by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 27, 2023
How is the U.S. pipeline working to supply top dressage horses for future international competition?
A good barometer could be found during the USEF National Dressage Championships at the Lamplight Equestrian Center over the last seven days, where a wide range of talent–much of it on the rise–was showcased.
Look at our cover story on I-1 champion Christian Simonson and Son of a Lady (or click on this link) to see someone who’s just waiting in the wings to eventually make a senior team.
And in the Markel/USEF Developing Horse Prix St. Georges Dressage National Championship, the title went to Sonnenberg’s Jersey, guided by the best finisher in the 2021 Olympics, Sabine Schut Kery. She is bringing along this 9-year-old Dutch warmblood now that her Games campaigner, Sanceo, is retired.
“It’s a really young, new partnership,” said Sabine, who has only been working with the gelding for three months.
“Just doing this, coming here, speaks volumes. I would rate him a 15 for his character, and rideability, too. He obviously had good training before, and he’s super talented.”
Sabine also had the seven-year-old champion, Sandi Mancini’s Dutch warmblood, Gorgeous Latino.
Sabine Schut Kery and Sonnenberg’s Jersey. (Photo by Leslie Potter/U.S. Equestrian)
“I’m just thrilled with my two stallions, having them come here and do so well. I don’t know what more I could ask,” Sabine said.
Talking about Jersey, she noted, “He’s super fun to ride. I love his gaits, and I look forward to the future.”
And what will that be?
“I want to give him a good break on our beautiful grass pastures, and then see and go to the next step,” she said.
So many riders at the show in Illinois demonstrated potential with their horses that will be realized not too far down the road.
To name just one more, the Adequan®/USEF Young Adult Brentina Cup Dressage National Championship went for the second year in a row to Quinn Iverson with Bille Davidson’s 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding, Beckham 19.
Brentina, the namesake of the award, was the storied mount of Debbie McDonald, a former U.S. dressage technical advisor. She is the mentor of Olympic medalist Adrienne Lyle, who in turn has coached Christian and Quinn. That’s quite a family tree!
Quinn and Beckham keep improving.
“In the past,” Quinn said, “We’ve had lots of bobbles here and there, and we’re finally starting to smooth it out, and I’m glad that we could show things that we’ve learned since last year.”
In the Neue Schule/USEF Grand Prix Dressage National Championship, it wasn’t quite a sweep for Codi Harrison and her own Katholt’s Bossco, but she wound up with the tricolor anyway.
National Grand Prix champs Codi Harrison and Katholt’s Bossco. (Photo by Leslie Potter /U.S. Equestrian)
After Codi took the Grand Prix and the Special earlier in the week, the Saturday freestyle went to Lehua Custer and Wendy Sasser’s F.J. Ramzes on 76.350 percent, with World Championships veteran Katie Duerhammer and Kylee Lourie’s Paxton taking the runner-up spot in their dance to music on 75.775.
But a mark of 75.675 percent for third place was good enough to boost Codi and Bossco, a 16-year-old Danish warmblood, to the overall honors when added to their previous scores.
“He was great,” said Codi.
“I had a mistake in the twos, but other than that, he was right with me the whole way. The ones felt great. This drop in temperature helped him. He did great in the heat, but it was nice today to just be able to kind of sit back and relax and he took me around.”
Click here for full results
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 27, 2023
Take a look at how British champion gymnast Joe Fraser takes a unique approach to checking out the cross-country course for the Defender Burghley 5-star in England.
His unorthodox approach without a horse may not be within the rules of competition (ya think?) but it certainly is entertaining. Just go ahead and click on this link to see how he did it.
Joe’s effort provides a whole new perspective on the route designed by Derek di Grazia that will be a test for horse and rider combinations attempting what many consider the world’s toughest 5-star. However, we don’t want to see them doing any handstands (hoofstands?), right?
The event runs Aug. 31-Sept. 3. For more info, click here.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 24, 2023
Handling both the heat of competition and the heat of broiling temperatures with a feel like triple digits, Christian Simonson took the Neue Schule/USEF Intermediate I championship on Son of a Lady during the Dressage Festival of Champions on Thursday at the Lamplight Equestrian Center.
“I don’t think I’ve ever ridden in such conditions before,” said Christian, who had two horses in the division’s freestyle finale. At 5 p.m., about 40 minutes after the class began, the temperature at the venue outside of Chicago was 95 degrees with 54 percent humidity, which meant it felt like 109 degrees.
