We get used to seeing U.S. show jumping teams on the podium, as they were in this 2020 competition. Nations Cup qualifier in Florida.
The U.S. team was victorious in a Nations Cup qualifier for Barcelona in 2020. (Photo © 2020 by Nancy Jaffer)
But for the first time, the U.S. show jumping squad hasn’t qualified for this fall’s Nations Cup Final in Barcelona..
What happened? Read the story I wrote for Horse Sport by clicking on this link
The United States Polo Association has purchased the core assets of the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Fla., including 161 acres comprised of Fields 1 through 5, the grandstand, the pavilion, the Mallet Grille, the Seventh Chukker, the USPA Clubhouse shop, the Outback Field, the Outback facility, and the IPC social club and its facilities, including a swimming pool, gym, and tennis courts.
The IPC property will be called The USPA National Polo Center-Wellington, realizing the vision of a USPA-owned “Sunday Field” that will serve as the permanent center of polo in America and set the standard for excellence in polo. That vision was first articulated by USPA Chairman Stewart Armstrong in an essay called The Sunday Field that appeared in the Spring 2020 issue of Hurlingham Polo Magazine.
The polo field at IPC. (Photo ©White Fence Photography Company)
Mark Bellissimo, managing partner of Wellington Equestrian Partners, the former owner of the facility, and Wellington’s largest private landowner, said, “The sale of IPC to the USPA is part of our ‘Wellington 3.0’ strategy which is focused on strengthening both the equestrian venues and the core lifestyle elements that are critical for Wellington’s long-term success.
“We chose the USPA over competing offers and real estate development strategies to ensure that this fundamental pillar of the Wellington equestrian domain will be here for the next 100 years. I was inspired by Stewart Armstrong’s vision and believe the USPA has the commitment and resources to take this venue and the sport of polo to the next level which is a win for all involved.”
Originally, there was talk that WEP intended that IPC would host a new dressage facility, but that never came to fruition. Previously, WEP sold the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center to a group headed by dressage competitor and horse dealer Andreas Helgstrand of Denmark. This spring, the home of the Winter Equestrian Festival was renamed Wellington International. Andreas is also looking to buy the Global Equestrian Center, a dressage venue and show jumping site down the street from the facility where WEF is held.
The USPA will continue to host the Gauntlet of Polo® at its property, but it will also use the facility to support polo played at the medium- and low-goal levels. The USPA intends to keep substantially all the current IPC staff in place. Tim Gannon, co-founder of Outback Steakhouse and three-time winner of the U.S. Open Polo Championship®, will serve as Chairman of the Board of a newly-formed USPA subsidiary created to revitalize the social club and hospitality facilities.
With its ownership of the National Polo Center, the USPA has secured a perpetual home for polo in America. The facility will enable the USPA to showcase its tournaments, develop American players, and sustain an environment that will retain and attract new players and sponsors at every level. It will also secure the future of winter and spring polo in South Florida, which many of the sport’s key participants from throughout the country rely on as a major source of the annual income that allows them to participate in polo at their summer and fall club locations.
The USPA plans to open the annual Wellington polo season beginning with the Federation of International Polo World Championship, from October 26 through November 6.
“The investment in a high-profile Sunday Field will enable the sport and brand to control our destiny for future generations,” said J. Michael Prince, President and CEO of USPA Global Licensing, which manages the global, multi-billion-dollar U.S. Polo Association brand.
“With a global footprint across 190 countries, we view the Sunday Field as a unique opportunity to highlight U.S. Polo Assn.’s authentic connection to the sport and build additional global brand awareness. Additionally, this opportunity will create an epicenter of polo to promote not only high-goal events such as the Gauntlet of Polo®, but also other best-in-class opportunities at all levels supporting key polo competitions and demographics, such as international, low-goal, medium-goal, women’s, intercollegiate, interscholastic, youth and many others.”
Wellington Village Manager Jim Barnes said the village welcomes the USPA’s purchase of the former IPC facility and the establishment of the National Polo Center, which will ensure polo’s permanent and important presence in the village for the mutual benefit of the polo community and village residents.”
Tim Gannon, co-founder of Outback Steakhouse and three-time winner of the U.S. Open Polo Championship, will serve as chairman of the board of a newly formed USPA subsidiary created to revitalize the social club and hospitality facilities.
Until recentlhy, Wellington Equestrian Partners owned more than 1,000 acres in Wellington and has been the key driver of Wellington’s emergence as the premiere equestrian lifestyle destination in the world. WEP owned both the venues and the operating companies of the three primary pillars of the Wellington Equestrian scene: show jumping, dressage, and polo, which represented over 90 percent of the Wellington equestrian economy.
