by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 17, 2024
Those non-riding days present a good opportunity to clean out the tack room. Collect your unneeded items and donate them to Mane Stream (adaptive riding and therapy services), which is seeking donations of horse-related items for its Nov. 17 tack sale in Oldwick.
Mane Stream has a contactless drop-off for unwanted bridles, saddles, blankets, tack boxes as well as out-grown boots, breeches, jackets, and any horse-related jewelry, models or knick-knacks. Donations support Mane Stream;s mission to improve the quality of life for children and adults with physical, developmental, emotional and medical challenges through a diverse program of equine assisted activities, therapy services and educational initiatives.
This event is an important part of the yearly fundraising plan with all proceeds to benefit Mane Stream’s horses, adaptive riding program, therapy services and other equine assisted programs including “Horses for Healing: Cancer and Parkinson’s Disease”.
All donations can be dropped off at the stable at 83 Old Turnpike Rd. Oldwick during office hours. If you would like to make a donation or have any questions, contact Alex Willard at alex@manestreamnj.org, 908-439-9636 or visit www.ManeStreamNJ.org.
Want to learn more about Mane Stream?
Come to its open house March 23 from 12-2 p.m. You can get an in-depth look at therapy services, as well as a free program called Horses for Healing, geared to people living with Cancer and Parkinson’s Disease. Several openings are available for therapy services and the upcoming Horses for Healing program, which starts in April.
Meet the staff, take a tour of the facility and learn about the physical and emotional advantages of interacting with horses.
Bring a pair of shoes to help Mane Stream keep shoes out of landfills, provide affordable footwear to people in developing nations and raise funds for farrier costs for the Mane Stream herd.
If you know someone who might benefit from one of the programs Mane Stream offers, be sure to let them know about the open house and encourage them to visit.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 24, 2024
Will the Wellington, Florida, Village Council vote this week on whether land should be taken out of the Equestrian Preserve for the first time, as part of a trade-off around expanding the cramped Wellington International showgrounds?
The answer was still unclear following Tuesday night’s “second reading” of an ordinance that would remove 96-plus acres from the protection of the Preserve designation, so housing and various non-equestrian sports amenities could be built by Wellington Lifestyle Partners at their Wellington North project. The community adjacent to a golf course would be constructed on what is now the site of the Adequan Global Dressage Festival and nearby property.
In turn, acreage contiguous to the showgrounds a short distance away at WLP’s Wellington South project would be rezoned from residential to equestrian commercial for expansion of the facility that would accommodate dressage competition, as well as hunters and jumpers. WLP would pay for new facilities that would include a 3,000 seat international ring, a covered arena, a new derby field, 220 permanent stalls and 272 temporary stalls.
Beginning in June, there have been 45 hours of public debate and discussion on the development issues by the Village’s Equestrian Preserve Committee, the Planning Zoning and Adjustment Board and the five-member council, with more meetings scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
To remove land from the Preserve, a super-majority of four of the five council members would have to vote in favor. They did that on “first reading” of the ordinance in November, but since then, a group opposed to removing the land started a recall petition against all the council members except Vice Mayor Michael Napoleone, the only one who voted against the move.
The Adequan Global Dressage Festival grounds.
(Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
The recall group also is highlighting contributions council members received from entities related to the development, asking why those who got such money did not recuse themselves from the vote.
Feelings run high about the land deal. Equestrians who feel betrayed at the prospect of losing property from the Preserve, which includes 9,000 acres Village-wide, showed up at the meeting wearing their signature “Vote No” and “Horses Not Houses” red T-shirts. More than 8,000 people have signed a petition against taking land from the Preserve.
Others who spoke during the packed meeting contended removing land from the Preserve is worth it if that affords more space for the show in the “Winter Equestrian Capital of the World” to expand and compete with new venues in Ocala to the north and the Sarasota area to the west.
Global Equestrian Group, the owner of the Wellington International showgrounds, is part of Waterland Private Equity, which has put the showgrounds up for sale. Wellington International holds all the licenses for the hunter/jumper shows at the home of the Winter Equestrian Festival, while Mark Bellisimo holds all but one of the dressage licenses for the Global Dressage Festival.
