Persistence paid off last weekend for T.J. O’Mara of Rumson, who set a goal and returned year after year to the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation in Gladstone attempting to realize it.
On his fifth try, he finally won the Platinum Performance/U.S. Equestrian Federation Show Jumping Talent Search Finals East, topping a stellar group of riders with a performance that was long on consistency and style.
T.J. O’Mara and Kaskade. (Photo copyright 2016 by Nancy Jaffer)
Trained by Stacia Madden of Beacon Hill Show Stables and Max Amaya of Stonehenge Stables, both in Colts Neck, T.J. said winning the Talent Search “has been one of my dreams for my junior career. I’m so proud of my horse.”
He has had a long relationship with Kaskade, his only equitation mount, who sadly will be for sale after indoors as T.J. ages out of the division.
“It’s going to be very emotional to see her go, but this was obviously on my checklist and I’m just happy to have won this on her, and not on another horse,” he said after the Talent Search award presentation.
He went from 11th after the initial flat phase to fifth after gymnastics on Saturday.
“Then I snuck into the top four,” said T.J., who won the Sunday morning jumping phase with a 92, though Daisy Farish still held the overall lead, as she had throughout the competition.
The Talent Search finalists enter the ring. (Photo copyright 2016 by Nancy Jaffer)
So T.J. was happy to have a clean slate to start over for the last phase, the “final four,” when each exhibitor rides their own horse, and then that of their competitors, over a shortened course.
Daisy had a refusal with her own horse, Ganjana, in the first round of the final four, and then the low score in every round thereafter.
Sophie Simpson won the first three rounds of the final four competition until she got on Ganjana, then put in eight strides where everyone else did seven between fences two and three, cross-cantered at the end of the ring and met the in-and-out in less-than-optimal fashion.
Sophie Simpson and Breckenridge, with the USET Foundation stables in the background. (Photo copyright 2016 by Nancy Jaffer)
She wound up second with a score of 350 to T.J.’s 355, while Vivian Yowan was third with 347 on McLain Ward’s Clearline, who won the Grappa trophy as best horse of the final. Daisy was fourth with a score of 246.
It was 2012 when T.J. first competed in the Talent Search, geared to spotting riders who could someday represent the U.S. in international competition. He was out of the ribbons, but his sister, Meg O’Mara, finished second that year. That was when he set his sights on winning someday.
His determination continues. T.J. is gearing up for his last shot at the Pessoa/USEF Medal Finals, which his sister won at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show. While there originally may have been some sibling rivalry, he notes that now, “Meg has been a huge support for me. She texts me at every single final and I know she’ll be proud of me, and my other two sisters will be proud of me as well.”
Vivian Yowan and Clearline, Best Horse of the finals. (Photo copyright 2016 by Nancy Jaffer)
Meg told him that depending on how he did at the Talent Search, she might show up to support him in person at the other finals. After the Medal, he has the Washington International’s equitation championship and then the ASPCA Maclay finals at the CP National Horse Show.
I met T.J. at the 2012 Hampton Classic when I was interviewing Meg about her blue-eyed horse, Sinatra, on whom she had won the junior jumper championship. She advised me that T.J. was going to be good, and I took it for what it was worth. She was, after all, his sister, which means she might have been prejudiced. He was just a kid, so I have to admit I didn’t pay a lot of attention. But Meg turned out to be right.
T.J. is an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Kentucky, where he is majoring in agricultural economics. His father, Tom, advised him that he needed something to fall back on if riding didn’t work out for a career, and he’s very interested in horse feed anyway.
This photo, T.J. on Daisy Farish’s mount, Ganjana, shows off his beautiful, balanced style. (Photo copyright 2016 by Nancy Jaffer)
He is a serious young man, with an earnest demeanor and excellent manners. All in all, a pleasure to deal with, and gracious, too.
He gave credit to everyone who helped him get this far, from Don Stewart, who trained him initially, to Max and Stacia and their teams, and his family and friends. While in Kentucky, he also got some help from Federico Sztyrle, a friend of Max’s, and his partner, Chris Ewanouski.
T.J. is grateful for his experience, noting, “The equitation gives you a sense of who you are as a rider. It’s built a ton of confidence in me over the years.” Next for him is focusing on jumpers with his new horse, Queen Jane.
