by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 28, 2023
I was watching carefully Friday as Yasmin Ingham–that’s Eventing World Champion Yasmin Ingham–rode Banzai du Loir around the outside of the dressage arena at the 5-star Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event. It was an intimidating setting, with a crowd of 13,252 seated in a buzzy stadium bright with color.
A number of the horses competing in the second half of the division (it began on Thursday) were affected by the atmosphere, showing tension along with some head-tossing and occasionally breaking their gait.
Although Banzai seemed calm, Yasmin further soothed her horse by stroking his neck repeatedly as she let him get settled in the atmosphere before the bell rang to start her test.
So when she went into the arena, Banzai was totally ready, and delivered a marvelous, fluid and needless to say, obedient test to take the lead in the division with 22.1 penalties (scored as a straight dressage test, that translates to an impressive 77.95 percent).
Look at the lovely flowing style of Banzai du Loir with Yasmin Ingham handling the guidance. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Yasmin, who will be 26 next month, is a native of the Isle of Man, but she rides for Great Britain, as in the 2022 world championships in Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy. Her rise to the top of the standings at the Kentucky Horse Park made it 1-2 for the Brits going into Saturday’s cross-country. Tom McEwen was the leader after Thursday’s dressage with a superb performance on JL Dublin, and dropped back to second by a mere 0.5 penalties as Yasmin took over to top his score.
Last year, none of us knew who Yasmin was when she made her first appearance in Kentucky–and then she finished second behind all-time great (and four-time Kentucky winner) Michael Jung of Germany. Now we know exactly who she is, and realize that victory could be within her grasp.
But she’s fetchingly modest, saying she plans to gain confidence before tackling Derek di Grazia’s 11 minute, 26-second (optimum time) cross-country route by watching videos of her performance at Pratoni and in Kentucky last year.
I wondered why she wasn’t competing next week at the Badminton 5-star in England–at the least, it would have been a shorter trip! But she gave me a good answer. These decisions aren’t taken lightly, so a good deal of thought and planning went into her return journey to the Bluegrass.
Yasmin Ingham waves to herKentucky fans. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Yasmin’s main trainer is Chris Bartle, a former dressage rider who led Britain to Olympic and world championships gold. Naturally, the main focus is on more championships, starting with the Europeans this summer and going through to the Paris Olympics next year.
“After coming here last year, I felt like Banzai had a really great run around here and it set us up really well for our summer plans and going on to Pratoni was amazing,” she explained about her decision to come Stateside. Thus it seemed as if replicating the experience might do the same for Banzai’s 2023 and 2024 programs.
“The Olympics has been a huge dream of mine since I was a very little girl,” she explained.
“I am going to absolutely go for it over the next few years and then hopefully we can go on and enjoy Badminton and Burghley (England’s September 5-star) in the future because he’s only 12,” she said of the very fancy Selle Francais.
“He’s still got so much left to give and I absolutely would love to ride around Badminton on him someday.”
Despite the British edge at this point, we’re hoping for the first U.S. victory since 2008 in this event. Those from third through eighth place are riding for America, which means some good horses and riders are poised with the ambition of overtaking Yasmin and Tom. It’s close, close, close.
Tamie Smith led the first day of dressage with Mai Baum (24.2 penalties) and Will Coleman, last to go on Friday, was marked at 25 penalties with Chin Tonic to stand fourth. (He also is 13th with Off the Record on 31.2 penalties.) But Will, the top-placed U.S. rider on the silver medal team at Pratoni, doesn’t want to speculate about whether he can update the record book for the U.S. at Kentucky. He is quick to point out he doesn’t go on Facebook and is “pretty good about ignoring what is written in the press.” (Is that how Off the Record got his name?)
He explained he’s just trying to focus on his horses, pointing out the 5-star cross-country is always a big question for Off the Record, and he wants to see if “I can do a better job” than previously with that horse in a test at this level.
Meanwhile, this is Chin Tonic’s first 5-star. The 11-year-old Holsteiner was a stallion until Will convinced the owner of Hyperion Stud to geld him. Will believes “he would have been quite temperamental as a stallion” competing in eventing. He thinks that given his inexperience “there may be more chances down the road where he might be more seasoned.”
Will Coleman and Chin Tonic. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Busy Liz Halliday-Sharp is 1.9 penalties back of Chin Tonic with Miks Master C, and eighth as well with DeNiro Z. She’s successful, too, in the 4-star Short that is also running at Kentucky, standing first and second with Cooley Nutcracker and Cooley Be Cool.
