Rolex Kentucky is the Western Hemisphere’s only 4-star event, and one of just six in the world, so it’s always difficult.

But throw in a day of rainstorms and the cross-country phase becomes even more testing. No one made the 11-minute, 15-second optimum time yesterday on the course designed by Derek di Grazia, who also will be laying out the routes for the 2018 World Equestrian Games and the 2020 Olympics.

It takes experience to know how to handle a situation like the one riders faced at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington this weekend. With 64 horses competing, the ground became difficult as both the competition and the rain continued.

“Horses that ran earlier in the day had different going than the horses at the end of the day. I was shocked at how much the footing changed. It deteriorated quite a bit,” said Sinead Halpin, who operates a stable in Long Valley. Even so, she moved up with Manoir de Carneville from 18th after dressage on Friday to 11th following cross-country.

The question is, if the ground had been better, could he have risen higher in the rankings? Tate, as the Selle Français is known, has finished as high as third place at Rolex. He enjoys quite the resume, having been an Olympic alternate in 2012 and part of the U.S. effort at the World Equestrian Games in France two years ago.

“I was really happy with him, but I would have loved to have run earlier in the day,” commented Sinead,  who went on course with her chestnut Selle Français at 1:36 p.m., more than three and one-half hours after cross-country began at 10 a.m.

Rolex leader Michael Jung of Germany, who has Olympic, world championship and European championship gold medals to his credit, started on course at 11:36 a.m. He was only two seconds over the optimum time with Fischerrocana FST, but no one was any faster.

Interestingly, Holly Payne Caravella, who operates a stable in Chester, went at 10:24 a.m. on the thoroughbred Never Outfoxed, and her effort that collected only 2.8 time penalties (which means she was a mere 7 seconds slow) boosted her from 67th after dressage to 19th. She was tied with two other women for the best time by an American.

Santino put in a good effort for Holly Payne Caravella on cross-country.

“I think the Olympics are something you don’t plan on. You say, `Yeah, it would be great,’ but you start ticking off the boxes on the way to the Olympics and if they work, they work, and if they don’t, they don’t. Honestly, the horse is 16 years old and he’s a beautiful, wonderful horse and I’ve been looking to get to Rolex, and if Rolex works out, great.”

Holly is part of a well-known eventing family. Her mother, Marilyn Payne, is judging in Rio, and her brother, Doug, also competed at Rolex, where he stands 25th on Vandiver, moving up from 50th after dressage.

On her second horse, Santino, Holly was 15th after dressage and looked as if she stood a good chance of moving up, considering the way the thoroughbred, who went at 1 p.m., was handling the course. Then she ran into trouble at the new water jump.

“He hung his stifles on the ‘in’ of the water, and I got knocked forward and almost came off. I tried to save him, but by the time I picked up to save it, I was headed right toward the crowd, so there was no way of getting back to the corner (the second element),” she recalled.

“I had to circle back to do the option on the corner, so I crossed my tracks and picked up 20 (penalties) to get back to the option. It was a total shame. I rode a bit aggressive; I should have been more patient. It’s nothing related to him. It was totally my fault.” Because of the crowds and roping, there was no way for her to turn back without crossing her tracks. So Santino dropped 26 places to 41st.

Asked about the footing, she said. “It definitely deteriorated. On the galloping lanes I was trying to look for good ground, moving a little left or right The take-offs were pretty good, but a couple of the landing spots, I felt them maybe stumble on landing on the back side of the jump, it was getting a little thick. But it didn’t seem to be bothering him.”

The event ends today with stadium jumping. It will be an opportunity for some riders to recoup, and others to drop further in the standings. The prediction is for more rain, but luckily, it is run in an arena on all-weather footing, so the ground shouldn’t be a factor.

I’m still drying out from cross-country, but I’ll be back in the weather again so I can update tomorrow night to tell you how the Jersey girls fared.

“Free to a good home, can no longer keep my 21-year-old horse. Not sound to ride, but would be a good companion.”

There are lots of reasons for giving up a horse. Sometimes financial or personal situations change drastically, or serious illness strikes. But too many people don’t take responsibility for the welfare of an animal who has done them good service.

A horse’s old age alone shouldn’t be reason enough to send him away, even if you can’t afford another horse but want to keep showing or pursing your equestrian goals. Try to find an alternative to an uncertain destiny for an older horse.

So I was intrigued by the story of 70-year-old Peggy Christ, and her 23-year-old Intermediare I horse, Tristan, the first horse she had owned as an adult.