The victory meant a lot to T.J.’s trainers, not only because of what he did, but also because of who he is.
“I am so happy for T.J. because I look at him as not only an unbelievable developing young rider, but he’s been like an assistant to Stonehenge and Beacon Hill,” said Stacia.
T,J. with one of his trainers, Max Amaya, and his parents, Liz and Tom O’Mara. (Photo copyright 2016 by Nancy Jaffer)
“He knows the horses. He can tell you what every horse in the barn eats, and probably what they wear for shoes. If I’m ever at the ring and one of my assistants isn’t there to answer a question about rules, he knows the rules because he reads the prizelists. He’s one of the few kids that actually gets a prizelist at the beginning of each horse show and reads it. He knows the rules of not only the competitions he rides in, but the rules of other competitions.
“He studies riding,” she continued.
“He watches videos, he reads books, he goes old school on you.” That makes winning the Talent Search “so well-deserved in that respect, because everything’s not coming from the trainer, even though we like to think we’re a very important part of it. He’s done a magnificent job of educating himself and I think that is what really pulled him through.”
Equus, the biggest fundraiser of the year for Mane Stream, is billed as a glamorous evening “celebrating the many triumphs of Mane Stream, its riders, clients, donors, volunteers and staff.”
Chaired by Wendy Waters, Equus is marking its 25th year. It will be held at the Hamilton Farm Golf Club in Gladstone Oct. 29 from 6:30-11 p.m. with a gourmet dinner, open bar, live band, dancing, and live and silent auctions.
As always, the highlight of the evening will be the stories of progress and accomplishments shared by several of the participants in Mane Stream’s therapeutic and adaptive horsemanship programs.
The Califon Book Shop at 72 Main St. in Califon is hosting a multi-author horse and dog book signing, “Of Horses and Hounds,”from 1-4 p.m. Oct. 29.The sessionwill showcase the work of six authors, as well as paintings by animal portrait artist Andrea Gianchiglia of Califon.
Children are encouraged to attend the signing, as there will be numerous juvenile titles available.
Horse book authors include Lisa Holderby of Middletown, Lucy Friedland of Martinsville and Loren Spiotta-DiMare of Tewksbury. Working through the government’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wild Horse Adoption Program, Lisa Holderby adopted, Soleil a wild mustang through an on-line adoption auction. While Holderby has owned other horses, the bond she has developed with Soleil is like no other. Their special relationship is captured in Holderby’s young adult novel, Soleil: A Mustang’s Story.
The author fictionalized the story by adding a young female character to make the book more appealing to young adults. However, 60 percent of the story is based on actual experiences with Soleil.
Several years later Holderby penned a sequel, Soleil’s Journey Home. In this volume, Soleil is taken back to where she was captured. The fictionalized characters ride through the back country of the Rockies in search of Soleil’s herd.
In a surprising moment, Soleil breaks free and joins the wild mustangs. Through dangerous terrain and unpredictable weather, the small group searches for the beloved Soleil.
Fifteen year-old Lucy Friendland wrote and self-published a hardcover picture book, Take A Tall Walk With Me ,based on the experience of her brother, Adam, with physical therapy at Mane Stream, a therapeutic riding center in Tewksbury.
With Adam by her side and contributing ideas, Friendland penned the story. She hired an illustrator, designer and printer to bring the book to life. Proceeds from the sales of Take A Tall Walk with Me benefit Mane Stream.
Quarter Horse owner Loren Spiotta-DiMare has been writing animal books for adults and children for 40 years, with seven horse books to her credit. Beyond The Finish Line: Stories of Ex-Racehorses,is a coffee table book highlighting 22 New Jersey equestrians who have adopted Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds off the track and retrained them for other disciplines and activities. Men & Horses and The Women Who Love Them is a collection of stories by women writers and riders. The author’s juvenile titles include a picture book, Madeline‘s Miracle and a series, Horses That Help with The American Humane Association. A disabled pony able to walk only on three legs, Madeline is taken in by Mylestone Equine Rescue in Pohatcong. Hearing of Madeline’s plight, area children raise funds for surgery and a brace to restore the pony’s mobility. Horses That Help highlights horses with special jobs: Police Horses, draft horses, performing horses and therapy horses.Spiotta-DiMare is working on a collection of stories about wild Mustang adoptions.