Crowd favorite Boyd Martin is sixth (28.3 penalties) with the very veteran Tsetserleg, better known as Thomas. Boyd is upping his dressage game not only with his wife, Silva, a dressage specialist, but also with the help of another person who hails from Germany, Bettina Hoy.
Tsetserleg always rewards himself by scratching his mouth on his leg after a good dressage test. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“He couldn’t have gone much better,” Boyd said of Thomas the Trakehner.
“It’s very rare you do a dressage test where you come out and say every movement is as good as I could have hoped. And I didn’t make a course error at the end, which is even a bigger bonus.”
Click here to see the Kentucky 5-star standing, and on this link to see the 4-star rankings.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 28, 2023
This year’s Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event has nearly everything anyone devoted to the sport would want–stellar entries from the U.S. and overseas, a scenic cross-country course, acres of shopping and an opportunity to enjoy a world-class competition. Even so, a key piece of the “Best Weekend All Year” is missing.
Jim Wofford, who was such an integral part of the event, left us in February after a long illness. But if he is not here in person, he certainly is at the Kentucky Horse Park in spirit.
Jim Wofford and Carawich, doing what he loved best.
That spirit was infused into a memorial gathering Wednesday night, where relatives, friends and those who simply admired him gathered to pay tribute, comfort each other and tell stories (most of which were funny) about a true legend. It was a great party, and Jimmy would have loved it.
Based at Fox Covert Farm in Virginia, Jimmy was equestrian sport’s version of the Renaissance man. An Olympic medalist from an Army family, he was a living legacy of the military tradition in horse sport. Jimmy was all about giving back.
He served equestrian governance as the president of the old American Horse Shows Association, and contributed to other organizations involved with the sport.
This red-headed dynamo also was a popular author, a trainer whose first concern was for the horse, an incisive commentator and an in-demand after dinner speaker and master of ceremonies.
The gathering to remember him at the University of Kentucky’s Spindletop Hall was organized by Jim Wolf, Woff’s fishing buddy and confidante.
Jim remembered his friend in every aspect of his life as being “intensely curious, he was a student’s student and a teacher’s teacher.”
During the party, because that’s what it was, photos of Jimmy across the years flashed on the screen, showing him over an enormous cross-country fence or with his four grandsons; fishing, celebrating birthdays and holidays. The evening was a festival of remembrance.
“It means so much to the family to see so many people here who really loved Jim,” said his widow, Gail, who had been his sweetheart since their teenage years.
Gail Wofford with daughters Jennifer Ince and Hillary Jones at the memorial gathering.
One of Jimmy’s daughters, Jennifer Ince, gave some history about the James C. Wofford On the Rise trophy that will be presented Sunday to the best first-time 5-star rider in the competition.
Fittingly, given Jimmy’s interests, “on the rise” is a fishing term. The sterling silver cup is being repurposed; it was won by Jimmy’s father, Col. John Wofford in the 1935 military class at the old Piping Rock Horse Show on Long Island.
Jimmy’s other daughter, Hillary Jones, told the group, “I wanted to tell you how much we appreciate the outpouring of love, support and all these incredible stories; they just keep coming, which is wonderful.”
Rob Burk, CEO of the U.S. Eventing Association, announced that a permanent home is being sought for the organization’s Hall of Fame. When it becomes reality, it will be named after Jimmy Wofford.
“Whoever said, `Never meet your heroes because they will disappoint you’ obviously never met Jim Wofford,” said Rob.
“Being here in Kentucky without having Jim sitting near the Head of the Lake, watching cross-country with a faithful Labrador retriever beside him, is going to be weird for many of us. It’s also odd not to have Jim author his annual analysis of contenders competing in Kentucky in the Chronicle of the Horse.
“In the spirit of that former Kentucky winner, he is definitely embedded in the soil here. Jim is undeniably the most respected and influential figure in modern day eventing. He represents the ideal of a lifelong eventer.”
Jimmy would have loved the idea of the On the Rise trophy, held by Jim Wolf with Jennifer Ince and Hillary Jones.
Rob continued, “He was the best of the best as a rider. He had a supreme talent and the courage to say what was right, regardless of the consequences. His keen observations and clarity of spoken and written words were not only a gift, but a well-honed skill. He truly was our poet laureate and he was irreplaceable.”