John Ingram, a businessman and Wellington farm owner who spoke Tuesday night, said “the horse show needs to grow and expand. What I see has been proposed here is a practical solution that would be good for the equestrian community and the overall Village. If we mess around and don’t take advantage of this unique opportunity, I think we stand a very strong chance of waking up in five to 10 years and finding Ocala, Thermal (Calif.) or somewhere else has taken over the top destination spot.”
The best horses and riders from the U.S., Europe and Latin America are “what gives Wellington the aura it has.” He said if they don’t come because the facilities are lacking, property values will fall, leading to a lower quality of life for residents.
In 2017, Ingram led a successful effort to bring major league soccer to Nashville, Tenn., an initiative that has been “wildly successful.”
Along those lines, he pointed out that “opportunities come when they come…I see this current moment as a really important one and if we don’t take advantage, we will dramatically affect the future of the whole Village.”
He warned that if the opportunity is missed, the Wellington South land that could be used for showgrounds expansion will be developed with houses.
The whole development situation has become ever-more complicated, with its parameters, costs and numbers changing many times, making it difficult to follow or understand for many observers, who also are concerned about traffic and environmental issues.
There are a variety of conditions attached to the process of Wellington North and South approval. The most important measure is Condition 7, which keeps dressage at its current location until the expanded showgrounds is finished and dressage can move there, with a deadline of Dec. 31, 2028. Until that happens, no houses would be built at Wellington North.
A late starter was Condition 12, which calls for WLP to give the Village 55 acres of a former golf course (land WLP doesn’t own, but which is under contract) for use as a public park a few miles from Wellington North. The developer also would pay $2 million for improvements, while having the right to remove up to 30 percent of the land area for fill.
Andrew Carduner, a homeowner in the Village’s venerable Palm Beach Polo community, called the park an “obfuscation,” while emphasizing that the “equestrian community is the lifeblood of Wellington.”
Doug McMahon, the CEO of WLP and co-founder of luxury developer Nexus, said plans for development in Wellington have been modified to make them better, a process that “has been hard and been passionate” resulting in a request for 201 residences at Wellington North. (The neighboring Coach House property, which is not in the Preserve, already has been approved for 50 residences.)
Doug McMahon of WLP.
If Wellington North is not approved, six homes can still be built on the Equestrian Preserve and White Birch properties, along with a number of businesses, such as a riding school or offices. There is no requirement for the landowner to present dressage shows.
The developer has cut back on the number of housing units it seeks at both North and South, while McMahon said the project has improved as a result of the input received from residents by WLP.
He reminded those in attendance that “none of these lands are public lands” unlike national parks such as Yellowstone.
But Maureen Brennan, a leader of the recall movement, said of the Preserve “this is our Yellowstone.”
Although she suggested that the homes on Wellington North might become timeshares, renting to people who are not part of the community, similar to a Nexus project in the Bahamas, McMahon said in Wellington “we’re not doing residence clubs.”
Maureen Brennan at the podium.
He maintained the “vast majority” of the homes would be primary residences. A club model, he said, is based on real estate sales initially, a joining fee and annual dues that would allow the club community to be maintained. He noted WLP would have nothing to do with running the horse show.
The development saga has been running since the summer of 2022, when Bellissimo proposed “The Estates at Equestrian Village” project on the dressage showgrounds as part of his “Wellington 3.0 project.” Bellissimo, who took over the Winter Equestrian Festival in 2007, built the dressage showgrounds in 2012, but has lost the trust of some in Wellington with projects presented by his ownership group of Wellington Equestrian Partners over the years.
The Estates project was withdrawn and replaced last year with Wellington North and South, and WLP became the entity presenting it. Bellissimo stepped back as a principal of WLP in favor of McMahon as point man and has not been heard from at the meetings on Wellington North and South. His daughter, Paige, is WLP’s executive vice president.
The speakers Tuesday included Cynthia Gardner, who opened the first stable in Wellington in 1977 and was the first chairman of the equestrian committee. She recounted some history, saying the committee was asked to create an Equestrian Overlay District (the Preserve) “so we would never have to worry about the protection and preservation” of the Village’s equestrian properties. “The highest and best use of property in the Equestrian Preserve is not for housing development.”
She warned that encroachment could wind up with formerly equestrian properties being developed along the lines of what happened to Royal Palm Polo in Boca Raton, south of Wellington, where 10 polo fields became housing.