For more information about the event, call the store at 908-832-6686 or visit: www.califonbookshop.com
Bridget Hay of East Amwell and Kim Herslow of Stockton were rooming together, stabled their horses side-by-side and shared a tack room during an often-rainy Dressage at Devon. Both competed in the Prix St. Georges and Intermediaire I, while Bridget also rode in the FEI 5-year-old finals.
Bridget Hay and Kim Herslow during Dressage at Devon. (Photo copyright 2016 by Nancy Jaffer)
“Even though we compete against each other, it’s all fun,” said Kim, who couldn’t pinpoint whether their acquaintance was 15 years or 20, finally concluding, “it’s been a long time.”
Each was taking care of their own mounts (though Bridget also got help from her mother, Barbara), but were able to lend a hand to the other when needed.
“We haven’t done this in four years,” said Bridget, and things were different then. Riders regularly find themselves in the land of beginning again, and so it was with Bridget and Kim.
Four years ago, Bridget was showing her stallion Fitzhessen (like all her horses, a homebred). Kim was training Rosmarin, known as Reno, before he became a major star at last year’s Pan American Games as the team won gold and qualified the U.S. to compete in dressage at the Rio Olympics.
Sadly, Bridget’s stallion had to be put down after contracting a severe case of laminitis. This year, she showed his full brother, Faolan, a 7-year-old stallion by Freestyle, who finished 12th at Devon in a field of 40 in the PSG and 10th in the I-1.
Bridget Hay and Faolan. (Photo copyright 2016 by Nancy Jaffer)
Reno, a German import, was diagnosed after the Pan Ams with a cyst on the cruiciate ligament on his right stifle, and had to undergo surgery. He’s still rehabbing, but has moved up to cantering and hacking in the fields at Kim’s Uppercreek Farm.
So last week, Kim was showing All or Nothing (Ollie), a son of the stallion VDL Prestige who had been ridden by Netherlands’ star Edward Gal. Ollie belongs to Kim’s client, Ellen Reeder, but she offered the horse so Kim would have a chance to get back in the ring while Reno is on the sidelines and waiting to start training again with Debbie McDonald in Florida before year’s end.
Before you can go in any ring, however, you have to go in the warm-up area, and at Devon last Thursday, it was a mess.
When Bridget showed Fauna (who wound up second and third in the 5-year-old classes with a 79 and a 77.8) the rain was coming down and “water was gushing into my boots,” said Bridget. At the time Faolan was in the warm-up, “it was slop,” she observed.
Kim joked that before the GPS, Ollie “won the warm-up, his hind legs were hitting his belly” in an area flooded with puddles.
After that, however, “he kind of flattened out in the main ring with perfect footing. He lost a little bit of his gas,” she said, though he finished 19th of 40 in the class. He was still tired for the I-1, winding up 26th in that test.
“He was great about the whole thing,” Kim said of his third CDI.
Kim Herslow with All or Nothing. (Photo copyright 2016 by Nancy Jaffer)
While “he was not in the groove,” he still handled the unique atmosphere of D at D. His owner will make her debut on the horse this winter. She bought Ollie from a woman who got him for her 15-year-old son, before he decided he liked riding motorcycles more than riding horses.
Fauna is attached to Ollie, a good thing, because as Bridget pointed out, “I have to keep my mare and my stallion apart.”
Despite the weather, the two friends were having a good time.
“Devon’s my favorite show, even though it’s freezing cold and you get wet every year.” said Bridget.
“The random years that it’s sunny, you really appreciate those years.
“The atmosphere is awesome, but there are certain horses that I would think twice about taking here,” commented Bridget, who noted her horses were fine in the imposing Dixon Oval, and Kim said the same about the good-natured Ollie.
The duo tried to find fun where they could with a dinner out, but show life isn’t necessarily glamorous. For instance, Kim didn’t get to watch the Grands Prix for the Special and Freestyle on the Friday night because she had to be ready to show at 8 a.m. the next day.