Rob added, “He is missed by our eternally grateful sport. Our lives are richer for knowing him and we find condolence and comfort in the knowledge that he will always be a pillar on which the foundation of U.S. eventing stands.”
Speaking on behalf of all of Jimmy’s students, trainer Sharon White believed, “Jimmy is with us, he is rolling his eyes a bit while drinking a really good glass of Scotch. Everybody in this room learned something from him. He was so generous in his ability to show you the way, to educate.”
Sharon White speaking to the gathering.
She explained,”He could put into words things you were doing that you couldn’t put into words and he could just say it for you.” He was equally adept at giving “giving you a kick in the ass or a pat on the back if it didn’t go well,” depending what someone needed when they were competing.
“One thing Jimmy never waivered from was his love of the horse and respect for the horse. Everyone feels touched by him, because he had time for everybody. Our horses are so lucky that we knew him. He held us to a standard and it’s our job to keep it.”
Yes, Jimmy always spoke his mind regardless of the consequences, as Rob said.
Jim Wolf referenced Gail Wofford’s cynical comment she might offer when she and her husband were at some fancy party, “Take a good look around, because we’re not being invited back.” (With his usual creativity, Jimmy used that as the title of a book.)
“We’re so sad to lose him,” said Jim Wolf, “but damn, he had a good look around.”
As a final word, Jim asked everyone to raise a glass to his fishing buddy and “a life well-lived.” Then he added a sentiment shared by all of those in the room, “Jimmy, we miss you.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 27, 2023
Could this be the year that a U.S. rider will win the Kentucky 5-star three-day event for the first time since 2008?
It’s something that’s wondered annually about the championship at the Kentucky Horse Park.
The prospects were looking up early this afternoon before a crowd of 7,158, when U.S. world championships team silver medalist Tamie Smith turned in the best dressage test of her career on the illustrious Mai Baum, marked at only 24.2 penalties (the equivalent of 75.83 percent in straight dressage).
Tamie Smith and Mai Baum. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“I couldn’t ask him to be better. I’m thrilled,” Tamie said of the 17-year-old German sport horse.
And then Tom McEwen of Great Britain came along with JL Dublin and glided through his test with such style that the horse seemed to be on autopilot. He moved into the lead at the Land Rover fixture, with an impressive 22.6 penalties (the equivalent of 77.44 percent, which would be impressive in any dressage rider’s book).
Tom obviously has a special relationship with the horse he took over late last season from Nicola Wilson, after she suffered a spinal cord injury in a horrific fall from the gelding at Badminton in 2022.
Twice Tom referred to “Dubs” as a person; the first time as “the kindest person you could ever meet,” the second time as a “lovely, lovely person.” I’m guessing if he could take the 12-year-old Hanoverian to a local pub for a beer and a chat, he would.
Tom McEwen and JL Dublin. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
When he was paired with Dubs, there were “a few things to get to know about each other. Hidden secrets we didn’t know about each other. Over the winter, we built a partnership.”
Though that partnership with Dubs is young, it looks firmly engaged with a horse who “loves just being on the stage.” Tom, obviously a perfectionist, talks about a little more “polishing of the diamond,” though his luster already is impressive.
Tom is pleasant and gracious, giving the credit for developing this star to Nicola, as he should, of course.
The game in Lexington is just beginning. The second group of competitors will ride their dressage tests on Friday. Then comes the biggest test, cross-country, over yet another thoughtful and cleverly composed course put together by Olympic designer Derek di Grazia. That’s not all of course. On Sunday, the final exam will be a show jumping route designed by Steve Stephens, who also has an Olympic designing credential.
So don’t give up hope for a U.S. victory.
Liz Halliday-Sharp already is in the hunt for the U.S. with third place today on the sensitive DeNiro Z, who had a spook down the centerline at the start of his test, getting a bit unsettled, then working out of it. Though DeNiro is not as flashy as Mai Baum, Liz is on a very respectable 29 penalties with the 15-year-old Dutchbred gelding.
Liz Halliday Sharp and DeNiro. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
It’s also worth noting she is leading the 4-star Short with another of her horses, Cooley Nutcracker (24.5). And guess who’s second in that competition? Tamie, with Solaguayre California (27.6). Looks like a friendly rivalry.
Tom, meanwhile, is loving Kentucky on his first visit.
