by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 11, 2023
Heather Mason and Lincoln RTF won the Open Grand Prix for the third consecutive time during the US Dressage Finals Presented by Adequan® at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, and wrapped up the 18-year-old horse’s career with their third victory in the Grand Prix Freestyle as well.
It is the final show together for the winners, who earned 69.203 percent in the Grand Prix to finish 0.8 percent ahead of Shelley Van Den Neste and Eyecatcher. Nora Batchelder and Faro SQF were third on 68.007 percent.
In the Saturday Freestyle, Lincoln was marked at 74.942 percent (loved the one-handed pirouette). Shelley and Nora switched places from the Grand Prix, Nora was reserve champ in the Freestyle with 74.733 percent that came close to Heather’s total; Shelley got 71.525 percent.
Of Lincoln, Heather said after the Grand Prix, “He was a little bit tricky to ride but very good and did what he needed to do.
“It was a nice last Grand Prix for him. He was getting a bit hot at times and a little bit normal at times, switching back and forth, so when he does that, I have to be really tuned into him.”
She really enjoyed his last victory pass, letting him go in an uncharacteristic way.
“I’m happy because he had two really good rides at the show, and it’s nice to go out while he’s strong,” said Mason.
“I finally let him do what he’s always wanted to do in the prize-giving, which is run. I’ve never done that before because he always gets really hot and then I’m worried about the next test, but this time I didn’t have to worry about that. He’s really been amazing.”
Heather Mason and Lincoln on their way to Grand Prix glory. (Photo by Susan J. Stickle.com)
That comment cover a lot of ground.
“He can be many different ways in a test,” the Lebanon, N.J., rider explained.
“I’ve been riding this horse for a very long time, and I have no idea what makes him one way or the other. He can start dead quiet and then rev up, or start hot and then calm down — there’s no telling. I just have to be ready to ride eight variations at all times; it’s like having eight grand prix horses in one.”
Mason bought Lincoln as a foal, then sold him. She kept in touch with the owner and ended up buying him back for $1 when the new owner had to have a hip replacement.
She has built a relationship with the quirky son of L’Andiamo, carefully managing him with longeing, patience and custom-built thigh blocks on her saddle to help withstand his lightning-fast spins.
Another New Jersey rider, Lauren Chumley of Pittstown, was a winner with Leeloo Dallas in the Open Prix St. Georges championship, the only one among 21 starters to score more than 70 percent–on a mare who is just seven years old.
“My horse is awesome. She’s just a baby but she’s absolutely amazing,” said Lauren, marked at 70.833 percent.
She warmed Leeloo Dallas up for just 15 minutes before the test and then thought, ‘Let’s go!’ and she went. She rocked on.”
Lauren’s mare is by the Ravel son Gaspard De La Nuit DG and out of a Negro dam. The professional trainer selected her from a video when she was a foal.
“I bought her because she was little and black with four white socks, and I could afford her,” said Lauren, who trains with Michael Bragdell.
“She is born, bred, and trained in America. All the horses out of her dam are so rideable. They’re easy, smart, and sensitive but not stupid.”
For all results from the show, click on this link. For just the Grand Prix Freestyle Results, click here
by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 14, 2023
“Is there anything I can do to prevent pregnancy loss in my mare?” That is a question too often asked, and the answers are elusive. But the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine is offering a webinar this month that should be helpful for those seeking to realize their dreams of a successful breeding.
Dr. Mandi de Mestre, professor of biomedical sciences at the Baker Institute for Animal Health, will discuss the possible reasons why a mare suffers pregnancy loss, including which are the most commonly found in clinical cases of pregnancy loss and what the signs are.
She will highlight new findings on novel genetic reasons a pregnancy might fail and how such cases can be identified. The talk will end with how this information can be used in the management of mares to avoid or minimize the impact of pregnancy loss on mare fertility.
This seminar, part of the Cornell Equine Seminar Series, will be presented Nov. 21, from 6-7 p.m. Eastern Time via Zoom. Please register in advance: https://bit.ly/ESS-Nov2023
Dr. de Mestre’s clinical and basic research focuses on the immunobiology of the maternal-fetal interface with a particular interest in pregnancy-related conditions in the mare. She came to Cornell University from The Royal Veterinary College, University of London, and previously earned a Bachelor of Veterinary Science from the University of Sydney, Australia. She earned her Ph.D. in Medical Sciences from the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Australia.
