by Kate Seaman | Apr 17, 2016
By Nancy Jaffer
April 17, 2016
Colton McGregor and Brookside Pink Magnum.
(Photo courtesy of Becky McGregor)
How do you get more people involved in equestrian competition, in order to grow the sport? There’s always lots of talk about that, often without much of a conclusion. The U.S. Equestrian Federation has been trying to figure it out for years, and the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association is working on a solution after a report revealed just 1 percent growth in nine years.
There are a huge number of people out there who like horses and find them appealing, but only a small fraction of those actually ride, and even less compete. Discussion of the “grass roots” usually centers on showing opportunities at the lower levels. Equestrian organizations, perhaps understandably, tend to focus on people who already are in the sport and paying dues, rather than drawing newcomers into it.
So how do you reach people who aren’t involved at all and may never even have touched a horse? Breyer Animal Creations–you know those collectable models–has a concept, and will put it into action June 18 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation’s Gladstone headquarters.
It’s hosting an intriguing initiative, Pony Up!®. The idea is to introduce children under age 16 to the world of horses, from models to real animals. It’s a hands-on experience that also includes crafts. Each person attending will go home with a model, and perhaps a desire to spend more time with real horses.
Pony Up!® will be an especially welcome opportunity for those who would like to go to Breyerfest, the big three-day model horse extravaganza held each summer at the Kentucky Horse Park, but don’t have the time to go, or resources to cover air fare and hotel rooms.
It will feature “many of the same things people like about Breyerfest. If we’re satisfied it can be a success, we can roll it out to other places in the country,” said Kathy Fallon, a vice president of Reeves International, which owns Breyer.
“We wanted to test our idea at a place local to us,” said Kathy, referring to the fact that Reeves is in Pequannock, Morris County, about 40 minutes from Gladstone. Even more important, the USET’s charm and history make it a good showcase.
For children who have never encountered horses, this is an opportunity to see and touch them, as well as take pony rides (Children who wish to ride should wear long pants and lace-up shoes.) The event might be the first step in equestrian involvement that could lead to trail rides, showing, gymkhanas and many other activities.
The Breyer model of Brookside Pink Magnum.
(Photo courtesy of Breyer)
“What is the one thing different about Breyerfest?” Kathy asked, answering her question this way: “It’s the opportunity to be up close and personal, meet horses and their riders and talk to them when they have time to talk to you. At a horse show, people are busy competing, they’ve worked really hard, they don’t have time to be welcoming to a family that wanders in and says, `Gosh, what’s going on here. My little girl loves horses. Maybe she’d like to do it.”
After experiencing a casual and relaxed atmosphere at Breyerfest, “parents say, `Maybe we’ll let the kids ride now.’ The horse industry really needs to look to the parents,” Kathy commented, noting, however, commitments to soccer and other sports is a “huge barrier.
Yet she believes, “The more parents get the message about how terrific it is to be involved with horses and horse sports and what a great thing it is to teach the kids compassion and caring for other creatures, the more they’ll be willing to dedicate the time” it takes to keep the children involved with horses.
Featured equine guests at the USET will be two inspirations for Breyer models, Arabian superstar Oration from the Desiderio family’s Tranquillity Farm in Chester and Rebedon Farm’s Brookside Pink Magnum, a strawberry roan Welsh stallion with a solid disposition who lives in the backyard of trainer Becky McGregor in Harmony, Warren County.
Although Magnum’s model is still available, Oration’s model already has been retired, since it was a special run made only for Breyerfest. The highest-priced discontinued model, in case you were wondering, is the Andalusian Alborozo, whose likeness was cast for the 2008 Breyerfest. A customized model of the horse went for $13,500 at auction.
Magnum, a Canadian-bred 19-year-old, is as sweet as they come. Becky’s 2 and 1/2-year-old son, Colton, learned to walk by toddling along the fence line next to the pony. Every time, the child fell, Magnum would wait patiently for him to stand up.
“They’ve been buddies ever since,” said Becky, noting the toddler rides the stallion, whose offspring have won the USEF Pony Finals and various Welsh titles.
Oration and Michael Desiderio.