“I felt as long as we had some kind of connection, I was taking him on as a lifetime commitment,” said the amateur rider, who bought the Dutchbred in 2002 and saw him through severe dental problems in 2010.

“He’s given me far more than I would have ever expected; I started saying that about eight years ago.”

When she bought him, “He was Second Level dressage, I was maybe First Level,” she recalled of their beginnings, after trainer Stephan Cheret found the son of Farrington for her.

“It took a few years, but we moved up the levels together,” said Peggy, who is retired from a position as director of publications at Rutgers University.

“We’re not CDI quality, but we mostly compete against ourselves with the hope of improving. Knowing he’s 23, I was not necessarily committed to showing him again this year, but I haven’t ruled it out, either,” noted the Princeton resident. Show or no show, however, Tristan has a home for life.

A proud Peggy Christ and Tristan.

He was the first horse Peggy owned as an adult. She had ridden where she grew up in New York State until she went away to college, then didn’t take up the sport again for 35 years. When she was in her mid-50s, a coworker invited her to meet her horse. Peggy got on a school mount at her friend’s stable and suddenly, she was back in the game.

She is content with all Tristan has done. He was third in the Eastern States Dressage and Combined Training Association high-score I-1 standings for 2015, and reserve for Prix St. Georges the previous year, when he also was fourth at I-1.

He has been high-score FEI champion at the Labor Day weekend show at the Horse Park of New Jersey, where he won the I-1. She has collected a number of Master’s recognition titles (for riders over 50) “because we’re always the oldest person.”

Tristan’s record also includes a reserve championship in the regional Great American Insurance Group competition.

“That was pretty neat, to be able to do an awards ceremony with a tricolor ribbon,” said Peggy.

At the same time, “Our thing has never been to compete with other people that much, but just to improve on what we can do,” she explained.

Ironically, Tristan “never has been wild about dressage. He puts up with doing this because I ask him to.”

What would he prefer?

“He loves to explore; he’s the greatest trail horse in the world. You can put his footsteps wherever you want. I feel I am on the safest creature I can imagine.”

Peggy likes to characterize herself as a “70-year-old working student” for her trainer, Lauren Chumley, at her farm in Pittstown.

Whatever he does, Tristan is appreciated by his owner/rider.

The state is still in the throes of winter, but work has been under way for months on the May 11-15 Jersey Fresh International, which is an Olympic selection trial this year.

It’s time to start making plans to attend New Jersey’s largest three-day event. The schedule includes not only the 2- and 3-star CCI and shorter CIC competitions, but also is adding an advanced horse trials division.

Regulars who compete at Jersey Fresh include Pan American Games gold medalists Boyd Martin, Philip Dutton and Lauren Kieffer, as well as such big names as Michael Pollard and Buck Davidson. No wonder the theme for the tailgating at the water jump complex this year is “Stars, stars, stars.”

The event at the Horse Park of New Jersey in Allentown was upgraded markedly in 2015, spurred by a grant of $25,000 from former U.S. eventing team veterinarian Brendan Furlong’s B.W. Furlong & Associates. The amount has been raised to $30,000 for 2016, with much of it going for prize money. Brendan said his son, Adam, is trying to get a couple of veterinary suppliers in to contribute money as well.

Explaining his commitment to Jersey Fresh, Brendan said, “New Jersey was very instrumental in the sport of eventing in the U.S.,” citing its origins going back to the Essex Horse Trials in the 1970s.

“There’s a long tradition of eventing in the Garden State, and it’s a great date on the calendar,” said Brendan of Jersey Fresh, noting the competition is a prime destination “for  horses to move up to the 3-star level after their winter campaign in Florida.”

Also, it’s often a destination for horses who for some reason “don’t make it to the Rolex Kentucky 4-star in April, or who don’t finish Rolex,” he pointed out.

As an example, he noted that last year, after Buck was not having a great go at Rolex with Ballynoe Castle RM, he pulled up and came back to win the 3-star CCI at Jersey two weeks later.

The popular winner of the CCI 3-star at Jersey Fresh last year was Ballynoe Castle RM, ridden by Buck Davidson. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)

But what goes on during weekly sessions of Operation Centaur at the Centenary College equestrian center in Long Valley is actually a healing process for those whose military service has left them in need of mending, either physically or psychologically.

”Veterans are citizens who want nothing more than to get on with their lives,” observed retired Maj. George Paffendorf, the volunteer director of Operation Centaur, which is part of TRAC (Therapeutic Riding at Centenary).