The Cornell Equine Seminar Series is presented by the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Equine Hospital, the New York State 4-H Horse Program and Cornell Cooperative Extension. Held monthly, equine experts present on important equine health and management topics. The event is free and open to the public.
by Nancy Jaffer | Dec 1, 2023
Bergen County Horse Rescue is having a wreath sale Saturday Dec. 2. Order wreaths at wwwbergencountyhorserescue.org and pick them up at Hoofprints Gift Shop, 350 Ramapo Valley Way, Mahwah, NJ.
All wreaths are made by volunteers with your choice of ribbon. The fee is $40, with proceeds going to feed and care for the horses.
by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 11, 2023
For the first time, show jumping enthusiasts have the opportunity to bet on the FEI Longines World Cup qualifier class at Toronto’s Royal Winter Fair. Bookmaking firm Fitzdares, which offers odds on everything from snooker to ski jumping, is running the book at https://www.fitzdares.ca/sportsbook/SPECIALS/. Click on “equestrian” to see who’s in the running.
The only hitch is that you have to be in the Canadian province of Ontario to open an account and place a bet. Fitzdares has been operating there since the beginning of the year. The Saturday night feature at the final competition on the North American Fall Indoor Circuit offers an obvious favorite in Kent Farrington of the USA, who has been a big winner at the Royal on Creedance and seems likely to wind up as Leading Rider. But he will be aboard Greya for the World Cup, so that’s something different in the equation. The second favorite and Kent’s longtime rival is his countryman, McLain Ward on Callas.
I asked Bobby Burns, Fitzdares’ director of clubs and partnerships, how the decision to offer odds on the Royal came about.
He said that after taking bets on a pickleball tournament, the people in his office thought, “Why don’t we try it for the Royal?”
As Bobby explained it, “All we needed from the Royal was the name of the contestants and a sort of vague idea of their ability and we were able to sort of draw a book up on it.”
On the website, it’s a different style of betting than I am familiar with, but I’m not a big gambler. It’s what they call “American odds,” which means Kent was at plus 188 this afternoon, while McLain was at plus 225. The top Canadian, Tiffany Foster is at plus 400, which translates to 4-1 in the style most people in the U.S. would know. This website–https://theallstar.io/betting-odds-converter/–can translate the odds into whatever style you’re comfortable with. There’s also a way to do that on the Fitzdares site, though you have to join to use it.
I wondered if there will be more show jumping to bet on with Fitzdares, and Bobby said of the Royal, “I can’t imagine it will be the last one. It will be definitely interesting to see an appetite for the market.” By Saturday afternoon, more than $20,000 had been wagered on the class.
Kent Farrington and Creedance on their way to victory at the Royal. (Ben Radvanyi Photography)
The U.S. Equestrian Federation this year came out with a formal policy on sports betting and preventing manipulation of competition to regulate athletes when betting is involved in their discipline. Last month, I wrote about how betting is being considered for 2024 for the MARS Maryland 5-star.
Reader Sam Campbell, a native of Australia, spotted that and asked, “Does anyone remember what happened the first day the Brits introduced betting on show jumping?”
He explained, “It is ‘rumored’ a handful of top British riders got together (at Hickstead) and beat the bookies. Betting on showjumping lasted 24 hours. Circa 1969, to the best of my memory.”
I had no luck looking up this incident, so I queried Bobby about it.
He had never heard that story, but chuckled and noted, “I wouldn’t be surprised if that was completely true.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 24, 2023
Following a decision to ban dressage trainer/entrepreneur Andreas Helgstrand from consideration for the Danish Olympic team, the Danish Riding Federation and the Danish Riding-Instructor Association are canceling a cooperation agreement with Helgstrand Dressage as a training venue for riding education as of the end of 2023.
“We are obviously incredibly sorry about that decision. We are immensely proud of our riding students, and we consider them close and talented colleagues,” Helgstrand Dressage said in a statement.
The action came in the wake of an undercover TV documentary that showed harsh training techniques at the Helgstrand facility in Denmark, and detailed attempts to cover spur and whip marks on horses.
Saying the footage “has made a very big impression,” the statement continued, “We understand that the images that have been shown in Operation X should be responded to.
