by Nancy Jaffer | May 18, 2025
The stories are amazing. Even those who weren’t in Gladstone, N.J., for the 1993 World Pair Driving Championship have heard what a spectacular competition it was, with a record 23 countries participating at Hamilton Farm, home of the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation.
Although there had been other good combined driving events at Gladstone before and after the championship, nothing else held there ever could match the championship, where the marathon segment was watched by 15,000 spectators. That was a unique experience.
But as time went on, the importance of the driving event in the Pine Meadow section of the property diminished. That’s what happens when supporters move, retire or pass away.
The Gladstone Equestrian Association, founded by the late Finn Caspersen and now headed by James C. Brady III, has sought to rejuvenate competition at the site. Over the weekend, its horse driving trial and combined test (dressage and cones without the marathon) drew 40 entries, the maximum it could handle logistically.
“We’re super-excited because for the first time in probably 10 years, we were completely sold out,” said Christine Siracusa, a volunteer and sponsorship coordinator.
The ground was soaked by torrential rain during the week, so some drivers opted to scratch the marathon and compete in the combined test instead due to mud.
But others, from those driving mini horses (also known as VSEs — very small equines) to pairs of horses, opted to forge ahead in the best sporting tradition.
GEA Gladstone Driving President John Layton and Eris K (a Cleveland Bay otherwise known as The Beast) won the Single Horse Preliminary division. (Photo © 2025 by Nancy Jaffer)
A small but mighty volunteer base, several of whom had been lending a hand to Gladstone driving events even before the Pair Championship took place, did yeoman work to make the 2025 competition happen.
“Mother nature was not our friend this week. We ended up having three course changes, but our course designer (Bruce Jones) and officials were amazing,” said Christine Siracusa, a coordinator of volunteers and sponsorship.
“The weather couldn’t have been any better” on Saturday and Sunday.
Having some time to dry out, the marathon course “was not as mucky as we thought it would be,” she pointed out.
“I was at the finish line and saw everyone smiling. They were excited, they kept on thanking us for putting on a fabulous event and hopefully, they’ll keep coming back and supporting this event.”
Alice Tarjan, better known for ridden dressage than driven dressage, skillfully guided Patser and Naferno in the Preliminary Pairs competition. (Photo © 20)25 by Nancy Jaffer)
John Layton, the GEA Gladstone Driving president, was thrilled by the number of entries and has big plans for next year. He hopes to reopen and re-do the former George’s Gorge marathon obstacle, fixing it up and renaming it the Gulch of the Northeast. John also wants to see a tailgating destination near there for optimum viewing of the action..
Amie Bauman, who handles the same duties as Christine for the GEA, is a driving professional from Pennsylvania who teaches and trains, as well as competing.
She guided Lois Kennedy’s 5-year-sold VSE stallion, Sundance, to victory in the VSE Single Preliminary, with 113.77 penalties, the best score in any of the Preliminary divisions.
“He’s a natural at it. He has so much talent. He just loves it,” she said of the bold little stallion, who handled the marathon obstacles with energy.
Amie Bauman and Sundance at the water obstacle. (Photo © 2025 by Gerry Heffner)
Amie has been coming to the driving event since 1983, the days of fellowship when local legends Bill Orth, George Hoffman, Joe Urso, Norm Sutton and George Millar — all gone now — were competing.
Looking to the future of the event, she said, “It absolutely has to keep going. It’s such a historic piece of property and we don’t really have many driving events in the North anymore.”
She works with the GEA and helps keep up the property for the event.
In that regard, she cited the assistance of Paul Miller Land Rover in fixing roads and cutting down some trees; the USET Foundation and its facility manager Maureen Pethick, who “have been incredible,” hiring a company to fix the roads and helping wherever needed, and the Hamilton Farm Golf Club, which also cut down trees and loaned equipment to the volunteers readying Pine Meadow for the competition.
Amie added, “I just need to give a shout out to the Gladstone Equestrian Association and all the people that are on it, and also all of the volunteers who help. Without them, none of this would happen.”
Kate Pantelione and Addalittlespice were pretty in pink.( Photo © 2025 by Nancy Jaffer)
Shelly Temple, president of the ground jury, believes it’s important for the GEA driving trials to continue.
“The history of this place is incredible. We’ve all competed here every year. The obstacles are still very workable. I think it’s a great show. You have a lot of dedicated people who want to keep it going, a good group to bring it forward and they’re getting sponsors, so I think there’s a lot of potential. There’s a lot possible here. There were new competitors, I didn’t know a lot of them; a lot of young people were here, which I love.”
But she added, “more people need to step up and help this crowd that has kept it going. It’s very important for our sport.”
Competitors’ horses were able to stay in the historic USET stable, elegant with its tile floors and polished brass.
“That’s a great benefit to showing here,” mentioned Shelly, a 2007 team bronze medalist in the World Pony Driving Championships.
Another judge, Lisa Singer, was equally as enthusiastic.
Lisa Singer on the job. (Photo © 2025 by Nancy Jaffer)
She was National Pairs Champion nine times and a member of the U.S. team at eight World Pair Championships. Lisa no longer drives competitively, but teaches, trains, runs shows, gives clinics and designs courses.