Kim and Bridget went their separate ways after Devon, with Bridget heading to Kentucky next month for the national championships with both horses, while Kim went home before going to Florida. The two will reunite there, with Bridget basing herself in Kim’s barn for the winter circuit and continuing the thread of equestrian friendship that is so tightly woven through their lives.
The Horse Park of New Jersey is presenting Horse Health Day Oct. 23 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. to showcase information on optimal equine performance at all ages.
Presentations will cover Lyme disease, respiratory disease and hoof care to minimize injury and correct problems.
The speaker is Dr. Mark V. Crimson an adjunct faculty member at Virginia Tech who is a Zoetis veterinary expert contributor.
RSVP early to: info@foundationequinenj.com or call 609-291-0535 to reserve a gift bag. Lunch and refreshments will be based on the RSVP count.
He’s been trying since 2012, and today T.J. O’Mara finally won the Platinum Performace/U.S. Equestrian Federation Show Jumping Talent Search Finals East.
Platinum Performance/USEF Talent Search Finals East winner T.J. O’Mara of Rumson and Kaskade on their victory gallop. (Photo copyright 2016 by Nancy Jaffer)
Riding his reliable Kaskade, the mare with a heart of gold, the University of Kentucky freshman moved up from third after three phases to finish on a score of 355, ahead of Sophie Simpson (daughter of U.S. Equestrian Team veterans Will Simpson and Nicki Simpson), Vivian Yowan (347) and Daisy Farish (246). Daisy, who was at the head of the rankings after all three initial phases over two days, had a refusal with her own horse in the first round of the final four, and then the low score in every round thereafter.
Each of the top four competed over a shortened course on their own horses, then rode each of the others’ mounts over the same route.Simpson won the first three rounds of the final four competition until she got on Daisy’s Ganjana, then cross-cantered at the end of the ring and met the in-and-out in less-than-optimal fashion.
T.J., trained by Stacia Madden of Beacon Hill and Max Amaya of Stonehenge, said winning the Talent Search “has been one of my dreams for my junior career. I’m so proud of my horse.”
Vivian’s mount, McLain Ward’s Clearline, won the Grappa Trophy as Best Horse. The 2015 ASPCA Maclay winner, Mckayla Langmeier, finished fifth.
A unique opportunity for cross-promotion of horse racing and equestrian sports is being aired Saturday via a variety of websites in connection with the livestream of the Far Hills Race Meeting, highlighted by the $350,000 Grand National.
Guy Torsillieri, a key player in both the steeplechase races and the revival of the Essex Horse Trials next year, said race organizers realized they needed to fill in the time between races on the livestream at the jumbotron at Moorland Farm, where the Far Hills meeting is held. They saw it as an opportunity to give exposure to horse sports beyond racing.
Horses head for the finish line at the Far Hills Race Meeting. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
So they will be using videos about Essex, the Monmouth at the Team horse show at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation, the women’s Professional Golf Association Championship to be held in July at the Trump National club in Bedminster, the U.S. Golf Association and the ARC of Somerset County. ARC, which serves individuals with disabilities and their families, is being paid to handle clean-up at Moorland the day after the races.
“We’ve opened it up to a lot of groups in the area, so it’s really cool,” said Guy.
“The video feed will be available internationally, and jump-racing fans in Ireland, England, and Europe will have an opportunity to watch our championship-level races.”
The presence of horses from Britain, Sharp Rise, trained by Charles Longsdon and Days of Heaven, trained by Nick Henderson, sparked international interest.
Guy invited Murray Kessler, who will take over as U.S. Equestrian Federation president in January, to come to the races as his guest. That could lead to even greater exposure to horse sports from the connection with the race meeting, which draws more than 30,000 people and next year will offer parimutuel betting.
The cross-promotion offers opportunities for both equestrian activities and business in the area. The race meeting received the economic championship award for 2015 from the Somerset County Chamber of Commerce.
Daisy Farish is leading the Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals East at the end of the first day of competition at the Gladstone headquarters of the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation.
