What is the future for the Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event?

What is the future for the Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event?

by | Aug 22, 2021

The news came, strangely, in the midst of a Saturday afternoon. I know that when something is controversial on the political scene, they tend to release the announcement late on a Friday before a holiday weekend.

This wasn’t quite at that level, of course, but it was startling to see a list of the CCI 4-star Long eventing competitions allocated for 2023-27 by the U.S. Equestrian Federation and not find Jersey Fresh International on it. In fact, the list of six events that will host 4-star L events during that time period includes three in the west and three in the south–but none in the Northeast.

Under the new eventing calendar process, all U.S. organizers were invited to bid for CCI 4-star Long and Short sections, as well as the 3-star Long and Advanced levels. Jersey Fresh generally is used as an observation/selection event for the World Championships (which will be held next year) or the Olympics, as it was this year. But starting in 2023, North Carolina’s Tryon International Equestrian Center, one of the facilities that was awarded a 4-star L, will run on the same mid-May dates when Jersey Fresh traditionally is staged.

So the question is–now what? Should the event be held in 2022 at the Horse Park of New Jersey in Allentown as planned, when it can still run a 4-star L? That’s something on which the sponsors will have to weigh in, along with the Horse Park board of trustees.

“If everybody’s for it, we’ll put on a good event, the way we always have. I think it would be the classy thing to do,” said Morgan Rowsell, co-organizer of Jersey Fresh with Jane Cory.

And how about after that? Jersey Fresh has applied for a 4-star Short and a 3-star Long (decisions are expected next month on who gets those).

“If we retain the 3 Long, maybe we can make hay out of it and salvage sponsorship and pivot to that reality,” Morgan contended.

“We are admittedly behind the times with the arenas, but we will catch up,” he vowed.

“And we will continue our good intentions into the future with better footing and better barn situations. We’ve gotten better and better every year and we’re kind of on the cusp of new financing through the state to potentially get new arenas.”

Morgan Rowsell, co-organizers of Jersey Fresh.

If the Horse Park does get the other divisions, when could they run, since Tryon would have the May dates? There would be no point in scheduling them in the same time frame as Tryon, since so many barns going to North Carolina would be from the competitor pool that usually comes to Jersey. And if new dates are obtained, would the Horse Park have availability? While Jersey Fresh is its marquee competition, the park hosts lots of other fixtures, from dressage and saddlebreds to hunters, jumpers and driving.

Facilities such as Tryon are privately owned and well-financed. Tryon, which hosted the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games, has state-of-the-art footing in every ring, a stadium, restaurants, housing and a variety of other niceties.

Morgan, who is a Horse Park trustee, said that facility has to be financially sustainable and doesn’t enjoy the fiscal independence of high-end venues such as Tryon or the new TerraNova in Myakka City, Fla., granted a 4-star L as part of its November event. It staged an eventing derby and schooling show in June; it has not run a three-day event.

“There are these fantastic events like Tryon that are pretty grand,” said Morgan.

“They have thousands of acres and seemingly endless money. If you’re going to run a 4-star, this is what you have to produce. Clearly, Jersey’s not producing that. I think we did a great job, we were really good at helping develop horses for the international level, and safety was paramount. But at the end of the day, they don’t want a sustainable model, they want someone to pick up the bill.”

The Horse Park is located on land owned by the state and doesn’t have a bunch of bells and whistles. It’s a serviceable, basic facility that is important to New Jersey’s horse industry and agriculture.

While at one time, eventing ran at rustic venues without the high-end facilities long required by Grand Prix dressage and show jumping, things have evolved and riders have increased expectations for where they will compete with their horses.

Olympic alternate Tamie Smith was asked at Jersey Fresh this spring why her mount, En Vogue, had rails in the show jumping phase for the 3-star L and she cited the arena surface.

“I think she tried her guts out yesterday (on cross-country),” she said of her mare, “and I think it’s hard when you’re not on super-great ground.”  At the Kentucky Horse Park, for instance, “They can really trust that the ground feels good when they’re landing,” Tamie observed.

Morgan pointed out that eventing is “becoming a sport of the elite. Always, you could get there as a grassroots eventer. It’s getting exponentially more expensive.”

While the Horse Park makes money off a variety of horse shows, and less off Jersey Fresh, that fixture–which debuted there in 2003–has other functions.

Tailgaters have a great view of the cross-country action at Jersey Fresh. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)

“They use the three-day as a pinnacle event to showcase their facility,” explained Morgan.

“They use it as a way to spruce up the park, which leads to better horse trials, hunter shows and better everything else. It sets the tone for the rest of the year.”

The Horse Park board will discuss the situation at its meeting Monday night and start thinking about how to proceed.

“It’s sad we fell short in the end, but I have to say we couldn’t have done any better. The whole team, the sponsors, the horse park they really put forth a valiant effort,” Morgan commented.

At the same time, he added, “The riders are putting a lot of effort into the horses, the sport has been heartbreaking for years where you ride and do really well and walk away with a ribbon. I can’t blame them for wanting to have a nicer event and nicer prize money and something to come out of it other than what Jersey has to offer.

“I look forward to the challenge to try to figure out the landscape going forward. We have all the nuts and bolts of a great facility; the arenas and the barns are the things that we have to change. If an arena company were to give it (arenas) to us at cost or a long-term payment plan, I see that as being a very good value for them. They could really make a splash with,`Hey, we turned the Horse Park around.’

“The wind is a little bit out of my sails, I’ll be honest,” noted Morgan, who also designed Jersey’s cross-country course this year.

But he’s trying to make the best of it.

“You take the good with the bad. Maybe we can focus our attention on the Advanced in June. It leaves the calendar open for other opportunities.”

