by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 1, 2022
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.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 5, 2022
Laura Chapot was the only one of 22 competitors to finish fault-free in the Devon Horse Show’s final jumper class, the $74,000 Idle Dice Stake, as a tricky interplay of light and shadow just before sunset foiled other attempts at a clear round
That meant there was no Saturday night jump-off at the show, which ends today with breeding classes.
Laura Chapot and Diarado’s Flying Dutchman. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
“The shadows do play a part. The Hygain fence, the second-to-last jump, really caught a lot of people,” said Laura. “I noticed coming to it, the sun was really glaring off that jump. I think that made it really hard, because it’s difficult for the horses to judge that,” noted the winner from Neshanic Station, N.J., who was aboard Diarado’s Flying Dutchman, a horse she has ridden for 18 months.
Second place went to the fastest 4-faulter, Stephen Bluman of Israel on Biblou du Perron.
Laura said her son of Diarado is not the typical, long-strided horse she usually ride, but rather, he’s “very bouncy, so it’s really easy for him to add strides”
During two previous classes in the Dixon Oval, where enthusiastic spectators always jam the rail, “he was a little bit backed off going down the sides of the ring by the crowd, so he was staring at them a little bit.”
“I knew coming to that one line that was by the crowd, I was going to add a stride to the combination, so he had time to really think there. I don’t know if anyone else did that, but it wouldn’t have been a normal plan for any of my other horses. I know for him he’s just so easy to bounce up a stride and then he has time to process the jumps,” she said.
“I think with him, my thought is to keep him thinking about what he’s doing and not getting overly excited. He’s got all of the ability to do it, he just has to take his time when he gets there.”
She noted, “He has so much adjustability, I know I always have to think about what’s the best thing for him, rather than my normal ride that I like to do. He really has a lot of talent and it’s just a matter of making it more consistent. When I got him, he really hadn’t done all that much. He’s really starting to become a lot more rideable and more into my style of going.”
She was complimentary about the work of course designer Olaf Petersen Jr. of Germany, saying he “always builds very good courses and I really enjoy them because they are very fair. They aren’t tricky, he just builds challenging things and questions to solve but there is nothing trappy.”
It was a good show for the Chapot family. Laura’s older sister, Wendy, was adult amateur jumper champion earlier in the week.
Laura many times has been leading jumper rider at Devon, but the honor this time went to McLain Ward. The Little Big Man trophy given for the open jumper championship is named after one of Laura’s best horses, and it too, was McLain Ward’s territory, going to his ride Contagious, winner of Thursday’s featured Sapphire Grand Prix of Devon—named in memory of his greatest horse.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 2, 2022
There are not many places where you can see the best show hunters from East and West, but Devon is that spot in the spring, and both coasts were well-represented this week.
The Grand Hunter Champion, Balmoral’s Only Always, came from California with trainer Carleton Brooks and rider Nick Haness, earning 45 points in the Green Conformation Hunter section, more than any other titleist in the professional divisions.
Trainer Carleton Brooks and groom David Vega with Only Always, Devon Grand Hunter Champion. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
The High Performance Hunter Champion, Cannon Creek, meanwhile, is owned by a Virginia family, the Wheelers, who also took the $25,000 USHJA Hunter Derby with Green Hunter Champion Autograph.
Both horses are ridden by Hunt Tosh, who was named Rider of the Year at the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame dinner Tuesday.
The task of winning the Derby fell on Autograph, after Hunt made a mistake in the double during the Classic Round with Cannon Creek.
Topping a field of 33, he won the Classic round but lost the Handy round to Chappy, ridden by Greg Crolick. The final total was close; 383.500 overall for Autograph, and just 0.500 less for Chappy as the reserve.
“Not being here for two years, to come back this year being able to win the Derby was so special,” said Hunt, referring to the fact that the show wasn’t held during the Covid pandemic.
“Devon is my favorite horse show,” Hunt said. “To come here and peak at the right time kind of shows we’re doing the right thing.”
Autograph, a son of Balou who was the Hall of Fame’s Green Hunter of the Year, hasn’t done many derbies, and in the Handy section, everything was on the line.