Wellington’s equestrian festivals host more than 10,000 participants and 250,000 spectators from 50 states and 43 countries. Its events contribute close to $200 million of annual economic impact for Palm Beach County.
Pat Boyle and Phil De Vita Jr., two respected horse show managers who have experience with competitions across the country, will be at the helm for the 2023 Devon Horse Show, following the resignations earlier this month of the men who ran the Pennsylvania multi-breed fixture for decades.
David Distler and Peter Doubleday had a total of 85 years at the show between them when they stepped down on June 6. The two will continue managing shows elsewhere, but as Peter noted, he felt he and David were kept out of the loop on important discussions and decisions at Devon, a U.S. Equestrian Federation Heritage Show.
Pat runs dozens of competitions under the banner of Illinois-based Showplace Productions. They include the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, where he succeeded Peter Doubleday in 2021, and the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association’s marquee year-end championship in Las Vegas. He is also a judge, course designer and trainer.
Phil, who lives in Florida, is a course designer and judge as well as managing the hunter/jumper portion of the Germantown, Tenn., charity show and the Menlo Charity show in California, among many other fixtures..
New Jersey’s 2022 Governor’s Award for Horseperson of the Year was awarded to Carey Williams, who has served the industry with Rutgers University since 2003. Carey accepted the award at the 65th Annual New Jersey Breeders Awards Celebration at the Horse Park of New Jersey to kick of the Month of the Horse in the state.
“Dr. Williams is a champion for the New Jersey equine industry and her love for horses and the people involved has been evident throughout her career,” NJDA Secretary Douglas H. Fisher said. “She is truly deserving of this honor for all of her years of dedication and service.”
Carey began at Rutgers University as an Equine Extension Specialist with the broad goal to establish a strong program in the field of equine nutrition and exercise physiology, while building relationships with the equine industry. She is a leader in researching antioxidant supplementation and oxidative stress in horses, and her research has positively impacted the field of equine nutrition. The results of her antioxidant work have been recognized nationally and internationally in the nutrition and veterinary fields.
New Jersey Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Joe Atchison III, Horseperson of the Year winner Carey Williams of Rutgers University, and Rutgers University Equine Science Center Founding Director Karyn Malinowski
She expanded her research into the area of forages, pastures and helping horse farm owners create an environmentally friendly farm. The award winner was the team leader for a large project that created a state-of-the-art equine Best Management Practice (BMP) showcase at the Equine Science Center’s facility at Rutgers University.
Her extension program has focused on improving equine nutrition, pasture management and horse husbandry. These programs have drawn professionals from many areas of the equine industry including veterinarians, feed and seed dealers, farm managers, horse trainers, massage therapists, 4-H leaders, volunteers, and youth.
She maintains her involvement in the equine nutrition industry as an active member of various scientific societies, including as a member on the board for the Equine Science Society, the organization of which she has been a member for 23 years. In recognition of her work in equine nutrition, she was recently appointed to the Coordinating Committee for the National Research Support Project (NRSP-9) of the National Animal Nutrition Program.
She is involved with several riding and showing organizations, including the Eastern States Dressage and Combined Training Association, and the Horse Park of New Jersey, where she has been engaged as a key volunteer.
Other awards included Horse Park of New Jersey Volunteer of the Year to Amy Butewicz, who started in the 4-H horse program on the local, state, and national levels. She has given hundreds of hours to events and park activities. In her spare time, Amy rides and is a licensed harness horse owner.
Jacqueline Tanzi, a senior at Howell High School, was named the New Jersey Youth Horseperson of the Year, Agriculture Achievement Award Winner. She competes on the 4-H circuit and at open dressage shows. Jacqueline, sponsored in the Youth Horseperson of the Year competition by the New Jersey Horse Council, is involved in training and exercising horses and has volunteered at Riding High Farm’s therapeutic riding program.
Katie Eick collected the $1,000 Ernest C. Bell scholarship presented by the state Equine Advisory Board and named for one of the panel’s founders, Ernest C. Bell, a horse breeder. Katie, who is from Farmingdale, , is a recent graduate of Rutgers University with an Animal Science degree with a concentration on Equine Science.
The Devon Horse Show is all about tradition—it’s entitled to that, having been around since 1896, though it didn’t run for the last two years due to Covid. But now it’s back, and the tradition also is carried on at another location, about a 20-minute drive from the showgrounds on Philadelphia’s Main Line, at the venerable Merion Cricket Club.
The National Show Hunter Hall of Fame had missed its last two dinners but made up for it Tuesday night with a sellout crowd for its annual function, with 180 show world luminaries and their friends on hand to celebrate and swap stories.