Christian left his jacket on the sidelines because of the extreme heat at Lamplight. (Photo by Leslie Potter/USEF)
Christian wore his shadbelly while riding his first mount, Zeaball Diawind, but for his second horse, he dispensed with a coat, as did others in the class of 12.
Dealing with such high temperatures can wreak havoc on concentration.
“I was sending some texts to Adrienne that weren’t coherent,” admitted Christian, referring to his trainer, Adrienne Lyle.
But he was proud of how his horses powered through the test under less-than-optimum conditions.
Christian Simonson and Son of a Lady in the I-1 on Tuesday. (Photo by Leslie Potter/U.S. Equestrian).
“It’s a hard feeling to describe, but it’s one of the coolest feelings ever, when you feel them digging for you and trying and really pushing,” he said.
This was an observation event for the Pan American Games, to be held this autumn in Chile, so short-listed Christian recognized that everything was on the line.
As Christian enjoyed some pizza on a golf cart after the victory ceremony, he reflected, “I really wanted to do well and I knew each day I had to deliver. Where I hoped I’d be is up at the front of the pack.”
And that’s just where he ended up. The 21-year-old Californian took the title with an overall score of 73.269 percent, while reserve champion Nora Batchelder on Nova scored 72.130.
Christian won both the Prix St. Georges and the Intermediate I with Son of a Lady, but was second in the freestyle with 74.015 percent to Charlotte Jorst on Zhaplin Langholt (75.610.) Charlotte finished third overall in the championship.
The tricolor sash around Sonny’s neck was the culmination of a major effort. (Learn more about Christian by clicking on this link.)
“It’s been a year-and-a-half plan with Adrienne to get to this point, it’s taken a lot of support from Team River Grove. It felt a little bit beyond my grasp of making this team and competing against the adults. By doing it, I’ve learned so much and learned so much from Adrienne also about how to go through these events. It’s been such an amazing experience with such special horses.”
Adrienne once won the same title that Christian earned at the championship. He noted he’ll miss Adrienne at the Pan Ams, because they’re a week after she’s scheduled to deliver her baby girl.
“But that’s much more important than any competition,” he was quick to mention.
He thanked his team, including vets, farriers and grooms for “a monumental effort. I feel extremely grateful to be in this position at a young age.”
Click here for the freestyle results.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 24, 2023
Aachen, which in 2006 produced the most successful of the FEI World Equestrian Games™, has put in a bid to host every world championship but endurance in 2026.
Just as it does with its annual show, the German venue wants to present Jumping, Dressage Para-Dressage, Eventing, Four-in-Hand Driving and Vaulting.
Aachen offered a dramatic setting at its 2006 WEG.( Photo © 2006 by Nancy Jaffer)
The only other bidders for 2026 world championships are Burghley in Great Britain and the Netherlands’ Boekelo, both of which want only Eventing. Al Ula, Saudi Arabia and Samorin, Slovakia, are asking for Endurance.
The decision will be made in November at the FEI’s general assembly in Mexico City.
After three decades of the WEG, which began in 1990 and ran every four years through 2018, the FEI began accepting single and multiple World Championship bids, as opposed to seeking a WEG. Putting on a WEG is enormously expensive, so having just a few related competitions was the way to go for the 2022 world championships.
Herning, Denmark held Jumping, Dressage, Para Dressage, and Vaulting, while Eventing and Driving were at Pratoni Del Vivaro, Italy, which also hosted those disciplines during the 1998 WEG based in Rome.
“We are very pleased with the variety of bids we have received,” FEI President Ingmar De Vos said.
“Following the outstanding FEI World Championships 2022 organized in Denmark, Italy and the UAE (which ran the endurance), we are confident this flexible approach with single and multiple bids serves not only the sport, but also the fans and the development of equestrian around the world, allowing different nations and venues to bid to host a major FEI event.”
The FEI World Championships 2026 in Jumping, Dressage, Para Dressage and Eventing will be the first qualifying events for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The inaugural FEI World Equestrian Games™ were held in Stockholm with the 1912 Olympic stadium as the main venue. On the initiative of the then-FEI President HRH Prince Philip, the World Championships in all the FEI disciplines were held in the same city from July 14 to August 5, 1990. Given the smooth organization and success of these Games, what should have been a one-off event, was extended and seven more editions took place in the Hague (Netherlands) in 1994, Rome in 1998, Jerez de la Frontera Spain, in 2002, Aachen in 2006, Lexington, Ky., in 2010, Normandy, France, in 2014, and Tryon, N.C. in 2018.