Speaking about the participants who served in Vietnam, the Middle East and Afghanistan, he observed, ”They received the best training in the world in the military, and they were good at their jobs.

”Then something went wrong. Some are dealing with anger management, some with traumatic brain injury. Now they’re trying to put the pieces together, trying to reintegrate into society,” he commented.

Operation Centaur is one of 317 such programs for veterans across the country certified since 2007 by Denver-based PATH International (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship). Though psychological wounds are not visible, they are real and they hurt.

”We never talk therapy,” George emphasized. But what goes on is therapeutic. The message to his troops in the indoor arena is simple: ”We’re going to learn about horses and have some fun while we do it.”

The veterans start with classroom sessions to learn about the parts of the horse and tack. They are taught how to catch their horses and bring them in from the pasture, then spend time grooming and tacking up. As the weeks go by, they move from leading their horses through various patterns, to riding with a lead rope held by one of the dedicated volunteers who make the program possible. Finally, the rope is unsnapped and they are able to ride on their own, with supervision.

”First we crawl, then we walk, then we run, and we don’t miss any steps in between,” said George.

That’s the way training goes in the military, and the veterans recognize it.

”I don’t want to get them on the horse with the first lesson, because that’s starting with the roof. We build the foundation and we don’t do any shortcuts. It’s always safety first,” commented George, who used to show quarter horses and is a licensed New York City carriage driver. He has a background working with at risk and special needs populations and youth programs.

The vets bond quickly with their horses. Much thought goes into pairing the veterans with the right mount. George mentioned Deanie, a black and white mare being handled by M.J. Emmons, who was with the Medical Service Corps and had been stationed in Kuwait. She commutes two hours one-way each week from her home in Pemberton to come to Centenary.

”We talked about things and what she was trying to get out of the program. Deanie wants to please, and that was what she needed, something that would respond to her,” George explained about how the horse and M.J. got together.

Patrick Kelly rides Tucker off the lead with volunteer Vera Dragunis standing by.

After a number of overseas deployments, M.J. said she felt her life ”snowballed out of control.” She had ridden years ago, and wanted to try it again.

”It’s relaxing,” she said, commenting that when she rides, ”I don’t feel like I’m on edge. The horse is looking to you and depends on you,” she continued, noting that is a reason ”to get your act together.”

Patrick Kelly, a member of the group whose lessons run through mid-March, talked about ”having made a connection with something bigger than myself” when he got to know Tucker, a  heavy-set, personality-plus paint who exudes a comforting charisma.

A Mendham resident who was in the service for 22 years, Patrick had been stationed in Kuwait and was involved with air mobility, moving wounded soldiers in and out of the region during operation Iraqi Freedom, so they could be hospitalized in Germany.

”These were the most critical cases. Soldiers had just had their limbs amputated in a field hospital and were being rushed to Germany.  A lot of these guys didn’t survive the seven-hour flight,” he said, with a catch in his voice.

”It was just horrible. It wore me down, night after night.”

”After my deployment,” said the retired master sergeant, ”I felt alone, even though I was surrounded by people, and I couldn’t relate. But the horse I was assigned to, I could relate to him and I feel he is relating to me. It’s a weird connection I’ve never had before with an animal. There is a combination of trust with the instructor, Vera (Dragunas, certified by PATH) believing what she was telling me, and then it became trust with the horse.”

It was touching to see Patrick hug Tucker and plant a kiss on the horse after his ride. The appreciation he feels shines in his face.

TRAC was started in 2003 under the guidance of Octavia Brown, who is its director. She is a professor of equine studies at Centenary and one of the USA’s pioneers in therapeutic riding since the mid-1960s, having founded Somerset Hills Handicapped Riding in Bedminster (now Mane Stream in Oldwick).

After she and George saw the movie, ”Riding My Way Back” (about a soldier saved from suicide by his relationship with a horse), ”the two of us looked at each other and said, `Oh, how about that?”’

”PATH indicated the Wounded Warrior Project was looking to fund equine-assisted programs to veterans,” she continued, noting it has a networking system of emails about opportunities in the areas were veterans live.

Many of the therapeutic riders with whom Octavia worked over the decades have dealt with whatever their situation is since birth. The veterans are different.

”These people come in having been essentially able-bodied, whole people, and then their experience has left them with damage. It’s often PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), but it might be other things. They didn’t go into this thinking they’d come out like this.” Many are also taking medication, she noted.

Operation Centaur Director George Paffendorf with M.J. Emmons.