“We have done that ourselves too. We have therefore also given both Dansk Riding Federation and Dansk Riding-Instruktør Association an open invitation for dialogue and to come visit Helgstrand Dressage to see for yourself how our practice is as a training ground and how in the last year we have improved many of our practices.
“We are very sorry that neither association has chosen to accept. Our invitation is still open: both are welcome to drop by — also unannounced, where you can carry out the necessary supervision with horses, training and pupils.”
The statement added, “Of course, we will do everything we can to continue the dialogue, so that in the future we can also welcome back our talented students at Helgstrand Dressage, where we are convinced that we can offer a good training place with healthy values and a strong community.”
The Danish Riding Association last month said Helgstrand would be banned from its teams at least until the beginning of 2025 — after the 2024 Paris Olympics, according to a Facebook posting by the Danish newspaper Nordjyske.
Helgstrand is the CEO of Global Equestrian Group, which is part of Waterland Private Equity. In 2021, GEG bought the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. The home of the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, the facility was renamed Wellington International.
Hearings have been going on in Wellington since the summer about controversial zoning issues in connection with a proposed expansion of the showgrounds.
The Olympics “is completely out of the question,” said the acting chairman of the Danish Riding Association, Jakob Ravnsbo, who succeeded Helgstrand’s father, Ulf, in the position. In a comment to Nordjyske, Andreas Helgstrand wrote that he regrets the association’s decision, has always been proud to represent Denmark, and that he had been looking forward to the Olympics.
Denmark’s Olympic hopes should not suffer as a result of the ban, as only three can be on a team in the Games and the country has several top riders, including Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour, who recently got the ride on the spectacular Mount St. John Freestyle, previously ridden by Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin.
While the FEI, the international equestrian federation, commented that “any action or omission which causes or is likely to cause pain or unnecessary discomfort to a horse constitutes a violation of our rules,” it did not take immediate action in regard to the revelations of the documentary.
It stated it will “collaborate closely with the Danish National Federation, and there is a mutual recognition of decisions and any sanctions imposed. We will continue to communicate as the situation develops, and want to assure the equestrian community, our stakeholders and the public, that we are rigorously addressing this issue.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 8, 2023
Only one U.S. rider, Kent Farrington, will compete in the 22d Rolex International Jumping Riders Club Top 10 Final on December 8, during the Geneva, Switzerland, Concours Hippique International. The competition involves the 10 best show jumpers in the world, who qualify from the rankings list.
McLain Ward, number six in the world rankings, is opting out and instead going to the Desert International Horse Park in California during that time period. The IJRC worded announcement of that cryptically, saying Mclain “is unfortunately unable to travel to Europe to compete in this event.”
I was alarmed–could it be that McLain is sick, or was there a problem with his horses? But he told me heading west “was the better choice for my string of horses at this moment and keeping in mind next years busy season.” He is, of course, referring to the Paris Olympics.
McLain Ward and HH Azur on their way to victory at Geneva 2022. (Photo Ashley Neuhof/Rolex)
Irish rider Shane Sweetnam, number 11, made the top 10 as a result of McLain’s decision not to go to Geneva. At least Shane is based in the U.S.
Last year, McLain won the first leg of the Rolex Grand Slam (a different competition from the top 10) at Geneva with HH Azur, then took the second leg earlier this year in the Netherlands.
But their bid to become only the second winner of the Grand Slam ended when Annie had two of the first three fences down during the Grand Slam’s final segment at Aachen, and McLain retired from the competition. That was Annie’s last show. She had a formal retirement ceremony at the Hampton Classic in September.
Kent earned the Top 10 title in 2015 and 2019, and is the only U.S. rider ever to do so since the competition began in 2001. This year, he’s fresh off winning gold on the team with McLain at the Pan American Games, and also took individual silver at that competition in Chile. He is ranked number three in the top 10. McLain won individual bronze at the Pan Ams.
Created in 2001 by the International Jumping Riders Club, the Top 10 competition recognizes the achievements and talents of the world’s best show jumpers over the preceding year.
World number one Henrik von Eckermann of Sweden will be looking to repeat his 2022 finish at the head of the Top 10 final with King Edward. Also competing are number two, Ben Maher of Great Britain, who won the top 10 in 2021; Martin Fuchs and Steve Guerdat, both of Switzerland; Frenchmen Julien Epaillard and Simon Delestre; Max Kuhner (Austria) and Harrie Smolders (Netherlands).