Hunt Tosh and Autograph. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
“I got a little nervous, I touched the second jump and thought `I’ve got to try to do everything I can,’” Hunt reported.
“I tried to go a little quicker to the next-to-last jump and gallop the last jump. It was a great class. The horses jumped beautifully, Greg’s horse was amazing.”
This was Greg’s best Derby finish at Devon.
“To me, it’s like winning. It’s so exciting to be here. There’s great energy in the air,” Greg said about being second.
Ken Wheeler came up to Devon early to watch Hunt’s daughter, Maddie, compete in junior classes.
Authentic and Hunt Tosh on the way to hunter derby victory.(Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
“I don’t want to leave my dad’s box empty,” he told Hunt. This was his first Devon without his late father, Kenneth Wheeler, after whom the Wheeler Ring at the showgrounds is named.
Carleton had a definite goal with Only Always: “We’re going to shoot for Devon.”
It was a long way to travel from California, but he explained, “Devon is tradition. I still believe it’s the ultimate. You have to be consistent through the whole division. I think it’s a performance facility, you have to perform.
“It has all the outside distraction. It’s the ultimate. It’s a one-ring horse show. We don’t have those anymore. You are front and center. Devon doesn’t make or break you, but it sure tells you that you are on the right track if you are successful.”
Carleton, who has a colorful way of putting things, noted, “I think a lot of East Coasters still feel we’re cowboys and the sage brush still blows across the road. We do not have as many options to show, so we have to show against each other week-in and week-out, which I think keeps our level up.
“There’s no coasting out there. You can’t just find a casual horse show where you’re the best one for sure.”
Only Always was in Germany when Carleton saw him on a video.
“I watched him jump two jumps and said `Buy him,’” Carlton recalled. He liked his presence and balance, how he cantered away from the first jump. The woman who had the horse called him Carlton (without the “e”) but that may have been part of the sales pitch, the trainer admitted.
“The lady who sent the video is pretty smart. I don’t know if his name is really Carlton or not,” he admitted.
The horse had done a couple of jumper classes with an amateur in Europe, but Devon was a new experience.
“He’d never been in this type of environment before. We gave him time to take a deep breath and just let him hang out.”
Scott Stewart is a Devon perennial; the round silver platter that is the trophy for Leading Hunter Rider is engraved with his name more times (17) than that of any other person.
He did it again of course, collecting additional souvenirs for the Devon corner (complete with dozens of show programs) in the trophy room at his New Jersey home, where he also has two pet steers. (No, he doesn’t eat meat.)
Scott Stewart with his trophy. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
Amanda Steege, who rides the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame Horse of the Year and High Performance Horse of the Year, Lafite de Muze, had a disappointment in the Classic Round of the Hunter Derby when a rail fell from the high side of a hay bales and brush jump.
Aside from that, she had quite a week, also collecting the show’s High Performance Working Hunter Leading Lady Rider Award and the reserve championship in the High Performance Hunter.
The Horse of the Year title was a standout among everything Lafite won because ballots go to champions at the 10 most competitive horse shows, and they decide who should win.
“I think it’s very special to win awards like that, that are chosen by professionals you compete against as opposed to point-based awards. It was a huge surprise and an honor,” said Amanda.
“Lafite is the most consistent horse I’ve ever had,” commented the rider, who has a special bond with the horse, as does her boyfriend, Tim Delovich, and the gelding’s owner, Cheryl Olsten.
Amanda Steege and Lafite de Muze. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
“He’s a trier; he has an unbelievably large heart and he’s very intelligent and understands what we’re doing out there, that when he walks into the ring he’s supposed to be performing,” said Amanda.
“What he’s able to do goes beyond his talent level, it goes deeper down inside the horse than that. He’s a perfectionist, and he wants to win as much as we want to win, which is an amazing feeling to have as the rider.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 2, 2022
Shining silver trophies, lemon sticks, the carriage pleasue drive, souvenirs in that special shade of Devon blue–all are part of what makes Devon more than just a high-end horse show. But it’s the Ladies Day hat contest that captures a highly visible sense of festivity, with a promenade of festive headgear that’s always worth a second look.