(Photo courtesy of Breyer)
Having the pony become a Breyer model was a longtime dream of Becky’s late grandmother, Eileen Coyle, who used to write to Breyer regularly, asking for a model to be made of Magnum. It didn’t happen while Eileen was alive, but “On the one-year anniversary of her death was when I got the call from Breyer that they were going to make Magnum a Breyer. It was validating for me,” said Becky.
Magnum has been memorialized as a Breyer model for three years.
“It’s very surreal. He’s a little bit like a celebrity. Kids get awestruck around him,” said Becky, who noted people will stand in line for hours to see Magnum at Breyerfest.
“Then we come home and he’s my son’s pony and he lives in the backyard and he rolls in mud,” she said with a chuckle.
The Desiderios have had a similar experience with the 9-year-old stallion Oration, who has received comments of “Wow!” on judges’ cards and has won everything in the Arabian world and is a natural for open competition because he looks “like a little warmblood,” said Ricci Desiderio, whose son, Michael, rode the horse at Breyerfest.
The overwhelming reception that Oration got there demonstrates how effective it is for kids to actually meet such a special horse.
“We’ve got to start to get everybody in horses to get them started to develop them as riders. As they get more educated, they become more capable and move up the scale of riding,” said Ricci.
“You need to get them in the door to show them what we do. Marketing ourselves is a hard thing. If you don’t get them exposed to the horses, there’s no way in the world they’re going to get an interest.”
He pointed out that horses present a lifelong benefit to children who get started with riding.
Brookside Pink Magnum and fans at Breyerfest.
(Photo courtesy of Breyer)
It’s a sport that doesn’t dissolve after high school,” he emphasized. Ricci tells parents that by supporting their youngsters’ equestrian involvement, “You are investing in the child’s future.” Of trainers, he says, “We’re educators.”
The Pony Up!® program will include Hamlet and Honor of Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses, autograph sessions, equine breed demonstrations and a petting zoo.
Kids will have their own jumping competitions, complete with prizes; magicians, a craft activity tent and the Hands-On Hobby booth, where experts will talk about collectables, model horse showing and customizing. Model horse hobby workshops will also be offered on such topics as Introduction to Customizing, Repairing Model Horses, Create Your Dream Horse, Halter-Making and Creating a Horse Suncatcher.
Tickets are $35 per person and include admittance to all activities and a Breyer Classics® model horse ($20 value). Parking is $5 cash on site.
For ticket purchases, go to https://www.breyerhorses.com/pony-up-nj-2016. A detailed schedule is available at https://www.breyerhorses.com/ponyup-2016-nj?__wwbt=860.702.27.2.1. For questions, contact Customer Service at Breyer: 800-413-3348.
by Kate Seaman | Mar 27, 2016
By Nancy Jaffer
March 27, 2016
Olympic victory gallops, like this one by the German team at the 2012 London Games, will have two less participants if a controversial effort is passed to cut the number of riders on a squad.
(Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
There is no doubt that major change is coming yet again to the sport of eventing, motivated in great part by the intense desire to have it remain in the Olympics.
If your only interest in the discipline is at the lower levels, don’t stop reading. Changes at the top have a way of trickling down to somehow affect everyone who participates, even if they’re only at training level, or below.
Changes proposed by the FEI (international equestrian federation) are prompted by the International Olympic Committee’s Agenda 2020 (that’s the year the Olympics will be held in Tokyo). The agenda is subtitled, “The strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic movement.”
As IOC President Thomas Bach put it, “It is a picture of progress. It is a picture that ensures the uniqueness of the Olympic Games. It is a picture that promotes the Olympic values. And it is a picture that strengthens sport in society.” And he might well have added that to remain in that picture, sports must do whatever is deemed necessary.
Any format adopted also would be used for the World Equestrian Games. The measures, which include some not directly involving the Olympics, will be discussed and no doubt debated during the FEI’s sports forum in Switzerland next month and voted on at its general assembly this autumn.
The U.S. Equestrian Federation and the U.S. Eventing Association both have weighed in with concerns about a number of the suggestions, which also are geared to making eventing more TV-friendly.
The U.S. Eventing Association didn’t mince words in its conclusion about a good bit of the remodeling:
“Should the FEI move forward with all of the proposals as outlined and deviate from the recommendations as outlined by the USEF, the USEA and other major National Governing Bodies of the sport, we will need to reconsider whether risking the integrity of the sport of Eventing justifies remaining a part of the Olympic Games.”
