by Nancy Jaffer | May 28, 2020
Three Vermont Summer Festival shows that could not be held in their namesake state due to Covid restrictions are moving to HITS-on-the-Hudson, where they will be combined in a six-week series with three HITS Saugerties (NY) Summer Series shows. The joint effort will create the Great American Summer Series, July 1 – August 9.
“We are pleased to be working with John Ammerman and the Vermont Summer Festival to create the Great American Summer Series at HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties, New York this year,” said Tom Struzzieri, president and CEO of HITS.
“When John [Ammerman] first found out he could not run shows in Vermont in 2020, we immediately began collaborating to bring our two circuits together to provide exhibitors with a world-class experience this summer.”
The Great American Summer Series will begin July 1, kicking-off with two VSF Shows, the Vermont Summer Special and Manchester Summer Festival, followed by the three-week HITS Saugerties Summer Series, and finishing with the Vermont Summer Celebration.
Offerings will include three $100,000 grands prix and two $200,000 grands prix, as well as two $25,000 International Hunter Derbies.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 25, 2020
While more equestrian competitions are being called off because of the pandemic, others are running, enabling the industry to begin healing from months of inactivity.
There will be no Global Champions Tour in 2020. The GCT, a rich international circuit with shows from China to Miami Beach, announced today it has cancelled all competitions until 2021.
“In these exceptional circumstances, it is not realistic to safely stage a global championship circuit this year. We must follow the laws of national governments and public health authorities, which change regularly and at short notice, having a major impact on international planning,” GCT said in its statement.
Restrictions on travel mean not all riders would be able to compete, the GCT announcement explained.. The threat of a second wave later in the year and the lack of a cure or a vaccine also contributed to the decision.
The state of New York’s failure to lift restrictions in time for HITS to have its first show at Saugerties in early June has meant the series there will start later in the month than planned.
Meanwhile, Equestrian Sport Productions just held successful schooling shows in Wellington, Fla., with all kinds of precautions, including masks, taking temperatures and lots of sanitizing. That was a dress rehearsal for recognized shows that begin next month, after the U.S. Equestrian Federation lifts its restrictions on earning points and qualifying criteria.
David Burton Jr., the show manager at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, said, “I feel that we demonstrated that we can run our sport safely in the middle of this pandemic. It is my sincere hope that we have all begun to navigate our way forward without having to shut down our industry again.”
Yesterday, the Ocala Jockey Club announced about its CCI4-star L national eventing championship, “Based on what we know at this time, we feel confident that the 2020 event can run as scheduled.” Important for Olympics qualifying purposes, it is set for Nov. 12-15 in Reddick, Fla., and will be held in conjunction with three other FEI levels of competition, the CCI2*-L, CCI3*-L and the CCI4*-S. Each of the levels also features special recognition and prizes for young horses and off-track Thoroughbreds, with the Thoroughbred Makeover Masterclass event showcased by the Retired Racehorse Project.
Plantation Field in Pennsylvania is hoping to hold horse trials June 6 and 7 (and possibly June 5) if the state’s stay-at-home order is lifted in time. No final decision will be made on whether to run until “the very last moment.” This organizer is also scheduled to hold an international horse trials Sept. 17-20. If things can’t run by then, we’re in big trouble…
by Nancy Jaffer | May 22, 2020
The pandemic has claimed the September 5-star Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials, which is cancelled for the first time since it was founded in 1961.
A statement from the event explained, “our absolute priority is the health and safety of our community, including everyone directly involved with the event; our visitors, sponsors, competitors, owners, helpers, trade exhibitors and contractors.”
Burghley is the fifth of the world’s seven five-stars to be cancelled. It was preceded by Kentucky, Badminton (England), Luhmühlen (Germany) and Adelaide (Australia).The new American 5-star in Fair Hill, Md., Oct. 15-18 is still on at the moment, as is the year’s only other pending 5-star, Pau (France) Oct. 22-25.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 20, 2020
Leslie Burr Howard and David Distler, who were just voted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame, have been two of the most successful members of the equestrian community for half a century. They were set to be installed at the Devon Horse Show this month, but when it was cancelled the ceremony was postponed and will be held at a future date.
David Distler is truly the indispensable man of show jumping, both nationally and internationally.
He rose from in-gate starter in the early 1970s to show manager, Olympic judge and FEI Steward General, as well as being a valued member of key committees.
He has been involved with five Olympics games: Two as a judge (2008 and 2016), one as an FEI Steward (2012), one as event coordinator (1996) and one as starter (1984). He also has been part of three World Equestrian Games, two as a judge (2014 and 2018) and one as co-manager (2010). Had it not been cancelled, the Las Vegas World Cup Final would have been his 13th world indoor championship, six as a judge (including four as Ground Jury president), four as Steward, one as manager, and two as starter.
In addition, David has served as manager of several of the country’s biggest competitions, including the USET Show Jumping Olympic Trials; the Devon, Washington International and National Horse Shows, as well as the Winter Equestrian Festival and USEF Show Jumping Talent Search. He also held many positions, including technical coordinator, at the Lake Placid Horse Shows, where he was honored in 2019 for his nearly 50 years of service.
