by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 30, 2026
Nina Bonnie, a pillar of the Kentucky Horse Park who served as its chairman and founded the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation in 1985, was voted into this year’s class of the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame. She was a foxhunter and also highly successful with hunters in the show ring.
The others selected by voters are California hunter/jumper trainer Archie Cox, who is also a steward, judge and clinician, and New Yorker Andre Dignelli, perhaps best known for his successful equitation students, but also skilled in training hunters and jumpers. He won the U.S. Equestrian Team Talent Search finals, and was a Pan American Games medalist.
The historical committee voted to induct the Rigan and Frances McKinney family of Lexington. Ky. The two horse inductees are Catch Me and Lone Star. The Horse Show Of The Year is Devon and the Derby Of The Year is Derby Finals.
The Hall of Fame dinner is May 27 at the Merion, Pa., Cricket Club.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 28, 2026
Canada’s longtime show jumping Olympic medalist and chef d’equipe, Tom Gayford, died over the weekend at age 97.
He rode on Canadian teams for nearly 30 years, beginning in the 1940s until the 1970s. At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, he was on the show jumping squad that won Canada’s first gold medal in the sport’s most important competition.
Ten years later, he became the Canadian team’s chef d’equipe, continuing in that role until 1996. He was inducted into both Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, as well as the Jump Canada Hall of Fame, as both a coach and rider.
Michel Vaillancourt, a former Canadian team member and 1976 Olympic individual silver medalist now best known as a course designer, offered this tribute:
“Coach Tom, as we called him, was the chef d’equipe when I came on the scene in the mid-’70s. I will always remember the way he embraced me as a newcomer. He was always willing to share his knowledge with anyone who cared to listen. We certainty had great successes together, including the Pan Ams in 1975 and 1979, many indoors, Olympic and the alternate games in 1980, where as a team, we won the gold.
“All of us riders had tremendous respect for the man. To me, he was a legend, someone I looked up to. Tommy and his dear friend, Jimmy Elder, who was my captain for most of my team appearances, had a unique way of creating a bond between us. Tommy understood the importance of team spirit. All for one and one for all was the motto.
“Tommy was my coach for most of my biggest riding accomplishments, and I am proud and honored to say he was a close friend of mine. RIP my dear friend, I’ll see you on the other side.”
Visitation will be Friday May 1 from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. at the Humphrey Funeral Home, 1403 Bayview Ave., Toronto. Everyone is invited to attend and bring their photos and stories.
A private family funeral will be held at a later date.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 26, 2026
Moments after winning the Defender Kentucky 5-Star Three-Day Event on Diabolo Sunday afternoon, Will Coleman said “I wake up most days and I feel like a pretty lucky guy, but I feel extraordinarily blessed today, not just for this horse, but for the opportunity to ride here at this event and to represent all the people who made something like this happen for a rider like myself.”
Still a bit stunned at how his efforts of many years paid off in big way before a stadium packed with thousands of fans, he observed, “It’s an incredible moment, I’ve dreamed about it, but now that it’s here, it still feels a little bit surreal. Today, I feel a little bit extra lucky, I guess.”
Will obviously is humble as well as hard-working, so it’s important to emphasize it was more than luck that earned him the top honor at the USA’s only 5-star eventing competition this year. The key ingredients were skill, dedication and determination to achieve something that – in hindsight — seemed destined to be. At some point.
He had been hovering on the brink of victory with Diabolo, who was competing in his first 5-Star. Will describes the mount he imported from Australia three years ago as a horse who “has a real conscience. I always feel like Diabolo wants to do his best.”
That gives Will “tremendous peace of mind, knowing he will come in and really try for you.”
The pairing wasn’t quite fault-free in the show jumping that wrapped up the competition at the Kentucky Horse, adding 0.8 time penalties over the Guilherme Jorge-designed course to their dressage score of 27.3 penalties, which had held up through a double-clear trip on cross-country.
As he left the Rolex arena, with a score of 28.1 penalties, Will took his feet out of the stirrups and seemed relaxed, despite waiting to see how things would go for the leader in the standings, New Zealand’s Monica Spencer on Artist.