And that’s the crux of it. Is changing the eventing game to such an extent that some believe it becomes nearly a different sport worth the prestige of being in the Olympics?
Will Connell, the USEF’s director of sport, noted about that question, “Where you draw the line between a sport giving up its values in order to stay in the Olympics is a very difficult one.”
He added, “We’re not at the point where we’re saying what is proposed is going to destroy the integrity of the sport to the point where we shouldn’t do it, we should accept going out of the Games. it would be wrong for us to ever say that without a very detailed consultation with athletes and all our internal stakeholders,” he pointed out.
Jim Wolf, who served as director of sport programs for the USEF and director of eventing with the U.S. Equestrian Team before that, thinks it’s crucial for eventing to stay in the Olympic movement.
Now head of Wolf Sports Group LLC, a sports marketing, event management and logistics firm, he cited the “crediblity and cachet” bestowed by the Olympics and the ability to capture part of its worldwide audience. It is also, he said, “a selling point for the sport,” which needs sponsorship to thrive.
“You’ve got to make sports TV-friendly,” he commented, noting other sports, from athletics to cricket, have changed their formats to achieve that end.
At one time, the Olympic Games were the pinnacle, the only chance some sports–such as equestrian–had to be on a global stage. But that’s no longer the case. Once-obscure sports now appear regularly on TV and with many people dropping cable in favor of viewing the action on their computers, tablets or cellphones, live-streaming of their favorite competitions is a frequent occurrence. The World Equestrian Games and the proliferation of major venues that attract many thousands of spectators also provide prominent pathways for horse sports.
All it takes is one fall on cross-country for a team without a drop score to have its Olympic medal hopes dashed.
(Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
This is not the first time that there has been concern about the Olympics dropping equestrian sports (dressage and jumping also are due for changes, but nothing as drastic as eventing). Eventing has a big target on it because, among other reasons, it’s expensive to stage and the scoring isn’t easy to understand.
In 2002, the recommendation by the IOC’s program commission that eventing should be dropped from the Games after the 2004 Olympics shook the discipline. But the FEI got busy to counter the commission’s recommendation, which was geared to limiting the size and cost of the games by eliminating some sports.
So the FEI did what it had to do. Remember the classic format, and its acreage-eating roads and tracks and steeplechase segments that tested speed and endurance? They were an integral part of the sport for nearly a century, but those segments have disappeared (except at a few low-level outings) and last were seen at the Rolex Kentucky 4-star in 2005, the year after the Olympics went to the short format to save time, money, and eventing’s place in the Games.
That also paved the way for warmbloods to dominate the discipline, since the endurance of the thoroughbred was no longer essential.
Many changes to the sport, once a military exercise, have been extremely beneficial. When Lana duPont Wright got the USEF’s Lifetime Achievement Award in January, we were reminded that women were excluded from Olympic eventing rosters until 1964, the year she broke that barrier. And speaking of breaking things, her horse fell twice (one fall did not mean elimination in those days) and broke his jaw on cross-country during an era before horse welfare was not a prime consideration, as it is today. That’s another good change.
But the USEF and USEA do not support a change that would limit Olympic teams to three riders, (rather than the five who competed in 2012, 2008 and 2004) with one alternate horse or horse and rider combination. That would mean no drop score. The U.S. fielded three-member teams from 1928 through 1956, but four-member teams with one drop score were the rule from 1960 through 2000. The cross-country test by its nature often involves eliminations, so availability of a drop score assures teams of having a shot at a medal, or at least an honorable completion.
The USEF stated in its reason for not supporting this change.“This would make the sport about completion and not about competition.
“The statistics show very clearly that if there are three in the team for cross-country with no drop score, either a significant number of teams will not complete or the cross-country will be dumbed down to an extent that the very essence of eventing is destroyed.”
An answer that could make teams of three work better, Will noted, would be utilizing a CIC format, with dressage followed by show jumping rather than cross-country, which would be run last.
It eliminates the pressure involved on what USEA termed, “an unprepared or physically compromised horse or rider” when show jumping is the day after cross-country. With the advantage of a drop score, they could be held out, as is often the case, but having cross-country last could help when there are only three on a team.
