by Nancy Jaffer | Mar 31, 2022
Eric Lamaze, the Canadian Olympic show jumping gold medalist has retired from competition due to his health issues, but will continue to serve as technical advisor and chef d’equipe for his country’s show jumping team.
Eric, who has been battling brain cancer since 2017, last competed at the CSIO5* Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ tournament in Calgary, where he anchored the Canadian team to victory in the $600,000 Bank of Montreal Nations’ Cup in September.
Eric Lamaze after winning gold in the 2008 Olympics.(Photo © 2008 by Nancy Jaffer)
He then took a step back from competition to focus on his health, not knowing his last competitive appearance would be on home soil at his favorite venue, where he is the all-time leading money winner with career earnings exceeding $6.7 million.
“It’s with great sadness that I am making this decision,” said Lamaze, 53, who is based in Wellington, Fla., and Brussels, Belgium.
“There’s a part of me that feels really upset that I’ve been battling cancer with the hope of riding again and I’m crushed that that won’t be the case. I’ve always said that I will retire under my own terms when the time is right. The situation with my health has forced me to make the decision earlier than I had envisioned, but the silver lining is that I still have the will to win and can contribute to the Canadian team and the sport I love through my new role as chef d’equipe,” he said.
“Now I have to turn my focus to giving my knowledge back to my fellow riders,” continued Lamaze. “I’ve always loved teaching and preparing horses and riders for major championships. I will give these riders every opportunity I ever had myself and I have great ideas for the future. I want every Canadian rider to know that their dreams are my dreams, too. When they win, I win.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 5, 2022
Stanny Van Paesschen, who represented Belgium at the Olympics and managed medal-winning showjumping teams internationally, will take on the technical expert role for British Equestrian and British Showjumping.
Several new roles have been developed following a full program review and feedback from stakeholders to enhance the support team headed by Performance Manager Di Lampard to take showjumping through to Paris in 2024 and beyond.
In his new role,, Stanny will provide support for the Performance Manager around selection and preparation, as well as helping riders work toward key performances. The Nations Cup Chef d’Equipe, whose primary responsibility will be for teams contesting the European Equestrian Federation Nations Cup series with Di Lampard overseeing the FEI Nations Cup teams, has been named as Tony Newbery, an Olympic rider who has worked with Britain’s prolific youth championship teams.
Performance Director Richard Waygood explained; “The spectacular individual gold medal winning performance of Ben Maher riding Charlotte Rossetter and Pamela Wright’s Explosion W captivated many at Tokyo last year and kept Britain amongst the world’s leading showjumping nations.
“However, our showjumping teams haven’t featured on the top of the podium in recent championships, and we want to redress this. Within the World Class Program, we took time to reflect on the Tokyo cycle, considering input from a wide range of stakeholders. These new appointments reflect our philosophy of continuous improvement, always seeking to evolve.
“We have a great deal of talent in our showjumping ranks and are committed to developing a support network and structure which nurtures and develops those combinations. Di Lampard has done a sterling job managing a complex showjumping program and calendar, and now with the support of Stanny as Technical Expert and Tony’s role as Nations Cup Chef d’Equipe, she can lead the teams much more effectively.
“For our showjumping team, this year is about securing Olympic qualification at the World Championships in August, earning a place at the FEI Nations Cup Final in Barcelona and keeping our place in Europe Division 1 of the FEI Nations Cup. I firmly believe that this new structure, with these key appointments in place, gives us a real chance of achieving those aims to put us on a positive pathway to Paris.”
Stanny is based near Brussels at Hof ten Bos, which he’s called home with his wife Béatrice for over 20 years and where they run a successful training and breeding establishment. His son, Constant, is the fifth generation of the Van Paesschen dynasty to ride at the top level as a regular rider in the Global Champions League. Stanny’s CV as a rider is remarkable, having ridden at the top level from 1975 before retiring in 2005, having amassed 300 international victories and represented Belgium in three Olympics, including a bronze medal in Montreal.
His attention then turned to training and he has had medal success with teams at Olympic Games, World and European Championships, Asian Games and South American Games. He helped the Belgian senior squad to eight championship medals, before then supporting the Saudi Arabian teams, including a historic team bronze at London 2012. More recently, he’s worked with the riders from Mexico to claim two team gold medals and a number Nations Cup victories.
Stanny’s initial focus will be around building relationships with the riders and team support staff, while being introduced to their owners and grooms. May will be his first opportunity to be at competitions, and he’ll attend Windsor CSI5* and be on duty in Rome CSIO5*.
As a rider, Tony Newbery was competing in the elite ranks from the age of 19, going on to be a member of many victorious Nations Cup teams and earning a place on the Olympic squad for Montreal in 1976.