Feathers are abundant among so many creative ways to make a statement, along with cheeky fascinators perched on artfully created hairdos and lavish straw creations that provide shade for the wearer.
Sometimes the headpiece comes with an outfit, like the Gilded Age-inspired walking suit with matching hat worn by Christina Wilson, designed and produced by Sandy Boyd from nearby Newtown Square, Pa. The two are no strangers to the contest, having competed there before.
Christina Wilson is straight out of the Gilded Age at Devon with a Sandy Boyd-designed outfit. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
Pamela Bastings was inspired by a trip to Versailles and a parasol she bought there in her “frocks and feathers” theme, adding a model horse with a Devon blue ribbbon to the hat.
Pamela Bastings with her Versailles inspired creation. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
A group of 11 entered the contest en masse with the theme “Ladies of Devon supporting Ladies of Ukraine.”
Joy Mossholder Sporn, decked out in an elaborately feathered headpiece, said the Devon residents entered the contest as a group in 2019, the last time Devon was held before Covid.This year, they decided to go with a cause and “elevate the ladies of Ukraine.”
Joy Mossholder Sporn supporting Ladies of Ukraine with feathers in the colors of that country’s flag. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
The group wore blue and their hats reflected the yellow and blue colors of the Ukraine flag.
Joy has several links to Ukraine, including her milliner, Andrey at Valley Forge Flowers, who is a native of the country. The group bought hats from Ukraine through another milliner, but “unfortunately, because of the trouble getting parcels out of Ukraine, they did not arrive in time,” Joy said.
Even so, the group felt it made a contribution, Joy said, “because we paid for a product and supported these women who are worthy, that’s what matters.”
by Nancy Jaffer | May 28, 2022
The Essex Horse Trials is the perfect place to compete in eventing at a variety of levels, but there’s an also an opportunity to participate if your charger has four wheels instead of four legs.
The Peter Chesson Memorial Car Show on July 2 at Moorland Farm in Far Hills draws everything from classic cars to exotic vehicles. The entrance fee is $25 on line, $35 at the gate.To enter, click on this link.
The car show is a big draw at the Essex Horse Trials. (Photo © by Lawrence J. Nagy)
The Horse Trials will be held in two locations. Dressage and show jumping are set for July 1 at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation in Gladstone. Cross-country will be held the next day at Moorland, about seven minutes away. Vendors will be at both locations and tailgating spots for cross-country are available now. General admission is $10.
The event benefits the Life Camp in Pottersville, designed to provide an enriching summer day camp experience for 300 Newark-area youths per day for six weeks during July and August. Campers are between the ages of 6 and 13. They come from the greater Newark public school system as well as from Newark Charter School Programs (KIPP, Philip’s, North Star, Link, Newark Legacy and New Horizon).
by Nancy Jaffer | May 25, 2022
The retirement of two-time Kentucky 5-star winner Cooley Master Class has been announced by his rider, Oliver Townend of Great Britain.
Cooley Master Class being saluted by the crowd after his 2019 Land Rover Kentucky victory. (Photo © 2019 by Nancy Jaffer)
The horse he got as a four-year-old has been his competition partner for the last 13 years and also “a very dear friend.”
His competition highlights include back-to-back Kentucky 5-star wins in 2018 and 2019, second at the new Maryland 5-star last fall, team silver at the European Championships and 16 international top 10 placings.
“He’s now 17 years old and although still fit and well, we’ve always said it’s important that he retires from competition on his own terms and we feel that the time has come,” stated Oliver.
“Cooley is a huge character and has always made sure to be a yard favorite, so he will retire to a hacking lifestyle where he’ll continue to be treated and looked after like the king he is.”
Added Oliver, “I could not be more grateful to have had the honor of partnering Cooley for all these years. He’s achieved more than we could have dreamed of and we’ve literally traveled the world together with memories that’ll last a lifetime!”
He offered “huge thanks” to co-owner Angela Hislop, who lives near the star’s retirement home and will make sure he stays “spoiled rotten!”