Tom McEwen waves to the crowd as he leaves the stadium on JL Dublin. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“It’s one of the greatest talked-about events I’ve ever been to. It’s been a pleasure to come, everyone’s so super friendly,” he said. Speaking about the Rolex Stadium, he commented with a touch of awe, “TV didn’t quite do it justice.”
He was advised by his countrymen who had been here that Kentucky is about “racehorses, bourbon and tobacco. It’s great to be able to take in other cultures.”
Click on this link for today’s 5-star results.Click here for today’s 4-star results.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 27, 2023
Even the top riders are feeling the pain as costs to enter shows continue to rise, while young riders, up-and-coming athletes and breeders are being priced out of the sport.
Read what the International Jumper Riders Club comments about this, and take a look at a story I did along similar lines earlier in the year. This is a link to that piece. Meanwhile, the FEI Sports Forum this week proposed a new system for 2024 that would have the FEI move away from the Swiss franc, and establish the Euro as the new base currency, with the U.S. dollar as the second currency, set at today’s exchange rate of 1.10.
And here’s what the IJRC has to say about the big picture: “Entry fees and associated costs have increased while the real value of prize money can vary widely due to currency fluctuations in different countries.
Meanwhile a “grey area” in the rider quota procedures means that some Organising Committees (OCs) can offer last-minute spaces to “pay cards” rather than to riders taken on merit.
Entry fees and prize money:
The FEI used to set prize money levels and entry fees using the historically strong Swiss franc (CHF) as the base. After a conference in London in 2011, the FEI enabled OCs to determine these monies using the consumer price index and inflation rate in their own countries. Since then the real value of prize money has eroded by an average of 8.3%. The variations are especially notable where they are paid in the two main currencies used at CSIs, the Euro and US$.
With shows’ own rising costs, last year the International Equestrian Organisers Alliance proposed a new scheme based on the consumer price index in Belgium; one of the highest in Europe, it has increased 18.32% in the past eight years. The IJRC lodged strong objections but while FEI did not adopt the organisers’ plan, it proposed a 10% increase in entry fees, of further detriment to riders and owners.
Currently the FEI-prescribed maximum entry fee is usually applied even where minimum prize money is offered. The entry fee includes stabling but excludes ancillary services such as electricity supply and manure removal, charges for which have increased riders’ outlay per show up to 70% in recent years. At some CSIs 3* and 4* on the European tours, riders can face additional fees of up to €20 euros a day for electricity, €100 a week for horse transporter parking and €300 for a tack box, and €30 per day to keep a horse in a stable in the short break between fixtures. (See here presentation “Lausanne, 27 March 2023 Meeting FEI, IJRC, IJOC and AJO: Conversion rates, Entry fees, Inflation”: for more detail and case studies.)
Meanwhile, a possible solution regarding prize-money for 2024 onwards was presented at the 2023 FEI Sports Forum in Lausanne on April 25. It would re-set the required prize monies in Euros rather than CHF, with a suggested initial conversion rate to US$ of 1.10. Variations would be averaged over 12 months and the system changed only if a 5% threshold was exceeded.
The IJRC appreciates the FEI’s work on the new prize-money proposal and understand the impacts of rising costs to organisers, but believes a further stakeholder consultation is necessary, especially if a formalised proposal needs to be available for FEI board discussion no later than August. The IJRC believes the entire industry has a moral obligation to keep costs as low as possible.
IJRC director Eleonora Ottaviani has also cautioned against a global harmonisation of prize money and entry fee systems, especially in Europe and North America where the markets and CSI business models are completely different.
She said: “One must also take into account that in addition to entry fees established by FEI Regulations, in Europe taxes are increasingly often added that do not comply with FEI rules, such as pay cards, tables, administrative tax etc.
“Such fees affect above all young riders, breeders and up-and-coming athletes who deserve and to be able to afford to compete in sport that respects meritocracy. The increase of the entry fee and of the costs, which are already expensive for central and southern Europe, will become unaffordable for the whole of eastern Europe, where the sport is currently undergoing promising development.”
François Mathy Jr, Vice-President of the International Jumping Riders Club (IJRC) commented: “Our objective is to keep our sport accessible for young and talented riders. A compromise must be reached in order to stop the race of the imaginative extra cost that some events put on the rider’s bill.”
