The Covid cancellation of their sleepaway riding camp put a big hole in the summer for Charlie Brandy and Maya Green. But like others who have risen to the pandemic challenge instead of stewing about it, the teens found a way to keep busy while giving back.
The girls’ mothers, Carla Komar and Erika Green, worked with them to devise a plan.
“The first thing that came to mind was helping someone with cancer, or helping with Covid,” recalled Erika.
But the girls, who met when they rode at Watchung Stables in Mountainside, said, “We like horses. Why can’t we do something for horses?”
“Then the light clicked,” as Erika put it. The girls and their mothers regularly drive by Mane Stream in Oldwick, so while looking out the car window, they glimpsed the facility’s sign and asked, “Why not that?”
Mane Stream (www.manestreamnj.org) utilizes equine-assisted activities “to improve the quality of life for individuals with physical, developmental, emotional and medical challenges.”
It is a particularly suitable beneficiary because Maya, a 13-year-old seventh grader at the Warren Middle School in Warren Township, has a spinal condition that left her with permanent damage. She started her involvement with horses through therapeutic riding, getting a guiding hand from her stepsister, Jillian Leahy, who was involved with Mane Stream as a volunteer years ago and did a residency in equine therapy as part of her college curriculum.
Charlie, 13, an eighth grader at Columbia Middle School in Berkeley Heights, said she and Maya are hoping to volunteer at Mane Stream when Covid is over. But first, after deciding on the good cause they were going to help, the girls and their mothers had to figure out how to raise money.
“I came up with an idea of selling pet rocks,” chuckled Erika. “Everyone thought that was ridiculous, and I agree. They came up with `Why don’t we make these cool bracelets?’”
Carla, who designs apparel, said, “It came together better than I ever expected. With the packaging and stickers and logo and how the beads look, I think all of us were like, `This is not some kids’ project.’ It came out so professional-looking. We got so excited, which made us work harder on the bracelets.”
The summer version of the multi-colored beaded bracelets, which sell for $12, features a seashell; a gilded mini-horseshoe will sub for the shell in the fall line. So far, sales of the bracelets have yielded $2,000 that the girls will give to Mane Stream. They’re hoping to add another $500 by the end of the summer.
This has been a tough year for Mane Stream because of the Covid. The stable was closed for 12 weeks and the number of clients has been limited since it reopened in June. But whether anyone is riding or not, the horses still have to be fed. Mane Stream can use all the help it can get.
“We’re running at 25 percent capacity but the horses don’t know that, so horses need the same care every day,” said Trish Hegeman, Mane Stream’s executive director.
“I think what’s just amazing is that the girls thought of this themselves and really researched an organization and something that was really meaningful for them. We’re just delighted they found us. The way we think about it, any gift is fantastic. It doesn’t matter the size; it’s somebody thinking about us and wanting to help.”
She explained most clients, aside from independent riders who don’t require a lot of assistance, are unable to come back to Mane Stream at the moment because of Covid.
“We have some people who need a lot of support, and we feel that’s not the safest thing for us right now, putting our volunteers and therapists really close to them for half an hour, 45 minutes at a time.” With that financial crunch, “People who think of something can make a little bit of a difference, pay for shoes, pay for feed,” Trish noted.
The colorful bracelets.
Alanna Flax-Clark, a Paralympic hopeful who is Mane Stream’s special projects manager, has been impressed by Maya and Charlie.
“Their love for the horses and what they’ve done for them personally really shines through,” she said.
“For anyone to bring good out of what’s going on currently and not just sit around the house watching TV all day is wonderful, but for two kids to stand up and say they want to do more to support the community is something even more special,” Alanna pointed out.
“They’re young, but have really thought this entire thing out on their own as to why they want to help during this time of uncertainty and really picked an organization that is connected to a cause that means a lot to them as well. I was just blown away by how they were able to talk about it all, but still be kids at the same time.”
As Carla noted, doing good has paid off in satisfaction while raising money for a special cause.
“It’s been really fun. We all love horses, so it’s made it even more exciting for us. We’ve all taken part in it,” added Carla, who has worked on the packaging.