She had been in the same position last October at the Maryland 5-Star, but had two rails down in show jumping there, which put her in second place at that competition.
This time, it didn’t go as well. She enjoyed only a one-rail margin and the option of a time penalty or two over Will, but in the end, she didn’t come close to the podium. Her “spare” fence vanished at the fourth obstacle, the horsehead oxer, and it was downhill from there, with toppled poles at the liverpool and the B element of the triple combination. She wound up seventh with 36.7 penalties on her thoroughbred, a star in dressage and cross-country. Show jumping needs work.
Will got not only a sterling silver trophy, but also the $130,000 victor’s share of the $400,000 prize money as the payoff for his faith in Diabolo.
“I knew he’d get there, his route was unique,” mused Will, noting his last 4-Star Long was two years ago.
He and his wife, Katie; the horse’s owners “and all people involved all had a high opinion of this horse and felt like he had a high ceiling,” Will reported.
“He struck me as a winner the first time I laid eyes on him. The horse has a real eagerness to him.”
Will knew he was capable of big things “if we could channel it the right way.”
There were many disappointments along that way, not the least of which was the possibility of being on the 2024 Olympic team which didn’t happen when the horse came up with a hoof abcess before the Games. Obviously, they bounced back.
“Every time I’ve been in a rough patch, I’ve always found a way to become a better person and a better horseman,” said Will. “Those kind of down spells have been what helped me become a better version of myself. I always look back on those with a tremendous amount of gratitude.”
He also observed that “Winning a 5 -Star is one of the hardest things to do, if not the hardest, in equestrian sports. I feel like we all deserve the win.”
Just as the weekend’s 4-Star Short winner Tamie Smith enjoyed a unique double, also having been victorious in the 5-star in 2023, Will achieved a similar feat but with the same horse. Diabolo took the 4-star in 2024, while Tamie rode two different horses to her record. So we had a double-double at this event. (Read about the 4-star at this link, or go to the second feature on this page.) Or depending on how you look at it, we could say Will had a triple at Kentucky, because he won the 4-Star in 2025 as well with Off the Record.
It’s worth noting that prior to Tamie’s win three years ago, the last U.S. rider to take the 5-star at Kentucky was Phillip Dutton on Connaught. in 2008. This year, at age 62, he finished eighth with a double-clear in the show jumping on Possante.
Will had only a half-penalty margin over second-place finisher Caroline Pamukcu, who did make the U.S. Olympic team with HSH Blake, her best friend and the namesake of her baby daughter.
Third place went to Great Britain’s David Doel, like Caroline, double clear in the show jumping. He rode the speedy Galileo Nieuwmoed, who, like Will’s horse, made the time on cross-country. His total was 30.8, so everything was close at the top, with less than a one-rail penalty separating the three best.
Click here for results
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 17, 2026
Kevin L Hennessy, Patricia Diamond Hennessey, Stacy Hennessy and Gerry Rushton are inviting friends and admirers of Judy Hennessey to attend a celebration of life for the late 4-H leader July 26 at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation in Gladstone, N.J.
Everyone who considered Judy a friend or family is invited to the 2:30 p.m. gathering. Organizers need to get a rough count of who will be on hand, so those who are coming should email judycelebrationoflife@aol.com to let organizers know the number of people in their party.
Judy, who died in December at age 89, was a dedicated 4-H leader in Somerset County, N.J., for 45 years, She passed on her knowledge of horse care to so many children who, as a result, grew up learning the right way to do the best for their animals. In 2016, she was named New Jersey Horseperson of the Year.
Judy had a varied work life. She was the first female groom to go overseas with the U.S. Equestrian Team (her favorite team horse was the tall and impressive San Lucas, Frank Chapot’s Pan Am Games medal mount).
