by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 2, 2023
It wasn’t Ashlee Bond’s victory gallop that said it all about her win in the $226,000 Sapphire Grand Prix of Devon; it was her victory walk on Donatello 141.
After topping a field of 24 in Thursday night’s 4-star class, Ashlee remained in the Dixon Oval, which was surrounded by spectators, not only in the grandstands, but also jammed into every square foot of space around the ring.
Ashlee’s fans meet Donatello. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Slowing to the walk, she made several more leisurely circuits of the arena with her bay gelding (Diarado X Luna), proceeding slowly and stopping every few feet so fans could pet her Westphalian gelding.
Ashley couldn’t get enough of the crowd, and they (especially the children) couldn’t get enough of her, reaching out eagerly to touch her mount, smiling back with excitement as she smiled at them. Ashlee, the mother of six-year-old Scottie, loves the kids and posed for a photo with about 25 of them after the class.
Many riders will stop for a few seconds here and there on their way out of the ring after a win, bur Ashlee made it an important part of the evening.
When I asked why she put such a focus on the interaction, she explained, “I feel like this is so rare in our sport. We don’t really get this, other than Aachen (Germany). It’s the only other place I felt this kind of energy. Everyone just talks about it; how incredible the people are and how knowledgeable. I just enjoy giving back.
Ashlee added, “I was just really appreciative, I think we all are, of being able to have this kind of an environment that average sports get all the time, but we don’t. It’s really cool to give back to the crowd.”
She also recalled watching Richard Spooner and McLain Ward when she was growing up, noting “they were always so kind when I was young, I feel like it’s something we all should do.”
It was the first time the native of California had competed at Devon. Her only previous visit to the show came when she was eight, 30 years ago, to try out a couple of ponies, so this was her first real taste of what the 127-year-old show was about.
She led off the three-horse tiebreaker, finishing the shortened route in 37.29 seconds.
Ashlee Bond and Donatello. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Ashlee never walks the jump-off course.
“I do what I feel is right for my horse, regardless of who’s behind me. That was kind of `just do my thing,’ ” she said.
One second behind her was Devin Ryan on Eddie Blue. Schuyler Riley was third in 39.32 seconds on her reliable Robin de Ponthual. It was the third time she has been third in the class, which obviously is a bit frustrating, but he is a reliable performer in the venue.
“He absolutely loves it here,” she said of the Katherine Gallagher’s 18-year-old Selle Francais (Elf D’Or X IO de la Grande) who came closer to getting her name on the trophy last year, when she was second.
Schuyler Riley and Robin de Ponthual. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)_
Devin has been riding LL Show Jumpers’ Eddie Blue for 10 years, since the Dutch warmblood (Zirocco Blue VDL X Silvana) was four.
“I think I was up halfway through (the jump-off) on the time but he’s not as quick-footed as Ashlee’s horse, he’s a little bit slower,” Devin reflected.
Devin Ryan and Eddie Blue. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“I probably should have taken the risk to the last jump and done a double leave-out and then eight strides vs. the nine, but I didn’t quite see it and didn’t quite believe in it. That’s show jumping.”
Devin is pointing toward European shows this summer with his 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games team gold medal mount.
Ashlee now lives in Loxahatchee, Fla., just outside Wellington. The benefit of that over being on the West Coast is having three major showgrounds within a few hours’ drive, which is not the case in California. It also means she can be home more with her family.
The biggest target of Ashlee’s summer will be the Nations Cup in Prague, Czech Republic at the end of July. She is a member of the Israeli team, which hopes to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics there.
When she won at Devon, the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah, was played during the victory ceremony, an emotional moment for her.
“Israel’s always been close to my heart,” said Ashlee who became an Israeli citizen in 2018.
“My dad was born in Haifa and my grandmother emigrated there from World War II and I’m really strong in my faith. It’s God’s country and I’m proud to hear it (the anthem) every time and I just want to keep bringing Israel to the top of the sport.”
Devin Ryan, Ashlee Bond and Schuyler Riley. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
The fact that only three riders were clear in the first round over the course designed by Anderson Lima was surprising, but the stunner was the fact that McLain Ward wasn’t among them.
Since 1999, McLain had been victorious 12 times in the class named after his favorite horse, Sapphire. The fans, many of whom had been coming to the grand prix for years, are always vocal in their support of him.