He was also non-travellng reserve for Los Angeles in 1984. Through the mid-1980s, Tony’s focus turned to training and he has made a name as an internationally renowned coach and manager. Time in the Middle East and Asia saw him help a number of riders develop to compete on the world stage, before focusing closer to home in his current role of Chef d’Equipe for the British Showjumping Junior and Young Rider squads, which he’ll continue with alongside this new role, as well as coaching the riders on the World Class Programme Showjumping Performance Pathway.
Tony’s role focuses mainly on the European Equestrian Federation Nations Cup series (previously the FEI Europe Division 2) while Performance Manager Di Lampard will continue to have oversight of the teams in the FEI Nations Cup series. The EEF Series is an ideal opportunity for combinations to gain the experience needed to bridge the gap from the youth ranks into senior competition at three- and four-star level, then to five-star and championship teams. He’ll oversee the teams at Lisbon in May, then on to Madrid.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 13, 2022
The jury finished its third day of deliberations this afternoon in the attempted murder trial of dressage trainer Michael Barisone.
The panel of 10 men and two women in Morristown, N.J., spent the morning listening to an audio track that replayed the testimony from Dr. Steven Simring, the psychiatrist who testified for the defense. He concluded Barisone not only suffered from delusional disorder but also was dealing with persistent depressive disorder.
A conflict with Lauren Kanarek, who was also Barisone’s student, and her boyfriend, Robert Goodwin, had escalated to the point where Barisone became “increasingly desperate.” He viewed himself in a situation where he felt physically threatened by Kanarek and her boyfriend, Robert Goodwin, according to the psychiatrist, and he saw no way out.
When Barisone grabbed a gun from his safe and drove from his stable to the farmhouse on his Long Valley, N.J., property to confront Kanarek on Aug. 7, 2019, she was shot twice. He says he does not remember the encounter, which put her in a hospital Intensive Care Unit for 19 days.
The jury appears to be weighing a verdict of insanity in the case, judging by the fact that they chose to hear the psychiatrist’s testimony again. Deliberations will resume this morning in the Morris County Courthouse.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 11, 2022
The prosecution and defense summed up today in the Michael Barisone attempted murder case.
Click here to read the story.
Michael Barisone in court today. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
The defense is trying to convince the jury that Brisone was insane, pushed over the edge by his tenants Lauren Kanarek and Robert Goodwin.
Barisone says he doesn’t remember anything abut the shooting that left Kanarek with two holes in her chest.
The prosecution outlined to the jury of 10 men and two women the criteria for finding a defendant insane, as each side touted the findings of its own expert witnesses in the psychological realm.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 12, 2022
The jury in dressage trainer Michael Barisone’s attempted murder case continued deliberations today and left this afternoon without returning a verdict. The panel of 10 men and two women has asked to have the lengthy testimony of defense psychiatrist Dr. Steven Simring replayed for them tomorrow in Morristown, N.J.
They’ll be watching video of the doctor being questioned by lead defense attorney Edward Bilinkas, as well as a cross-examination by Morris County Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn. Simring concluded Barisone suffered not only from delusional disorder, but also was dealing with persistent depressive disorder, noting he had been seeing a therapist for years.
Bilinkas mounted an insanity defense for Barisone, the 2008 U.S. Olympic dressage team alternate. The trainer did not take the witness stand, but he had told several people after his student Lauren Kanarek was shot twice in the chest that he did not remember the Aug. 7, 2019 incident. He had been trying to evict Kanarek and her boyfriend, Robert Goodwin, from his Long Valley, N.J. farm, before driving to their home on the property with a handgun in his truck
The jury’s interest in having another look at Simring’s testimony would seem to indicate they are weighing a verdict of not guilty due to insanity. Interestingly, to this point, the jury did not ask to see the prosecution’s expert, psychologist, Dr. Louis Schelsinger, who was skeptical about Barisone being able to remember what happened before and after the shooting, but not the incident itself.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 7, 2022
Michael Barisone had “interpersonal problems” and “a longstanding conflict” with student Lauren Kanarek and her boyfriend, Robert Goodwin, in Florida during the winters of 2018 and 2019, according to Dr. Louis Schlesinger, a psychology professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, who was a rebuttal witness for the prosecution today in the dressage trainer’s attempted murder trial.
Psychologist Louis Schlesinger makes a point during Barisone’s trial. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
Since the combo of Kanarek and her partner wasn’t a match made in heaven for Barisone, why did he let them come back to his Hawthorne Hill Farm in Washington Township, N.J., for the fateful summer of 2019, when Kanarek was shot?
“He said he needed money,” explained Schlesinger, noting that it cost Barisone $36,000 a month to run his business. The 2008 U.S. Olympic dressage team alternate told Schlesinger everyone in the horse business has to deal with difficult clients, so he lived with it. Kanarek was paying $5,000 monthly board for two horses, although she had several other mounts, one of which she bought from Barisone for $30,00 or $40,000; the amount stated has varied.
At the same time, Goodwin was doing some construction and tileing in the farmhouse on the property where they lived and elsewhere on the farm, but he wanted to be paid for his work. Barisone had been trying to get the couple to leave his farm, and was moving ahead with eviction procedures.
