by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 20, 2022
Barbara Isaac, one of the country’s pioneers in therapeutic riding, died Nov. 14 in Ormond Beach, Fla., at the age of 91.
The founder, with her husband, Hanen, in 1979 of the Handicapped High Riders Club which became Riding High Farm in Allentown, N.J., she was part of a group interested in learning about therapeutic riding instruction who gathered around Octavia Brown’s dining room table in the late 1970s.
Octavia, founder of the Somerset Hills Handicapped Riding Center (now Mane Stream in Oldwick) told those who came to her Bedminster, N.J., home everything she knew about the subject, in the days before NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association) was formed, and its successor, PATH International, wasn’t even a dream.
As Octavia recalled, Barbara “made it clear that she had been seeking something like this to put her heart into–and she did.”
Barbara devoted herself to Riding High’s clients and its growth. She also contributed to the development of therapeutic riding in the state and the country.
“Since more and more people in New Jersey were learning to be instructors and wanting to create programs, Barb suggested we create a state interest group and that was the birth in the early 1980s of HRH (Health and Recreation through Horses) of N.J., which served as a network and information resource for those providing equine assisted services,” Octavia stated.
Barbara Isaac, second from right, when Health and Recreation through Horses of N.J. received the Dominic Romano Community Service Award at Centenary University in 2013. With her, from left, were Mary Alice Goss, Joan Schneider, Gaye Collins, Octavia Brown and Liz Doskotz. (Photo courtesy Octavia Brown)
“We were the first state group under NARHA, and things just went on from there. Way more politically savvy than I was then, she contacted the New Jersey Horse Council and the New Jersey Equine Advisory Board for HRH to become a member. That opened the door to making the entire New Jersey horse industry aware of what we were up to, and they embraced us from then on,” said Octavia.
She recounted that Barbara “got herself on the board of the New Jersey Special Olympics and talked them into funding an annual statewide Special Olympics equestrian competition, as far as I know the first in the nation as a free-standing horse show.
“When the national Special Olympics were drafting guidelines and rules for national competition, the two of us went to Washington D.C. to meet Eunice Shriver (the sister of Jack and Bobby Kennedy) and persuaded her to offer horse show ribbons as well as the standard three Special Olympics medals, pointing out that this would be a horse show.
“She told us that having gone to Foxcroft (a private equestrian-oriented girls’ school), she perfectly understood why ribbons were important. That is in effect to this day. She also agreed that men and women, boys and girls of all ages should compete together, only divided by their equestrian skill level.”
Barbara went on to train future instructors at Riding High Farm, which became a PATH premier accredited program.
“It’s safe to say that while I may have introduced Equine Assisted Services to New Jersey,” continued Octavia, “it was Barb who made it respected and valuable to the movers and shakers in the New Jersey equine industry. She once said to me, `Sometimes, I feel like your pupil and sometimes like your mother.’ She taught me so much about politics, running an organization and influencing people, sometimes against their so-called better judgment, to follow her lead. Thanks to her dynamic leadership, we achieved so much in and for New Jersey.”
Barbara was a mentor to many, including Mary Alice Goss, founder of Special People United to Ride.
“She was very dynamic, very loving and very giving,” said Mary Alice, who did her practice teaching with Barbara before starting SPUR.
“She supported all of us, she helped anybody and everybody who showed an interest. If you came up to Barbara and said, `I’m thinking about starting a program,’ she started supporting you.”
Robyn Sturz, the executive director of Riding High, noted that Barbara was one of those people who made sure something got done, once she had an idea.
“Everyone jumped on the train with her for whatever the ride was going to be. She definitely was a strong-willed person and an icon in the industry. It rollar-coastered into what therapeutic riding is today.”
One of her interests was working with at-risk youth, which Riding High continues to do today, along with therapeutic and veterans’ programs, serving 95 people each week.
Barbara stayed involved with Riding High for decades. Even after retiring in 2005, she made it a part of her life for another 10 years, until she moved to Florida.
Visitation will be Nov. 27 6-8 p.m. and Nov. 28 9:30-10:30 a.m. followed by her funeral at Huber-Moore Funeral Home, Bordentown, N.J. Interment will follow at the Brig. Gen. William C. Coyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 350 Provinceline Rd., Wrightstown, N.J. Donations in her memory may be made to Riding High Farm, 145 County Road 526, Allentown, N.J
by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 15, 2022
The mascots of the 2024 Paris Olympics have been announced, and they are….two hats. Not berets, which might first come to mind when thinking of a French chapeau. The honor instead goes to Phyrigian caps, to be called the Phryges, for short. The Phyrigian cap was a symbol of liberty during the French Revolution (and you know how that turned out.)
Here they are, the Paris 2024 Olympic mascots.
So why this incredibly odd selection, though in recent years, mascots have not been sensible and cute choices such as Amik, the beaver that was the rep of the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, or Hodori, the tiger from Seoul 1988.
According to Julie Matikhine, brand director of Paris 2024, the most important attribute for a mascot is “meaning.” Cuteness is no longer sufficient.
“We are absolutely not in an approach of symbolizing through an animal or finding the famous designer that could have an idea instead of us. Meaning comes first each time Paris 2024 is designing or creating something,” commented Julie, who said the Games wanted “a mascot with something to say.”
“To be honest, at one time we even considered that perhaps it was better not to have any mascot rather than have a mascot with no precise purpose or meaning.”