The Bridgewater resident helped Jim Wiebe when his saddlery business was in Oldwick, assisted veterinarian Dr. John Walsh and until shortly before she passed away, worked alongside her dog, Mollie, at Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center in Hunterdon County.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 21, 2026
Acting on guidance from the U.S. Equestrian Federation and the Virginia State Veterinarian regarding horses that competed at HITS Culpeper this month, the Virginia Horse Center Foundation Board of Directors and Hunter Jumper Committee decided to cancel their facility’s Lexington Spring Premiere Horse Show.
The panels cited “horse welfare as our top priority—and an abundance of caution guiding every decision. We remain steadfast in prioritizing horses’ safety above all else.
A horse that competed at the Culpeper, Va., show was euthanized after contracting the neurological form of EHV-1. Originally, VHC wanted to ban all horses that competed at Culpeper, but USEF said that was against the rules. So VHC took the cancellation action instead.
Meanwhile, the Lexington Spring Encore Horse Show will be held at VHC in Lexington, Va., as planned with enhanced, industry-leading biosecurity protocols. In partnership with Merck Animal Health, VHC is implementing additional preventative measures designed to support horse health and give exhibitors confidence as we return to competition.
VHC stated, “We look forward to welcoming the community back next week.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 26, 2026
Victory in the Cosequin 4-Star Short was well-deserved for Tamie Smith on Sunday at the Kentucky Horse Park, where she was the lone competitor among 31 starters to go clear in the show jumping phase and clinch the title after leading through every segment of the event.
Tamie Smith and Lillet 3 were elated over their Cosequin 4-Star victory.
The Californian became the only rider ever to win both the 4- and 5-Star on what is known as “The best weekend all year,” having topped the 5-Star in 2023 with the now-retired Mai Baum. Tamie has had only one rail down in 23 show jumping starts with Lillet 3, the lone horse to make the elusive 75-second time allowed on the course designed by Guillherme Jorge in the Rolex Arena.
Tamie didn’t think the time was achievable, but she and her coach, Scott Keach, were inspired to go for it. Then Lillet beat the clock.
“She was super I couldn’t have asked for her to be better, ” said Tamie, who ended on Saturday’s cross-country score of 31.3 penalties. Will Coleman moved up with only 1.6 time penalties on Very Dignified to be second with 37.4 time penalties. Next-best timewise, with only 0.4 penalties against the clock was Mia Farley and Invictus, owned by eventing legends Karen and David O’Connor. Invictus had a 38.3 total.
The show jumping was a milestone for Mia, who often has had trouble in that phase.
“I felt normal today,” said Mia,
“I just decided I wanted to ride the best I could. Sammy answered everything, he jumped really well and high. I was impressed with him. It was also nice to hear myself also answer those questions.”
Of Lillet, Tamie noted, “She didn’t get too tense or tight. She just keeps going from strength to strength she was so rideable and tried her heart out I don’t think she touched a rail, she jumped so well.”
What’s next for Lillet, the Holsteiner who came from Germany more than two years ago as an 8-year-old from Andreas Dibowski?
As Tamie noted about the Kentucky 4-star, “everyone considers it like a 5 (Star) Short (format). She’s already done two four longs (4-Star Longs) so i think she’s ready for a 5-star.”
A 5-star certainly looks like the natural step up for the mare, owned by Molly Duda.
After dressage, Tamie led with the 17-yeer-old Danito, but retired him on the cross-country course Saturday when things didn’t go as planned at the fifteenth fence. But Lillet moved right into the top spot after cross-country to take her stablemate’s place on the leaderboard.
Tamie was emotional when fellow eventer and friend Liz Halliday came out to the ring to present an award to her for being the top-placed U.S. competitor in the 4-Star division.
“We always had this thing, we were going to win medals together on teams,” Tamie recounted wistfully about the 2024 Olympian who suffered a traumatic brain injury in an August 2024 fall in Kentucky and has been dedicated to recovering ever since.
“It really was awesome to see how far she’s come. It’s virtually a miracle,” Tamie said.
Liz already has her sights set on competing in Para Dressage, but as Tamie noted “it’s bittersweet,” thinking what might have been.
Click here for 4-Star results