The bracelets are nicely packaged.
Erika mentioned that everywhere the girls go, they take the bracelets with them and don’t hesitate to fill people in about their project. They approached show jumper Georgina Bloomberg, who has been involved in many good causes, and she told them she would promote the project by posting on social media.
When they meet new prospects, “The best thing is the girls talk about their experience about riding a horse. There’s something therapeutic about being with horses,” commented Erika, who is involved with recruiting. She took on a second job to make sure her daughter could continue to ride.
“I think it’s brought to light there need to be more places like Mane Stream and there has to be lobbying for insurance to cover it,” she stated. Citing the increase in teen suicides, she suggested that if high schools offered riding clubs “I truly think it would make a difference.”
The teens call their project Silly Girlzz after a song they heard on the radio. Their Instagram account is @silly.girlzz and email is silly.girlzz2020@gmail.com, for those who want to order the bracelets. They also are available through Horsemen’s Outlet in Lebanon.
The persistent question of how the USA’s three major fall indoor shows could run during a pandemic-plagued season was answered today: They are going ahead, even though it won’t quite be business as usual in the Covid era.
It’s good news, following cancellation of such major fixtures as Devon, Lake Placid and the Hampton Classic due to the virus.
The 4-star National Horse Show announced it will remain indoors at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena. There has been no announcement from the 4-star Washington International and 3-star Pennsylvania National, but we hear they will be held outdoors at the Bob Thomas Equestrian Center at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa.
Those involved with the shows, which get under way in October, have known for months that holding the fixtures would be a challenge because of Covid restrictions. So they took an innovative approach beginning in May, joining forces as they talked daily, working out a way to stage their fixtures.
There had been speculation that all three of the shows would be held either in Kentucky or at the same location in Florida, minimizing exhibitors’ need to travel, but that didn’t happen.
A three-way solution was precluded because Washington wraps up on the same weekend that the National begins with a group of well-attended equitation classes.
Details about the Penn National and Washington shows are expected next week, since they are still awaiting FEI approval.
As the pandemic ramped up in the spring, it was obvious major changes would be necessary, even for shows that wouldn’t be held until five months later. Washington’s usual venue, the Capital One Center, is not going to be open in October. This was to have been the final year of the show’s contract with the facility. Whether that can be extended to 2021 depends on the schedules of the arena’s basketball and hockey teams, which are not yet set for next year.
Highlights of the National Oct. 23-Nov. 1 include the ASPCA Maclay hunt seat equitation finals, the $50,000 hunter classic and the $213,300 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Lexington, as well as the Hamel Foundation National Horse Show 3’3” Equitation Championship and the Taylor Harris Insurance Services Adult Equitation Championship on its first weekend.
“I would like to commend all of the individuals who have worked tirelessly in recent months with the National Horse Show, to help us come to a decision that is in the best interest of our event,” said National President Jennifer Burger.
“We all kept saying our main goal was to have successful horse shows, and go into 2021 and beyond as stronger organizations.”
She is hoping to have the Taylor Harris VIP area open at Alltech, but noted, “that will come through guidelines of the state. We’re going to do everything we can to have everything we can. The National Horse Show is committed to safety and keeping the integrity of the horse show as intact as possible.”
Things are really revving up at the Horse Park of New Jersey, where this weekend’s horse trials attracted a waiting list of 100, with everyone eager to get back in action after long weeks without competition.
The park conducted a low-key opening from its Covid lockdown with barrel racing earlier this season, but the horse trials are a major league re-entry into the season. The event attracted a field of 31 Advanced entries and plenty of big names in two sections, with Phillip Dutton winning both. He took the A division on his top mount, Z, and the B section with Luke 140.
Z, the Zangersheide gelding who was the number one event horse on the 2018 World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses Rankings, had a 26.10 penalty dressage test, was clean in show jumping and got six time penalties cross-country, where no one made the optimum of 5:57 over Morgan Rowsell’s route.