The opening ceremonies of the 2006 FEI Aachen World Equestrian Games were memorable. (Photo © 2006 by Nancy Jaffer)
Dressage is the FEI discipline with the longest tradition of championships. A Grand Prix de Dressage, organized in Lucerne, Switzerland, in 1927, drew 12 riders representing five nations.
Official FEI Dressage Championships were organized on all non-Olympic years between 1930 and 1939 in Switzerland, France, Austria, Hungary, Germany, and Great Britain. The last such event took place in August 1939, days before the outbreak of World War II.
The FEI tried to revive the event after the war with limited success. Participation gradually improved and European Championships were organized in 1963, which led to the first FEI Dressage World Championship held in Bern, Switzerland, three years later.
The first Para-Dressage Championship, which took place under the leadership of the FEI, was held in July 2007, only a year after Para Equestrian came under the FEI umbrella. The event enjoyed a truly international representation gathering 133 athletes from 35 nations. Since 2010, FEI Dressage and Para Dressage Championships are being held concurrently.
The first FEI Jumping World Championship was in June 1953 at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. The event was drastically different from its modern equivalent, as only 19 athletes from 11 countries, including Yugoslavia, Cambodia and the USA, competed. No women took part, since female riders would not be able to enter jumping competitions until 1956.
The first FEI Eventing World Championship was in 1966, the same year as the first FEI Dressage World Championship, at the estate of Lord Burghley in Great Britain. The championship included 39 athletes representing five nations: Argentina, Great Britain, Ireland, USA and the USSR.
The previous year, the FEI had established the configuration according to which World Championships in the Olympic discipline of Jumping were held every four years in the non-Olympic even years and continental championships were organized in the odd years. This pattern is still in use today for all the FEI Olympic and Paralympic disciplines.
The first edition of the FEI Driving World Championship for Four-in-Hands was held in 1972 in Münster, Germany, two years after Driving had become an FEI discipline.
Endurance became an FEI discipline in 1982, one year before Vaulting. The championship histories of these two non-Olympic disciplines have run parallel from the start with World Championships organized every other year on even years.
In 1983, one year after Driving, Vaulting also joined the FEI. In 1984 the first FEI Vaulting European Championship was followed by another European edition in 1985. This second European edition was open to the rest of the world. A strong showing from the USA convinced the FEI the time had come for a World Championship. The first FEI Vaulting World Championship took place in in the Swiss town of Bulle in 1986.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 24, 2023
The Tewksbury Trail Association will return to Christie Hoffman Farm Park in Tewksbury for its annual Trail Pace Sept. 17. There are opportunities for riders at all levels and ages to participate.
The Tewksbury Trail Association pace at Christie Hoffman Farm Park. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)
TTA President Jeannie Shuster said an eight-mile course will offer both trail and pleasure pace options.
“This year, we have an Open and a new 90-plus division. To be eligible for the latter, the combined ages of two riders must be 90 years or over.
“We have a great selection of prizes for all divisions. All TTA-members will enjoy a discount on the registration fee. And we will have a special TTA Trail Pace 2023 T-shirt for the participants,” she said. That will be on a first-come, first-served basis until they run out.
Joy Custer, who leads the TTA Trail Committee, added: “Part of the fun is designing the course of this year’s pace with the TTA team. We worked hard to clear the trails and make them accessible for the trail pace. I can’t wait to see riders from the Tewksbury area and far beyond join our event and enjoy our trails.”
The TTA Trail Pace takes place between 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Teams of two or three riders can enter one of four divisions: Open and 90-plus and Trail Pace and Pleasure Pace. An equine veterinarian will be on site.
For more information, go to the TTA website: www.tta-nj.org .
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 23, 2023
Richard Picken always wanted to help. He was a friend and trainer to many top riders before he died of cancer in August 2022 at the age of 53. He enjoyed coaching young riders and training inexperienced horses as much as he thrived under the pressure of an international championship.
Richard Picken
Remembering all he did and what he stood for, those who loved him have established in his memory the Richard Picken Memorial Grants from the Fund of the same name. The funds will go toward the intensive training of riders 25 years and younger.
