by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 29, 2017
The 2016 debut of Monmouth at the Team won the New Jersey Horse Shows Association’s Show of the Year award this month.
The historic USET Foundation stables made the perfect backdrop for Monmouth at the Team, the NJHSA’s 2016 Show of the Year. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
It took some daring on the part of co-organizers Tucker Ericson and his cousin, Michael Dowling, to move New Jersey’s oldest horse show out of Monmouth County into the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation headquarters in Somerset County, more than an hour away.
But it worked and was hugely successful on both the sporting and social sides.
“We’re excited that it had a great first go,” said Katie Benson, NJHSA president, who runs the Briarwood operation at Black River Farm in Ringoes.
“Briarwood’s Derby Day got beat, but that’s fine,” said Katie, who was elected last month as a director-at-large for the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association.
“Briarwood had the award for a lot of years, but Monmouth is new and exciting,” she commented.
The success of Monmouth at the Team will be reflected in its 2017 show, which is growing to seven days from six and will have three days that are B-rated from the U.S. Equestrian Federation, as opposed to its single C-rated day last year.
It is adding a $5,000 USHJA hunter derby with fences set at 3 feet on one of the recognized days, but also will have an unrecognized derby, with a $10,000 purse. Fences will be set at 2 feet, 2-6 and 3 feet.
The August show turned out to be an end-of-summer attraction in highly competitive Zone 2 (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania), drawing a legion of quality horses and riders.
“It’s kind of like, if you can make it in New York City, you can make it anywhere; if you can make it in Zone 2, you can make it anywhere,” Tucker quipped.
Jumpers are featured on the weekend, a draw for sponsors and “local people who maybe don’t know the sport that well,” said Tucker, explaining they can follow that action more easily than they can the hunters.
All of last year’s sponsors are coming back, and they include the banking and car dealership categories, as well as the usual equestrian-related firms.
“They see the benefit in equestrian sports,” said Tucker, who is also active as a judge.
“Everyone stepping up and supporting us is what we need,” he added. “We didn’t cut corners. We put money back into the atmosphere and quality of the event.”
The USET Foundation will be given a utility building through money raised by the show and the efforts of the show’s presenting sponsor, Precise Buildings. The project is already on the drawing board, but needs to go through the municipal approval process before it can be constructed. Tucker said it is hoped that the building can go up after this year’s show.
Once that is completed, a judges/announcer pavilion will be the next project.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 28, 2017
By Nancy Jaffer
January 21, 2017
It’s always nice to get a trophy. But it’s even better when the honor comes in memory of a mentor.
Endurance rider Meg Sleeper of Kingwood Township proudly stepped up to accept the Maggy Price Endurance Excellence Award at the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s Horse of the Year Gala last weekend in Lexington, Ky.
Meg Sleeper and Syrocco Harmony competing in the endurance world championships. (Photo by Pamela Burton)
“It was really a nice surprise. I didn’t expect it at all,” said Meg, a veterinary cardiologist who was coming to the USEF for an endurance meeting at the organization’s convention the day after the gala. The proof was that she needed to change her flight to arrive a day early in order to have a presentation photo taken with the impressive bronze horse trophy. The award is given to the Endurance Rider Ranking List athlete with the most points earned in the competition year.
“It meant so much to me because I knew Maggy,” Meg explained.
Maggy, who died 10 years ago, was a unique character, outspoken and an active participant in the old American Horse Shows Association (a predecessor of USEF) and the U.S. Equestrian Team. In 1992, she represented the United States at the World Endurance Championships in Spain, where she won an individual bronze medal and team silver.
“My first competitive trail ride was 1981, and Maggy was in her prime at that point,” Meg recalled.
“She was always one of the people I looked up to. When I was in vet school, I got to ride one of her horses. All of her horses were named Ramegwa something,” said Meg, who rode Ramegwa Rhodora, a mare that belonged to former world champion Valerie Kanavy.
Ramegwa stood for the names of Maggy’s children, Raymond, Megan and Wayne.