IJRC President Kevin Staut noted that “the Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final is a very special class; every edition of this competition is an extraordinary event, a new and exciting experience. Thanks to its format and the understanding there is between riders and the public, it is a perfect competition.
“Winning the Rolex IJRC Top 10 is one of the most satisfying and important achievements for a rider because it marks the crowning event after a year of constructive and constant work in perfect synergy and harmony with our horses.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 7, 2023
It started out as the ride of a lifetime around a top-level cross-country course at last month’s MARS Maryland Fair Hill event.
Arielle Aharoni, at age 23, was in her first 5-star competition on Dutch Times, a horse her mother, Christina, had bought as a weanling.
Now 15, Dutch had developed into a superb athlete who won show jumping classes, but whose heart was really in eventing. He finished second in June’s 4-star Long at the Bromont event in Canada, so a 5-star was the logical next step.
The Maryland course laid out by renowned Scottish designer Ian Stark had been upgraded in his third year on the job. The optimum time was tight (only one of the competitors would be able to beat the clock) and the hilly terrain posed its own challenge, That was in addition to the various tests ranging from a sunken road to the Crab Water with a beady-eyed replica of the crustacean as one of the elements.
Arielle Aharoni and Dutch Times on course at the Maryland 5-star. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
When Arielle neared the end of the 28-obstacle course, Dutch continued to cover ground as if he owned it.
“It was kind of a perfect round. I never felt him get tired,” she recalled.
“He was dragging me around. There was nothing he could have done any better. He never said no.”
Then they reached what Arielle called, “the last really difficult combination,” the Fair Hill Roller-Coaster and Drop. It was so close to the end that from the next fence, the Table, number 26, “you could literally see the finish flags.”
But as Dutch negotiated the Drop, “on landing, he never put his right front down, that was pretty terrifying, it was downhill, he was at full speed on three legs,” Arielle remembered.
“It took forever to pull him up, you know, gravity; you’re going straight down a hill. I’m in distress. I’m crying, pulling him up. There were people rushing to the scene. He’s not an easy horse to deal with when he’s all amped up like that.”
She didn’t know what had happened to him—could it be a broken leg? Please no.
After she was able to stop Dutch, the people who came to help put a cast on him and loaded him into the ambulance to bring him back to stabling.
A preliminary scan showed a rupture of the superficial digital flexor tendon. Following initial treatment, Dutch went back in the trailer and headed straight for the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center, one of the country’s most highly regarded veterinary hospitals.
A later scan revealed, thankfully, that there was no involvement of the deep digital flexor tendon or suspensory ligament.
Arielle and her mother learned blunt force trauma is required in order for a tendon to rupture.
So how did it happen?
They speculated that when Dutch lost a shoe, possibly at the Foxcatcher Ditch hedge before the Roller Coaster, it might have flown off his right front hoof and hit his leg above his boot. Or he could have banged the leg on the back of a fence.
“It’s not anybody’s fault,” said Christina. “It’s just unlucky.”
Christina Aharoni makes sure Dutch gets plenty of personal attention. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
The shock of the injury understandably shook Arielle.
“I was pretty much ready to quit riding–you know, I don’t have my friend,” she explained.
“I love the other horses, but this is the horse that made things happen for me. I wasn’t prepared at all to never do that (cross-country) with him again.”
But she does have other horses who need attention, and kept on going. Arielle rode two of them at the Waredaca, Md., Classic Three-Day Event and Horse Trials last month, finishing second and third in Open Preliminary on Littlebitadominic and Chumley. Now she hopes those horses can be promoted to Intermediate.
Meanwhile, Dutch’s most recent scan shows the tendon already is filling in a little bit. Christina noted the prognosis is “the nine-month standard tendon rehab.” However, the Arharonis reference the fact that Dutch bowed a tendon on his left front eight years ago when he had a different rider, and the vets didn’t have hope that he would be eventing again. He came back anyway.
At the moment, Dutch’s right leg is bandaged. He’s on hand-grazing and stall rest, with other horses in Arielle’s Branchburg, N.J., stable taking turns keeping him company in the next stall. Dutch amuses himself by tossing around his lead rope and trying to get his blanket, which is placed strategically out of his reach on the bar in front of his stall.
Hand-grazing is on Dutch Times’ schedule these days. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
People have reached out with inquiries and supportive comments. Boeringer Ingelheim Animal Health sent along a case of Surpass, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that relieves pain and inflammation.