 










Phillip Dutton shares his wisdom

Phillip Dutton shares his wisdom

by | Jul 13, 2019

Phillip Dutton will be riding Z this week on the U.S. eventing Nations Cup team in Aachen, Germany, one of the world’s most prestigious competitions.

But last week, it was business as usual for the Olympic individual bronze medalist, who came to Tewksbury to share his knowledge with riders at varying stages of development, from Advanced down to the lower levels. He gave a clinic at the Heron’s Landing stable, run by Heather Gillette at Ruby’s Meadow, the old Hill & Dale Farm that is now owned by eventing competitor Jacques Foussard.

Meg Kepferle and Heather Gillette with clinician Phillip Dutton. (Photo©2019 by Nancy Jaffer)

But what, I wondered, do you do when you only have 45 minutes or so to work with two or three riders before moving on to the next group?

With an emphasis on correctness, Phillip said he tries “to do a little bit on the flat; simple stuff, where you get your horse to ride through a turn, keep  him off your inside leg and adjust, being able to go forward and back.” Then it was time to do the same with the jumping.

“There’s a common thread between the dressage, the show jumping and the cross-country. You don’t do your dressage work and forget about it for the jumping,” said the two-time Olympic team gold medalist. “We do some cross-country exercises with fall-down jumps, and some basic show jumping.”

A serpentine exercise involved three jumps, coming from an oxer (think of it as a corner on a cross-country course) to a vertical in three or four strides, “holding a line on the horse so you’re coming into the jump (vertical) on an angle to make the line work,” as Phillip put it. After that, it was three strides to another oxer.

Jacques Foussard angles Miss Ruby Cooley over the vertical. (Photo©2019 by Nancy Jaffer)

“The difficulty is holding the line and the horse understanding he can come into a jump on an angle and stay on the line that the rider brings him in on,” Phillip told me. That involves “the horse trusting the rider (so) they’re doing what they’re asked to do.”

He believes, “Most horses want to do the right thing. It’s just a case of getting them to understand. Most of the time, it’s usually not enough understanding from leg to hand. Your horse can’t ignore you when you say, `Okay, move forward’ or when you say, `let’s shorten up,’ because if they do (ignore you) and the jump’s there, it’s a problem. You’ve got to get that communication and trust going. I find with horses, it’s all repetition. It’s also coordination with the horses as well, that they have to learn to do it athletically.”

I often heard Phillip calling out the word “travel” as he worked with the participants, so I asked him what that was about.

“It means you’ve got to keep coming forward,” he explained.

“A lot of riders’ natural tendency coming to a jump is to be tentative and hold back. Our job as a rider is to give the horse confidence. The analogy is if you’re in a car with someone who’s driving, you get a feeling whether you’re safe in that car or not. The horse has to get this feeling from you, that safety, security and confidence. Coming into a jump, traveling or going somewhere and being definite about your ride in is what you’re trying to get across to your horse. Coming in tentatively or holding back, that doesn’t send that good message to your horse.”

As Phillip noted, “If you gallop on, get the horse going forward, it’s much easier to see a distance because your horse is in front of you or thinking forward, rather than holding back. Especially at home, you’ve got to get away from just relying on your hand to get to the jump, but rather, riding up to the jump.”

The first to work with Phillip were Heather, on Vincent Chase, an off-the-track thoroughbred, and Meg Kepferle on Anakin, third last month in the Advanced Division at the MARS Essex Horse Trials. Meg and Anakin will be following up their debut in that section at the Millbrook, N.Y. event next month.

Phillip Dutton offers advice as Meg Kepferle takes Anakin over an oxer. (Photo©2018 by Nancy Jaffer)

“I need to be better than I am because my horse is better than I’m riding,” said Meg, explaining why she’s going to put an emphasis on lessons like the one she had with Phillip.

“My horse felt a lot more tired jumping 2-6, 3-foot rideability questions than he would jumping a big track. Jumping big is easy for him,” said Meg.

“You don’t have to jump big jumps to get better; you have to make an adjustable horse. You want these tools available for you, not just luck and an honest horse.”

Meg, who was the head groom and barn manager for international rider Sinead Halpin before opening her Mountainview operation in Long Valley, noted straightness has always been an issue for herself and her mount.

“He has a wicked right drift and I have a bit of a weak right leg,” she explained.  The antidote? “All day long, square turns.”

“Phil’s the best of the best,” Meg said. “He knows how to read the horse and rider and the situation really well. It’s a privilege to be able to ride with someone like this. It’s kind of nice that he’s come to New Jersey. I hope he comes back.”

When I asked Meg if there was anything else she wanted to share, she replied, “People should know they don’t have to be wanting to go to the Olympics to ride with an Olympian. It’s important that they think they are approachable, because they really are, and they have a lot of good things to say.”

Heather wanted to bring Phillip to the farm because she rode with him when she was working with other horses. It was time for Vinnie, who has competed once at Preliminary level, to crank up, “so call Phillip,” she said, noting she also wanted to share his expertise with her students.

Phillip encouraged Heather and Vinnie. (Photo©2019 by Nancy Jaffer)

Since she is a judge and technical delegate, Heather is juggling a lot of things, which meant she was happy to have Phillip come to her instead of having her go to his place in Pennsylvania. Heather also is busy with lessons and barn renovations.

“We’re bringing the old farm back to life,” she said.

She told me that one of the things she learned from working with Phillip is that the serpentine line needs to be incorporated in Vinnie’s training. And “Instead of whoaing and turning,” she needs “to sort of keep coming through the turns and use a more open rein.

“I have a very nice young horse who wants to try hard but needs to be a little more rideable. I have to challenge him a little more, I need to be less of his protective mom and more, `If you’re going to be a big boy, step up and do it.’”