The current group, the second to be enrolled in Operation Centaur, is doing 12 sessions funded by PATH. George said the organization has an umbrella grant from the Wounded Warrior Partnership Program. The money was used for buying helmets and equipment, while TRAC covers horse expenses, according to Octavia. The Veterans Administration and Hackettstown Rotary added funding to extend the program beyond the usual 10 weeks.

There may be opportunities for trail riding in the future after the veterans finish their course, and they are invited to come back and visit their horses.

While it takes a team to work with veterans, Octavia knows what is most important in the equation.

”The horse is the kingpin in all of this. It’s the relationship with the horse that opens up these possibilities. It makes you perhaps a little more humble and very aware of the partnership.”

Since horses ”live in the moment,” that helps the veterans to do the same thing, focusing on the task at hand and leaving their cares behind during the time they are with the animal.

Those in the first Operation Centaur group last year reported the program gave them the knowledge of  how to deal with triggering events that normally could send them into a tailspin.

Octavia said they learned they could control the brain like any other muscle to make an end run around negative thinking. It goes this way, she said: ”PTSD brings out the trauma, but I’m with the horse and I don’t have time for that now.”

Growing up in Saddle River, B.J. Ehrhardt was a star junior rider. Yet her life wasn’t complete; for some reason, she decided she needed a zebra.

“I’ve always wanted one since I was a small child. They totally intrigued me,” recalled B.J.

B.J. got her heart’s desire when she bought a zebra. (Photo © 2016 by Nancy Jaffer)

Visiting them in zoos wasn’t satisfactory.

“You can’t even touch them,” she explained. “I had to own one someday.”

Some people discouraged her, citing their own experiences with “mean” zebras.

Then, while spending the winter in Wellington, Fla., the professional hunter/jumper trainer ran into a man riding a zebra. It sounds like the beginning of a joke (“A man and a zebra walk into a bar…”) but it isn’t–I’ve seen him too.

“I stopped him,” reported B.J.

“He said he trained them for the movies, and told her they were indeed trainable.”

That was music to her ears, and it moved her to action.

She did research and found zebras for sale at Tri-Lake Exotics in Texas. The company, owned by veterinarian Dr. Cathy Cranmore and her husband, Don Osborne, also sells kangaroos and camels, among other unusual pets, but B.J. has no ideas in that direction.

Her heart was just set on a zebra, and as soon as Tri-Lake said they had one for her, she flew to Dallas and drove two hours to the “middle of nowhere” to meet him.

“When I pulled up, I knew this guy was meant for me,” she recalled.

“There he was, standing in the paddock by himself. I put my hand out and he came right to me.”

She spent two days learning how to work with the month-old Grant’s zebra and lead him. He was separated from his mother at a day old and bottle-fed, to help him adjust to humans. Tri-Lakes’ owners thought B.J. would be fine with her zebra foal; after all, she knew horses, and zebras also are members of the equus genus.

I asked Cathy, who of course has sold many other zebras, why people buy them.

“It’s something different, something everybody doesn’t have. Some people want a different  breed of dog than the other guy,” she pointed out.

With the zebras, it’s a case of , “not everybody has one, not everybody can do something with one. That makes you special.”

B.J. had planned to have the zebra taken to her Foxhedge Farm in Goshen, N.Y., via a shipper. But it was getting colder, and the Tri-Lake owners advised her he needed to be kept warm on the journey. They suggested that she transport him in a van with heat that went to the back.

B.J. and Ziggy share a kiss. (Photo © 2016 by Nancy Jaffer)

So she rented a Dodge mini-van, put a rubber mat in the back, covered it with shavings and set off with her young charge, now named Ziggy. She fed the baby zebra with a bottle every four hours, bonding with him while a friend drove the van. The big trucks going by made the little guy nervous, but he eventually got used to it and rode like a champ.

She heated the barn and his stall until it was time for Ziggy and her clients to head for warmer climes. It can get chilly in Wellington, so the four-month old zebra has thick blankets to wear when necessary in a little shed he shares with a mini-horse, Zeus, and a giant stuffed toy zebra. He used to rub against the toy, but as he has adjusted and become friends with Zeus, he has become more independent.

“He’s been amazing,” said B.J., who plans on bringing him to horse shows with her as often as possible, and at home, giving him as much of a chance to run free as she can.

He’s expected to grow to the size of a large pony, approximately 14.2 hands. The petite B.J. is hoping not only to ride him, but also to compete with him in unrecognized shows (she acknowledges she can’t get a U.S. Equestrian Federation number for him, so you won’t be seeing him in a class at Devon).