Daisy Farish leads the Platinum Performance USEF Show Jumping Talent Search on Ganjana after two of the four phases have been completed. (Photo copyright 2016 by Nancy Jaffer)
The 15-year-old Lexington, Ky., resident won today’s flat phase on Ganjana with a score of 92, and finished second in the afternoon gymnastics with the same score. Vivian Yowan, another Lexingtonian, tied with Sophie Simpson for eighth on 87 in the first phase, then topped the ranks in gymnastics with a 93 to stand second. The scores from gymnastics were multiplied by 1.5 to give Daisy a total of 230 to Vivian’s 226.5. Standing third is last year’s ASPCA Maclay winner, McKayla Langmeier, on 226.13, followed by Taylor St. Jacques (224.75) and T.J. O’Mara of Rumson in fifth with 223.25 Sophie is sixth on 222. One of the favorites for the class, Lucy Deslauriers, was fourth in the flat phase but had a refusal at the last fence in the gymnastics and is 53d on 148.50.
The four-part competition, considered by many the most rigorous event of its kind, continues at 9 a.m. Sunday, with all of the 57 competitors jumping a course. At 1:30 p.m., the top riders will compete in the “Final Four,” with each jumping a course and then going back over it on all of the other finalists’ horses.
The idea of the Talent Search is to discover riders who could represent the country internationally. Previous winners include McLain Ward, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who was on the silver medal squad in Rio last summer, and Charlie Jayne, the reserve rider for the 2012 Olympics and 2014 World Equestrian Games, as well as Andre Dignelli, who has coached a number of equitation finals winners and trains Daisy, along with Jodie Bailey, and Vivian as well.
Admission is free. If you can’t make it, the competition will be livestreamed on the USEF Network.
Need new tack at a bargain price? Have old tack you want to pass on?
Mane Stream, which offers equine-assisted therapies to help improve the quality of life for people with physical, developmental, emotional and medical challenges–will have its tack sale from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 8,. The sale at 83 Old Turnpike Road includes new and used items, and offers such brand names, as Ariat, Baker, Tailored Sportsman and Essex. Mane Stream accepts donations of horse-related donated items year-round. For more information, contactHolland@manestreamnj.org, call 908-439-9636 or go to www.ManeStreamNJ.org.
Our equestrian history keeps moving on, but Ron Davis doesn’t want to let it get away.
His documentary, “Harry and Snowman,” recounts one of the great horse stories of our time in the words of Harry de Leyer, the man who lived it, along with the observations of his contemporaries and family.
A gray rescue horse who could really jump is the hero of Harry & Snowman.
The movie, which opens Sept. 30 in dozens of cities, focuses on Harry and the Amish plow horse he rescued from a one-way trip to the slaughterhouse. The gelding, purchased for a mere $80, turned out to be a remarkable jumper who developed into an unlikely superstar, becoming an international celebrity in the late 1950s, along with his owner. They were media darlings who made the headlines of major publications, appeared on such iconic TV shows as “To Tell the Truth,” and were interviewed on-air (well, Harry was interviewed) by Dick Cavett. Johnny Carson even climbed into Snowman’s saddle on his program.
“I knew who Harry was, but never heard the Snowman story,” said Ron, 48, a native of Kinnelon who grew up riding at the A-rated shows with Mike Henaghan and Gary Zook. He qualified for the USEF Medal and ASPCA Maclay finals, and won 18 USET Talent Search classes before he stopped riding in the early 1990s.
“I’ve kind of been there,” he said, explaining why he no longer rides, but adds, “I don’t think anyone gets through a riding career like I did and has not taken away a huge part of who your are from that.
Film maker Ron Davis.
He also noted that if he hadn’t ridden, he wouldn’t have been interested in the subject. Nor would he have had the access to people he needed, including George Morris and Rodney Jenkins, both of whom appear in the film. You’ll see other familiar names on the credits, including one of the executive producers, Karen Reid Offield, well-known in the dressage world, announcer Peter Doubleday and jumper rider Donald Cheska, one of the re-enactors.
Ron’s next film will be about a rescue of a different kind, the dog rescue run by well-known horsemen Danny Robertshaw and Ron Danta.
“Almost all the important things in my life are connected in some way to my early life in the horse world,” he said, noting it was his horse friends who bought him to Wellington, Fla., where he lives.
Ron was in book publishing, dealing with sales, marketing and rights, when he went to school at night to learn about filmmaking. It was a hobby at first.
