by Nancy Jaffer | Feb 19, 2023
Over the eons that I’ve written about the horse industry, showing, eventing, racing and other equestrian sports, I’ve accumulated stacks of programs, orders of go, course diagrams, photos, magazine articles and newspaper clippings. Lots and lots. Boxes and boxes of them.
Some (not even all!) are jammed into a storage locker, where I’ve started to go through the imposing piles of paper. This journey down memory lane begins with the 1970s and runs on through Olympics, world championships, World Cup finals and other competitions from around the globe. I’ve rediscovered pieces about people and horses, some well-remembered but long gone now, and a sort of historical perspective on what’s happening today.
As I culled the archives, I found so many interesting old stories that I decided some should be shared with my readers now and then, before the paper they’re on crumbles into dust. A few of these articles may be familiar; others could offer a new viewpoint.
I’m starting with a 1985 piece on eventer Mark Phillips, written when the Olympic gold medalist who won Badminton and Burghley came to the U.S. Equestrian Team headquarters in Gladstone, N.J.,to give a clinic for American eventers. It may seem a bit quaint, but remember this was a different era and quite a big deal at the time because of his connection with Britain’s royal family.
Here’s the original of the 1985 story that introduced Mark Phillips to many of my readers.
In 2023, we all know Mark as the former chef d’equipe for the U.S. eventing team, and a sought-after course designer (he put together the cross-country route for the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games and many other tests here and in Europe). His daughter, Zara (Tindall), who was only four when this story was written, went on to become European Eventing Champion and subsequently World Champion, earning an Olympic team silver medal to boot.
Mark Phillips consults with U.S. team member Boyd Martin in 2017. (Photo © 2017 by Nancy Jaffer)
But 38 years ago, that was yet to come and the general public knew Mark Phillips best as the man who married Great Britain’s Princess Anne. Below is the story in readable form (don’t try to make out the words in the clipping above–you’ll strain your eyes.) The article was written primarily for a non-horse-oriented audience: Here it is–
June 16, 1985: Yank Equestrians jump at chance for some royal lessons
The world at large knows Capt. Mark Phillips as the good-looking fellow who married Great Britain’s Princess Anne.
In the international equestrian community, however, Phillips is famous for his competitive stature. His dossier includes four wins at the world’s most prestigious Three-Day Event and membership on the British teams that won gold medals in the Three-Day Event at the Munich Olympics and the World Championships.
He also has a reputation for good sportsmanship, and it is the desire to share his approach to riding with others that has brought him to New Jersey for a few days.
Phillips is giving a helping hand to up-and-coming American eventers at the U.S. Equestrian Team (USET) Training Center in Gladstone.
There are those who might consider that aiding the opposition. Even Phillips cheerily refers to the American three-day riders as “sort of traditional enemies” of the British in the sport.
“America has always been the team to beat as far as we’re concerned,” he notes.
But Phillips is quick to add, “If you can’t help somebody in sport, well … ,” and the unspoken words are a dismissal of those too mean-spirited to share their knowledge.
Three-Day Eventing is enormously popular in Britain, where the combination of dressage, riding over obstacles cross-country and jumping fences in· a stadium setting can draw 100,000 spectators.
Ironically, though the U.S. has won the eventing team gold medals in the last two Olympics, the sport has a much lower profile here.
That doesn’t make it any less of a passionate pastime for its practitioners, however. Their ranks include the 15 riders who came from all over the East and Midwest over the weekend to work with Phillips. He volunteered for the duty and did not charge the team for his presence, considering it “an honor” to be at the elegant Gladstone facility.
“So much history in equestrian sports and success has come out of this place,” he explained.
Phillips even admitted to a bit of I nervousness before arriving.
“Americans are more technical than we are,” he observed. “We tend to ride more by the seat of our pants.”
The riders got along well with the informal Phillips, partying with him at a local restaurant one night and eagerly seeking his opinion on their horsemanship.