She already has put a small saddle on Ziggy, who eagerly follows B.J. when she jumps over a pole on the ground, picking up his knees to clear the obstacle.Beyond riding Ziggy, B.J. is interested in using him for “some sort of give-back to the community; some sort of charity. I just don’t know what yet.

“I’ve had people talk to me about writing a book about him, about his adventures as he grows up.” Meanwhile, she gets loads of comments from people who have seen his pictures on her facebook page. One is a sick little boy who wakes up every morning, looking for a facebook post from Ziggy.

B.J. enjoys romping with her zebra, who also likes to race around the arena at the Wellington farm where she spends the winter. Ziggy plays not only with Zeus and B.J., but also with B.J.’s dog, a border collie/heeler combo named Brandy. The two are good friends.

There are advantages to having a zebra over a horse. Although B.J. can pick up Ziggy’s feet, she’s been told he doesn’t need to have regular farrier visits because his little black hooves trim themselves when he walks over a hard service. Colic also is unusual among zebras, who can live to between 20 and 30 years old.

Ziggy learned how to jump early. (Photo © 2016 by Nancy Jaffer)

B.J. does everything she does with any of her foals to teach him manners, but she spends more time with him than she would with a colt or filly. He’s good with other people, though he’s not fond of small children screaming and running.

He and B.J. have quite a link. They love to nuzzle each other, and he nearly smiles when she scratches him in a favorite spot, then gives him a carrot.

B.J.is all smiles herself when she interacts with Ziggy, who often hangs out with her when she’s teaching, or when she’s relaxing with a drink on the patio.

“He needs real attention, so he stays nice,” said B.J. who enjoys spending hours with him after all the years she waited for her zebra wish to come true.

“I believe in doing all the things you want to do in life,” she said.

“Nothing holds me back. And this is one of those things, it was just always a dream, and I’m so glad I did this.”

The banker from Argentina was working in midtown Manhattan that day, not at the World Trade Center downtown, but he had friends who died when the buildings were destroyed by terrorists.

While the idea of changing his hobby of training dressage horses into a profession had been in the back of his mind, the notion that it was time to make the most of the rest of his life could not be denied after the twin towers came down.

He became involved with the horse business in multi-dimensional fashion.

Not only does he do clinics in many locations, both in the U.S. and elsewhere, he also is an international rider and  judge who has officiated in 20 countries. That’s a rare combination. A two-time Argentine national champion, he and his wife, Suzanne Ross-Armando, run Armando Dressage in Ringoes at Diamond Creek Farm, where they are assisted by Stephanie Weber. This winter, they are based in the White Fences development near Wellington with 15 clients.

Gabriel, 53, has been competing this winter at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival with a well-behaved and friendly Dutchbred 11-year-old, Zipero, owned by Tania Loeb Wald of Brazil. The horse has been with Gabriel for a year and he has developed him to Grand Prix from Small Tour.

“He’s doing his first steps into it,” said Gabriel, noting the horse has only been in five Grands Prix.

Top people from around the world come to Wellington to show, which can be intimidating to some, but not to Gabriel..

Gabriel Armando competing on Zipero at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival.

So dressage was, in effect, just a means to be able to go over the fences. But it all changed when Gabriel was 16.

“My Swedish trainer made me ride a schoolmaster,” recalled Gabriel, who trained with Owe Christian Moltke.

The well-educated horse “was doing all these tricks, piaffe/passage and piroutte. And I decided that was the feeling I wanted to have on a horse.”

When it was time attend university in Buenos Aires, where he majored in business administration, “I tried to go to college, ride and work,” he said.

That was an impossible regimen.

“Something had to go,” said Gabriel, who stopped riding for 2 and 1/2 years at that time.

“I was miserable because I couldn’t ride,” he noted.

When he finished school and went to work for a bank, however, he started riding again.

It turned out the bank “needed a specialist in emerging markets in the branch in New York.”

He was eager to take the job in 1997, to a great extent beause it would give him the opportunity to ride and train in the U.S.

After he made his decision to leave banking for horses, the 2003 Pan American Games were in the back of his mind.

“I wanted to be in full-time riding by then,” said Gabriel.

He has never regretted giving up banking.

“I love the horses, being outside, you’re your own boss,” he said.

But there’s more to it than that.

“The journey of training a horse and making them better every day is what keeps me going–learning from my horses.”