Invitations:
In this same spirit of meritocracy, the IJRC is asking the FEI to reconsider two other rider invitation processes – the reallocation of unused places at CSIs, and the wild card, in the wake of anecdotal evidence that more last-minute entry opportunities are finding their way to “pay cards.”
The categories of rider than can enter any CSI can be seen here FEI Jumping Rules_Annex_V_Implementation_Guidelines_update_2023.pdf In order of priority, they are FEI Longines rankings; riders nominated by their national federation; riders personally invited by the OC; and the wild card.
The thorny issue is the OC invitation, which can be privately extended to riders further down the rankings lists, or even unranked riders who can afford to pay a substantial premium over the set entry fee; some may also buy a hospitality table for the week as an informal condition of entry. This unofficial but widespread practice is colloquially known as the pay card, an essential part of the business model for many shows.
Under current FEI rules, if a rider from the rankings category drops out after the entries deadline, this place can be filled by an OC invitation. The IJRC is asking the FEI to re-offer them to riders from the rankings.
Similarly, there is evidence that up-and-coming riders are missing wild card opportunities because the window to take advantage of them is small. Currently, wild cards must be reallocated by the second Monday before the show starts; if not, they too revert to the OC. The IJRC feels that Tuesday or Wednesday of the preceding week is a more realistic timeframe, especially if a space is notified over the weekend when national federation offices are closed.
The IJRC recognises that an extra pay card is an attractive prospect for the OC, but it is patently unmeritocratic! Reducing the number of ranked riders at a show can potentially weaken the quality of competition for spectators and broadcast, at a time of growing awareness of “social licence” to operate and the efforts taken elsewhere by the FEI to improve riding standards and enhance public perception of our sport.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 23, 2023
They were a legendary pair, Greg Best and Gem Twist. In 1988, when Greg was only 24 years old, he and the sensational grey thoroughbred earned the individual show jumping silver at the Seoul Olympics and were part of the silver medal team there. Two years later at the world championships, Gem was named Best Horse.
Congenial and Ivy League-educated, Greg had star quality; so did Gem, a brilliant grey thoroughbred owned by Michael Golden and trained by six-time Olympian Frank Chapot.
But a bad shoulder injury Greg sustained in a 1992 fall from Gem ended the famous partnership. Gem went on to other riders and Greg eventually moved to New Zealand, becoming a citizen 25 years ago. He rode there, then coached (doing that job for the country’s 2004 Olympic team) and also returned to America to teach.
Mostly, however, he became a farmer on 1,000 acres with his wife, Kim. At one stage, they were doing some breeding and had 49 horses. At this point, though, they own only five horses and have downsized to 80 acres that’s home to cattle and alfalfa, where Greg is the farmer and “the Mr. Fixit guy.”
And now, at age 58, Greg is moving away from his involvement with the world of horses.
Why would someone who has such a connection with the industry do that?
“My kids don’t ride,” he explained about his son, 10, and daughter, 7. He is focused on parenting, noting, “You don’t get a second chance at it, to do the job the way that it should be done; this is the time where they need you more than ever.
“I think my wife is not far away from not wanting to ride as well. So it’s time to turn an eye to the kids and be a cricket and gymnastics supporter and just be the best dad I can be and the best husband I can be and move on to the next phase of life,” he told me when we visited during the Longines FEI World Cup Finals in Omaha this month.
The question is, what does that next phase involve?
“I’m not sure,” he said, as the most famous riders in what had been his sport worked their mounts a few feet from us in the warm-up arena at the CHI Health Center facility.
“The good thing is, you move on from the horses, and then there’s this whole other world out there that’s much bigger than this little microcosm that we intend to focus too much on,” he observed.
When I asked if he misses his deep involvement with horses and showing, he was quick to answer, “No. Even being here doesn’t make me think,`Oh gosh, I wish I could have another go at it.'”
Greg Best and Gem Twist at the 1990 World Equestrian Games. (Photo © 1990 by Nancy Jaffer)
He paused for a moment and then mused, “It’s interesting. You get to a certain point in your thinking where you realize your interest in it and your relevance in it has gone. And the interest goes first. Once the interest goes, you’re around it less and less, and then you start to realize your relevance is limited as well. That’s where I am right now. The enthusiasm is probably more about my son’s cricket game on Saturday afternoon, and I won’t be there.”
