by Nancy Jaffer | Feb 24, 2023
Adrienne Lyle, who seemed almost a lock to qualify for April’s FEI Dressage World Cup finals, won’t be competing in Omaha with Salvino.
Adrienne Lyle and Salvino. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)
She was all set to ride a week from today in the final qualifier in Wellington, Fla., until Betsy Juliano’s stallion popped a small split.
“Salvino has been doing great in his training and we were entered and ready to go for next week’s CDI-W,” Adrienne recounted.
“However, when we took him out of his stall, we noticed a lump on the inside of his leg that was not normally there. Upon veterinary evaluation it was discovered that he had popped a small splint. Betsy, Debbie (McDonald, Adrienne’s coach) and myself conferred and all agree that of course, his welfare always come first and he will not be pushed to do next week’s competition.
“Although a very minor injury, it will need time to rest and recover and with only only (one) World Cup qualifier left this season, it simply wasn’t meant to be for us,” she continued.
Salvino missed a qualifier earlier this season when he colicked. He and Adrienne, who were part of the Olympic silver medal team in 2021 and competed on the world championships team last year, will be pointing for the Paris Olympics next year.
“We will always treasure our memories of competing at the World Cup in Sweden in 2019, and we wish all of our fellow U.S. riders the best of luck on their last qualifying competitions and on to the World Cup! It will be a very special event this year, having it on our home soil,” Adrienne said.
Steffen Peters already qualified with Suppenkasper on the West Coast. Alice Tarjan and Sarah Tubman are the two highest on the World Cup qualifying list, with Alice three points ahead of Sarah. Anna Buffinii also is competing for the third berth. Friday night’s class will determine who gets on the plane.
by Nancy Jaffer | Feb 16, 2023
Course designers Anthony D’Ambrosio and Linda Allen have just been elected to the Show Jumping Hall of Fame and will be inducted March 5 at the group’s annual dinner in Wellington, Fla.
While both have impressive course designing credentials (Tony has designed the World Cup Finals; Linda the 1996 Olympics) each also made their mark in other areas of the industry.
As a rider, Tony is perhaps best known for setting records in the puissance; first in 1973 at the National Horse Show in Madison Square Garden, where he jumped 7 feet, 4 inches aboard Sympatico. Nine years later, he rode Sweet & Low at the Washington International Horse Show over a wall standing 7-feet, 7 and one-half inches, an indoor record that still stands.
Tony won more than 30 Grand Prix competitions, including the Hampton Classic and the USET Show Jumping Championship. He is also well-known as a technical advisor/delegate and course designer l.
He and his wife, Michael, are based out of Wild Horse Ranch in Red Hook, N.Y., which specializes in developing Grand Prix jumpers. He has sold four Olympic horses, three of which he developed from an early age, as well as many other Grand Prix winners.
With more than 60 years involvement in equestrian sports, Linda began as a rider, representing the U.S. in international competition, then following that with a career as an internationally respected official judge and course designer. The Californian has also served as president of the ground jury for FEI events in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. She also served on the ground jury for the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games and 2000 FEI World Cup Finals, as well as for other FEI events around the world.
Linda has been a design consultant for more than 50 equestrian facilities throughout the U.S., Mexico and Canada and conducted clinics worldwide for riding, course design and judging. She has served on the boards of the U.S. Equestrian Federation, the U.S. Equestrian Team, the Young Jumper Futurity and the Young Jumper Championships, among others.
She also wrote the book, 101 Jumping Exercises for Horse and Rider, and the DVD, The JumpSmart Guide to Course Building. Linda has won many awards, including the USEF Pegasus Medal of Honor and the California Professional Horsemen’s Association Horsewoman of the Year.
by Nancy Jaffer | Feb 17, 2023
Three riders will be getting valuable team experience on the U.S. squad at the Nations Cup in Wellington, Fla., next month.
Floridians Natalie Dean and Mimi Gochman were selected, along with a Californian, Mavis Spencer. The squad will be filled out by the more seasoned Adrienne Sternlicht, a veteran of the 2018 gold medal World Equestrian Games team, as well as the 2022 world championships.
Mimi Gochman at Devon last year. Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer
The Cup at the Winter Equestrian Festival is always quite the occasion, with rooters from the countries participating giving their teams plenty of vocal support. It does not, however, count as a qualifier for the Nations Cup finals in Barcelona this fall.
That is a Longines fixture, while Rolex is the watch sponsor of choice at the Wellington International showgrounds, where the WEF is held. So it offers a chance for riders to get team mileage in an electric venue where spirits and tension are high.