McLain gets the loudest cheers when he enters the ring. And this time, he got the loudest groans when his mare, Callas, toppled a rail at the final fence. He finished sixth, behind 23-year-old Raleigh Hiler on Obra’s Chloe, who had a single time fault and won the style award, and Great Britain’s Jessica Mendoza, whose I-Cap CLZ was faster than Callas to put her fifth.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 1, 2023
The professional hunter divisions at the Devon Horse Show have drama enough, but the $25,000 USHJA Hunter Derby a day later always takes it up a couple of notches, as star performers meet in a demanding two-round format.
The field of 38 for Thursday’s class included a line-up of major talent, including High Performance Working Hunter Champion Cannon Creek, 3-foot, 9-inch Green Hunter champ Front Page, High Performance Working Hunter Stake winner Lafite de Muze and last year’s Derby victor, Autograph.
Cannon Creek, Autograph’s stablemate, led with a score of 96 in the Classic round, but the tables were turned in the Handy round for which 12 qualified. Autograph, his sleek black coat setting off his supple frame, jumped with the same type of authority that won him the class in 2022.
“He’s so scopey. You can’t build jumps too big for him,” his rider, Hunt Tosh, bragged. Autograph, a son of Balou, earned a 94 in the Handy, the same score as in his first round, but this time it carried the day. His total of 188 brought him the $7,500 first prize.
Hunt Tosh and Autograph. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Analyzing the route for the Handy, Hunt agreed there weren’t many options in terms of approaching the fences, as is sometimes the case.
“You had to follow the same path and be tidy,” he commented.
“I think it truly was a jumping contest today. There wasn’t a place that you had to do anything crazy tricky. It was nice for the quality hunters that went in and jumped solid good rounds.”
The course designed by Alan Lohman included a tribute to Philadelphia, just a few miles from Devon. Among the fences was a model of Independence Hall, while renditions of the Liberty Bell were markers on the route.
Hunt was leading in the first round on Cannon Creek with a 96. But the 2022 USHJA International Hunter Derby winner tripped in the Handy to wind up with a score of 80 and finish 10th.
Cannon Creek and Autograph, owned by the Wheeler family (after whom the showgrounds’ second ring is named) are both imports who came from Emil Spadone’s Redfields Farm in Califon, N.J.
Colin Syquia, who rode Front Page to second place, noted “in the first round, he answered every question.” In the Handy, he was maybe a little bit late to the first jump on the left turn, but after that, he was awesome.”
Colin Syquia and Front Page. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
That may be what brought him down to a 90 from a 95.5 in the first round. The horse belongs to Cynthia Sulzberger, whose family publishes the New York Times, hence his name.
Hunt and Colin are respected professionals who have been on the scene for years, but the Derby’s third-place finisher, Ariana Marnell, is just 17. She finished ahead of her trainer, John French, ninth on Milagro.
Ariana rode in junior classes at Devon last week before stepping up to the biggest test of all with Ocean Road.
She was “just trying to have fun” by competing in the Derby.
Arianna, who will be going to Auburn University when she finishes high school, noted that Hunt is someone “I’ve been watching since I was six or seven years old,” adding at the post-derby press conference, “it’s exciting to be sitting up here.”
Hunt noted the fact that it is only her first derby at Devon makes him nervous, observing, “Colin and I have been sitting side by side for a while now; she’s sneaking up really fast.”
Ariana didn’t have high expectations for what the class would bring.
Ariana Marnell and Ocean Road. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“I was just excited to do another round,” she said, referring to making the cut for the top 12. She is, however, no stranger to Devon. Her first national title with Ocean Road was the Junior Hunter Finals at the showgrounds in 2021.
“He really likes Devon,” said Ariana, who moved up from ninth place in the first round to score a 93 in the Handy, the second-highest score in that round.
Colin Syquia, Hunt Tosh and Ariana Marnell. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“He’s super easy,” Ariana commented.
“He’s always really good. If there’s a mistake, it’s definitely mine, always.”
Hunt understandably is fond of Devon, but not just because he’s so often a winner here.
I had heard people say the Derby should offer more than $25,000 in prize money, but as Hunt noted, you have to wonder where it would come from. And while more money would be nice, of course, just being able to compete in a derby at Devon is enough.
“Devon to me is one of the most special ones, a show you look forward to every year, even the fact that we’re still able to come here with the development around it,” Hunt observed.
“I’m so lucky to have the owners I do behind me, who stand behind Devon as well. As long as we have Devon, I’ll take whatever they can do. As many times as the gate at the Dixon Oval opens, we want to go in.”