“I admired the fact that not only did Maggy produce really great horses, but wherever those horses went, everyone knew they were from Maggy because of the Ramegwa name,” said Meg.
When Meg started breeding horses, she decided to follow Maggy’s lead and came up with a name that signified her program.
“I picked a word I liked because I didn’t have kids, therefore, all my horses are Syrocco something.”
A perennial world championships competitor, Meg spends half the year working at the University of Florida, where she is involved in research on gene therapy for heart disease. It’s a canine study, but in the future it could be useful for horses and other animals, she said.
Meg, who also took the Price award in 2011, was among several Jerseyans in the spotlight at the dinner. Kaitlin Hofer and her mother, Liz, are regulars at the HOTY Awards, bringing home armfuls of championship ribbons in the Welsh division, but this one was their swan song.
Their Glynhafan Hermione, the USEF’s grand champion Welsh pony, has taken that title six times, in 2008 and from 2012 through 2016. She also has to her credit 15 USEF championships and three reserves, and 16 Welsh national championships and nine reserves as well. She also has been the country’s high-score Welsh section B champion for five years.
What’s the secret of her success? “She likes to win things,” said Liz, who took the Welsh Pleasure Sections A&B Adult to Ride title with Hermione.
Liz and Kaitlin Hofer accepting their USEF Horse of the Year awards in Kentucky. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
“We don’t school her when we go to shows. We just warm her up and she goes in the ring cold.”
Kaitlin, a 17-year-old high school senior at Northern Highlands in Allendale, also picked up a USEF championship on Capstone’s Tootsie, a Welsh/quarter horse cross, for Half/Partbred Welsh Pleasure. Now she will be focusing on her hunter, SF Peter Pan, so 14-year-old Hermione will be used primarily for lessons at the Hofers’ Lower Cross Farm in Saddle River. The mare may be shown occasionally by kids in the barn, but they won’t be going after any more Horse of the Year titles. Asked how she thinks other competitors in the Welsh division will react to Hermione’s absence, Liz replied, “They’ll be happy not to see her. I don’t think anyone’s come close to what she’s done.”
Audrey Schulze of Ridgewood also starred in the Welsh division, taking the title in Welsh Pleasure/Section B with Gayfields Talladega Knight, calling him a pony “who likes to work. He likes a good ride.”
The joy of the evening was quite a contrast to last year at the same time, when Audrey and her mother, Anne Marie Snyder, cancelled their trip to Kentucky to collect a reserve championship ribbon after another of their ponies, Magical Masterpiece, came down with Lyme disease and there was a question as to whether she would survive. Luckily, she did, but she can no longer be ridden and is retired at Red Tail Farm in Bedminster.
Seven years ago, Audrey started riding at Saddle Ridge Riding Center after going to camp there, then moved on to Liz Hofer’s farm, where she became involved with Welsh ponies. She now rides with Brian and Jolene Cash at Hidden Acres Farm in West Milford. Anne Marie is always there to watch her lessons.
Audrey Schulze of Ridgewood on Gayfields Talladega Knight. (Photo by Janice Thomson)
“I listened to everything every trainer said, so I would be ready when the time came to buy her something, I wouldn’t be one of those moms who had no clue,” Anne Marie said. In fact, she thought riding looked like so much fun she started taking lessons herself. While Audrey and Anne Marie are at the barn every night, husband Gary Schulze is making dinner, playing his part in the winning team.
Audrey, a 13-year-old eighth grader at the Village School in Waldwick, is moving on to the pony jumper division with Tally. She’ll be getting stiff competition there from Ponies Unlimited of Franklin Lakes, which took the national championship in that section with Angel and reserve with Cartier, as well as third (EZ to Spot) and fourth (Jet Pilot).
Donna Owen, who runs Ponies Unlimited at her home in Ringwood, said her daughter, Devon, only started competing in the pony jumpers nine months ago. A seventh-grader at Macopin Middle School in West Milford, Devon took over the ride on Angel from Gianna Orecchio of Hewitt, who campaigned the 14.1-hand paint/quarter horse mare the first part of the season and started accumulating points toward the HOTY award.