Highly respected for his encyclopedic knowledge of the rules, as well as his honesty and integrity, David is regarded as one of the leading show jumping judges in the world. David also serves the sport through his leadership roles with its major organizations including working many years as the FEI’s Steward General for show jumping and as chairman of the USEF Show Jumping Committee. He is also vice president of the USHJA and treasurer of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame.
David, a resident of Palm Beach County, Florida, and his wife, Sharon, have a son, Liam.
Leslie Burr Howard has been one of the most competitive and admired show jumpers in the world. “Leapin Leslie”.was an integral part of U. S. squads that won the team gold ,edal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and the team silver at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. She also won team Gold and Silver medals in the Pan American Games and was the 1986 FEI World Cup™ Champion.
By the time she was four, Leslie already knew two things–that she liked horses and she liked speed. Leslie grew up riding ponies at Highfield Farm in Long Valley. She entered her first show at age six and in 1972, she won the ASPCA Maclay Finals at just 15 years old, the second youngest ever to take that title.
In 1983, Leslie was part of the gold medal U.S. team with Boing at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela. She was also named the American Grandprix Association (AGA) Rider of the Year and her eventual Olympic mount, Albany, was Horse of the Year, a feat he repeated in 1984.
In 1986, she won the FEI World Cup™ Final in Gothenburg, Sweden aboard McLain, and was honored as the AHSA Equestrian of the Year. Over the course of her career, Leslie has competed in 18 FEI World Cup™ Finals and is one of only five female champions in the event’s 41-year history.
One of Leslie’s career highlights was being named as Gem Twist’s rider after an injury suffered by Greg Best, who rode him to double silver in the 1988 Olympics. She successfully completed the 1992 season, helping Gem earn AGA Horse of the Year honors for a record third time. In 1994, Leslie rode Gem Twist and Charisma to first-place tie in the USET Show Jumping Championship at Gladstone and represented the U.S. at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ in The Hague. Riding Jane Clark’s Extreme, Leslie was part of the U.S. team that clinched the silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
In 1997, the USET honored Leslie with the Whitney Stone Cup for long and meritorious service. Later that year, she won the world’s richest show jumping event at the Spruce Meadows Masters aboard Sblieft. In 1999, with Clover Leaf, she helped the USET win the team silver medal at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada. She topped the USA East Coast FEI World Cup™ League in 2000, and that summer won the prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Spruce Meadows. She also earned the Leading Rider Award at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. In 2002, she was part of the U.S. Team at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Jerez, Spain.
Leslie has taught and influenced many top jumper riders, including Molly Ashe-Cawley, Debbie Dolan-Sweeney, Kent Farrington, Judy Garofalo Torres, Lisa Jacquin, Christine Tribble McCrea and Fernando Martinez. She was inducted into the Show Hunter Hall of Fame in 2016 and the Pennsylvania National Horse Show Hall of Fame in 2018.
She and her husband, Peter Howard, split their time between Florida and Connecticut.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 20, 2020
The “uncertainty of the time” led to today’s announcement that Dressage at Devon is cancelled. The September show, a highlight of the year, was called off “to ensure the safety of our competitors, vendors, sponsors, spectators and our wonderful volunteers,” according to the show’s president, Lori Kaminski.
The fixture is the third at the historic suburban Philadelphia showgrounds to be called off in the last few months. The first was the May hunter/jumper show, which should have been getting under way tomorrow. The summer Brandywine hunter/jumper show was next to go.
As the dressage show’s statement explained, “Operating an international competition at a venue such as Devon is a large undertaking. Our team has worked diligently to review the equestrian governing bodies’ requirements to hold a competition, as well as federal, state and local regulations. It became clear that holding the competition this September, while ensuring everyone’s safety, is not realistic.”
As the statement noted, the situation has made it difficult for suppliers, vendors, competitors, volunteers and sponsors to plan and commit resources and support, all crucial to the success of the show.
At the same time, a group of new board members was announced. They are Christina Morin Graham, Maureen “Mo” Swanson, Jessica “JJ” Tate and Karen Ramsing- Bixler.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 18, 2020
Apply by June 1 to the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association for its new Feed Aid program that provides help in purchasing feed for lesson horses. The program is designed as short-term relief for businesses in the hunter/jumper community who provide lessons to non-boarders and may be suffering financially due to the impact of COVID-19. Through partnership with various national and regional feed companies, USHJA members may receive relief through discounted and fully supplemented feed purchases.
“We are pleased to offer this financial relief initiative to our members,” said Mary Babick, USHJA president. “We are committed to the well being of our equine partners and supporting our members during this unprecedented time. Our horses are the light in this pandemic, and we hope this initiative will bring much needed relief to those in need and encourage fellow equestrians to support our community during this difficult time.”
Applications will be reviewed on a first come, first served basis. Feed vouchers will be made available to qualifying applicants as quickly as possible.
Individuals can also donate to help fellow equestrians in need due to financial hardships as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The USHJA, through its Foundation, will match donations up to $300,000.
The USHJA thanks Buckeye Nutrition, Cavalor, Legends, Nutrena and ProElite for their partnership and support of this initiative. If you are interested in participating as a feed provider, please contact Whitney Allen at wallen@ushja.org.
For more information about the initiative and how you can help, visit ushja.org/foundation/FeedAid.