An alternative of awarding points to horses that do not complete and/or allowing them to show jump “only makes the scoring more complicated,” according to the USEF.
Will believes discussions have gotten stuck on teams of three and “haven’t embraced all of what agenda 2020 stands for. We haven’t really discussed in depth how we better present the sport,” which includes reducing its cost.
Teans of three offer the option for more countries to compete, which meets the eternal goal of increasing a sport’s universality, always a major IOC consideration. But it also raises the question about whether the bar will be lowered to accommodate that ambition.
Other changes proposed include changing the name of the sport. How about Equestrian Triathlon? Equi-triathlon? Equestrio? Triquestrian?
The USEF wondered is “adopting a new name going to change anything or just further divide the community and confuse the public?” USEA also pointed out it will be costly for the governing bodies, sports organizations and those presenting events to change letterheads, signs, trademarks and the like.
Eventing is at a crossroads, no doubt about it. All we can hope is that those who understand its essence are able to prevail, so remaking the sport does not mean ruining it.
by Nancy Jaffer | Mar 6, 2016
By Nancy Jaffer
March 6, 2016
Tailgating has become increasingly popular at the Jersey Fresh International. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
The state is still in the throes of winter, but work has been under way for months on the May 11-15 Jersey Fresh International, which is an Olympic selection trial this year.
It’s time to start making plans to attend New Jersey’s largest three-day event. The schedule includes not only the 2- and 3-star CCI and shorter CIC competitions, but also is adding an advanced horse trials division.
Regulars who compete at Jersey Fresh include Pan American Games gold medalists Boyd Martin, Philip Dutton and Lauren Kieffer, as well as such big names as Michael Pollard and Buck Davidson. No wonder the theme for the tailgating at the water jump complex this year is “Stars, stars, stars.”
The event at the Horse Park of New Jersey in Allentown was upgraded markedly in 2015, spurred by a grant of $25,000 from former U.S. eventing team veterinarian Brendan Furlong’s B.W. Furlong & Associates. The amount has been raised to $30,000 for 2016, with much of it going for prize money. Brendan said his son, Adam, is trying to get a couple of veterinary suppliers in to contribute money as well.
Explaining his commitment to Jersey Fresh, Brendan said, “New Jersey was very instrumental in the sport of eventing in the U.S.,” citing its origins going back to the Essex Horse Trials in the 1970s.
“There’s a long tradition of eventing in the Garden State, and it’s a great date on the calendar,” said Brendan of Jersey Fresh, noting the competition is a prime destination “for horses to move up to the 3-star level after their winter campaign in Florida.”
Also, it’s often a destination for horses who for some reason “don’t make it to the Rolex Kentucky 4-star in April, or who don’t finish Rolex,” he pointed out.
As an example, he noted that last year, after Buck was not having a great go at Rolex with Ballynoe Castle RM, he pulled up and came back to win the 3-star CCI at Jersey two weeks later.
The popular winner of the CCI 3-star at Jersey Fresh last year was Ballynoe Castle RM, ridden by Buck Davidson. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
“I would like to see more people in the New Jersey eventing community (commit) to make it a destination event. It has grown a lot, and they generally have a good entry. It’s just branding it and getting it to be one of those events that ultimately could be synonymous with a promoter or a sponsor,” Brendan observed.
He doesn’t think obtaining a title sponsor for this year is realistic, but he would like to see it happen next year.“I’m hoping that each year we can make it a better and better event,” Brendan commented.
Lisa Mackintosh is all in on that.
“We’re building on a lot of the things we added last year and stepping it up this year,” said Lisa, a member of the event’s organizing and steering committees, noting putting the VIP tent in the main arena, where riders came through on cross-country, was quite a hit.
She explained the vendor area is being moved to a prime location between the grand prix ring and the cross-country course. The number of vendors is being increased and the quality is getting boosted.
Meanwhile, efforts are continuing on the campaign to improve footing at the Horse Park. Allyson Jeffery, who is heading the footing committee, said a $20,000 bequest has come through on that front. The total raised is now $35,000, but that is only one-tenth of what is needed. She is working toward finding a major donor who can contribute to the footing fund, since a new surface will benefit not only those competing at Jersey Fresh, but also all the other shows for a variety of breeds and disciplines that are held at the park.