Devon Owen on Ponies Unlimited’s Angel. (Photo by Rachel Bradford)
Devon, who was the hunt seat pleasure national champion last year on Sky’s the Limit, is hoping to make it to the USEF Pony Finals this summer.
Asked about how she likes working with Donna, Devon said, “It’s hard, because she’s my mom, but overall it’s good.” Does she listen to her mother? “Sometimes. It depends on the day,” Devon responded cheerfully. But she and her mother do work together taking care of the 10 ponies on the farm; mom mucks while Devon grooms and rides.
Other Jerseyans who won HOTY championships include Leslie Goryeb of Far Hills, Half/Anglo Arabian Pleasure/Pleasure Driving Open with Nutcracker’s Magdalena; Clara Hayes of Manasquan, Green Pony Hunter/Medium with Arnaby Bodacious, and Annika Bruggeworth of Mays Landing, Three-Gaited Park with Hollywood Heat and Three-Gaited Park Pleasure with Secret Meeting.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 23, 2017
West Milford High School junior Mackenzie Suffy earned high point rider honors at last weekend’s College Preparatory Invitational (CPI) in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The event at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center replicated the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association’s competition format, in which participants do a draw for their mounts. The event also featured a college fair attended by representatives of 35 institutions of higher learning that offer an equestrian program.
Mackenzie’s trainer, Brian Cash of Hidden Acres Farm in West Milford, came to Florida. But with a format that allowed little to no schooling, Mackenzie had to rely on her own ability and instincts. She competed in the advanced division, with two different horses for the flat and jumping phases.
“It was awesome. I’d like to do it again,” said Mackenzie, but as the winner, she is not eligible to compete a second time. Instead, she’ll concentrate on training her 18-hand, 6-year-old Irish import, Meitreo H.
“We bought him off a video and hoped for the best,” she said. Her plan now that he’s gotten some experience is to make the finals of the major equitation championships.
Mackenzie Suffy, the high point rider in the College Preparatory Invitational. (Photo by Andrew Ryback)
The CPI was far from her first major accomplishment, however. She won Marshall & Sterling National Junior Medal Championship last year, and year-end championships in a variety of divisions, as well as being voted the N.J. Horse Shows Association Junior Rider of the Year in 2015.
Mackenzie, who hopes to be a professional, will be spending two months at the HITS shows in Ocala, Fla., this winter under a special program where she goes to school four mornings a week and rides the rest of the time.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 21, 2017
I first heard the distinctive and authoritative voice of announcer Tom Mannos at the Middlesex County Horse Show, back in the days when it was actually held in Middlesex County, at scenic Johnson Park in New Brunswick.
Happily, I had plenty of other chances to listen to his polished, always professional approach at other New Jersey shows, including Hunt Cap in Three Bridges and those being held at the Horse Park of New Jersey in Allentown. Going further afield, I welcomed his familiar sound at the Hampton Classic and Madison Square Garden when the National Horse Show was held there.
Announcer Tom Mannos, honored by the Professional Horsemen’s Association.
Tommy, now 90 and still in stride, was honored this month with the Jimmy Walsh Trophy for the second time in recognition of over 50 years of service to the Long Island Professional Horseman’s Association at their annual banquet. All of his family flew in to see him accept an original bronze sculpted by Marilyn Meiselman.
Tom got introduced to horses when he was nine, spending a summer on his uncle’s Montana ranch. He knew the animals would always be part of his life, and became involved with reining and cutting horses, as well as riding in 20 states, Canada and two Caribbean islands.
He went on to become a radio broadcaster and a television actor, announcer and advertising executive. When he bought a horse for his son, Mark, he entered the equestrian world.
After attending horse shows, he realized they needed better announcing and public address systems. After announcing at a schooling show where he did a play-by-play on a trail class, he received an offer to announced at his first American Horse Shows Association recognized show.
He wound up announcing more than 30 shows a year, and his sound system became TM Sound, with 20 loudspeakers, six amplifiers, two miles of wiring and 42 radios that he took from show to show in a three-quarter ton van.