“It’s much appreciated,” said Christina.
Dutch will be going to the Aharonis’ farm in Ocala after Thanksgiving for more R&R in a friendly climate. The warm weather and limestone roads will help his healing process. After that, what he will do remains to be seen.
“He probably is not ready for retirement,” said Arielle.
“We have to hope for the best and give him something to do for the next three or four years until he starts to kind of age out.”
Possibilities include dressage, show jumping, low-level eventing or perhaps just being a mount for Christina, since she was the one who selected him all those years ago. One thing is for certain, though, said Arielle: “He’s staying with me for the rest of his life.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 6, 2023
It was a saga that captured the hearts and imagination of millions–how a sweet colt made an instant connection with a teen who battled a cruelly debilitating syndrome and forged a link that carried them both to world-wide fame.
Cody Dorman, who suffered from Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, found joy in the fabulous career of Cody’s Wish, the colt named after him. Cody met the son of Curlin at Godolphin’s Gainsboroough Farm on a visit sponsored by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and it was love at first sight.
Due to his condition, Cody could only communicate directly using eye-tracking to operate a tablet, but he still made himself understood to all of those around the world who followed his story.
Whenever his family could get him to the track, Cody was there, and the horse named after him was winning. Cody was his good luck charm.
That was never more evident than on Saturday in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita. There, the four-year-old colt battled for the win by a nose, and then withstood an objection to collect the trophy as Cody watched. It marked the end of the horse’s racing career, as he moves on to stud duty.
And with unbelievable timing, it was also the end of a heartwarming story. It somehow appears to be more than a sad coincidence that Cody himself departed a day later. He died on the way home from California to Kentucky. Cody’s Wish had been his work, and his work was done.
Michael Banahan, director of bloodstock for Godolphin USA, said the loss of the teen is especially difficult after the excitement of Breeders’ Cup weekend.
“It really does seem like divine intervention from the day Cody and Cody’s Wish first met,” he said.
“The highs and now the lows—it’s hard to comprehend. It has hit us all like a wall.”
He added about Cody’s famiIy, “I do hope they find comfort from the journey they’ve been on.”
In a statement, the family said, “We are heartbroken to share the news that our beloved Cody suffered a medical event on our trip home to Kentucky yesterday and he has passed away.
“On Saturday, Cody watched his best friend, Cody’s Wish, display his usual perseverance and toughness in winning a second Breeders’ Cup. Those are the same characteristics Cody has showed time and again for the 18 years we were blessed to have him. We have been completely amazed to experience the impact Cody has had on so many people, through the journey that this wondrous racehorse has taken us all on. From Churchill Downs, to Keeneland, to Saratoga, to Santa Anita this weekend, we could not move 20 feet without someone stopping to tell us just that.”
The statement concluded, “With Cody’s diagnosis at birth, we always knew this day would come, but we were determined to help Cody live his best life for however long we had him. Anyone who has seen him at the racetrack, especially around Cody’s Wish, understands that in many ways he taught us all how to live, always keeping a positive attitude and being more concerned about those around him than himself.”
Following the news of the teenager’s death, the Breeders’ Cup issued this statement:
“The entire Breeders’ Cup team is devastated by the news of Cody Dorman’s passing yesterday. His story captured our hearts and minds, and his strength, spirit, and determination were fittingly embodied by his namesake’s commanding performances in his honor. We send our sincere condolences to the Dormans, who gave our sport so much by welcoming us into their family.”
In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations be made to Make-A-Wish Ohio, Kentucky & Indiana.
by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 8, 2023
Part of the fun when going to major competitions involves visiting the trade fair to see what’s new and unusual. That’s how I discovered Nicola Schulten’s take on boots. What attracted me was seeing how she designed a way for spurs to in effect be buttoned onto the back of the boot.
A unique way of adding a spur to a boot. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“I was really frustrated with my spurs flopping up and down and having very tight straps over my insteps and having the circulation cut off on my feet,” she told me when we met at the MARS Maryland 5-star.
“So I decided as a shoe designer and a rider, I ought to be able to solve this problem. We are not breeding our horses the same or wearing the same clothes as we did 100 years ago. So why should we be wearing still the same shoes that we were wearing 100 years ago?”