This was the final afternoon of testimony in the trial that has lasted nine days in Morristown, N.J., with attorneys set to sum up and the jury getting the case next Monday. We finally got some answers to questions that have arisen as Superior Court Judge Stephen Taylor presided, but were left open-ended due to objections that were sustained or otherwise not permitted. You can’t appreciate the intricacies of the rules of evidence until you see how many “sidebars” are called, where the lawyers move to the bench to discuss various issues in low voices with the judge.
Michael Barisone confers with his attorney, Edward Bilinkas. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
Schlesinger, who has worked for government agencies including the FBI and the Morris County Prosecutor’s office, with which he is presently involved in another case, was called by the prosecution to comment on the testimony of the expert witnesses for the defense.
They are a psychiatrist and another psychologist, who discussed Barisone’s mental state. A psychiatrist is a physician who can prescribe medicine; a psychologist is a PhD who specializes in the study of mind and behavior or in treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral issues.
The psychiatrist, Dr. Steven Simring, yesterday said Barisone–who had been seeing a therapist on and off for 20 years–suffered from delusional disorder and also was dealing with persistent depressive disorder.
Barisone stated he couldn’t remember the incident in which he is charged with shooting Kanarek twice, resulting in her stay of nearly three weeks in Morristown Medical Center’s intensive care unit.
Simring said being hit on the head with a phone by Goodwin “is probably the most likely reason Barisone lost memory,” noting he suffered several injuries on his head, including a hematoma behind his ear. Dr. Charles Hasson, the defense team’s psychologist, mentioned Barisone had many head injuries over the years, a not-unfamiliar scenario for equestrians.
Defense psychologist Dr. Charles Hasson. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
Schlesinger, however, was skeptical about Barisone’s memory loss, noting it came after the attack, when Goodwin punched the trainer and then held him down on the ground until the police came.
Defense attorney Edward Bilinkas is pursuing a joint insanity and self-defense strategy, so the psychology experts are key to judging Barisone’s mental state.
Defense attorney Edward Bilinkas. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
Schlesinger discussed malingering in terms of feigning or faking an illness, motivated by criminal prosecution.
He said it is something that is “strongly suspected” if an individual is referred by an attorney when charges are pending.
The fact that Barisone remembered what happened prior to the shooting and afterward, but not the incident itself is “a red flag. Why isn’t everything blacked out?” Schlesinger wondered.
He maintained, “There’s no memory disorder that is selective just for criminal conduct. So what does he not remember? Lauren comes out (of the farmhouse) and then he has no memory for anything else until he wakes up in the hospital with a big light on him.”
When something like that happens, Schlesinger suggested, “the first thing you say is `Where the hell am I? Why am I here?’ He didn’t say that.”
Schlesinger mentioned dissociative amnesia “that can occur in a trauma, so I considered that.”
But he added, “I don’t think that is correct. I think this is malingered amnesia” noting it is “very common in criminal cases.” He observed, “There is no memory disorder that is selective just for criminal conduct.”
Although Barisone owned several guns, the weapon used in the shooting was a pink and black 9 mm Ruger belonging to Ruth Cox, who co-owned horses at the farm. She would travel up from North Carolina to visit with a gun in her car because she was concerned for her safety while traveling.
Barisone asked her for the gun after she arrived in early August and put it in his office safe because “he felt it wasn’t safe in the car with Lauren there,” Schlesinger reported.
“Does it show anything with respect to whether he know or appreciates the nature and quality of his actions,” asked Morris County Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn.
Morris County Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn and Assistant Prosecutor Alex Bennett.( Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
When Cox arrived on Aug. 2, 2019, “The gun was in a case and the ammunition was not loaded,” the psychologist said. But the gun was out of the case and loaded when Barisone drove to the farmhouse where the confrontation with Kanarek and Goodwin took place on Aug. 7, 2019.
Schlesinger commented on “Michael’s belief that Kanarek was going to kill him, Mary Haskins (his former girlfriend) and her children.”
He said, “It’s not delusional, it’s based on what was going on at the time.” He noted that Haskins felt their lives were in danger and thought Kanarek’s father, Jonathan, was going to kill her.
But Schlesinger contended that had nothing to do with the shooting. Instead, he maintained it was sparked when an investigator from the Division of Child Protection and Permanency came to the farm to speak with Mary Haskins, who, like Barisone feared the children would be taken from her.
“Who wouldn’t be upset if he incorrectly thought Lauren called Child Protection? She didn’t, but that’s what he thought,” said Schlesinger.
“My understanding is that SafeSport called DCPP.”
However, earlier in the trial, it was brought out that Kanarek had twice looked up the anonymous reporting number for DCPP.
Drs. Hasson and Schlesinger disagreed on methodology involving a series of psychological tests, which left a question mark on which accurately assessed Barisone’s mental condition.
The issue, according to the judge “is what’s in the defendant’s mind.”