The Longines Nations Cup for the U.S. will be held this spring in California. It’s important for the U.S. to win there and get a shot for Barcelona, since the country needs a berth in the 2024 Paris Olympics. If the U.S. doesn’t make the cut in Barcelona, there’s only the Pan American Games in Chile later in the fall to secure a place in Paris.
by Nancy Jaffer | Feb 16, 2023
If you own a fancy warmblood or a sleek thoroughbred, you may disagree with the premise of Cornell University’s Equine Seminar Series presentation entitled, “Why is the mule the most important member of the horse family?”
Want to draw your own conclusion? Go to Zoom from 6-7 p.m. Tuesday Feb. 21, when Dr. Doug Antczak, the Dorothy Havemeyer McConville professor of Equine Medicine at the Baker Institute for Animal Health, will introduce you to the fascinating world of mules.
It’s free, but registration is required at this link
In case you don’t know, the Mule is a hybrid produced by a mating between two separate species, the horse and donkey. Mules have a long history of contributions to human society as a remarkable beast of burden and source of animal power.
Less well-known are the many ways in which the study of mules has advanced scientific thought and our understanding of fundamental biological principles. This seminar will introduce you to the fascinating world of mules.
The professor graduated from Cornell with a BA in biology in 1969, before receiving his VMD from University of Pennsylvania in 1973. He then completed a PhD in immunology at the University of Cambridge in 1978. At Cornell, his research program is focused on horse health.
Among other important projects, Dr. Antczak’s genetic selection and breeding of horses led to his continuing involvement in the international Horse Genome Project.
This seminar is part of the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Equine Seminar Series, presented by the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Equine Hospital, the New York State 4-H Horse Program and Cornell Cooperative Extension.
by Nancy Jaffer | Feb 19, 2023
Riders with California ties commanded the podium in Saturday night’s $100,000 WCHR Peter Weatherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular, as John French won with the 8-year-old Hanoverian Milagro.
Hunter Spectacular winner John French and Milagro. (Photo Jump Media LLC)
The horse’s name means miracle in Spanish, and that’s what it was for John, who got his first victory in the class at age 60 with a total of 187.5 for the two-round test.
A longtime Californian who won the Pacific Coast Horsemen’s Aasociation Perpetual Troophy many times over three decades, he is back on the East Coast (he was originally from Maryland) riding for Kent Farrington LLC.
In second place was a rider 42 years John’s junior, the 2022 ASPCA Maclay winner Augusta Iwasaki. The Southern Methodist University equestrian team member was aboard Small Love, owned, by her parents’ operation, Iwasaki and Reilly. Her score was 184.49.
Nick Hanness, third on Glade Run Farm’s Queen Celeste, has been commuting back and forth between California and Wellington as he prepared for the big hunter week in Florida. He had a total for the two rounds of 180.41.
“I think riding in this kind of atmosphere brings out the best in all horses,” said John, who last year was inducted into the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame.
“They were all jumping so well tonight, and I think the lights, the crowds and the jumps really showcased the hunters. There aren’t a lot of these classes left, so we get excited for nights like this and so do our horses.
by Nancy Jaffer | Feb 14, 2023
Diana Firestone, as well known in the horse show world as she was in the racing world, died in Florida Feb. 12 at the age of 91.
Mrs. Firestone and her late husband, Bert, had a racing stable that included 1980 Kentucky Derby winner Genuine Risk. She is the mother of show jumper Alison Robitaille, who has ridden for the U.S. team many times.
Diana Firestone.
Born in New Brunswick, N.J., she was the granddaughter of Robert Wood Johnson, the founder of Johnson & Johnson. Mrs. Firestone was the daughter of John Seward Johnson, an executive with Johnson & Johnson, and Ruth Dill Johnson. After learning to ride in England, Mrs. Firestone competed in shows and fox hunted in Virginia.
“She was an amazing mother and an amazing horse woman,” said Alison Robitaille.
“Pretty much every animal loved her. Whether it was dogs, horses, whatever; when it came to animals, she was like a magnet. She gave to me my love of horses and introduced me to them at an early age, which I am very grateful for.”
Mrs. Firestone received the Walter B. Devereux Trophy from the American Horse Show Association (the predecessor of the U.S. Equestrian Federation), for having exemplified good sportsmanship through commitment, dedication and service.
In addition to Allison, Mrs. Firestone is survived by her other children; Lorna Stokes, Christopher Stokes, Cricket MacDonald and three stepsons; Matthew Firestone, who was an eventer; Ted Firestone and Greg Firestone. She is also survived by 16 grandchildren.