Luke, a Holsteiner, also won his dressage with a score of 32 penalties, was clean in show jumping and wound up with 10.4 time penalties for cross-country. Phillip’s friend, Boyd Martin, is Luke’s usual rider, but as is too often the case, Boyd was injured so Phillip filled in admirably. Luke’s dressage has been polished by Boyd’s wife, Silva, who specializes in that discipline.
With 92-degree heat predicted for Saturday (though it didn’t materialize) Morgan was careful to insure the course he designed didn’t push the horses and kept everything “at the lower end of the spectrum” in terms of specifications. With the world’s marquee competitions not going forward due to the pandemic, riders have different priorities than they would in normal times.
“They’re not getting ready for anything,” Morgan pointed out.
“All of us are quite cautious,” said Jennie Brannigan, who had a horse in both Advanced divisions.
Before cross-country got under way, she observed, “I don’t think you’re going to see many people go out and try to fly around. I think we’re all just happy to be out.”
With events starting to reappear on the calendar, the sport has new wrinkles in the age of Covid. As Phillip put it, he’s “trying to get back to life, but trying to do it safely. Being an outdoor sport, it’s pretty fortunate; it seems the virus doesn’t like being outside.”
Although major events on which to focus, from Kentucky and Fair Hill through the Olympics, have been cancelled, Phillip is still looking ahead.
“I’ve always got big goals,” said the 2016 Olympic individual bronze medalist.
“You always try to get better. There’s some uncertainty about what events to get to, what your preparation’s going to be, but in some ways, it’s helpful with training to take a break from competing.”
U.S. Eventing Performance Director Erik Duvander agreed with Phillip’s assessment.
“The good thing is, the riders have had time to do things they normally don’t have time to do. They have time to be really thorough and experiment more with what they’re doing and their training methods.
“I’ve seen a lot of real good progress. For me, it’s been very useful and very beneficial for our team to have another year.”
None of the eventing horses who were targeted for the postponed 2020 Olympics have been sidelined because of their age, and younger horses are getting another year to train, which means the U.S. could enjoy more depth when it comes time to select a team for the Olympics in 2021.
While mass cancellations have been disappointing, Erik looks at the options that void provided.
“To me, it was an opportunity to dig deep, do some work and change a few things,” he said.
The basics of the horse trials are the same as they would have been at any time before the pandemic, yet from the minute everyone arrived at the Horse Park in Allentown, precautions because of the pandemic were evident. There were no spectators (the U.S. Equestrian Federation has prohibited them for now), but those on the grounds had their temperature taken and were required to submit signed waivers. In order to insure people didn’t gather in one spot looking at course maps, those were all on line. Needless to say, there was no tailgating.
Riders don’t have to wear masks if they are on horseback, but everyone who gathered around the ring or in groups was wearing masks. On the cross-country course, masks were not always pulled up, but there was plenty of space there for social distancing.
“It’s definitely possible to do this and stay safe, and that’s the main thing that matters,” said Jennie.
“I think it’s probably a little harder at the events where we have to stable. (The Advanced sections all ran in one day.) “I’m grateful to be able to still go and really appreciative to everyone for making it happen. They’ve been wonderful.” Sally Ike, a volunteer who has logged decades in the eventing world (she’s also USEF’s managing director of licensed officials), was pleased with the way things were going, noting, “Everybody is pulling together.”
She pointed out, though, that in the Covid era, “Eventing competitions are particularly challenging because of the number of volunteers horse trials use,” citing fence judges as an example, because they normally gather for briefings before competition gets under way.
U.S. Eventing came out with several videos about judging cross-country fences, so at the Horse Park, there was no briefing on the premises, Sally explained. Fence judges were asked to look at the videos and then Technical Delegate Rick Caldwell went around to the more difficult obstacles to insure the judges understood how they were to be scored.
Buck Davidson was second in both Advanced sections, earning the fastest time of the day (6:11) with Carlevo (36.30 penalties) in the A division and finishing on 43.70 with Erroll Gobey in the B section.
He found the ground “a bit firm” and the course “a bit “twisty-turny at the end.” But he was happy with the outing, commenting, “It’s great to be back out seeing everybody and doing what we love to do.”
She’s been the Winter Equestrian Festival’s overall open jumper champion rider at least since 2009, though Laura Chapot hasn’t kept track of how many times the honor has come her way over the years.