Click here for derby results
by Nancy Jaffer | May 31, 2023
A new name will be engraved on the Hope Montgomery Scott trophy for the Devon Hunter Grand Championship.
Californian Nick Haness took that title for the first time on Wednesday, capping a series of top honors at the show, including the Grand Hunter Championship with McQueen, who was the Green Conformation Champion and reserve in the 3-6 Green Hunter section, and Champion Mare with Stephanie and John Ingram’s Pavlova (reserve in the Green Conformation).
Scott Stewart’s name appears 17 times on the silver Leading Rider tray, but this edition of the show wasn’t one where everything went his way. He had a tough time in the High Performance Hunter Stake, the final class of the division, when Hudson dropped a rail at the last fence, while his other mount, Nottingham, was charged with a refusal there. Nottingham wound up as reserve champion to Cannon Creek, a two-time titleist in the division.
Nick was ecstatic at the achievements he and trainer Carleton Brooks of Balmoral Farm racked up at the show on Philadelphia’s Main Line, and for more than the obvious reasons of being a star at one of the USA’s most prestigious fixtures.
Nick Haness and Carleton Brooks with McQueen’s caretakers, Brian Sanchez and Rodrigo Vega, who won the Leading Grooms Award. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Ten weeks ago, Nick fractured his right wrist when he got too close to the standard of a trot jump at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Fla., and his leg hooked on it. The horse kept going straight and the standard didn’t fall, but Nick did, ripped off the saddle backwards. Ouch.
The week before the accident, he had won the $100,000 Hunter Spectacular in Thermal, Calif. To be put out of action by a 2-foot trot jump on the East Coast could only be called ironic. Or maybe bizarre.
With Devon on the horizon, the injury was particularly discouraging.
I asked Nick if a fortnight ago he could have predicted winning the Leading Rider title.
“To say I would have been leading hunter rider two weeks ago in a cast, sitting at home, dreaming of this moment–probably unlikely,” he replied.
“It’s something I’ve always strived to do. I’m so thrilled. I was expecting a lot less of the outcome for the week. To have this much success was beyond my expectations.”
Although it would have been ideal for him to show Strasburg Morin Inc.’s McQueen several times in the run-up to Devon, he couldn’t even ride (doctor’s orders) so Carleton and his wife, Traci, kept the string of horses going, including the 2022 Devon Grand Hunter Champion, Only Always. Carleton believes in the efficacy of working horses at the walk, so there was a lot of that, and hill exercise as well for fitness.
Devon was Nick’s first show since the accident, so he made it count. McQueen was a great partner.
Nick Haness shares a moment with McQueen after the pinning of the Grand Hunter Championship. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“In every single class he went in, he gave it his all,” said Nick, citing the fact that the son of Cornet Obolensky is a brilliant jumper with a big stride.
“It was fun to show him off here against people who never really knew him or saw him before, because he’s been a West Coast horse mostly. He really wowed the judges every class.”
In the stake class, there was a long gallop to the final jump, an oxer.
“I just thought to myself, `Let it go, McQueen’s got it. You’re at Devon, you’ve got to take a chance.'”
The German import came to the Brooks’ stable in June 2022. They wanted to let him mature, so they didn’t show him much because they didn’t want to break his green status, so he did very little over low jumps.
Nick’s an interesting guy. He’s skipping Devon’s Thursday hunter derby and is headed home to train his two zebras and a pair of camels, part of a vast menagerie on the animal lover’s 20-acre Temecula farm.
I asked Nick why Devon is such a strong magnet to draw him from the West Coast.
“It’s that sign over there, `Devon Horse Show Where Champions Meet.’ You couldn’t say it any better,” he explained.
“That’s the part I love most about Devon. It is one of the most rewarding and exhilarating places to have a great week. I always believe there’s a lot involved, it can go anyone’s direction any week at a horse show.” (Just ask Scott Stewart!).
“If luck is on your side, your horses go well and you can have a week like I did this week,” Nick believes, “there’s nothing better.”
The Leading Lady Rider was Amanda Steege, who won the High Performance Working Hunter Stake with a score of 92 percent on her longtime partner, Cheryl Olsten’s Lafite de Muze. It was the second year in a row that Amanda has taken that title. After getting her ribbon, she took her horse to the rail and let people pet him. She explained that her mission with Lafite is to be “an ambassador for the sport,” and people loved it.