Land use attorney Harvey Oyer, representing the prominent Jacobs family, said that while his clients originally had a “cautiously neutral view” of the development proposal when he spoke during a meeting last year, “the family remembers well the history of past failed promises by other developers over the years.”
The Jacobs, whose Deeridge Farms is on Pierson Road, are among a group of landowners within 500 feet of Wellington North who should have the right to enforce the covenant of what can be done by the developers, Oyer said, and “not just hope that some future Village Council will do so, because we are the ones adversely affected.”
Part of the arrangement sought by the Jacobs would involve the Village manager making an annual inspection of the progress of work on the expanded showgrounds and reporting it on the Village website “so we all know what is going on there.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 3, 2024
John Nicholson, the former executive director of the Kentucky Horse Park, next month will succeed Michael Blowen as president and CEO of Old Friends, the thoroughbred racehorse retirement operation.
John ran the Horse Park in Lexington from 1997 to 2014. It hosted the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in 2010, the first WEG to be held outside of Europe. He went on to become CEO of the Virginia Horse Center from 2015-2021.
Old Friends, with its main campus in Georgetown, Ky., near Lexington, began with Michael and his wife, Diane White taking a golf cart around to feed the horses in a low-key operation. On its 20th anniversary, it is now a multi-million dollar corporation on 240 acres with 300 horses.
It also has two satellite campuses; Old Friends at Cabin Creek: The Bobby Frankel Division, which opened in 2009 in Greenfield Center, N.Y., and Old Friends at Ashton Grove, a senior retirement community in Georgetown, where senior citizen humans can interact with senior citizen horses.
Michael Blowen and John Nicholson with Old Friends’ resident Red Knight.
“I started looking a couple of years ago for someone to take over as president,” said Michael.
“The most important thing I was looking for was someone that really, really, put the horses first. It’s not like they’d just be saying it, but that they really have to think about the horses first.
“Then maybe about six months ago,” Michael continued, “I ran into John and we started talking, and I said to him, ‘You know, I’m really looking for somebody to take over Old Friends because I’ve really taken it as far as I can take it. It needs a really good CEO that has managed a much bigger facility than we have, and the only way that we can improve is to get more space for more horses, which means more money, more donations, and an executive CEO that knows how to handle big business.’ ”
After 1986 Kentucky Derby winner Ferdinand was sent to slaughter in Japan, where he had stood at stud, Old Friends, along with help from some others, became the first organization to repatriate Thoroughbreds from Japan to the United States. The first two horses to arrive home were Sunshine Forever and Creator.
Since then, six more Thoroughbreds – Fraise, Ogygian, Wallenda, Silver Charm, War Emblem, and Charismatic – were repatriated to the United States from Japan thanks to the efforts of Michael and Old Friends.
Old Friends has also repatriated a horse from Italy, Geri, and in 2022, he opened the door to returning horses from South Korea with the arrival of Any Given Saturday.
John noted, “I have always had a deeply felt respect and appreciation for Michael’s vision and tenacity. What he has accomplished is beyond remarkable. I have treasured our friendship over the years, especially having had a great collaborative relationship between Old Friends and the Kentucky Horse Park. He and I have always shared a spirit that the horse has given far more to us than we could ever give in return.
“Old Friends is making an important and vital contribution, not only to the racing industry, but most importantly to the lives of the horses who have given so much to us. I have been fortunate in my career to be a part of some meaningful endeavors, but Old Friends offers all of us who love the horse a unique opportunity to serve the animal who has served us so well.
“It is also very gratifying and reassuring that Michael will remain a part of the daily world of Old Friends as the founder. We are blessed that he is in good health and his passion for the mission of Old Friends is undiminished. I plan to sit at his knee in the weeks and months ahead to listen and learn. I know for certain that working with him and the Old Friends team will be exhilarating and rewarding.
“And, at this stage of my life and career, having had much experience in the equine, tourism, and non-profit worlds, I believe I am in a position to help assure that Old Friends will remain a strong and viable force for all the good things it does for decades and generations to come.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 15, 2024
McLain Ward accepted the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s International Equestrian of the Year title and the International Horse of the Year title for stellar jumper HH Azur this weekend during the organization’s annual meeting in Louisville, Ky., while John French took the National Equestrian title and the trophy for Paradigm, the hunter who took National Horse of the Year.