And while she claimed the title again in Wellington, Fla., for 2019, earning it is never the goal.
“I go down hoping I win one blue ribbon at some point during the show,” explained Laura, who of course did much more than that.
She competed with 12 horses from her family’s Chado Farm in Neshanic Station during the 12 weeks of WEF, which in effect is the world’s biggest (as well as the longest) horse show. Each of them wound up winning at least one class. The results also made her mother, Mary Chapot, the overall jumper owner and trainer titleist, as usual.
Laura rides 12 horses a day when she’s at WEF, since she has four customers’ horses in her barn at the show as well. It makes for a busy day, together with all the classes in which she’s entered.
But what really counts for Laura and Mary is how the individual horses fare in terms of their development. The best indicator of that in the Chado group is Chandon Blue, a horse Laura started riding exactly a year ago at WEF. Sent her way by Irish Olympic medalist Cian O’Connor, he has blossomed under Laura’s guidance.
“We never expected he would rise to these heights and become quite the superstar he’s become,” she noted.
A 14-year-old Oldenburg by popular sire Chacco Blue, Chandon Blue scored five victories in 2- and 3-star-rated classes at WEF, along with two seconds and a third in the FEI (international equestrian federation) ranking classes.
“I’m very lucky to have that horse. He way exceeded my expectations. He’s a horse who knows when it counts,” said Laura, who calls the gelding Charlie around the barn.
“He comes out and tries every time. It’s an unbelievable feat when you’re talking about showing at Wellington that a horse can do that well, because you’re competing against some 85-100 horses in the qualifier, and then the top 45 in the grand prix. You hope maybe once during the circuit you win a nice ribbon. You don’t win five classes at that level with one horse.”
While Laura has shown lots of horses who have gone well over recent years, she’s been missing a breakout star and now Charlie seems to be emerging as a special horse. Laura was chosen to ride on the American team for the New York Masters on Long Island at the end of the month, along with FEI World Cup champions Beezie Madden and McLain Ward, rising star Lillie Keenan and another Jerseyan, Devin Ryan of Long Valley, second in the 2018 World Cup finals.
The show’s featured Riders Masters Cup at NYCB, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, will pit the U.S. squad against a contingent of top European riders. The Europeans won last year during the show’s debut at the arena in Uniondale, N.Y., so you could call this year’s contest a grudge match.
Robert Ridland, the U.S. team’s coach, characterized Laura as “our ace in the hole. She is one of the fastest riders around and is a huge addition to our team.”
Being on the U.S. team is important to Laura. It’s a family tradition. Both her mother and her late father, Frank Chapot, were stalwarts of the squad during the 1960s. Frank continued competing as captain of the team in the ‘70s. He went on to be the team coach, with the U.S. squad winning double gold and individual silver at the 1984 Olympics, among other notable honors, while he was at the helm.
Laura’s last team outing was the 2007 Pan American Games, where the squad won the bronze medal. She just hasn’t had a horse that was up to the ever-increasing demands of team participation, and her budget doesn’t allow for the trips abroad that have become standard for those seeking team berths these days.
“It’s just a matter of what ends up being paid for. For us to take a trip to Europe is pretty much out of reach,” commented Laura, adding another point; “There’s a lot you have to think about that you leave behind at home.
“I haven’t really had a horse to try with, so I haven’t had it (the team) in my sights. I didn’t have it in my sights this year either. But Robert gave me a call and I thought about it and it seemed like it would be a good opportunity to do something. I have not shown him (Charlie) very much indoors, so I don’t know what he’ll be like in such a small ring, compared to the big ring in Wellington. I’m a big supporter of the team and when the opportunity comes along, I love to take advantage of it,” she explained.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of horses that have been very successful grand prix horses, but I don’t think I really pursued that level with any of them, just because some of the horses I get can be a bit quirky. I feel to put yourself out for a team, you really have to have a horse you can rely on and be consistent with.”
Another horse who has been a good partner is ISHD Dual Star. She sustained a small injury during the circuit, but after a rest may be part of Laura’s string for May’s Devon Horse Show, where she also often has been leading rider.