The veteran of 30 years in the shoe business undertook “a complete rebuild of a boot with more of an athletic construction method around the front, a lot of support on the back in the heel area and a lot of shock absorption on the sole.”
There’s also a shock-absorbing footbed inside the boot “that’s really energizing to wear. It’s much much more comfortable to jump off your horse in something that actually has shock absorption built all the way through it” rather than the usual thermo-plastic rubber, she said.
Any spurs on the market fit into the pockets on the sides of the heel. There are also two holes for adjusting the height of the spur.
She moved the zipper to the inside, “so the flexing is going on in the middle of the ankle.”
The part of the boot that goes against the saddle can be faced in suede, but overall “there are three layers of leather protection between you and your stirrup leathers,” Nicola advised.
They include a lining for sheepskin from India “so it has that natural quality that Indian sheep tend to have.” Between that and the leather exterior, there is a compressed layer of pigskin.
When the boot is worn by people with cerebral palsy, “they are now able to canter because they have more support,” Nicola said, adding other customers are riders with muscles missing, hammer toes, bone spurs and bunions. It struck me that para riders might benefit from these boots.
“The more I know about what’s going on with them, the more I can build into their boots,” the native of Great Britain said about her customers.
All boots are custom and start at $2,400 for the tall boots, and $800 for paddock boots.
Her business in Grand Rapids, Mich., The Impeccable Equerry, offers a variety of interesting products, including half-chaps.
I enjoy meeting entrepreneurs with original ideas, so that’s why I wanted to share the word about Nicola’s products when I spotted them.
by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 2, 2023
Another step in re-imagining the Stable at Lord Stirling Park will offer new housing for 16 horses and related facilities as part of a project to update the facility in Basking Ridge, N.J.
Now that the Somerset County Commissioners have agreed to approve the barn, it is expected the project can go out for bid by the end of the year. The cost of the work and its timeline won’t be known until the contract is awarded.
Formerly known as Lord Stirling Stable, the equestrian operation was a busy lesson facility for a half-century. In 2019, there were 76 horses in residence at the stable, 58 of which were used for lessons. There also were boarders and lead-line ponies on the site. In 2018, 430 juniors and 570 adults rode in group lessons at Lord Stirling, while 1,140 private lessons were given.
But after Covid struck in 2020, the stable was closed and the horses were sold, with only ponies and boarders’ mounts remaining on the property.
A plan to revitalize the park got under way in 2022. Trail ride horses to be used by the public were brought in, along with the therapeutic riding program, Rocking Horse Rehab. There are seven horses for trail rides and five ponies owned by the Somerset County Park Commission at the stable, which also is home to a group of equine boarders.
The old dairy barn at Lord Stirling.
The thinking behind the need for a new barn is the fact that the re-purposed dairy barn that has been used for much of the stabling on the premises “doesn’t properly support modern equine services,” according to a release from the commissioners. It has 21 box stalls and a number of unused straight stalls.
“The dairy barn was built for cows and not necessarily for a modern equestrian program. That said, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have any uses at all. It may or may not be part of the future of the stable,” said Nathan Rudy, a spokesman for the county.
“This is an ongoing process to make sure this stable can operate with equestrian programs for the foreseeable future. That’s why a new barn is so important to this process.”
The new stable, which will have runs for 12 of the 16 stalls, also will include three tack rooms, feed rooms, a laundry and an ADA-compliant bathroom.
“It’s exciting to see this vision for Lord Stirling Park taking shape with the new barn plan, expanded trails, and renovations to the historic buildings as we prepare for the nation’s 250th birthday in 2026,” said county Commissioner Paul Drake, the liaison to the county Park Commission.
Rocking Horse Rehab operates at the stable.
In other work at the park, upgrades to the trail system will combine the historic buildings, Environmental Education Center (EEC), the stable and new amenities proposed in the plan. The trail network will include approximately three miles of combined equestrian and pedestrian trails and ten miles of equestrian-only trails.
A new trail has been constructed connecting the EEC to the stable, which will allow visitors to access both trail networks. Ongoing improvements include new information kiosks, directional signage, trail markers, fencing and gates, and parking lot upgrades.
Lord Stirling Park is 1,015 acres of parkland, natural waterways and open space in the northern area of Somerset County that is home not only to the stable and EEC, but also the Revolutionary War-era Boudinot Southard Ross Farmstead. These resources previously have been operated independently of each other.