Lafite de Muze meets his public. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
The Regular Conformation Hunter honors went to Stephanie Ring’s Can Can, a former jumper who leaped so high in that division that he wasted time in the air, which isn’t good in a speed class.
“He’s an amazing little horse with a lot of personality and loves to put in a huge effort at the oxers,” said his rider, Chris Payne.
CanCan and Chris Payne. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“He still takes the oxers a little seriously,” Chris noted.
“So our plan is to get him to not overthink the oxers and try so hard. He just thinks it’s fun. It’s his first time here, so I’m thrilled with him.”
Get results by clicking this link.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 30, 2023
I felt as if I were time traveling, right there in the Dixon Oval at the Devon Horse Show Tuesday night.
The featured jumper class, the $38,700 Jet Run Welcome, was won by Alex Matz. He’s the son of Michael Matz, whose most famous mount was Jet Run. And the arena is named after F. Eugene Dixon Jr., who owned Jet Run.
How many times had I taken photos of Michael and Jet Run in awards ceremonies? This victory by Alex took me back as I focused my camera on him in the round of honor; he looks a bit like his father, and his horse, Cashew CR (Cassini II X Udenna), is a bay with a little star on his forehead like Jet Run. Was I back in the early 1980s, or was I in 2023, watching the next generation continue a family’s tradition of victory? For a few seconds, I wondered.
Alex Matz and Cashew on their way to victory. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
A field of 33 encountered a challenge against the clock in the course laid out by Anderson Lima of Peru. The one-round test featured two double combinations and some long gallops, offering an opportunity to make time. Approximately one-third of the field, 11 competitors, was fault-free, but the times were all over the place.
Alex’s mark was 56.32 seconds, with Devin Ryan hot on his heels aboard Eddie Blue in 57.83 seconds. The slowest round where all the rails stayed in place belonged to McLain Ward, 12th on Callas in 79.66 seconds, incurring three time penalties for finishing over the 77-second time allowed.
Welcome class runners-up Devin Ryan and Eddie Blue. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
When the class ended, I went to find Alex’s parents to get their take on a spectacular effort.
“We’re very happy, especially to win the Jet Run trophy,” said Michael.
When I asked whether it brought back memories, Michael joked that he can’t remember that far back.
Alex’s mother, D.D., sparkled with enthusiasm.
“I’m thrilled. I just love that horse,” she said. Alex mentioned that his mother rides the 15-year-old Holsteiner more than he does.
“He’s been such a good horse since we got him,” D.D. explained.
“He’s such a trier. It’ hard to find a horse that tries like he does, and he does every time. He loves it.”
The victory was special to Alex for obvious reasons.
“It’s pretty cool. I have a great horse and to win the class named after my father’s best horse, riding wha tis my best horse right now, it seems too good to be true. It’s special,” he commented.
“With Cashew, I always think he can win the class. He tries so hard, he gives me a lot of confidence.”
When he was in school, he used to gallop horses for his father, who went from show jumping to being a successful racehorse trainer. Michael’s most famous racehorse was Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro.
Alex, a 26-year-old professional horseman, is a graduate of Vanderbilt University. Not surprisingly, he is interested in riding on U.S. teams. His parents travel to most shows with him and Michael helps him on daily basis.
Don’t be surprised if you someday see him on an Olympic team. Not surprisingly, he has that in his sights. He’s got the right attitude.
“The harder you work, and the longer you stay in it,” he told me, “the more realistic those goals can become.”
Click here for full results.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 20, 2023
The Essex Horse Trials is a celebration as much as it is a competition; a time for friends and families to get together and enjoy New Jersey’s countryside while watching a special sporting event.
A fixture that dates back 55 years, Essex gets under way at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation in Gladstone on June 3, with the dressage phase in the morning, followed by show jumping in the afternoon and early evening. The venue changes on June 4 to Moorland Farm in Far Hills, less than 10 minutes away, where the cross-country phase will take place all day over the hills and through the water. There are new tracks for the Beginner Novice, Novice and Training levels.
The water obstacle at Essex always draws a crowd. (Photo © 2022 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
Eventing fans will recognize many of the riders competing. They include Buck Davidson (whose parents, Carol Hannum and Bruce Davidson, also rode at Essex), Hannah Sue Burnett, Erin Sylvester Kanara, Caroline Martin and some local favorites, among them Meg Kepferle and Elle de Recat. There actually may be some more boldface names by the time entries close May 23.