Although the mare is older, “I thought she was jumping the best she ever jumped in Florida,” Laura said.
“We’d love to breed her one day. At the same time, as long as she’s enjoying her job, I don’t want to take that away from her. She’s not a horse who likes to just sit around. She does not turn out, she doesn’t know what that’s about. She enjoys going and showing.”
Two of her other horses are particularly worthy of note, and both suit Laura’s style of riding. They are by Gemini, the clone of the great Gem Twist, the 1988 Olympic double silver medal mount of Greg Best who was bred and trained by Laura’s father. Laura rode Gem Twist at the end of his career, and everyone has been eagerly waiting to see if the Gemini offspring resemble Gem in their talent.
“When we went down there, they were so green, they’d never been to anything like that. I was hoping by the end of the circuit they would make it into the seven-year-old division. But they were really game right of the bat. They really answered the call by week four or five they already were in the seven-year-old division,” Laura commented..
“They both seem very smart. They’re quick learners and really clever. The mare, Timeless, reminds me more of Gem in terms of style and looks and the way she looks.”
The other horse is Pursuit of Happiness (he was born on the Fourth of July, so his name references the Declaration of Independence—life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.) He wound up as seven-year-old circuit champion.
“He’s more of a classically thoroughbred type. He’s very light off the ground. He still has to physically mature a bit more, but is a very, very brave horse and tries hard every time,” Laura said.
She noted how important her mother has been to her WEF record.
“My mom is always the biggest part of our team, supporting us in every single way so nothing falls through the cracks,” Laura said.
“She’s there at every single schooling jump. She helps me with my strategy on the course. I can bounce things off her and get feedback. She’s the videographer. We watch the tapes at night. She’s helpful in the sense that I have someone to talk to and can play ideas off her. It’s very hard to do it on your own otherwise.”
Laura also acknowledged her sister, Wendy, who lives in Madison. She is an accomplished amateur show jumper and also designs courses and serves as a schooling supervisor. The mother of three, who like Laura has a judge’s license, regularly drops by the farm in New Jersey to check on things while Laura and Mary are in Florida.
“This has always been a family thing and a family team,” Laura emphasized.
“That’s in our blood. I love the horses and I live it every moment of my life. I can’t imagine doing it any other way.”
Too often, it seems as if issues involving the elite ranks of horse sports dominate the annual meetings of our equestrian organizations. By elite, I mean not only the high performance group that goes to international competitions, but also those who can afford horses costing six figures (or more), whatever division they choose; traveling around the country to shows (with their horses going by air, if necessary) and not worrying about the hotel bills and other vast costs involved.
So my ears pricked when I heard U.S. Hunter Jumper Association President Mary Babick and others at the organization’s annual meeting this month expressing interest in giving a boost to the base of the sport, along with regional, state and local affiliate organizations. Without a way to make the sport affordable and introduce people to it while building a strong base, equestrian competition will lack universal appeal and eventually become largely the property of the sky’s-the-limit crowd.
USHJA has 49 affiliate organizations (that would be groups like our New Jersey Horse Shows Association and elsewhere, for example, the Missouri Hunter Jumper Organization or the Los Angeles Hunter Jumper Association.) Shows can be run as USHJA fixtures without being U.S. Equestrian Federation-recognized, which is a less-expensive and simpler way for some affiliates to go. Benefits of being an affiliate include hosting USHJA outreach competitions for those at the lowest level of the sport, while offering member discounts on national products and services. It also involves educational opportunities, in addition to competitive options and free listings on the USHJA clinics directory, among other things.
Find out what Mary had to say during the annual meeting in Tampa about the emphasis on affiliates and the base by clicking on the link to this video interview.
Katie Benson, president of the NJHSA who is on the board of USHJA, is also a member of the USHJA’s affiliates steering panel and Zone II committee (New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania), has seen great changes over the last three decades in the state’s equestrian scene, which also have been mirrored elsewhere.
“When I started (with NJHSA) in 1987, there were 47 horse shows in New Jersey. Last year, there were over 150,” Katie mentioned.