“I work on my own at home, so this is particularly valuable to me,” said 23-year-old Nick Marnye of Kentucky after finishing a schooling session with his palomino quarter horse, Good as Gold.
Phillips liked Marnye’s mount, and that was a boost to the young rider.
“It certainly gives you a little more confidence,” said Marnye, adding he appreciated Phillips’ attitude.
“I know he’s here to help me, not destroy me,” added Marnye, who had some previous instruction that rendered the opposite effect.
Indeed, Phillips in action is the essence of encouragement. Attired in boots, breeches, an argyle sweater and flat wool cap, Phillips instinctively goes through the proper movements-holding imaginary reins, straightening the shoulders as he instructs from the ground.
“Thank you very much indeed. Excellent,” he says with enthusiasm time after time, as riders successfully use suggested techniques and obtain the desired response from their animals.
Phillips believes in pushing the positive.
“If you take the top 10 riders in the world, what’s the difference on the day (of competition)?” he asked.
“Confidence. If confidence is high, you go and do it. If you say, ‘I’m no bloody good,’ you give up.”
Though he is 36, giving up is something Phillips himself has yet to seriously consider. His sport is a dangerous one. A tiring 1,100-pound horse who takes a misstep at an immovable cross-country jump can mean bone-crushing disaster for a rider.
But the father of two is looking ahead to the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, and hoping to be a part of the scene there.
“I’ve had two or three really bad years, when horses I thought would come through, haven’t,” said Phillips.
“But I won the Novice Championship last year with Distinctive and I’ve got two or three others I’m very excited about.
If these prospects don’t pan out, he conceded, “That might be the time to call it a day and spend time teaching.”
As Phillips has acknowledged in the past, “There’s no fame shorter than sporting fame” and he accepts the fact that the moment will come when the trophies will go home with his students, rather than himself.
He teaches all over the world, doing instructional clinics in Australia and New Zealand regularly, and ranging as far afield as Japan. He hopes to do more such work in America after breaking the ice this time.
And it’s possible there may be more opportunities like the commentating stint he handled for Australian television at the Olympics.
“I had never done it before and I was a real novice,” he admitted. “But people wrote and said they enjoyed it. That gave me a bit of a buzz. Maybe all the effort was worthwhile.”
Eventing sponsorship in Great Britain is quite the thing, and Phillips is backed by Land Rover. The firm is committed through 1988 to his “Range Rover” team, which includes a contingent of young riders he is bringing along.
Like all top competitors, Phillips often yearns for someone to give him a few pointers, just as he helps others.
Though he has had some dressage coaching, there is little time for him to get assistance. During his stay here, he worked on jumping techniques with retired USET Show Jumping Coach Bertlan de Nemethy of Far Hills.
At home, Princess Anne occasionally lends a hand, if asked. A top eventer herself, she rode on the 1976 British Olympic team, while Phillips was the reserve member there.
Since the birth of the Phillips’ children, Peter, 7, and Zara, 4, Princess Anne has been concentrating primarily on events for novice horses.
But the mutual eventing aid comes only “as and when required,” Phillips said, noting, “It’s like a husband and wife can’t teach each other to drive. There’s nothing worse than help from a husband or wife when you don’t want it.”
Phillips added he and Princess Anne “interchange a bit” and occasionally swap horses. “Sometimes the feminine touch works better with a horse, and sometimes the male strength is better. Different horses react differently,” he commented.
Phillips doesn’t feel that being married to Princess Anne has affected his position in eventing.
“Sport doesn’t do anybody any favors. It’s no respecter of rank or anything else,” said Phillips. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a poor boy or a rich boy once you get in the arena.”
Besides, he noted, before he was married he had won Badminton, the biggest annual event on the Three-Day calendar, several times and ridden in the Olympics.
“Within the sport, I was already a name,” he pointed out. “Once you’ve got to the top, you’re always a name.”
by Nancy Jaffer | 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.”
by Nancy Jaffer | 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.’”