Essex is a revival of a very adaptable event that has developed as required over the years.
It began out of necessity. When Essex was founded, the U.S. didn’t have much to offer in the way of three-day events That meant those who wanted them on the calendar had to do the staging. In the case of the first Essex, it involved clearing land, assembling jumps and digging ditches to develop a cross-country course.
It all happened during the spring of 1968 on the Haller family farm in Bedminster–not that anyone believed at the time they were building a project for posterity.
“We were more thinking about fulfilling a need,” Roger Haller remembered in an interview 24 years ago, referring to the fact that when the Essex event debuted at his family’s Hoopstick Farm on Lamington Road, there were few horse trials in America that could develop competitors in the European-dominated sport.
Sally Ike remembers going to the farm to help put things together, along with other members of the 1968 Olympic team, who had gathered in Gladstone before their departure for Mexico. She was at Hoopstick on the evening before the first Essex was scheduled to start, while Roger still was working on one of the fences. When she asked whether the course would be finished on time, he reassured her.
Sally Ike on Roxboro at the 1984 Essex Horse Trials. (Photo courtesy of Sally Ike)
” `Oh yeah, it will be ready,'” he told her, “and it was, and it worked fine,” she said.
Sally remembered that Jill Slater, a joint master of the Essex Foxhounds, rode in the first Essex on Knockbawn, a horse who also competed in the Maryland Hunt Cup.
“It was a very different group of people,” Sally reminisced. It was also a very different event. Essex at that time was a three-day event that ran “long format,” with miles of roads and tracks and a steeplechase in addition to the three phases that remain today. It was quite an endurance test.
Sally went on to win it herself in 1984 with Roxboro, one of her many links to Essex, which she also has served as a trustee and show jumping course designer.
Essex in its heyday could rightly be called an occasion. It had moved to the USET after it outgrew Hoopstick. but. the event was held at the Team for the last time in 1998, after much of the land needed went for a golf course. Its absence stretched for 19 years, until the revival at Moorland in 2017 generated excitement in the eventing ranks. Co-organizers Ralph Jones and Morgan Rowsell are devoted to improving it every year, adding the USET Foundation venue to the equation in 2022.
Guests in the VIP section at the USET Foundation during the Essex Horse Trials can watch showjumping as they party. (Photo © 2022 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
Shelley Page, a well-known eventing organizer, has never forgotten riding at Essex in its heyday.
“I did my very first three-day event at Essex in 1980-something and I won it,” recalled Shelley, who was aboard an Appaloosa named The Magic Dragon in the Preliminary section.
“It was huge. It was the event to go to, to do a three-day event,” she observed.
“I think it is so exciting that it is back at Gladstone and its roots. Morgan and Ralph and that team have done such an amazing job to bring that event full circle. They brought it back to life and brought it back home, so to speak.”
Essex is produced with the help of 100 volunteers, part of the community spirit that energizes the event as it evolves annually. This year, there’s a new Intermediate division, a notch above the Preliminary section that was the top segment last year. Running S Equine Veterinary Services has put up $10,000 in prize money for the Intermediate. Other major ESsex backers are Peapack-Gladstone Bank and PURE Insurance.
Additional sponsors include Turpin Realty, Sotheby’s and Open Road. Essex benefits the Life Camp in Pottersville, which provides an enriching summer day camp experience for 300 youths daily for six weeks during July and August. Campers between the ages of 6 and 13 come from the greater Newark public school system, as well as from Newark Charter School Programs. After orientation on June 4, campers will be coming to Essex for a picnic, sponsored by Aon insurance. The occasion will offer the kids and their families a chance to watch the cross-country.
For those who appreciate horsepower as much as (or maybe more than) horses, the Peter Chesson Memorial Car Show will run from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. June 4 at Moorland.
Admission is $20 per car. There will be vendors on the grounds at both the USET Foundation and Moorland, as well as four food trucks. A VIP cocktail party at the USET Foundation will be held during the show jumping. Tickets for the party are $100.
For more information, go to www.essexhorsetrials.org.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 1, 2023
It was a marathon.
The $38,700 Mainline Challenge lasted two hours, with 47 horses competing in the two-phase competition at the Devon Horse Show Wednesday night, as the four-in-hands waiting for the next class cooled their heels for more than an hour.
The class, an update of the old Power and Speed format, involved jumping six fences as a preliminary to fences seven through 12, taken at a fast clip. The route, designed by Anderson Lima of Peru, had nearly half the starters finishing without jumping faults.