Those interested in being a vendor for Jersey Fresh may contact Lisa at ljmackintosh@earthlink.net, while anyone interested in tailgating should email shelly.liggett@gmail.com. Volunteers also are needed. For more information, go to jfi3d.com.
by Nancy Jaffer | Feb 14, 2016
By Nancy Jaffer
February 14, 2016
Gabriel Armando and Zipero.
WELLINGTON, Fla. — As was the case for so many people, the events of Sept. 11, 2001, changed Gabriel Armando’s life.
The banker from Argentina was working in midtown Manhattan that day, not at the World Trade Center downtown, but he had friends who died when the buildings were destroyed by terrorists.
While the idea of changing his hobby of training dressage horses into a profession had been in the back of his mind, the notion that it was time to make the most of the rest of his life could not be denied after the twin towers came down.
He became involved with the horse business in multi-dimensional fashion.
Not only does he do clinics in many locations, both in the U.S. and elsewhere, he also is an international rider and judge who has officiated in 20 countries. That’s a rare combination. A two-time Argentine national champion, he and his wife, Suzanne Ross-Armando, run Armando Dressage in Ringoes at Diamond Creek Farm, where they are assisted by Stephanie Weber. This winter, they are based in the White Fences development near Wellington with 15 clients.
Gabriel, 53, has been competing this winter at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival with a well-behaved and friendly Dutchbred 11-year-old, Zipero, owned by Tania Loeb Wald of Brazil. The horse has been with Gabriel for a year and he has developed him to Grand Prix from Small Tour.
“He’s doing his first steps into it,” said Gabriel, noting the horse has only been in five Grands Prix.
Top people from around the world come to Wellington to show, which can be intimidating to some, but not to Gabriel..
“It’s a great experience to compete against the best, that pushes me to become better,” he said.
Gabriel competes for Argentina, which he represented in the 2003 and 2007 Pan American Games, qualifying for the freestyle in both on Euclid, a Westfalen, who he developed and was only seven years old in the first Games. On the other side of the coin, he judged the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.
In 1998, Gabriel was on Argentina’s silver medal team in the South American Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Obviously, international competition is important to him, and he may be interested in pointing toward the 2017 Reem Acra Dressage World Cup Finals, since they are in Omaha.
“It’s interesting,” he said, noting Zipero should be more developed in Grand Prix by then.
But as long as he rides in international classes, he cannot judge internationally in the same year, though he can judge national classes. There’s always a choice involved in these things; few international judges continue to ride internationally.
But he manages to do both well.
“He’s a sweetheart,” said Elisabeth Williams, an FEI steward at WEF and chair of the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s High Performance Dressage Committee. She noted he is easy to deal with both as a judge and as a rider, which, she added with a sly smile, can’t be said of everyone.
Lars Petersen, a Danish Olympian and top dressage trainer, said of Gabriel and his wife, “I really like them both. I have respect for judges who judge the big classes and then throw themselves out there (in the arena). Most people just like to talk about it, but he’s still throwing himself out there and I think that’s great.”
Growing up in Argentina, Gabriel liked jumping. His father, Norberto, was a casual rider, yet he “understood dressage was the way to develop balance and, the seat.” If Gabriel wanted to jump, “The rules were we had to do dressage also,” he said.
Gabriel Armando competing on Zipero at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival.
So dressage was, in effect, just a means to be able to go over the fences. But it all changed when Gabriel was 16.
“My Swedish trainer made me ride a schoolmaster,” recalled Gabriel, who trained with Owe Christian Moltke.
The well-educated horse “was doing all these tricks, piaffe/passage and piroutte. And I decided that was the feeling I wanted to have on a horse.”
When it was time attend university in Buenos Aires, where he majored in business administration, “I tried to go to college, ride and work,” he said.
That was an impossible regimen.
“Something had to go,” said Gabriel, who stopped riding for 2 and 1/2 years at that time.
“I was miserable because I couldn’t ride,” he noted.
When he finished school and went to work for a bank, however, he started riding again.
It turned out the bank “needed a specialist in emerging markets in the branch in New York.”
He was eager to take the job in 1997, to a great extent beause it would give him the opportunity to ride and train in the U.S.
After he made his decision to leave banking for horses, the 2003 Pan American Games were in the back of his mind.