The awards were voted on by USEF membership. Although standouts from a wide range of breeds and disciplines were nominated for the honors, the winners were not surprising, considering not only their accomplishments, but also the fact that hunter/jumper members are the biggest component of the federation.
McLain, who also was International Equestrian of the Year in 2017, rode 11 horses at the international level during 2023.
At the beginning of the season, he won the Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva and the Rolex Grand Prix of ‘s-Hertogenbosch at the Dutch Masters with HH Azur, better known as Annie. She is owned by McLain and DoubleH Farm. They were only the second combination ever to win two consecutive legs of the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping since its inception in 2013.
McLain Ward and HH Azur. (Photo © 2017 by Nancy Jaffer)
Annie, McLain’s ride for victory in the 2017 Longines FEI World Cup finals, retired after Aachen, but Ward kept going. He helped the NetJets U.S. Jumping Team to a win in the FEI Jumping Nations Cup in San Juan Capistrano aboard Contagious and secured another victory in the Grand Prix aboard Kasper van het Hellehof. He rode Callas to a top result for the team in the Mercedes-Benz Jumping Nations Cup at CHIO Aachen, followed by another strong performance for the pair at the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final in Barcelona.
He rode Contagious in the Pan American Games,helping the team secure the USA’s qualification for the Paris Olympics with a team gold, and earned individual bronze as well.
“We are very honored to receive this award because it is chosen by our US Equestrian community. It is a reflection of our team’s hard work, and how that work is having a positive impact,” said Mclain in his acceptance.
“You might ask why I started this speech with the word `we’ instead of `I’. The reality is that [it is] because of the individuals and professionals around me, both past and present, that any of our accomplishments have been possible. The people around me have been some of the most brilliant and knowledgeable minds who have not only been the reason for that success in the sport, but have also, more importantly, made sure our horses have had a wonderful quality of life because of the care they receive.”
He gave special acknowledgement to his associate of more than 35 years, Lee McKeever.
“My first thought was that I was not truly the horseman behind our success,” said McLain.
“My job in this operation has always been to ride, train, and compete, but Lee is the true horseman,” McLain contended.
“I believe that true geniuses don’t often realize they are a genius, and that is true for Lee. He wakes up every morning thinking about the horses, and he spends his days figuring out what they need to be the best in the sport and, much more importantly, in their lives.”
John French added the National Horse and Horseman trophies to a resume that already included a long list of achievements, among them the 2012 WCHR Lifetime Achievement Award and a place in the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame.
In 2023, John won three major events on three different horses, all of whose hunter careers he started himself. He added to his list of career successes by topping a field of 83 competitors to win the Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Rolex Stadium with Meredith Lipke’s Paradigm.
John French and Paradigm.
He also won the $100,000 WCHR Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular on Kent Farrington LLC’s Milagro and the $25,000 WCHR Professional Challenge on Marnell Sport Horses’s Babylon — his third consecutive WCHR Pro Challenge win. He also received the inaugural Jeff Wirthman Memorial Trophy as the Winter Equestrian Festival’s Leading Hunter Trainer by money won in 2023.
“I would like to really thank Kent Farrington,” John told his audience, “because four years ago, I pretty much thought I was going to wind down. I don’t think I would have had the success without the team that I have. I couldn’t do this on my own and I don’t see myself doing it on my own. These last few years with having a team and having someone like Kent; hopefully, now maybe I can go on for several more years. I really hope so.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 10, 2024
The beginning of the winter dressage circuit every year is a time for change, but this season it seems an unusual number of high-level horses are switching owners.
The most recent on that list is Serenade MF (Sir Donnerhall/Duet MF X Don Principe). The mare, known fondly as “Shrimp” for her relatively diminutive size, was bought by Jessica Howington. The 11-year-old Hanoverian was ridden in the 2023 FEI World Cup Finals by Alice Tarjan, who raised her from a foal.
The timing was right, as Jessica just retired her Grand Prix horse, Cavalia, this month. She has ridden Shrimp only 10 times, but sees similarities between her and Cavalia, particularly the fact that both are by Sir Donnerhall.
“I’m really excited for them. I think it’s a great match,” Alice said about Shrimp going to Jessica.