Greg came to the World Cup Finals to help fellow Kiwi Phillip Steiner, who went to the Netherlands earlier this year to train with his 11-year-old mare, Cassina Dior (DioradoXCassina I), bred in New Zealand by Pip McCarroll. Steiner’s aim is to be part of the New Zealand team at the Paris Olympics next year and the World Cup was the first major step on that journey.
As Greg explained, he has been friends with the Steiner family for a long time.
Phillip Steiner and Greg Best at the World Cup Finals.( Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“I’ve helped him with this horse quite a bit. When he decided he wanted to come here, he said, `There’s one guy I want at my side,’ and I said I’d be honored to come and give him a hand. His wife, Sally, had her crack at the top level 15 years ago. This is his horse of a lifetime.”
Although Phillip has been away from the top level of the sport for quite a while, he has worked with some big names over his lifetime. He spent two summers in the U.S. during the early 1990s with Joe Fargis and Conrad Homfeld, while leasing a horse from Debbie Dolan. Later in the decade, he worked with Swiss horse dealer Max Hauri and then Swiss Olympic team silver medalist Lesley McNaught. While in Switzerland, he got to know Pius Schwizer and Steve Guerdat, world-class riders when they were at the beginning of their careers.
Greg appreciates what Phillip is doing and understands why he left New Zealand on his quest.
“He has a trucking firm back there and a farm. He’s putting all of that on hold. He’s at the very beginning of this whole process. The World Cup finals is a huge ask for him to come and do first up.”
For Phillip, 51, the second course at the World Cup “was probably the biggest track I’ve jumped in my career.” He noted his mare, known as Dolly, is inexperienced, but brave.
“She’s got so much potential, she goes out and jumps weird jumps like the wall (an airy obstacle with pillars beneath a solid top) that a lot of horses would look at. I’ve really got to trust her ability. I’m really proud of her.”
Phillip Steiner and Cassina Dior. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Phillip finished 24th in that competition and qualified for the third leg of the Cup. He finished the finals in 30th place among 40 participants.
In the daunting triple combination on the third day, the mare had a knockdown at the first element, an oxer, then stopped at the second, a vertical. After Greg signaled from the Kiss and Cry stand (where coaches and families watch competitors) that Phillip should continue, the rider and his mare tackled the triple again and went on to finish the course.
Will Greg continue to help his friend?
“We’ll see how it all goes,” he said.
“I would imagine once he gets back to Europe, he’ll find his new friends and new helpers over there.”
And as Greg pointed out, there’s a chance that under the Olympic qualifying process, New Zealand might not make it to the Games. But he noted that Phillip, “didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity to do something like this.” And then he added, “I get it.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 6, 2023
Mylestone Equine Rescue in Warren County, N.J., has an opportunity to raise $40,000 to help pay for the care of its horses via a match program involving two donors. The organization cares for neglected, abused and unwanted horses.
If $20,000 in donations come in by the end of April, the donors will match that amount.The majority of funds will go toward caring for the rescue horses, while another portion will be used to help other horses in need through Myllestone’s Equine Relief Fund.
As SusanKelly Thompson who runs Mylestone points out, “Just in the past couple of months, our vet bills have been over $9,000, so the funds are a necessity to providing long-term care for our rescue horses. In addition, we are paying 30 percent to 40 percent more for hay alone, so these funds help in feed costs as well.” That’s something every horse owner can understand these days.
On Saturday April 29 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Horsemen’s Outlet in Lebanon, N.J., will be hosting a tack swap, bake sale, and other in-store fundraisers to help Mylestone reach its match. The Help a Horse Day is now the biggest annual fundraiser for the Mylestone horses.
Donations must be marked “match” on checks. If donating through PayPal, let Mylestone know it is for the match.F For more information, go to www.mylestone.org.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 19, 2023
The U.S. Equestrian Federation is requiring riders from foreign countries to become competing members of the organization if they want to enter its shows.
The deadline is September 1, giving these prospective members time to take mandatory SafeSport training if they are 18 or older. As a statement from USEF explained, “In our effort to strive for an environment that is safe for our participants and that is free from abuse, USEF aims to ensure all participants are properly trained in abuse prevention. Awareness of abuse prevention, how to recognize abuse, and how to report abuse is critical to our goal to safeguard our participants.”
The new mandate does not apply to foreign riders who are participating only in FEI competitions in the U.S.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 26, 2023
The first horse inspection at the Land Rover Kentucky 5-star Three-Day Event is always an occasion. There’s tension, of course, with riders wondering “Will my horse pass? Today, all 38 of them did. And it happened as usual in fine style, with competitors, human and equine, turned out meticulously.