His announcing career also included horse expos and demonstrations from Michigan, Wisconsin and Kentucky, as well as Dressage at Devon and all the Belmont Park horse fairs. Through the years, his talent has been impressive and his dedication unfailing.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 19, 2017
The short list for the second U.S. 4-star three-day event is very short. It’s been narrowed to two venues with experience in FEI competitions.
Although there had been talk of adding a second American 4-star to the spring Rolex Kentucky 4-star in 2018, the date was pushed to 2019 because the World Equestrian Game in Tryon, N.C., will be the feature of the year in 2018, and it’s being held in September.
The field of candidates for the new 4-star includes Fair Hill, Md., which has hosted the Fair Hill International fall championship 2- and 3-star events since 1992. The event is now sponsored by the Dutta Corp.
The Fair Hill Natural Resources Center near Elkton has a beautiful backdrop in the fall with its vast array of trees and their multi-colored leaves.
Stakeholders have begun discussions with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources about the 2015 Maryland Horse Park System Study, which recommended Fair Hill as an ideal equestrian field event venue to support the value of the state’s horse industry.
Interestingly, Maryland, like Kentucky, also has a Triple Crown race–the Preakness is at Pimlico, while the Kentucky Derby is at Churchill Downs.
The other 4-star possibility is Great Meadow in The Plains, Va., near Middleburg, a 380-acre field events center and steeplechase course operated under stewardship of the Great Meadow Foundation.It was where the U.S. eventing team had its final outing before leaving for the Rio Olympics last summer.
Other candidates for the 4-star that didn’t make the cut were Tryon, the Jockey Club in Ocala, Fla., Morven Park in Virginia and
A fall U.S. 4-star would be the seventh event at that level in the world. The only other country to have two such competitions is Britain, with Badminton in the spring and Burghley in the autumn. The other 4 stars are Luhmuhlen in Germany, Pau in France and Australia’s Adelaide.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 13, 2017
The Kentucky Horse Park, which hosted the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington, has dropped its bid fro the 2022 FEI World Equestrian Games.
Since the only other bidder was Samorin, Slovakia, that facility looks like the winner.
The Kentucky Horse Park needs $12 million in improvements.
“We are committed to being good stewards of the Kentucky Horse Park,” said Tandy Patrick, chair of the Kentucky Horse Park Commission. “We do not think it would be economically feasible for the park to host the 2022 games.”
The international equestrian federation (FEI) likes to spread its championships around, so having two WEGs in a row in the U.S. would have run contrary to that precept. The 2018 WEG will be held at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Tryon, N.C. There has never been a WEG in Eastern Europe, which is a nice feature for Slovakia.
The Slovakian entry is an exciting new venue that presented the world endurance championships this year. It was also in the running for the 2018 Games that went to Tryon after the original winner of the 2018 nod, Bromont, Quebec, withdraw when financial issues couldn’t be solved. By 2022, there will be more facilities at Samorin (it’s missing an eventing cross-country course at the moment). It’s location little more than an hour’s drive from Vienna also is a plus.
The first WEG in 1990 was held in Stockholm. There were only six disciplines showcased then, but the one-venue approach enabled people to experience a variety of different horse sports. The WEG was not supposed to be held every four years when it started (it took the place of independent world championships every four years in the Olympic sports) but it went so well that the concept continued. Subsequent WEGs had varying degrees of success, but the FEI considers this championship an important asset and as such it will continue.
In addition to the Olympic disciplines, the WEG includes four-in-hand driving, endurance, reining, vaulting and para-dressage. Those sports also have independent world championships in addition to the WEG, so they have title meets every two years.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 13, 2017
| It could have been problematical for all breeds, but new teeth in the Horse Protection Act regulations will be geared to eliminating the practice of soring in Tennessee Walking Horses and racking horses, where stronger action is needed.
The original draft of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service document would have made it illegal to put liniment on the legs of other show horses, and also caused problems with shoeing with pads and a variety of other normal practices.
While supporting efforts to end soring and other cruel practices, the U.S. Equestrian Federation submitted a detailed document explaining why other breeds and disciplines should be exempt from provisions originally included in the “overly broad regulation.”