Looking at the roster of competitors on her clipboard, she said, “What was neat was that I only knew three people on this list. There’s a lot of new people, a lot of young people coming. That’s awesome.”
Click here for Horse Trial results. Click here for Combined Test results.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 19, 2025
Centenary University’s Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association team did it again.
For 35 years, the team has won the organization’s High Point Hunt Seat Equestrian Championship, which is determined by the total number of points teams accumulated throughout the season. The record had largely gone unnoticed until equestrian historian Steve Maxwell contacted team coach Michael Dowling last month.“Steve is very familiar with our team and our program,” said Michael, who co-coaches the University’s IHSA team with Heather Clark.
“He reached out to share his research showing that we had won the championship for 35 consecutive years, and how very impressed he is with our team and our program. Steve knows his stuff — he attends zones and nationals almost every year — and his data is very accurate.”
The IHSA team competes in approximately eight horse shows per season to accrue points for the Highpoint Hunt Seat team score, while riders also earn points to advance individually to zones and nationals. This year, Centenary was the Zone 3 champion, with Caroline Mancini winning USHJA/High-Point Hunter Seat Rider. The team took third at IHSA National Championships May 2-4 at Tryon International Equestrian Center in North Carolina, placing behind Purdue University and Sacred Heart University.
“What makes this special is that Purdue and Sacred Heart are both D1 schools with significant resources,” noted Centenary President Dr. Dale Caldwell.
“Incredibly, small D3 Centenary beat national athletic powerhouses Stanford University and the University of Southern California. This is a testament to the dedication of Centenary’s riders, coaches, and equestrian faculty. Their hard work has made Centenary one of the nation’s best competitive and academic equestrian programs in the nation.”
In addition to the IHSA team, Centenary hosts an International Dressage Association squad, and just completed the inaugural season of a new NCEA team, which competes through the NCAA. In addition, the University’s Equine Studies Department offers academic major, minor, and certificate programs that involve students in daily operations at the Centenary University Equestrian Center in Long Valley.
“At a larger university, students may have a riding lesson a couple of times a week,” Michael said. “But at Centenary, our students spend most of their downtime at the Equestrian Center, helping to care for and rehab the horses. Here, they become comfortable riding unfamiliar horses — which they often must do in competition — so they’re very prepared. Our students also have a lot of exposure to additional riding opportunities and trainers that may not be available at other universities.”
Heather Clark cited the professional experience of the University’s faculty and coaches as a contributing factor to the program’s extraordinary long-term success: “We’re all very invested in cultivating our students and helping them to reach their goals. Professionally, we’re active members of the equine field. For instance, Michael and I both have our own training facilities and our resident veterinarian, Jesslyn Bryk-Lucy, DVM, has her own practice. Other faculty are stewards and judges. We have such deep faculty expertise and are all committed to developing Centenary riders, competitively and academically.”
“Cultivating young professionals is really what Centenary is all about,” agreed Kelly Munz, chair of the Equine Studies Department, noting that undergraduates routinely encounter between 20 and 30 working alumni at horse shows around the country.
“While we welcome successful junior riders, we’re just as interested in developing the talents and passions of riders of all abilities. When we traveled to nationals in May, we transported between 14 and 18 of our horses to the competition. It’s a major effort that will provide amazing professional experience, not just for our competing riders, but also for those students who will be caring for and schooling the horses. This is very much a team effort.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 21, 2025
Olympic dressage and World Championships team medalist Steffen Peters is offering a two-day clinic June 7 and 8 at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation in Gladstone, N.J.
Auditors can enjoy the rare opportunity to learn from the former World Cup champion for a fee of $60 per day. One of the USA’s most decorated competitors and a mainstay of its team for nearly three decades, Steffen is known for his supportive teaching style as he offers instruction on the ways for horse and rider to improve their performance.
Steffen Peters at the FEI Dressage World Cup Finals in 2023. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Lidiya Frumova, who is organizing the sessions, noted that Steffen does only a few audited clinics annually. So the amateur trainer noted proudly how happy she is that he agreed to come from the other side of the country for the occasion.
There is a waiting list for participants, who are eager to ride in front of Steffen. However, as Lidiya noted, just being able to audit the clinic with the California-based rider is a valuable learning opportunity. Steffen will work for an hour with each rider, who range from First Level to Grand Prix.
Vendors will be on site with wares including boots, saddles and apparel.
To register, contact Lidiya at frumoval@gmail.com
by Nancy Jaffer | May 11, 2025
What do you call a horse who has never toppled a rail in the show jumping phase of eventing?
You call it Lordships Graffalo, who won his second Badminton (the first was in 2023) on Sunday with a clear trip over the painted poles to move up from second to first and set a record. No other horse has won Badminton twice with a year’s gap in between.
Ros did it without her trainer and friend Caroline Moore, who died of cancer in March. That made the winning moment doubly emotional.