Despite such growth, the affiliates program hasn’t kept up.
“Now it’s time to come back to this and pay attention to the development of the sport and do it better,” said Katie, whose Briarwood operation is based in Ringoes at Black River Farm.
“Not everyone wants to go to the Olympics. We’re not necessarily looking that they (lower-level riders) have to go up the ladder to higher jumps or great expense. They already are sustaining their horsemanship in what they can afford, whether it’s once-a-week lessons in an academy program or one horse show a year on a lesson horse. I think they need to be acknowledged, they’re part of the community, and maybe they want to make their network larger,” she said.
“I think we need to increase awareness of what already exists. We have to open those doors wider and then we can knock on new doors.
At the annual meetings, there are many illuminating exchanges—both in forums and the hallways– about not only rule changes but also other items worthy of note. Here are a few from USHJA’s Tampa session.
While there long have been rumblings about various breed groups wanting to leave the USEF, this time the angst may have some legs—although USEF CEO Bill Moroney said no one has approached him to talk about departing.
However, Glenn Petty, executive vice president of the Arabian Horse Association, mentioned that group’s executive committee asked him two years ago “to look into the feasibility from a financial standpoint of getting out.” The list of what AHA is not happy about includes the licensed officials committee process and downsizing of the USEF board, which some of the other national breeds also felt gave them short shrift.
The key issue for the AHA remains whether it is “worth shooting yourself in the foot financially to get out,” as Glenn put it to me, noting “probably the biggest question is litigation expense. That’s a huge unknown.”
The USEF’s new requirement for all competing members (as well as directors and officials) to complete three on-line SafeSport training modules before they can show also has spurred some heated conversations.
Although Glenn said SafeSport wasn’t among AHA’s major differences with USEF, he did note that while “everybody supports SafeSport, the feeling is there’s too big a net being thrown.” He said among other organizations that are not part of USEF, such as the American Quarter Horse Association (the world’s largest breed group), the paints and the pintos, “their lawyers are telling them all they have to do is offer education” on the subject, rather than mandating training for everyone.
On another topic, one proposal that didn’t get approval at the USHJA meeting dealt with an expansion of the rule on special competitions, which can be added to the USEF calendar without regard for the mileage rule that has been one of the organization’s pillars. Many shows have been able to hang on, basically, because they have no competition when the mileage rule is applied, but that has also been a problem for new competitions that want to get on the calendar.
The special competition rule already covers FEI (international) shows, USEF national finals and championships and affiliated organization championships. But the most controversial point is the new fourth category, involving special competitions for which there currently are no breed or discipline rules.
Mary Babick fears with category four that managers will say of their new brainchild, “No rules exist, so I can do whatever I want. I can create a shadow circuit.”
“This is the meat of the issue in 2018,” maintained Tom Brennan, a hunter and hunter seat equitation judge from West Virginia.
“We know this train is coming down the tracks,” continued Tom, who feels the proposal needs a closer look. He contended it is “dangerous to future of our sport and programs.
“It’s okay with what we know our sport to be today. But I don’t think we can project ourselves in the future …for how we want to develop horses and horse shows.”
Making the most of an advantageous position in the jump-off, Kent Farrington won the $213,300 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Lexington last night with his longtime partner, the fleet mare Gazelle.
Eighth to go in the nine-horse tiebreaker, with no one achieving a clean round to that point, Kent proceeded carefully to log what would be the only fault-free trip over Bernardo Costa Cabral’s course for the tiebreaker in the FEI World Cup qualifier at the 4-star National Horse Show in Kentucky.
Daniel Bluman was fast with Ladriano Z, just back after recovery from an injury, but his time of 32.62 seconds would only be good enough for third due to a dropped rail in a combination that proved to be troublesome.
McLain Ward rode his Tokyo Olympic team silver mount Contagious, looking for his sixth win in the National’s featured jumper competition. His lightning time of 32.60 seconds would have been good enough to win, but he had to settle for second as 4 faults at that double kept the door open for Kent.