Laura Chapot, who is known for being quick, set the pace to catch on Chandon Blue, 10th to go. Clocked at 31.09 seconds, she looked unbeatable for the next 35 rounds. Then McLain Ward came into the ring with First Lady, a mount who has been developing ove the last three years for owner Robin Parsky, who also has horses with world number one. Henrik von Eckermann.
McLain’s mark of 30.69 had staying power. The only entry that came close was British rider Jessica Mendoza on Changing Tatum, third from the end. But she took her horse back at the final fence, a sturdy dark green oxer, which meant she missed the mark. Her time of 30.73 seconds put her second.
McLain is understandably excited about the elegant First Lady, an Oldenburg displaying a refined thoroughbred look.
“The mare has super quality and is a wonderful type horse, a beautiful model. She had to learn the ropes a little bit,” McLain said.
“She always was a spectacular jumper. Now she’s really figuring the sport out and the results are starting to show that.”
by Nancy Jaffer | May 24, 2023
Want to be part of an important competition’s success?
Dressage at Devon is offering many opportunities Sept. 26-Oct. 1 at the Devon showgrounds in Pennsylvania.
Opportunities involve being a scribe for judges at the breed and/or performance show, serving as a ring steward or assistant steward, becoming part of the show manager’s crew and a variety of other options.
There’s always a crowd to watch top riders during Dressage at Devon. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)
In addition to the job experience, benefits include free admission (obviously) and parking, a collectible pin and mug, meals and snacks, training and supervision.
It’s always a good show. Think of being able to meet so many interesting trainers, riders and horse owners–not to mention horses!
For more information, or to register, click on this link.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 29, 2023
There will be an emergency summit meeting at Churchill Downs on Tuesday under the auspices of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) in the wake of 12 horse deaths at the home of the Kentucky Derby this spring.
Veterinary teams from Churchill Downs, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and HISA will gather to review all veterinary information available and conduct additional analysis, seeking to determine what caused the tragedies at the Louisville, Ky., track that have gotten worldwide attention.
“HISA’s highest priority is the safety and well-being of the horses and riders competing under its jurisdiction,” according to a HISA statement. “We remain deeply concerned by the unusually high number of equine fatalities at Churchill Downs over the last several weeks.”
Meanwhile, HISA is asking for an independent analysis of the facility’s racing and training surfaces from experienced track superintendent Dennis Moore. At the same time, HISA is seeking more veterinary opinions and on-site obeservations from its director of equine safety and welfare, Dr. Jennifer Durenberger.
Churchill Downs issued a statement about the situation, saying,”Our team members mourn the loss of these animals as we continue to work together to discover cause and determine appropriate investments to minimize, to the degree possible, any avoidable risk in this sport and on our property. We do not accept this as suitable or tolerable and share the frustrations of the public, and in some cases, the questions to which we do not yet have answers.
“We have been rigorously working since the opening of the meet to understand what has led to this spike and have yet to find a conclusive discernible pattern as we await the findings of ongoing investigations into those injuries and fatalities.”
by Nancy Jaffer | May 27, 2023
Is Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital the best place to provide treatment for Michael Barisone, found not guilty by reason of insanity in his 2022 trial on a charge of second-degree attempted murder?
The dressage trainer’s legal team contended in court yesterday that he can’t get the therapy he needs at the state facility, maintaining he should receive it on an outpatient basis from a private hospital.
The Morris County, N.J., Prosecutor’s office, meanwhile, maintains Greystone is the venue that minimizes risk to the patient and society as Barisone gets treatment.
Those viewpoints were expressed yesterday in a daylong Krol hearing before Superior Court Judge Stephen Taylor, who heard testimony from a psychiatrist and psychologists as each side presented its case. In New Jersey, Krol hearings are held periodically to judge the progress of a criminal defendant who has been confined to a psychiatric institution following a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
Barisone, the alternate for the 2008 U.S. Olympic dressage team, was tried on attempted murder and several other charges in connection with the shooting of Lauren Kanarek, a tenant on his Long Valley, N.J., farm. The two and Kanarek’s fiancee, Rob Goodwin, had a long-running dispute that erupted into gunfire on Aug. 7, 2019.
Kanarek, a rider who came to the farm to be trained by Barisone, took two bullets in the chest and was rushed to Morristown Medical Center’s intensive care unit after the incident, which Barisone says he doesn’t remember. Kanarek’s parents, Kirby and Jonathan Kanarek, were in the courtroom monitoring Friday’s proceedings.