APHIS specifically recognized in the issuance of its final rule the USEF as setting “leading industry standards for equestrian sport” as part of the rationale for limiting the application of the proposed amendments to Tennessee Walking Horses and racking horses.
Shortly after the HPA was passed in 1970, APHIS established provisions to implement the act, but “substantial noncompliance” continued. The new regulation will use trained and licensed Horse Protection Inspectors instead of private inspectors to make decisions about horses that show signs of soreness inflicted on them so they perform “the big lick,” that is a manifestation of abuse. |
by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 2, 2017
Consummate volunteer Larry Langer, one of the key figures in the hunter/jumper industry, received the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the organization’s annual meeting in Kentucky.
He has been part of the sport for 66 years, ever since he was a knobby-kneed kid with glasses who discovered that unlike his parents and his sister, horses didn’t talk back. From there, his involvement with riding took off.
After time as a rider, trainer and show manager, judge and steward, he got into equestrian governance. Larry has served on a wide variety of boards, including that of the USEF, and was instrumental in the birth of the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association. He was honored with its distinguished service award five times.
Tom Struzzieri and his friend, Larry Langer. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
“You name it and Larry has been involved as a tireless volunteer,” said HITS showmanager Tom Struzzieri, who introduced his friend to the audience in a Lexington, Ky., ballroom where the Pegasus Awards were held.
Larry is always generous with his time and counsel. As Tom noted, Larry is characterized by “his loyalty and non-stop energy for the sport.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 2, 2017
He guided the U.S. show jumping team to medals at the 2014 World Equestrian Games, the 2015 Pan American Games and the 2016 Olympics, so it was no surprise that Robert Ridland just got another four years as the squad’s technical adviser/chef d’equipe, or the title he prefers, “coach.”
At this point, Robert is the only U.S. chef in the Olympic disciplines who is assured of staying through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Robert Dover guided the dressage team to bronze at the Rio Games, but wasn’t sure he wanted to stay on past the 2018 World Equestrian Games.
David O’Connor, whose eventing squad did not finish as a team at either the 2014 WEG or the Rio Olympics, got another two years to show what he can do.
But it seemed a cinch that Robert Ridland would be asked to remain in his post.
“I’m very excited to once again be given the unique opportunity of working with what I believe is the most talented group of horses and riders in the sport today,” said Robert, who had Kent Farrington (number three in the world this month) and McLain Ward (number four in the world) as half of his team at the WEG, Pan Ams and Olympics.
“Over the past four years, I have constantly been reminded of how fortunate we are to have the unrivaled USEF support team working behind the scenes with us to make it all possible,” Robert continued.
“And with the unwavering support of the owners, I look forward to continuing to help lay the groundwork for sustained success for our present and future riders throughout the next quadrennium and beyond.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Dec 27, 2016
Carl “Doc” Simmons fell in love with hunting from the first day he tried it. He rode with Suffolk County’s Smithtown Hunt on Long Island, but took inspiration from the old, very social (and defunct) Meadow Brook Hounds in Nassau County, a hunt that counted Theodore Roosevelt as a member before he became president of the U.S.
Doc learned that a secretary would sit at a table every time Meadow Brook went out, taking notes on who was riding, the name of their horse, the grooms and guests, the weather conditions.
After looking at those write-ups, he started his own hunting diary. He kept notes of his first 500 hunts over a 10-year period, and then was able to figure out how the numbers mounted after he moved to Virginia and hunted several times a week. All told, he has hunted with 33 clubs in six states and seven countries.
On Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, the 70-year-old Bernardsville resident marked his 1,000th day of hunting. Before the field at the Monmouth County Hunt (mchconservancy.org) started off, he raised his flask and members lifted their stirrup cups, as he offered a toast, his “ode to the hunt:”
May the fox be sporting, and the scent be strong.
May your mount be willing all hunt long.
May the hounds be active, true to the line,
And upon our return, all’s safe and fine.
May the sun be shining, yet the weather cool.
And, above all else . . .
May your flask be ever full.
