor show of the season in the state. This year, it also will be notable as the first show to use the park’s newly refurbished grand prix arena for the jumper competitions, featuring the $5,000 Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center Mini-Prix.
The show series originated at Four Seasons Farm in Readington, but as the years passed and after Four Seasons was sold, the dates eventually were taken by other shows and locations. In the early 1990s, the featured spring show went on to be staged at Duncraven in Titusville, the stable where Mason worked for 12 years as the property manager.
He’s not a rider, but he’s very much a part of the horse industry. His life changed when he met A.J. through a mutual friend who used to date his brother.
“If you told me 20 years ago I would be as involved with horses as I am, I would have told you that you were crazy,” chuckled Mason, 36.
He is now in the jump business with Paul Jewell, announces at a variety of shows and is working on his small “r” as a jumper judge. For most of the year, however, his mind is on the Four Seasons show.
“We work 10 months of the year for four days in April,” Mason observed.
“We put everything into it,” he said of the devotion he and his wife have given to Four Seasons, which last year drew nearly 450 horses.
“This is still Gary’s show,” Mason explained. “We’re just running it for him.”
The Gary H. Kunsman Memorial Trophy is presented to the winner of the USHJA Hunter Derby at the Four Seasons Show. Show manager Mason Garrity was on hand for the presentation to trainer Troy Hendricks, Christina Serio and Game Changer. (Conklin Photography)
The show moved to the Horse Park in 2016 to take advantage of more stabling and rings, as well as additional open space where exhibitors could ride and graze their horses. It is invested in pleasing those who participate, so it doesn’t become simply an exercise to get points.
“We’re trying to keep the tradition of good New Jersey horse shows. We want to have people enjoy themselves,” explained Mason. There are pizza parties and brunch—complete with a band featuring acoustic guitar (no loud horse-disturbing music) in the pavilion on the Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Kaitlyn Williams and Casan, winner of the 2017 USHJA Hunter Derby at Four Seasons. (Photo by Conklin Photography)
An upgrade this spring is the April 15 $10,000 U.S. Hunter Jumper Association Hunter Derby presented by Britta Lippert’s Sea Shore Stables, with the prize money more than doubled from the $4,500 offered last year. Other features include the $2,500 USHJA Pony Derby, and a $2,500 hunter classic.
There’s always a charity component. In Gary’s day, it was the Readington Fire Department. A.J. also remembers him running a benefit for the late Jim Geibel, a trainer who was paralyzed in a diving accident. This year, the beneficiary is the Mid-Atlantic Jack Russell Rescue.
Pennsylvania trainer Troy Hendricks is a regular at Four Seasons, bringing between 15 and 20 horses and riders from his Kimber-View Stables to the show.
He likes the “old-time horse show feeling” of Four Seasons, which he calls “a really great opportunity.”
Four Seasons moved to the Horse Park of New Jersey in 2016. (Conklin Photography)
“It’s family-run and up to very current standards, the jumps are beautiful, everything is decorated nicely,” said Troy, who is the USHJA’S Zone 2 (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania) vice-chairman.
“They’re always sort of reaching out and seeing what their exhibitors want. They always get quality judges. My customers love going there. It’s not a factory show.”
Entries for the USEF national show close Friday at www.horseshowing.com, but post entries are accepted at an additional fee.
It’s nice to see fixtures that are part of New Jersey’s equestrian history surviving and doing well into the present. The revival after 19 years of the Mars Essex Horse Trials, Monmouth’s success at the U.S Equestrian Team Foundation after it changed counties two years ago and others that continue, such as Garden State and Sussex, mean New Jersey equestrians don’t always have to leave the state if they want to go to some bigger competitions.
Here’s a thought that makes sense: “Success starts before you enter the show ring.”
That’s also the title of a clinic April 21-22 featuring experts who can offer behind the scenes advice with everything from veterinary tips to sport horse maintenance, shoeing, information about feed and getting yourself in gear for a successful season.
Speakers on the first day at Kimber-View Farm in Glenmoore, Pa., include noted sports psychologist Dr. Janet Edgette. The second day is devoted to insights from hunter/equitation judge Troy Hendricks and grand prix show jumper Heather Caristo-Williams. CWD Saddles also will make a presentation.
The fee is $100 per person for the weekend. Get more information or register at www.kimberviewsales.com.
He was the voice of authority, a master at conveying his observations with wit and style. Mike Tucker, whose commentary was heard over the loudspeaker for years at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event and the Badminton Horse Trials, as well as on the BBC, died suddenly in England today at the age of 73.