“It will be fun to cheer them on.”
Alice Tarjan and Serenade MF. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)
Alice has plenty of other horses to keep her busy, including Jane, who had nine victories in a row in a variety of Intermediate competitions between October 2022 and October 2023. She will be looking to give Jane more ring time this season.
So what are Jessica’s plans with her new horse, bred in North Carolina by Maryanna Haymon?
“I have no idea,” admitted Jessica, who is based in Ocala but is spending the winter at Rowan O’Riley’s farm in White Fences, near Wellington, which means she is right down the road from Alice’s winter quarters. She is training with Charlotte Bredahl, who is serving as the U.S. developing rider coach until April 1.
Serenade MF enjoying a victory during Dressage at Devon with Alice Tarjan. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)
“In a perfect world, of course, I’d like to say I’m going to do the grands prix and go for Paris,” noted Jessica, referring to this summer’s Olympics.
“But this is a brand new relationship and I don’t want to put too much pressure on her or myself,” she explained in discussing her future with Shrimp.
“I want to just be able to take my time with her and build a relationship on that, so when we do go out for the first time, it’s a really good, positive experience and build from there. I need a few more rides under my belt with her before I make any major decisions.”
“Ideally,” Jessica continued, “I would like to get her in the CDI arena this season, if the relationship is good.
Andrea Woodard, with whom Jessica has trained, had learned Shrimp was for sale and shared the news.
“That’s how I heard about her, so of course, I went to try her,” said Jessica,
It was love at first ride.
“I got on and the second I picked up the trot I was like, `Yup, this feels exactly how I want it to feel.’ It did give me a lot of the same feeling as when I sat on Cavalia.”
Jessica Howington and Shrimp. (Photo courtesy Jessica Howington)
That mare has two foals by embryo transplant, and Jessica would like a few more, but she won’t risk having 17-year-old Cavalia carry a foal herself.
Jessica is a professional horsewoman with several other mounts. One is Lordswood Bernstein (known as Bagel), a six-year-old KWPN breeding stallion she’s had since he was a three-year-old. Like Alice, she buys horses young and trains them herself. She is hoping Bagel will compete at Third Level in Wellington.
She also owns MW Marcario (nicknamed Miso), a seven-year-old Oldenburg who is competing at Prix St. Georges.
But there is more in Jessica’s life than horses. The 44-year-old Emory University graduate, a native of Georgia, is a nurse practitioner who is active in her profession. While in Wellington, she is able to use telehealth to serve patients, and is dealing with those on hospice and palliative care.
She balances it all gracefully, and with appreciation.
“I am very grateful to have this opportunity with Shrimp. I feel very fortunate, and a huge part of that I owe to my parents, Melanie and King Howington, for helping me follow my dreams with her.”
To read about other recent changes in dressage horse ownership, click on this link, and look at the second feature on this website. Also check out the article on Heidi Humphries in the On the Rail section of this site.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 13, 2024
There were some sentimental moments Saturday night before the first show jumping grand prix of the season at WEF, as veteran campaigner Mark Q was retired at the age of 22.
Kevin Babington took a joyful victory gallop at Devon after winning the grand prix in 2016. (Photo © 2016 by Nancy Jaffer)
Mark Q (Obos Quality X Abbey Emerald) is best known as the mount of Ireland’s Kevin Babington, whose victories with him included Devon, Lake Placid and Wellington. The bay gelding, bred in Ireland by Barbara and John Walshe, came to Kevin as an eight-year-old and they were a special match through a long career.
In 2019, Kevin suffered a fall with another horse in competition that left him paralyzed from the chest down. His teenage daughter, Gwyneth, took over the ride on Mark Q and gained valuable experience in 2- and 3-star classes.
Kevin Babington with his wife, Dianna, daughter Gwyneth and Mark Q at the horse’s retirement ceremony.
As Gwyneth rode Mark Q under the Wellington International arch, Kevin and his wife, Dianna, were on hand for the retirement ceremony in the center of the arena before a packed house in Wellington, Fla. They were joined by their other daughter, Marielle, and several supporters. Mark Q will live a life of leisure on their farm in Loxahatchee, Fla.
Tribute was also paid to Alan Chesler, an avid rider and an important figure behind the scenes in the world of show jumping.