“Then I decided I wanted to turn it into a career,” he said. Six months after he decided to do it, he had a deal with HBO.
When Elizabeth Letts’ sensational book, “Snowman: The $80 Champion,”came out, a friend called it to Ron’s attention. The tale intrigued the film director.
“The book absolutely inspired my knowing what the story was,” he said.
Yet Ron also notes he hasn’t read the book, because “as a documentary filmmaker, for a story like this, I wouldn’t do research. If the people were all alive, I would go and hear it firsthand and not have a skewed idea of it.”
As he pondered the concept, Ron said, “I thought this story would be great to tell in a documentary, only if Harry was alive and well. He had to be able to tell the story.”
When he met Harry, still taking care of the horses and driving the truck to shows in his mid-80s, Ron thought, “This is perfect.
“I said, `How would you like to do this?’ No surprise, Harry said, `Absolutely.’ We hit it off. He started telling me the story.”
Harry and Snowman, the best of friends.
Ron didn’t want to have anyone else recount the Harry and Snowman relationship for him. He was interested in hearing the details for the first time when the camera was on because that’s the way it happens for the audience.
“That’s their experience,” he explained.
From the bit he did know about Harry and Snowman, the filmmaker said, “I didn’t believe in the Cinderella version. I thought it had been romanticized over 50 years. There was no way the horse really loved him.” But as he got into the project, Ron realized he’d been wrong.
“I was really surprised that my cynical heart and mind was changed very quickly. When you start to know the story and hear it from lots of different people and see it through the lens as I did with all the archival footage, I really then understood there was this bond between them, and more so initially, from Snowman to Harry. I had a different perspective as I learned the story.”
Although Harry had another top horse decades later in his homebred Dutch Crown, who tied for first place in the initial leg of the 1982 World Cup Finals, “Snowman is the one who put him on the map,” said Ron.
“He’s the one who’s a part of his family. It was the beginning.”
On the wall of Harry’s dining room, Snowman’s retirement cooler is framed, and his bridle hangs beside it.
The old films used in the documentary takes viewers back to another era when, as George Morris put it in an interview he did for the film, “Horse showing in the 1950s was a very high-profile sport,” covered on both the sports pages and the society pages.
“People who attended shows were old American aristocracy. It was very social.”
Ron summed it up this way: “Less business, more sport.”
George said the hunter division was front and center. He called the jumper division, “the stepchild to the high society hunter division.
“As a rule, people of less social status owned jumpers. The jumper people were scruffier than the hunter people. It definitely was the haves and the have-nots.”
Harry was a have-not. An immigrant from the Netherlands, he worked with the underground during World War II. He grew up on a farm, so he knew about horses. Harry eventually became the riding master of the Knox School on Long Island, and bought Snowman when he was looking for school horses.
Snowman was sold to a doctor down the road, but he kept jumping the fence and running back to Harry, his rescuer. Finally, the last time Snowman returned, Harry vowed never to sell the horse. When he found out the plow horse could jump, he started going to horse shows.
Although he may not have looked like much, Snowman could fly. At an elite show in the Northeast early in his show career, he finished ahead of Windsor Castle, at that time the most expensive jumper ever sold at the price of $50,000. Snowman went on to be a champion twice in Madison Square Garden when the National Horse Show was the start of the New York City social season, attended by movie stars such as Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor.
At the height of Snowman’s fame, Harry was offered a blank check for the horse, but turned it down. He couldn’t sell the family pet.
The sweet-natured animal was an all-arounder who would take several of Harry’s kids swimming on his back and pulled a sleigh. He would jump anything. Harry would put a horse in the middle of an oxer, then have Snowman leap over it. He also set a puissance record. It seemed there was nothing that special horse couldn’t do. Harry had a flamboyant style that developed over the years, as he would pivot on his knees over a fence and throw his hunt cap in the air after a successful round. The fans loved him. You will too.
The film has so many interesting details that I won’t reveal here, so go and see it if it’s near you.
The movie poster.
Ron noted that normally, “You wouldn’t say on a Friday night, `Let’s take the family to a documentary.’” But you can do it with this one.
As the director observed, “Everybody loves a good horse story, from Black Beauty to National Velvet.”
But the best thing about this one is that it’s true.