Mike, a true all-around horseman who was a farmer, field master of his hunt and a competitor who finished second at Badminton on a homebred mount, also was well-known as a cross-country course designer. He served as chairman of the organizing committee for Olympia, London’s celebrated Christmas show, but had retired from the BBC and his Badminton duties.
Mike Tucker
“I’ve been very privileged and enjoyed some great moments,” Tucker said upon stepping down from the Badminton Horse Trials last year.
Simon-Brooks Ward, the director of Olympia, commented, “This is a great shock and sadness for all of those involved at Olympia. Mike was a friend, provided wise counsel, and was professional to the last.”
March 26, 2018
Swimmer Michael Phelps. Track star Carl Lewis. Para-equestrian Annie Peavy?
Why not? Annie is one of seven finalists for the AAU James Sullivan Award, which has been won by Phelps, Lewis and so many other top U.S. athletes—but never by an equestrian.
Presented since 1888 by the Amateur Athletic Union to an outstanding amateur athlete in the United States, it would be a major statement on behalf of the American para-equestrians who work so hard to beat the odds and shine on horseback.
“It is a great honor to be nominated for this award, along with many other highly respected athletes,” Annie said.
Annie Peavy in competition
“I began riding as a form of physical therapy, never imagining how many amazing experiences would come from it. From my first local show to my first Paralympic Games, the joy I have for this sport has never faded.”
Annie rode in both the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ and the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Her achievements last year included a win in the Grade IV FEI Team Test and Individual Test, as well as a second place in the Grade IV FEI Freestyle Test at the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival CPEDI3-star.
She and her equine partner, Royal Dark Chocolate, Rebecca Reno’s 10-year-old Oldenburg mare, went on to win the Grade IV FEI Team and Freestyle tests at the Bishop Burton CPEDI3-star in Great Britain.
Annie Peavy with Grand Prix dressage rider Heather Blitz. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
They were the overall champions at the 2017 USEF Para-Equestrian Dressage National Championships, sponsored by Deloitte at the Tryon International Equestrian Center, home of the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games. The pair also helped the Deloitte U.S. Para-Equestrian dressage squad earn top honors in the team competition.
Annie is known for cheering on her teammates and handling herself with grace, whatever the results.
Her father, Ed Peavy, views Annie’s finalist status as a “big deal” for his daughter, who suffered a stroke before she was born.
“I could never have imagined that the little girl who started on a therapy pony (and just wanted to trot) now has a chance to be the first equestrian to win this prestigious award.”
Voting for the winner runs through March 29. You can vote here once a day per device, tweeting to #Peavy4sullivan as many times as you can.
“We’re so proud of our daughter, and for all the amazing Paralympic riders who are her friends and her teammates. Your votes are for all of them,” Annie’s father said.
The word “unicorn,” once restricted to describing a white horse with a horn growing out of its forehead, has taken on a new meaning. It now also can mean someone or something who is an ideal, or perhaps, too good to be true.
The LEGISequine.com insurance firm recognizes the value of the unicorns in our lives and is taking things one step further by allowing people to honor their unicorns. Starting on April 1, “April Fools Day,” you can “insure” your unicorn, or any one of a host of other mythical creatures.
LEGIS has partnered with two national-level charities, the University of California at Davis Center for Equine Research and the U.S. Hunter Jumper Foundation, to raise funds while honoring the unicorns in your life. Insure a unicorn, another mythical creature or a fantasy of your own creation via a donation to one of the two charities
Beginning April 1, visit the LEGIS website at www.legisequine.com and go to the community page to fill out your LEGIS Mythical Creature “Insurance Application.” Be prepared to describe your mythical creature, from the length of your unicorn’s horn to the wingspan of your Pegasus. Select the equine-focused charity you wish to support and pay your “insurance premium” by selecting a donation amount of your choice.
LEGIS, along with its insurance partner, Bascule, will add to the donation amounts at the end of the campaign. You can “insure” your mythical creature April 1 through April 5.
By Nancy Jaffer
March 13, 2008
Spring Thaw may have started out as a troublemaker, but the Appaloosa gelding went on to be a long-serving guide and inspiration for those seeking help.
Until his death in January, shortly before his 31st birthday, he was the herd leader at Spring Reins of Life (SROL), which provides therapy through its horses to veterans with PTSD and others in need, such as bereaved children or at-risk teens.
Spring Thaw specialized in helping veterans or others in need.