The respective Olympic mascots for Paris 2024 embody the idea of liberty “but in a cuddly way.”
Yikes.
What’s wrong with something cute that could be found in nature, such as the duck-billed platypus, kookaburra and an echidna (spiny anteater) from Sydney 2000? Many mascots were stylized, such as the 1992 Barcelona mascot Cobi,a Pyrenean mountain dog with human clothes and characteristics, and that is imaginative, rather than wacky.
The caps’ predecessor in Olympic mascot weirdness was Whatizit, later known as Izzy, the symbol of the 1996 Atlanta Games. A “product of information technology,” it was considered an unusual mascot because it was not an animal, a human figure or an object. Obviously, it started an unfortunate trend.
by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 21, 2022
Cody Dorman, a 16-year-old with a rare genetic disorder, got the attention of the nation when his namesake, Cody’s Wish, won the dirt mile at the Breeders’ Cup earlier this month.
Cody was on hand for that victory–the four-year-old thoroughbred he met as a foal always wins when he is present.
Cody Dorman and Cody’s Wish. (Photo courtesy of Churchill Downs)
Recognizing the bond between colt and teen, the Turf Publicists of America have given their 2022 Big Sport of Turfdom award to Cody.
The honor has gone to a varied group of special people, everyone from Secretariat’s owner, Penny Chenery, to author Laura Hillenbrand (“Seabiscuit”), recognizing those who enhance coverage of thoroughbred racing through cooperation with media and racing publicists.
Cody, born with the rare genetic disorder, Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, is unable to walk or communicate without a tablet, but his story has captivated millions. The boy wanted to meet a thoroughbred, and got to do that as a result of Keeneland’s Make-A-Wish Day in 2018. The colt showed an interest in Cody from the start, and that’s how he got his name.
The handsome son of Curlin perks up when the boy is around, and has served as inspiration for the teen to get through some tough times.
“Cody has brought to the forefront what it means to be strong and brave in his personal life, as well as highlighting the extraordinary interaction that occurs between horses and humans,” said Wendy Davis, TPA president. “He gives inspiration to us all.”
The award will be presented at the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program’s annual awards luncheon Dec. 6. The luncheon is part of the 2022 Global Symposium on Racing.
by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 16, 2022
The Rutgers Equine Science Center has established a scholarship in memory of former Assemblyman Ronald S. Dancer, a champion of the New Jersey horse indsutry who died earlier this year.
He served the 12th Legislative District and was the deputy Republican Leader in the state Assembly. He had been a member of that body for 20 years. A horseman who was the son of the late Hall of Fame harness horse racing driver Stanley Dancer, he raced and trained harness horses professionally from 1968 through 1998.
Assemblyman Dancer was part of numerous equine-related boards and organizations over the years. He was director and vice president of the New Jersey Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association, director of the state Department of Agriculture’s Standardbred Sire Stakes Board of Trustees, a director of the U.S. Trotting Association Director representing New Jersey, and as a state horse racing commissioner.
Assemblyman Ronald Dancer and Karyn Malinowski of the Rutgers Equine Science Center.
He worked to ensure the sustainability of the equine industry in New Jersey, sponsoring the legislation authorizing the state leasing of Meadowlands and Monmouth Park Racetracks to the private sector, and advocating for the state budget line-item grants that have been made to the Rutgers Equine Science Center over the years.
Assemblyman Dancer was also a veteran of the U.S. Army, and an avid supporter of the Equine Science Center’s research into equine assisted activities for veterans with PTSD.
In 2021, he was awarded the “Spirit of the Horse” award by the Rutgers Equine Science Center. This award recognizes persons whose lives have been impacted by their involvement with horses and who continue to give back to horses and the equine industry.
“For his incomparable work as a horseman, legislator, colleague, and friend of the equine industry,” said Karyn Malinowski, founding director of the Rutgers Equine Science Center, “We are proud to announce the Assemblyman Ronald S. Dancer Memorial Scholarship, in recognition of his steadfast commitment to the equine community, education, and giving back to those in need.”
The scholarship will be given to an undergraduate student majoring in Animal Sciences with an equine emphasis, who has dedicated their time through service and leadership, just as former Assemblyman Dancer did throughout his entire career.
Further information about the establishment of the memorial scholarship will be provided in the coming weeks on the Equine Science Center’s website.
by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 16, 2022
The USEF’s national advanced single horse combined driving championship for 2023 will be held at the Horse Park of New Jersey in Allentown October 5-8 at the Garden State CDE.
All but one of the other national driving championships next year will be held in Ocala, Fla. They are the Advanced Ponies (Single, Pair, Four-in-Hand) and Advanced Pair Horses are set for the Spring Fling CDE February 23-26, along with all preliminary classes.
The Advanced Four-in-Hand for horses will be staged at the Live Oak International in Ocala, March 15-19.
All Intermediate Classes are set for the Tryon Fall CDE in Mill Spring, N.C., September 20-24.
by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 15, 2022
Kay Meredith, a founding member of the U.S. Dressage Federation, has died in hospice.
The president of USDF from 1977-82, the native of West Virginia was a mentor to many, and her Meredith Manor gave riders a leg up in the discipline.
Kay Meredith
She was the 1979 American Horse Shows Association Horsewoman of the Year, and awarded the USDF Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.
An innovator who was instrumental in the growth of USDF, she rode internationally–becoming national Grand Prix champion in 1982–and was a USEF S judge. She also was in the USDF Hall of Fame, and an author in her spare time.