A table in a room that looked out at the club’s green fields displayed portraits of those who had died since the dinner last was held. Mason Phelps, John Franzreb, Ray Francis, Kenny Wheeler, and sadly, too many others, were part of that group, and those who passed by stopped to take a look.
While remembrance has a big role in the hall’s dinner, it’s also about adding new names, human and equine, to the list of the inducted.
“It’s so important,” said Jimmy Lee, president of the Hall, who took over from its founder, Carol Maloney.
“Hopefully, younger generations will follow what we’re doing. We’re in a grab-and-go society,” Jimmy continued, explaining it would be a loss “if we don’t have the history, if we don’t have the tradition. For us to be able to sit down here during a really busy horse show and for people to take the time to pay their respects, I think it says volumes about where our sport is. I’m very encouraged.”
Hunt Tosh was the Hall of Fame Rider of the Year, the Wheeler family were Owners of the Year and Cannon Creek took the High Performance Hunter Championship at Devon. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
Jane Womble Gaston who used to train with Jimmy and rode his favorite horse, Sign the Card, was on hand to salute inductee Henry the Hawk, a horse she took to many championships.
“He spent his life trying to please,” she told the crowd.
Afterward, she pointed out to me, “This was a thoroughbred horse who was champion at the Garden when he was three years old, and nobody thought anything about it. If you appreciate the type of horses we rode then and what showing was about, it wasn’t week after week. They were all natural, more horse-friendly areas, it’s important to look back on that.”
Jane Womble Gaston and Jimmy Lee, president of the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
The ceremony is always good for a few laughs and even occasional tears, as memories take center stage. It’s a reminiscence for some, and a time to salute the new group of deserving inductees, each introduced by a friend who had tales to tell.
Scott Evans recalled watching a young Scott Stewart as the lead in “West Side Story” at an amateur theater in Connecticut. The actor realized at that time he would have to make a decision between the theater and horses.
We all know what he chose, and today, he won his 17th Leading Hunter Rider title at Devon. He also has taken that honor 14 times at the National Horse Show and on numerous occasions at other prestigious shows.
As Scott Stewart pointed out, if he had chosen the theater, it’s likely he wouldn’t have had as long a career, and would need to be doing something else right now anyway.
Hunter rider John French offered a long but amusing monologue about his life. As Jen Bauersachs, who introduced him pointed out, if he hadn’t been a rider, he could have been a singer, a writer or perhaps a stand-up comic, as we saw.
He remembered that he had decided as a teen to take a break from riding, until a friend saw a critique of a photo of him written by George Morris in Practical Horseman magazine. After criticizing the length of his hair, George stated that the rider “had the best example of classic hunter seat equitation that I’ve ever seen.”
John French gave the crowd some laughs. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
That encouraged John to give horses another try. He did all his own work in the beginning of his career, from braiding to transporting his horse. John was inspired by his mother, who died a few weeks ago.
She had been tough on John, but at the end, she told him, “You did all of this with no help from me or your father.”
John believed otherwise.
“It was because of your help,” he said, noting she had taught him, “a horseman is a lot more than just riding. It was knowing your horse, taking care of your horse, having that special bond with your horse.”
Judy Mangin Kelley began her riding career in her native British Columbia, but went on to guide such great horses as Boyne Valley and Vital Victory in the U.S. as she became a household name in the horse world.
“It’s been a great ride,” she told those at the dinner.
Betty Oare saluted her wonderful mare Estrella, a U.S Equestrian Federation Horse of the Year, who joined her as a member of the Hall. She mentioned how everyone in her family, her husband, Ernie; her late brother, Bucky Reynolds and his wife, Linda, was involved in having the remarkable mare join their ranks.
Betty Oare with a ribbon for Estrella. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
“She carried me to great places,” Betty said.
Carleton Brooks spoke for Lu Thomas, a Californian who couldn’t be present due to health issues.
“She won everything and fought for each win,” he recounted of her career as a top rider.
Trainer Tom Wright got his interest in teaching from his parents, both college professors. He worked with many top professionals and well-known owners. Whatever it took to succeed, he pursued, recalling how Fran Bushkin advised him to lose 40 pounds if he wanted to show her horses; so he did.
Other awards were 2021 Horse Show of the Year, which was the Upperville, Va., Colt and Horse Show and the Derby Finals, Derby of the year.
Awards voted on by champions at a variety of shows and not announced until the dinner included Rider of the Year, Hunt Tosh; Owners of the Year, the Wheeler family and Horse of the Year Lafite de Muze, who was also High Performance Hunter of the year for his rider, Amanda Steege, and owner, Cheryl Olsten.