Carl “Doc” Simmons offers a toast to mark his 1,000th day of hunting, as other members of the Monmouth County Hunt raise their stirrup cups. (Photo by Bonnie Smith)
Doc noted his achievement isn’t unique. As he pointed out, anyone able to put in 50 hunts a year for 20 years can enjoy the same achievement, though that’s easier said than done.
“There’s probably a lot of people who have had 1,000 hunts, but they just never thought of it,” he commented.
With the pressures of work and other demands, difficult weather and the challenge of keeping horses sound, however, 50 hunts a year is not within everyone’s reach.
“He should be proud of it,” said Dennis Foster, executive director of the Masters of Foxhounds Association, who has ridden with 408 different hunts in 11 countries, and logged thousands of times out with the hounds.
Of course, Dennis is in a singular position, but referring to Doc’s milestone, he noted, “It isn’t something most people can say they did. It’s an accomplishment, and if he took the effort to document it, (it’s) something very special to him.”
Doc, who has a doctorate in management, is president and CEO of Global Network Solutions, a consulting firm. Although he rode while growing up on a farm in Western Pennsylvania, he stopped when his time was devoted to college, a stint as a small-college All American football player and playing with a New York Giants farm team. He then devoted himself to his career, and didn’t get back into horses until he was in his 40s.
He started hunting in 1992, after taking riding lessons at the C.W. Post Equestrian Center in Old Westbury on Long Island, territory that was used by Smithtown for a drag hunt. After looking at hunting pictures in the lobby of the Post facility he decided, “I want to do that. And that was it.
“I fell in love with it. I love to dress up, frankly,” he said with a chuckle, but then cited hunting’s physical, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual benefits.
“It gathers all of our senses that are alive,” he stated.
Monmouth Joint Master Meg Valnoski said Doc had just started hunting with Monmouth this season, and told her he would be reaching his milestone this winter.
“He brings great enthusiasm and really enjoys the traditions of foxhunting, which includes both the hunting and social aspects. He’s been a great addition to our hunt,” said Meg.
The other joint master, MJ Carey, agreed, adding, “He understands and respects the sport, and the tradition of the sport. That’s what’s kept our sport alive, the people who hold deep in their hearts the traditions of the sport.”
UPDATE:
I just learned that Doc achieved his milestone on Alex, a horse he leases from Kit and Shane Alley, the owners of Harmony Hill Stables in Allentown.
Here is Alex’s story, courtesy of Kit:
We are an approved partner farm for Turning for Home Retired Racehorses, Parx Racing, Bensalem Pa. We partner with Turning for Home to take off-the-track thoroughbreds to rehab, retrain and rehome them. In the program for just over a year, we have rehabilitated, retrained and rehomed 11 OTTBs.
Alex was one of the very first OTTBs that we took in from Turning for Home in October 2015. Alex had one of the worst bowed tendons I had ever seen, and in fact, the vet had recommended putting her down until TFH and our farm got involved. It took us almost one year to rehab Alex.
After her long rehabilitation, we started retraining her and because she had been “on the farm” so long she was stubborn to retrain. We got her out on some hunter paces. Finally, with a lot of patience and love, we built a solid training foundation so that Alex was ready for a second career and her forever home.
We advertised Alex for adoption and many people loved her conformation and her pedigree (Cat Thief) but absolutely no one would give her a chance because of her previous injury. Many people want a “perfect horse” with no injuries and so many excellent OTTBs, like Alex, get overlooked. We kept riding and training her because we knew how good she was and believed in her. Then Doc Simmons contacted us and was interested in leasing an OTTB for the hunt season and adopting an additional OTTB gelding as well.
He was unsure at first because of her size, 15.3 hands, which is another reason OTTBs are overlooked. I encouraged him to just give our girl a chance and he did and he loves her. In fact he refers to her as his “new girlfriend.”
When Doc achieved his 1,000th hunt milestone upon her trusty back and was giving his toast, tears were streaming from my eyes; tears of happiness, because I knew that we had brought Alex back and she had finally found her forever home and second career with Doc.