There was fashion statement after fashion statement, and I was eager to find out who would win the Dubarry of Ireland award for the best-dressed male and female eventers. Alas, during last night’s welcome party at Fasig-Tipton, we were informed that the company would give only one award this year. As Dubarry’s Danny Hulse explained, since women and men are equals in equestrian competition, it felt more current not to make it an award for each sex.
So I decided to make my own selections. I liked Alina Dibowski’s demure belted tan capelet top with the fuzzy collar. The German matched it with white pants and tall black boots, a different take on what she wears when riding.
Alina Dibowski of Germany and Barbados 26, my choice for best-dressed female competitor. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
The men usually aren’t too creative; they operate within more limits than the women, of course. (Though there was Boyd Martin’s red, white and blue Uncle Sam outfit at the final horse inspection here last year…) The Dubarry winner was Will Faudree, who wore a blue jacket with piping and a red tie.
But my pick was British rider David Doel. He was eye-catching in a claret colored bowtie with a matching arrow insignia on his shirt collar and the pocket of his short, two-button tan jacket. David has a sideline selling ice cream from his family’s Lacock Dairy, so this would be a good look for that job.
David Doel and Galileo Nieuwmoed, my pick for the best-dressed male rider. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
The horses who sported quarter marks also looked sharp. I always enjoy seeing the different patterns.
Zara Tindall of Great Britain admired a beautifully marked Class Affair. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
An artful checkerboard decorated Classic VI, the mount of Britian’s Kirsty Chabert. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Oh, here’s something interesting. No passport, no problem. The horses’ identities were being checked with a scanner that picked up the numbers on their microchips.
World Eventing Champion Yasmin Ingham holds Banzai du Loir for his scan. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Will Coleman trotted up Chin Tonic, seen here, and Off the Record, his world championships team silver medal mount. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Doug Payne, last to trot up with Quantum Leap (who is starting in his fifth 5-star), had a little time to talk and a lot to talk about. He has a horse in the 4-star event that runs with the 5-star, and a ride in the 3-star show jumping competition as well. But it’s practically a vacation when you consider he had two horses in each eventing division here last year, and a jumper too.
Doug Payne and Quantum Leap. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
The top-placed American eventer at the Tokyo Olympics, he is looking toward the Paris Games next year.
“I would love it. We should have five qualified. I would love nothing more than to be able to represent the U.S. again,” he said.
I wondered if it is confusing to ride so many different horses at the same competition.
“The moment you’re in the saddle and focused on them, your only focus is that particular horse you might be on. You can start to make correlations between how one particular horse jumps something and how the other one might. That’s a bit of an advantage for sure.”
At the welcome party, former Kentucky first lady Jane Beshear a horsewoman who also is the mother of the current governor, paid tribute to Jim Wofford, the eventer, author and trainer .
“He was one of the most special people you will ever know. He certainly made an impression on every one of us. He taught us more than anything there is a partnership between horse and rider,” she said. Jim emphasized that if you are not doing everything you can to be a partner with a horse, then you are not doing your job.
“He taught us to be riders, he taught us to be horsemen, he taught us to be humanitarians, he taught us to have fun but he also told us to do our job,” she said.
Jane Beshear and EEI Executive Director Mike Cooper show off the new award in memory of Jim Wofford. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
In memory of Jim and all he stood for, the James C. Wofford On the Rise Award will be given to the highest-placed first-time 5-star rider and will be presented by Jim’s family on Sunday as the event comes to an end.
Jane asked everyone to raise their glasses in a toast: “We wouldn’t be where we are at this 4-star/5-star event were it not for Jimmy Wofford. We’ll miss you, Jimmy.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 17, 2023
The idea of establishing 3-foot/3-inch and 3-6 hunter divisions for adult amateurs who don’t own their own horses generally got a thumbs-down reaction during a U.S. Hunter Jumper Association Town Hall on Zoom Monday night.
The session, led by USHJA President Mary Knowlton, drew more than 200 participants, dozens of whom either spoke or wrote comments on line.
The biggest fear seemed to be that if such adult amateur divisions at those heights were created, they would be a “slippery slope” (in the words of professional Louise Serio) that eventually could lead to elimination of the amateur-owner hunter division.