On March 20, Spring will be one of 15 animals nationwide—and the only one in New Jersey–to be awarded the Planetree Service Animal Medal of Honor 2017. It is being presented by the New Jersey Veterans Administration Healthcare System and the Veterans of New Jersey.
The public is invited to attend the 10:30 a.m. ceremony at Hunt Cap Farm, 401 Main St. in the Three Bridges section of Readington, where SROL is based. Fittingly, it will be the first day of Spring.
As a rental horse for Manhattan’s old Claremont Riding Academy in 1996, Spring Thaw proved after six months on the job to be too much of a challenge. The last straw was the time he dumped his rider in Central Park, convinced another horse on the trail ride to do the same and wound up scampering through the streets of the city before he and his pal made their way back to the stable. It became the subject of a TV news report, prompting the stable’s owner to decide it was time for Spring to go.
Christiana “CC” Capra had been working at the stable as a groom and spent time exploring the city aboard Spring before his final transgression. She stepped up to take the horse and enjoyed eventing with him at novice level until he got Lyme disease.
He was treated holistically by Dr. Judith Shoemaker, a Pennsylvania veterinarian who specializes in complementary medicine and holistic therapy. She introduced CC to the concept of EAGALA, and that was a life-changer both for Spring and his owner.
Explaining the Equine-Assisted Growth and Learning Association precepts, CC noted, “All the work is done on the ground.” The basis is working on emotional and mental health.
Veterans working with Spring T.haw
“The idea is that when you’re on the horse, it’s a different skill set and you’re more in control of the horse’s body. When you’re on the ground, all bets are off and you’re on equal footing. The horses are able to act out and interact, sort of a barometer of the internal language that’s going on from the client.”
SROL works with trauma survivors in a group.
“Most of the war vets, whether it’s Iraq, Afghanistan or Vietnam, don’t want to talk about their PTSD, the war or where they’re at with that,” said CC.
“With the horses, we don’t have to talk; we just sort of `be’ and `experience.’ We set up scenarios; we ask clients to build something with props from the arena; we have some things that are combat-related, like flags and plastic guns and things like that they can reference if they want. It becomes a metaphorical exploration of where they’re at,” she continued.
The situation enables them to focus in the moment.
“It’s hard not to be present when you have four 1,000-pound creatures wandering around,” CC observed.
Spring Thaw taking a break from his job.
“We also work on establishing trust and confidence, the ability to be able to explore things and not worry about whether you’re doing it right or wrong. We’re not teaching horsemanship. We’re teaching how to handle life.”
She pointed out that the horses display what’s going on, either for a member in the group or the whole group themselves.
“We’re able to ask the clients, `What do you think is happening with the horses right now?’ Through their interpretation of what they see in the horses, it usually comes out pretty honest about their understanding of what the horses are doing and how they’re acting. Then later, they’re able to reflect and see how that may be how they are themselves.
“Trying something different with their horse, in their approach to gather the horse or get close to the horse, becomes metaphors for them in their own lives of what they can do with their marriage or home life or depression, or whatever may be going on. We don’t need to know what their story is, as long as they know and can relate to what the horses are showing them.”
CC said Spring was a mastermind, realizing just what he was doing with clients and his herd, exhibiting a sixth sense that linked him to the people participating.
She recalled an instance with an at-risk youth group that was part of a gang prevention program.
“One kid looked back at me and said, `Is this horse some kind of Jedi horse?’ noting how Spring anticipated what he was doing.
“After a while, he started to reference that kid, and I thought, `Maybe he is a Jedi horse,’ ” CC chuckled.
“He was an emotional surgeon. He just went right to it. It is our honor to keep this legacy alive. Spring Thaw gave all he had into our arena and he dedicated the last 10 years of his life to this mission.
“One of the last things I said to him before his great heart stopped was `I promise my boy, Jedi horse, we will make you proud of us.’ He was my confidant, my rock, my guide, my lifetime horse for the last 21 years.”
CC and Spring Thaw communing.
The Open Group under Operation Horse, linked with the Lyons campus of the Veterans Administration New Jersey Health Care System in Basking Ridge, is available to any combat veteran with PTSD.
“We have seen some incredible success with the fact that repeated and longer-term exposure and reflection is creating solutions for these veterans,” said CC.
It was the veterans who nominated Spring for the Planetree award, which speaks volumes about the horse’s impact.
After coming into the program in November 2016, a retired 1SG (first sergeant) named Angel (last name withheld) who served in Iraq, was particularly fond of Spring and nicknamed him “Grandpa.”