Following the April 2022 verdict, Barisone was sent to the state’s Anne Klein Forensic Center in West Trenton before being transferred to Greystone in Parsippany, N.J., six months later.
Citing the voluminous amount of testimony presented during Friday’s court session in Morristown, Taylor reserved decision until Wednesday, when the next steps for Barisone will be determined as he meets with lawyers for both sides, Morris County Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn and Chris Deininger on behalf of Barisone. Meanwhile, the outcome of the last Krol hearing in September, which kept Barisone at Greystone, is being appealed.
Michael Barisone and attorney Chris Deininger. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Attorney Edward Bilinkas, representing Barisone, noted in court that individual treatment for his client at Greystone did not get under way until March 2023, even though the defendant entered the hospital in October 2022.
Initially, Barisone was in group sessions where patients listened to music and filled in coloring books, according to Bilinkas. Barisone filed 15 requests to get the treatment that would help him. After the threat of a lawsuit, individual treatment began.
Dr. Sarah Pachner, a Greystone psychologist, stated from the witness stand that there were “significant delays” at the hospital across the board because the department is “considerably short-staffed, we are down a number of positions in the department, making it difficult to keep up with demand.”
Bilinkas told the judge that in regard to Greystone, his client was “being punished here. It has nothing to do with recovery.”
Schellhorn, citing comments from Greystone’s treatment team that Barisone often went off on tangents bringing up the “index crime” of the shooting and trying to “relitigate the case” instead of focusing on efforts to heal his mental health issues, suggested another Krol hearing should be held in six months “to see how the therapy treatment is going.”
He said the Greystone doctors “testified their goal is not to keep Michael Barisone at Greystone Hospital any longer than it needs to, but he has to participate and cooperate, and he has to understand these things before they are going to be able to make a recommendation to the court that it would be appropriate for him to go out into the community safely.”
Schellhorn stated that based on the testimony from Greystone team members, Barisone has “overall a lack of insight with respect to what is necessary for him to cope.”
The defense psychologist, Dr. Charles Hasson, characterized Barisone as narcissistic, which he described as a personality disorder, stemming from feelings of inadequacy dating back to his childhood and “a lot of trauma.”
According to Hasson, Barisone felt he was defective. To fight that, “he worked hard,” and was driven to become a perfectionist, the psychologist continued.
Psychologist Dr. Charles Hasson testifies. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“It drove him to prove he was halfway decent.”
While feelings of shame occasionally surface and Barisone has struggled with depression, “he’s not a danger,” Hasson contended, taking issue with the type of the specific type of assessment tests used by the hospital.
“There’s a difference between mental illness and mental health,” he added, saying Barisone definitely needs therapy but could get it on an outpatient basis five days a week at a private treatment center if he lives with a friend in New Jersey. That dovetails with a previous recommendation by a defense psychiatrist.
Hasson advised that Greystone staff needs to listen to Barisone, but at the same time, “not react to the BS.”
Comments by Hasson and others who testified indicated there was frustration on the part of both therapists and Barisone. Hasson said narcissists can “turn off the therapist, make the therapist angry.”
Greystone psychiatrist Dr. Anthony Gotay said Barisone has “a sense of grandiosity and self-importance,” as well as a preoccupation with “success and power.”
Grandiose people think “rules don’t apply to them” and “they’re better than other people.”
He said Barisone also has obsessive/compulsive personality disorder, which is approached with therapy, rather than medication.
Psychiatrist Dr. Anthony Gotay. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
The doctor expressed skepticism when he recounted how Barisone mentioned a movie may be made about him, and insisted he had hosted late night comedian Stephen Colbert’s show.
Bilinkas pointed out to the doctor in his cross-examination that Barisone, the subject of a 48 Hours documentary on CBS, had been approached about a book and a movie–“I’m not aware of that,” Gotay replied. Bilinkas also noted that Barisone had done a show with Colbert in which he gave the comedian a dressage lesson. Gotay said he had not seen it.
Gotay mentioned Barisone is smart, but “keeps getting in his own way.”
He said Barisone should continue individual and group therapy so Greystone can “ease restrictions and see how he does.” If it goes well “we can give him more freedom.” That could include outings and overnight visits.
“He needs the safety and structure of Greystone or a 24-hour hospital. He needs to be able to go into the community and come back and be reassessed.”