Grants of $5,000 will be awarded annually to one candidate competing at the FEI CCI2* level or higher. Applicants must offer two written references, an estimation of their performance strengths and weaknesses with notable focus on show jumping; a video of a recent show jumping round from a licensed USEF competition, a description of the trainer with whom they would work and how they would spend the grant funds.
Click here for an application. The deadline is Oct. 15. The grant announcement will made at the U.S. Eventing Association annual meeting.
For additional information contact USEA CEO Rob Burk.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 23, 2023
The U.S. eventing team for this autumn’s Pan American Games in Chile includes a mixture of experience and rising stars.
Named to the squad are Sydney Elliott and QC Diamantaire; 2022 world championships veteran Liz Halliday and Miks Master C, third at Land Rover Kentucky last spring; Caroline Pamukcu with HSH Blake and
Sharon White and Claus 63. Liz’s direct reserve is Cooley Nutcracker, in case Miks Master C is unable to compete.
Tamie Smith, also a 2022 world championships team member, and Kynan are the traveling reserves.
The U.S. qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics last year with a silver medal at the world championships. So a bit of the pressure is off for the Pan Ams, enabling several combinations to get their first international championship mileage without having to worry about qualifying for Paris.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 22, 2023
Should there be a limit on how many times a horse can compete at each show?
It’s a question that often comes up during the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association’s Town Hall forums, as it did again on Monday night.
“Each barn, each trainer, each owner is going to have their own standard of how much is too much for their horse, but I don’t think it’s a bad idea to at least get a loose idea of what that actually looks like,” observed the moderator, USHJA President Mary Knowlton.
It is impossible to address the issue with a definite number. As one commenter noted, three classes over cross-rails is very different from three classes at 1.45 meters.
But problems can arise when one horse is being shared by several different riders, perhaps as an effort to cut costs.
Mary asked, “Is it okay to do 12 cross-rail classes, six cross-rail classes? Where is the line between horse welfare and being big brother? What is enough? Do we write a rule for that?
As always, the concern is not only safety, but also how horse sports will be perceived, especially in the age of cellphone videos when the public (most of whom likely have no horse knowledge) can record what is happening, which then can spread like wildfire.
“Social license to operate is a real thing, a thing by which our beloved sport could be no more. It’s something we’ve got to face up to,” Mary warned.
As German magazine editor Jan Tonjes, president of the International Alliance of Equestrian Journalists pointed out in a recent interview in The Horse, “In general we need to communicate better that this welfare of the horse is paramount, is really more than just another sentence,”
An anonymous caller to the town hall asked, “Do people put horses first? Is their welfare number one? Answering that is step one, an important but not easy one to address.”
Lucie McKinney, a judge, pointed out, “One of the issues with horse welfare is bravery.”
Mary agreed, “Silence equals complicity.” She added how wrong it is to “just turn a blind eye to it.”
Lucie gave the example of how she spotted a horse who was competing that wouldn’t pick up the right lead, a sign of being sore. She called the steward over and noted that horse “did not get to show again in my ring.”
Another key topic is the new rule that will make it mandatory for every horse that is schooling or being longed at the showgrounds to wear a number for identification.
Steward Bev Bedard called it, “a rule that is going to be difficult for some people.”
There are many reasons why the rule is needed, but as Bev pointed out, when the question is, “Who is that person lying on the ground and the horse running free dragging a longe line,” the number will hold the answer.
Mary, however, is “fairly certain big barns will send out grooms to longe with random numbers,” and Bev suspects that is true. She’s just hoping “the rule will be respected and people will step up and do what they’re supposed to do.”
It was also suggested that if a groom is longeing a horse and doing something he shouldn’t be doing (such as having a bag on the end of the longe whip), the best thing to do, rather than speaking to the groom, may be to speak to the trainer with a request to address it.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 20, 2023
A U.S.-owned Irish hunter purchased off a video has made history at the Dublin Horse Show.
Dr. Brendan Furlong’s Bloomfield Watergate, the show’s Supreme Young Horse as a 3-year-old in 2022, was named Supreme Hunter Champion this month for what is believed to be the first time in 148 years that the same entry came back as a 4-year-old to win at the show, thus having both Dublin titles on his resume.
“It blew my mind away,” said Brendan, of the victory, then noted yet another distinction.
“The last time a 4-year-old won (Supreme) was 20 years ago.”