He noted that Spring could build confidence in people, most of whom had no experience with horses, citing the case of a petite female client in her late 50s.
“She was terrified of horses,” Angel recalled, but when she went up to Spring and started petting him as he stood quietly, she relaxed immediately.
“He makes you feel comfortable,” Angel said about Spring.
Angel, who called Operation Horse “a great program,” noted the connection that develops between the equines and the participants.
As a veteran, he said, “it’s hard to take the wall down, the barriers; these horses kind of do it for us. You can’t lie to the horse. The horse can sense if you’re tense and will go away from you.”
He had the chance through a contact to ride a horse at another farm and understood because of his background with the program, “It’s a privilege for that horse to let me get on his back.”
Angel recalled that when he came back from his second tour in Iraq, there was a chaplain standing by in the airport who said, “ `I’m going to shake every soldier’s hand who comes off the airplane.’ That’s kind of like Grandpa—how many veterans have touched him, and how many has he touched. It’s amazing, the things that he’s done without even realizing.”
Jennifer Snell, a recreation therapist out of the Lyons facility, noted that Spring had arthritis and had to wear special shoes.
“It was kind of interesting, because a lot of the veterans have physical limitations too, so they could relate to him when he was getting out of his stall, taking his time starting to move. The veterans also could definitely relate to him as the old man, the head of the herd.”
She cited “amazing results” with the program, “how the horses end up mirroring a lot of the things that happen. We have veterans do different things with the horses, like obstacle courses. Building trust is one of the things we work on. They develop a form of trust with the horses and the horses trust the veterans.”
Like Angel, she emphasized the importance of “being able to connect with something.” Breathing exercises, “a relaxation, calming thing” the veterans do with their arms over the horses’ backs and being belly to belly, breathing together, “is a cool thing to see. Grooming also is calming for the veterans, who like making the horses feel better because they’re getting groomed.”
Spring Thaw working on healing. (Photo by CMC Photography)
Finding the money to keep SROL going is always a challenge, but CC has vowed in memory of Spring Thaw to “keep this program funded and saving lives.”
Those wishing to learn more about donating to this 501c3 charitable organization can go to www.springreinsoflife.org .
“This is the best two weeks of my life,” Dick Feldman liked to say about the Lake Placid Horse Show, which he served as chairman for more than a quarter-century.
Dick, who died last week at 83 after a long illness, was devoted to the two-week fixture in upstate New York.
“I don’t like it — I love it,” he declared more than once about the show whose board he joined in 1987.
His enthusiasm ran from the big picture of what it took to run the show, right down to picking up lost children and loose dogs.
If an exhibitor didn’t have sufficient shavings for a horse’s stall, he’d deliver them himself when necessary.
During the show, he would ride his horse over from his nearby Woodlea farm at 7 a.m., going around the entire grounds inspecting things and making sure everything was safe, always ready for more work on the project to which he devoted himself.
“The horse show business is a hands-on business,” he once explained.
Richard M. Feldman
“He wears the show on his sleeve,” Lake Placid’s technical coordinator, David Distler, commented a few years ago.
“His heart’s in the right place. He wants to make Lake Placid one of the top shows. He wants everyone to come and love it.”
Dick’s philosophy toward those who are part of the show went this way: “If you treat them as if they were your family, they will treat you like you were their father.”
Margie Engle, a regular at the show, once noted, “He’s a friend to everybody. If you need something, he’s there. He’s not the type of person who’s nice because of who you are. I’ve seen him talking to a leadline kid who’s nervous about going in the class. Whatever he can do to make people enjoy themselves at the show, he does.”
He was employed for 40 years with Lehman Brothers, where he became the company’s youngest national sales manager and then a senior vice president and managing director of investments,
But it was horses that were a lifetime focal point for Dick. Although his family was very involved in racing (they owned 1987 Belmont Stakes winner Bet Twice), his real interest was show horses, fox hunters (he served as master of the old Hidden Hollow Hounds in New Jersey). His involvement also extended to being a trustee of the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation.
“The Lake Placid Horse Show Association and the entire world of equestrian show jumping mourns the loss of Richard M. Feldman,” said Philip Richter, who succeeded Dick as the show’s chairman.
“He worked tirelessly to improve our sport and threw his heart, soul and wallet into making the Lake Placid Horse Show one of the most popular and best managed shows on the “A” circuit.