If you missed last month’s story about the settlement in the civil lawsuit involving Barisone, here is a link.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 25, 2023
I’ve said it before, and I’ll warn you again–always remember there are eyes on you when you’re working with horses.
Actually, the eyes are the least of it. Videos, the livestream of competitions and photos can do plenty of damage when they’re posted, and that’s not just if you’re doing something questionable.
Those who don’t know anything about horses have their own interpretations of what goes on around the animals.
Perhaps they see horses “as prisoners in tiny stalls,” U.S. Hunter Jumper Association President Mary Knowlton suggested this week at a Town Hall Zoom meeting, the second in a series of four.
She added practices that feel normal to those involved with horses “might not seem that way to people without knowledge of the sport.”
Mary advised that we have to “get our story out there early and explain what we do.”
This is all about Social License to Operate, the hot catch phrase summing up the type of “permission” needed to pursue horse sports in the era of social media, and in the view of people in the larger community who are always watching.
She warned that if those involved in horse sport don’t make sure that the picture of how they operate can withstand widespread consumption, there is always the possibility the federal government will step in as it did with racing. The Federal Trade Commission has oversight of HISA, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. The program includes racing and training safety standards, as well as injury and fatality analysis, as well as evaluation and accreditation.
As one person on the Zoom call pointed out, the phrase, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you” is not synonymous with good news.
“I think we can police ourselves,” Mary emphasized.
It’s up to everyone to report when they see something that isn’t going right; a horse being longed to exhaustion, a pony being whipped, a syringe where it doesn’t belong.
“There’s much more policing of each other. People are watching now and some are speaking up,” said Mary.
Steward Sheila Murphy, who was among the 98 people on the Zoom meeting, cited an instance where “just my presence,” stopped abusive longeing after she had been told what was going on.
At the same time, steward Cricket Stone noted that while informing stewards or the U.S. Equestrian Federation about misbehavior is important, “videos and photo evidence go a lot further than hearsay” when it comes to calling out perpetrators.
The USEF board next month will consider several rules pertaining to horse welfare, including requiring horses being longed or ridden in a schooling or warm-up area to have a show number attached, or have the number on the rider or handler. Attachments to longe whips, such as flags or bags, would be forbidden, along with cracking the whip while a horse is being longed.
Also to be discussed is penalizing by elimination if a horse has raw or bleeding sores on its sides, as that would be considered cruelty and abuse. The current rule only covers competing with raw or bleeding sores around the coronets, pasterns or legs.
While it’s unfortunately common for a horse to be longed far too long to get it ready for an amateur rider or a child, the same thing can happen to horses competing in other divisions. Is a happy bounce of a horse’s head after a fence something that should be penalized if that joyful expression goes no further? Or do horses really have to be dead quiet to pin in a big class?
Perhaps, it was suggested during the Town Hall, “We need to change what we’re judging for.” And Mary suggested that if a rider can only compete if their horse is longed for too long, perhaps the trainer instead should focus on training the rider to perform more competently.
Other abuses mentioned included showing horses too many times at one competition. The example given was a 23-year-old horse doing 20 classes in a week. Perhaps that is something that should be regulated, it was mentioned, since it’s less arbitrary than trying to judge whether a horse has been on the longe line too long.
On another topic, Mary explained the difference between Channel I and Channel II shows, which many USEF and USHJA members still don’t understand. Channel I is a combo of the former Premier and National Shows; Channel II shows are what used to be called, B, C and Local Member shows, and subsequently, Regional. Outreach, at the lowest level, doesn’t have to be run at a USEF licensed show.
“Outreach is growing huge and the federation’s Regional is a little bit stagnant. Part of the reason for that, I think, is because Outreach is an overlay on an unrecognized show and we don’t have a lot of rules they have to follow,” said Mary.
“It’s more of a `Hello, come in, meet USHJA, see that we’re not scary, get introduced to what we do. Compete, have fun.’ ” An Outreach Festival, at the next level, is held at licensed shows. That gives participants a chance to see what goes on in other rings.
She said Outreach shows may consider becoming licensed, but noted “We’ll see about that. That’s uncertain to me at this moment.”
On the topic of saving the Regional horse show, Mary said, “California got some new Channel II shows.” but at the same time, “Zone II (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania) has lost some for sure. Some other zones don’t really have Regional shows. I think Outreach has helped a lot to introduce people to being within USHJA’s umbrella. Hopefully, that will translate into people actually wanting to run Regional shows.”