Ros Canter and Lordships Graffalo in triumph. (Photo courtesy Badminton Horse Trials)
The leader after dressage and cross-country, 2024 Kentucky 5-star winner Cooley Rosalent, had a single rail down to drop her to second place. Her rider, Oliver Townend, has been second five times in the British 5-star. He had a close call in the morning when she was held in the horse inspection, but then permitted to compete. His other horse, Ballaghmor Class, also was held but did not return for re-inspection.
Third went to Ireland’s Austin O’Connor on the 2024 Maryland 5-star winner, Colorado Blue.
World Champion Yasmin Ingham, fourteenth after cross-country, withdrew Rehy DJ before the final horse inspection.
Click here for results.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 6, 2025
The U.S. can claim the top riders on both the FEI show jumping and eventing ranking lists.
Kent Farrington just took the first place ranking on the Longines show jumping roster, succeeding Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann, who held the spot for a record number of months, since August 2022. It is Kent’s second time as number one; he also was in that position in 2017.
Henrik is now third, behind Great Britain’s 2021 Olympic individual gold medalist, Ben Maher. McLain Ward is the second-highest ranking American, in eighth place.
Kent Farrington on Greya. (Photo © 2025 by Nancy Jaffer)
A few days ago, Boyd Martin was named number one for eventing. While he is the most visible U.S. eventer with a huge social media presence, Boyd Martin was only number two on the FEI world ranking list. That is, until Thursday. With the new month, he becomes the first American to make the top spot on that roster since Kim Severson did it 21 years ago.
Boyd, with three horses in the top 10 of last weekend’s 5-star Defender Kentucky event, called his elevation, “a huge honor and privilege to be named the number one rider in the world in eventing. It’s a goal I’ve been chasing for decades now. Many of my idols, who are champions in the sport and riders I’ve always tried to emulate, have accomplished this honor at some point in their careers.”
You can’t miss the trademark look of determination on the face of Boyd Martin aboard Commando 3. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)
Boyd added, “It’s really a humbling moment, and even though it’s my name on the list, I would not have been able to do it without the incredible horses and owners, as well as my dedicated team working day in and out in the stable. Lastly, to share this with my wife and kids, who have been with me on this journey every single day from the very beginning, is really special.”
While Boyd’s promotion is good news for U.S. eventing, the bad news is that you have to go down to number 30 to find the next-highest ranked U.S. rider, Jennie Branningan. Since one person does not make a team, U.S. eventers have some hard work ahead of them. But now they have some inspiration.
The Para Dressage ranks also include a number one standing for the U.S., in Fiona Howard and Kate Shoemaker is number four as the country continues to excel and show the world how it’s done in that discipline.
In Grand Prix dressage, however, the U.S. wasn’t even in the top 10. The country had only one rider in the top 20, Adrienne Lyle, who is nineteenth. Next-highest is Anna Marek, twenty-seventh. Denmark’s Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour continues to lead the standings, with World Cup champ Lottie Fry of Great Britain moving up to second, passing Germany’s Isabell Werth.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 29, 2025
Lana duPont Wright, who made history as the first female eventer to ride in the Olympics, died at her home in Chesapeake City, Md., last week. She was 85.
Olympic eventing, which had been contested by U.S. military teams through 1948, was still limited to male participants until 1964. That was when Lana, who grew up in a foxhunting family, became part of the U.S. silver medal squad at the Tokyo Games. Demonstrating her grit and determination, she continued on the demanding cross-country course despite having two falls. (In those days, you were allowed to remount and continue after hitting the ground.)
“It was quite an honor to have been part of such a successful team,” she recounted, “particularly since it opened the avenues for many other woman participants in the Olympic three-day event thereafter.”
Lana duPont Wright in her eventing days.
When Lana switched disciplines, she went on to earn another historic medal as part of the 1991 U.S. pairs driving team, the first to take gold at a world championships.But her riding career wasn’t over. She competed in endurance and rode in the Pan American Endurance Championships. The endurance aspect was one Lana was passionate about in both eventing and driving, so it was a natural progression. She also continued foxhunting, which was the sport that gave her the basics of her career in her youth.
In 2012, she was inducted into the U.S. Eventing Association Hall of Fame. Three years later, she received the U. S. Equestrian Federation’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Lana Wright competing in the marathon at Fair Hill in 2013. Photo © 2013 by Nancy Jaffer
Lana shared her love of horses and knowledge with young riders through the U.S. Pony Club. She also served as co-president of the Fair Hill International board (along with the late Trish Gilbert) in Maryland for decades.
She is survived by her daughter Lucy Dunne (Michael) of Vermont and her grandchildren Wright Morris,, Beale Dunne and Ridgely Dunne. She was predeceased by her parents, Richard and Allaire duPont; her brother, Richard duPont Jr, her husband, Dr. William Wright and daughter Beale Morris.
A celebration of Lana’s life will be held Thursday, May 1 at 11 a.m. at St. Augustine Church, 310 and Mitton Road, Chesapeake City, MD. The burial will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Fair Hill International Inc., and sent in care of R.T. Foard Funeral Home, P.A., P.O. Box 248 Rising Sun, MD 21911.