“It is an honor for me, as the new chairman of the Lake Placid Horse Shows, to continue to build upon his legacy, momentum and success. Richard positively impacted many lives in the world of equestrian sports and on Wall Street. His influence and dedication will be greatly missed by his friends, family and all those who were lucky enough to know him. The Board and Executive Committee extends our deepest sympathies to Richard’s family, and in particular to his wife, Diana, who, alongside Richard, has played a key role in the decades-long success of the Lake Placid Horse Shows.
When he was given the key to the Olympic Village and inducted into the Lake Placid Hall of Fame in 2009, Dick said, “This is my Academy Award. To be honored by the town on behalf of the horse show is a great honor and I have overwhelming gratitude for the town. This is the pinnacle of everything I’ve done and I am so thankful to everyone in town, not only for this honor, but also for all they have done to support the horse shows.”
Memorial services are tentatively planned for New York City in April and for Lake Placid during this summer’s horse shows, June 26 – July 8.
Memorial donations may be made “In Memory of Richard M. Feldman” to the Lake Horse Show Association, 5514 Cascade Road, Lake Placid NY 12946.–Nancy Jaffer
It’s never too early to plan for the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association’s 2018 hunter, jumper and equitation championships. Here’s what’s happening for Zone 2.
The Side-Saddle Championship is set for the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation in Gladstone July 17, while the Jumper Championship is part of the Devon, Pa., Fall Classic Sept. 13-17.
The Stirrup Cup Championships will run Sept. 29-30 at the Swan Lake Fall Regional in Littlestown, Pa. As usual, the Zone 2 Hunter Championship will be in Harrisburg, Pa., Oct. 21, the day after the Pennsylvania National Horse Show wraps up.
The jumper, hunter and side-saddle championships have specific qualifying criteria.
The other championships are open to anyone who meets the minimum criteria.
Dr. Pearse Lyons, whose Alltech was the title sponsor of the 2010 and 2014 World Equestrian Games, died March 8 due to an acute lung condition that developed during his recovery from heart surgery. He was 73.
Dr. Pearse Lyons. (Photo© by Nancy Jaffer)
The president and founder of Alltech, Dr. Lyons was a charismatic native of Ireland whose support for the 2010 WEG at the Kentucky Horse Park and the 2014 WEG in Normandy, France, made it possible for those global championships to be staged. His energy and enthusiasm enabled the WEGs to ride over the rough spots and become memorable competitions.
He also supported the National Horse Show when it moved from Syracuse, N.Y., to the Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2011. Alltech became the show’s title sponsor, another example of Dr. Lyons’ commitment to equestrian sport.
Always showing a sparkle that was infectious, he made things happen with his can-do approach.
Alltech, started by Dr. Lyons and his wife, Deirdre, with $10,000, is a privately held, Kentucky-based company that brings in more than $1.5 billion in sales annually, nearly all of it from making nutritional supplements that go into animal feeds, although the company also has interests in brewing and distilling, crop science, and other areas.
“Dr. Lyons was a visionary entrepreneur who transformed the agriculture industry beginning with his innovative application of yeast technology in animal nutrition. From farm to field, from market to family dinner table, our world is immeasurably better because he was a man who never saw problems, only a challenge that had not yet been solved,” said Alric Blake, CEO and treasurer of Alltech. .
“He inspired everyone he met with his energy, enthusiasm and passionate belief in possibilities. He instilled that positivity in his people, more than 5,000 Alltech team members around the world. I am confident I speak on behalf of all of them when I say that we are deeply honored to have known and worked for such a great man. We will resolve to honor his legacy by deepening our commitment to his customers and all the innovative ideas he believed in so strongly.”
“We are all deeply saddened by my father’s passing,” said Dr. Mark Lyons, Pearse’s son and chairman and president of Alltech.
“He always focused on developing people, and he built an extraordinary team over the years. I know he had full confidence in his team to continue growing the company he built.
“He saw farther into the horizon than anyone in the industry, and we, as his team, are committed to delivering on the future he envisioned. He planted seeds that will produce a bountiful harvest for the world in the years to come.”
Expressions of sympathy, including memories and tributes, may be shared at alltech.com/pearselyons.
In lieu of flowers, the family is encouraging donations to the Alltech ACE Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization that funds a variety of philanthropic endeavours around the world from disaster relief to primary schools in Haiti. Donations may be made at alltech.com/pearselyons.
Funeral masses will be in Lexington March 17 and in Dublin in April. A special celebration of life will be held May 20 at the beginning of One: The Alltech Ideas Conference in Lexington.
Public visitation in Lexington will be on Friday, March 16. Arrangement details will be kept up to date on alltech.com/pearselyons.