Watergate, bred in Ireland by Daphne Tierney and ridden by Jane Bradbury, topped the lightweight hunters before going on to be ridden by all the judges (that’s how they do it over there) and awarded the Supreme title.
“It’s the pinnacle of a show horse’s life. It doesn’t get any better,” said Brendan. The achievement by the horse nicknamed Percy was rewarded with a 10,000 Euro bonus.
The fairy tale began when a friend of Brendan’s sent him a video featuring the bay gelding, saying, “you might like this horse.”
He was right. Brendan, a native of Ireland, called his brother, who still lives in the country and asked him to contact the breeder.
“She’d never sell him,” Brendan’s brother declared. He was wrong.
Brendan called Daphne and she agreed to part with the horse on two conditions–“the price is the price” (ie, no bargaining) and that he could be entered at Dublin in her name. Brendan quickly agreed. The last time he had a horse at the Dublin show was when he was a veterinary student in Ireland and won a lightweight class with a three-year-old he bought as a foal, but that was a long time ago.
Percy is by a thoroughbred, Watermill Swatch, and is the first foal of Ballyconnery Bloomfield, a Holsteiner by Ars Vivendi. Now, about Percy’s registered name: Daphne also has Bloomfield Nixon, so knowing that makes more sense in connection with calling a horse Watergate.
Bloomfield Watergate and Jane Bradbury were spectacular winners at the Dublin Horse Show. (Photo by Siobhan English)
Percy is staying in Ireland for a few months of holiday and later this year will come to the U.S., where Brendan has a farm in Pittstown, N.J., with his wife, Dr. Wendy Leich, who may get a chance “to play with” the horse.
Percy’s future profession is uncertain at this point. Perhaps, to make the most of his ground-covering gallop, he’ll try eventing, but he may have the makings of a hunter derby mount. Of course, it will be some time before that can be determined. But whatever happens, Brendan has no intention of parting with him.
” This horse is so kind, he’s just a lovely fellow. This guy is so special to me right now, I’d probably keep him as a pet. It turned out to be the buy of a lifetime.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 19, 2023
It was as close to a photo finish as you can get in the finals of the $223,350 Platinum Performance/ USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship.
The overnight leader, John French on Paradigm, finished just 0.25 points ahead of Geoffrey Hesslink on Drumroll to take the $37,719.35 winner’s share.
John French and Paradigm on the way to victory. (Photo courtesy USHJA)
John, who won the first Derby in 2009 on Rumba, showed he hasn’t lost a step with a score of 599.25, his total for Friday’s Classic round and Saturday night’s Handy round in the A section.
John French and Paradigm, Derby champs.
He stayed on the counter-lead from the first fence to the second, figuring he didn’t have enough pace to do a change, and had a small rub, but the judges didn’t hold it against him.
He was scored 97.5, 95.75, 93.25 as the last rider to go in the Handy. His total for the two rounds (Classic and Handy) with the former breeding stallion was 599.25; Geoffrey’s was 599 on a son of prestigious sire Diamant de Semilly.
“I don’t think there has been one this close before,” said John.
“It’s been a long time, I won the first one and I’ve been hoping to do it again and it hasn’t happened. It finally happened tonight. I can relax again.”
John is based in Florida, as is Jimmy Torano, third on Laskano with 586.50. The runner-up entry is from Basking Ridge, N.J.
The Handy round course map
Paradigm, owned by Meredith Lipke, and Meridian Farm’s Drumroll were 1-2 after the Classic round, where Amanda Steege was third on Lafitte de Muze. A “heartbreaking” rail in the Handy dropped Amanda to 26th place.
But she vowed on social media, “We will be back….we are fighters….we will be back in 2024 to battle again.”
The Derby podium: winner John French, center; runner-up Geoffrey Hesslink, left and Jimmy Torano, third.
The course in the 3 1/2-acre stadium at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington was designed by Alan Lohman. He came up with an interesting closed pen, the third obstacle, that was a focal point of the 13 jumping efforts.
Horses jumped in on the long side and took two strides to jump out (some crossed panels in doing so, but made it look smooth.) Once out of the pen, they came back in over a trot jump on the short side, then looped around inside the pen and jumped out on the short side next to the trot jump. After that, it was a good nine strides to a brush oxer.
Derby competition has changed the hunter game across the country, and the finals are a grand finale, with $18 million having been given away since their inception in 2009.
Click here for complete results.