It was pointed out that the suggestion was for adult hunters to be run at those heights “in addition to” the A/Os. And Mary noted that at this point, it is a “vague idea,” but she wanted to float it in a town hall.
Even so, the suggestion brought to mind the way the amateur-owner jumper division is now relegated to a Horse of the Year trophy, as amateurs who don’t own their own horses have taken a leading role in the section.
Mary characterized that as a different situation, however, explaining the problem in the A/O jumpers involved “struggling” with determining if the amateurs really owned the horses they were riding. It was easier to prove whether the rider was an amateur, she explained.
Many expressed trepidation about what could happen in the hunters with a big adult amateur change.
The A/O hunters, Louise pointed out, “have been the backbone of the sport for a very long time.” She worried that the new divisions could change not only the sport, but also the industry.
Noting how invested amateur/owner riders are in what they do, trainer Susie Schoellkopf pointed out, “they are not invested in someone showing against them on a horse they don’t own.”
“There’s no reason to change,” declared trainer Travis Lubow, which was also the sentiment of trainer Archie Cox: “Keep it as it is,” and a number of others who weighed in.
Niki Holtzman-Hays is a doctor who just wants to show her one horse over 3-3 on the weekends. She pointed out she can’t show during the week because of her work, “and never will be able to compete with college students who aren’t pros, but will be one day, or other `shamateurs.’ This change would totally defeat the purpose of being a true amateur.”
Alexandra Beaumont, a veteran of the adult hunters, took another tack. Saying that during her 40 years in the sport, she has seen “people jumping smaller and smaller jumps,” she believes that in part, the reason is that they can’t afford a horse or horses that would be competitive at a greater height.
“We are supposed to be a sport, and the sport part is dying. We need to find a way to encourage non-owner amateurs to jump higher. Our sport needs to be more accessible to more people. The A/O hunters have simply become too expensive for most in the sport now.”
A suggestion to offer both pro and non-pro classes in the Performance Hunters as an option got some support.
Shanette Barth Cohen, manager of the Hampton Classic horse show, said “it’s possible others could be brought into the sport at a higher level if they didn’t have to own a horse.”
At the same time, the concept raised concern because most show schedules already are so jam-packed that there generally isn’t enough time to squeeze in new divisions. One person mentioned that competition at the World Equestrian Center in Ohio hadn’t ended until 8 p.m. recently.
Among other subjects that came up during the town hall, there was word that an amateur hunter championship proposal is “under consideration.” If it happened, it wouldn’t be until 2025.
The cost of showing also was the subject of comment.
“I think we all agree it is quite expensive right now,” said Mary, but someone else pointed out it is only a fraction of the cost of buying horses and keeping them.
Joy Dunn cited the need for help to save the one-day horse shows, stepping stones that play so many roles in developing young horses and riders, are affordable and help support the farms where they are held. She pointed out those who have started competing in one-day shows often eventually move on to increase the bases of larger shows.
There was discussion about whether riders should be able to earn points for zone awards in contiguous states. It was pointed out that in some states, it’s closer for competitors to ride in adjacent states if there are shows nearby, rather than traveling a long distance in their own state. And it’s an issue in Wisconsin, where the closest shows are in Illinois, in another zone.
On the subject of zone awards, ideas to be discussed include whether they should only be champion and reserve, and having points count at just 15 or 20 shows.
The Town Hall was the first in a series of four. The next one will be at 7 p.m. on May 22. Others will be June 12 and July 24.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 20, 2023
A Thursday update from Millar Brooke South about Jonathan Millar, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in an accident involving a motorized vehicle. The son of Ian Millar (Captain Canada) is at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta for therapy.
“With a rigorous and intensive schedule, Jonathon has found his rhythm. With daily therapeutic activities, Jonathon is thriving here at the Shepherd Center. Practicing his walking skills, motor skills, and endurance, Jonathon has put in a ton of minutes, hours and miles to achieve his goals! With his determination, grit, fierce tenacity, and fighting spirit, Jonathon continues to show us all here`how to get it done!’
“In typical Jonathon style, his dry sense of humor entertains the nurses and staff, and his quick wit not only keeps everyone on their toes…but also keeps us all laughing. Thank you to Jonathon’s incredible team of doctors and therapists. We are grateful for the care that he is receiving. It truly is world class and we are so thankful for it.
As always, we thank each and every one of you for your love, support and generosity.
It takes a village, and we are so incredibly grateful for ours.”