Calling Bernardo “a phenomenal course designer,” McLain said when he sees that name on a prizelist, he is excited because, “I always have confidence that it is going to be a good and fair test with a lot of horsemanship, and we as riders really appreciate that.. There were a fair bit of horses clear and it made for a nice jump off. “
Kent Farrington and Gazelle. (Photo by Phelps/Georgie Hammond)
Explaining his strategy, Kent said, “I only had one rider after me and I felt as though a neat clear round was a smart play.” Smart is practically Kent’s middle name, and his experience underlined what would be a winning fault-free round in 35. 96 seconds on Gazelle to take the title. Margie Engle, the final rider, had a rail on Dicas to leave the victory for Kent.
“I have a very experienced horse, and she has been an amazing horse for me and my career,” Kent said after claiming the trophy.
He noted that Gazelle’s owner, Robin Parsky, “has been very supportive of my management of this horse and that is part of what has made her last so long, being able to move her up and drop her back.
“The first round, she was hyper-careful, so there was a little bit of jockeying around. I thought that the jump off was a good opportunity to let her settle down and go for a cruise and that worked out for me for the win.”
In the show’s Sunday finale, the ASPCA Maclay ran for 11 hours before Zayna Rizvi on Finnick was judged the best in a field of 175. Catalina Peralta finished second with a catch ride, the Holsteiner Clover, followed by Audrey Schulze aboard Mac One III, owned by Taylor Madden, daughter of her coach, Frank Madden.
Zayna Rizvi and Finnick on their way to victory (Phelps photo/Georgie Hammond)
The top four, which included Tessa P. Brown in fourth place, had to ride a final test without stirrups. After all, it’s “No-Stirrups November.”
Archie Cox, the California horseman who judged the class with a former Maclay winner, Keri Kampsen, called it “a true championship” citing a tough course put together by. Bobby Murphy, with input from the judges.The route included several eye-catching fences, among them a double of ivy-covered walls that had to be taken in both directions, and a stand-alone pink wall with a hole in it that was worth a double-take.
Archie termed the route, “well-balanced–if you went to the right, if you went to the left, you had to go forward and had to go back.” It required horses to be “electric to the aids” to handle the challenges and the bending lines.
Zayna, a 16-year-old from Wellington, Fla., who is an experienced jumper rider, called Finnick, a Westphalian owned by Jordyn Rose Freedman, her “soulmate.” She said of her win, “I’ve been working toward this all year, so this is a really great way to end my season. It means so much to me. I’m very thankful.”
She is trained by John Brennan and his wife, Missy Clark, who assessed Zayna as “such a remarkable talent…she makes it easy.”
Catalina, trained by Stacia Klein Madden of Beacon Hill Show Stables of Colts Neck,N.J., was tearful as she talked about a tough year, having lost two horses and family members..
“Although I didn’t end up with a win, I am extremely grateful to be able to be reserve champion and just compete in this class with a fantastic horse like Clover,” said Catalina, an 18-year-old from Geneva, Fla. Clover is a Holsteiner owned by Sail Horse Investments.
“Stacia is incredible, she has helped me so much in overcoming such difficulties. I’m so grateful for the team at Beacon Hill, they are my family.”
Stacia responded, “You have to go to what you know works, and you have to go to your fall=back. When you put together a team that you trust and you have your faith in, and you have horses that you know like the back of your hand and you’ve got great owners that allow you the opportunity to have access to those horses when you need them, it really just falls into place.”
Audrey, 18, a resident of Ridgewood, N.J., was first to go in the class at 7 a.m., but she wasn’t intimidated.
“I was prepared coming into this week,” she said, explaining the jumping order came out days ago.
“I had had all week to think about it. I knew I was ready and going to execute it exactly as I walked it,” she said.
Frank Madden said :”We came here trying to stick to our game plan. I said to Audrey, `It doesn’t matter if you go first or 100th.'”
Archie said Audrey “gave a riding lesson” with her performance, citing the way she, clucked inside the double. He called it “horsemanship.”
Being on the dais was a bit surreal for Frank Madden, since he had coached both Keri and Stacia (now his ex-wife) in their wins decades ago.
“I feel so old sitting up here with two former students,” he confessed good-naturedly.