“I wanted to be in full-time riding by then,” said Gabriel.
He has never regretted giving up banking.
“I love the horses, being outside, you’re your own boss,” he said.
But there’s more to it than that.
“The journey of training a horse and making them better every day is what keeps me going–learning from my horses.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Jan 31, 2016
By Nancy Jaffer
January 31, 2016
Judy Hennessy, N.J. Horseperson of the Year.
Her mission is to teach children about horses and their care, so 4-H volunteer extraordinaire Judy Hennessy certainly wasn’t looking for recognition.
That’s why being named New Jersey Horseperson of the Year was quite a surprise.
“I had no clue. It never would have dawned on me that anything like that would have come of this,” said Judy after receiving the award last weekend at the state’s annual breeders’ luncheon in Eastampton.
She got involved when her children, Kevin and Stacy, joined after seeing how much fun the 4-Hers were having at the Somerset County 4-H Fair. In the late 1970s, she took over as the leader of the Chaps N Spurs club, which now has members from both Somerset and Hunterdon counties.
At one time, however, there were 17 4-H clubs in Somerset County alone. The state was less developed then.
“There were horses everywhere,” Judy recalled, noting how kids would keep their horses in their backyards and go for daylong rides with a lunch bag tied to their saddles.
“You can’t do that anymore,” she said, noting few children even take care of their own horses these days.
Although her children long ago graduated from the 4-H ranks, she has kept on with it because “kids need to be made into better horsemen. You’re a caretaker. A horse can’t go out and take care of itself. You’re responsible, even if your horse is at a (boarding) barn.”
She mourns the fact that for the most part, kids don’t read about horses, not “Black Beauty” or the “Black Stallion,” not books on riding and horse care. So Judy finds a way to educate them, whether it’s through field trips, using the annual tack sale as a learning experience about different kinds of equipment or offering one-on-one advice.
Carol Ward, the Somerset County 4-H agent, called Judy, “One of our most dedicated volunteers.” She sees her every Wednesday with her own club, but Judy comes on other nights to work with children prepping for the Horse Bowl and other competitions.
“If the kids will come, she will be here. If they are willing to put in the time, she is certainly willing to impart her knowledge; it’s quite extensive. Anatomy, physiology, style of riding, all types of things–she is a treasure to have,” said Carol.
In addition to everything else she does, Judy coordinates two county 4-H qualifying horse shows each year and two tents full of horses during the Somerset County 4-H Fair.
“For a lot of the kids, that’s the only time really they are responsible for their horses,” she said.
Carol pointed out that since 1989, Judy “has been our one and only state 4-H coach for Hippology, the study of the horse.
“She works with our state team from April until the national competition in November. Every week, she drives down to the Horse Park of New Jersey to work with them. She gets no pay or reimbursement for her gas, that’s something you just don’t find these days in very many people.”
Karyn Malinowski, director of the Equine Science Center at Rutgers, agreed, calling Judy, “a tireless supporter of horse education programs for youth. Judy’s humble spirit and devotion to horses and young people made her the perfect choice for this prestigious award.”
But the real reward for Judy, who is employed as a secretary at the Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center, is when the kids she works with really understand how to care for horses and perhaps point for veterinary school or something else involving horses.
“I’m glad to see them go on ahead and stay in the business,” Judy said.
by Nancy Jaffer | Dec 17, 2021
With the major competitions of 2021 now behind us, how do you get your eventing fix until the season starts again in earnest?
Here’s an easy answer that offers an opportunity for entertainment and education while relaxing by the fireplace. Sip that mulled cider and read Jim Wofford’s, “Still Horse Crazy After All These Years.” It’s a book that is as much a history of the sport during the Olympic medalist’s lifetime (with a glance at .the key years before) as it is a biography.
If you’ve ever attended a dinner where Jim was the speaker, you’re familiar with his clever blend of charm and wit. That’s reflected in his conversational writing style, which makes this an easy and most enjoyable read. At the center of his manuscript is his conviction “that horses are wonderful, life-changing creatures.”
Carawich and Jim in the water at Badminton.
For those behind in their Christmas shopping, Jim’s book is an easy choice for the equestrians on your list. It’s available both in print and as an e-book from www.horseandriderbooks.com. You don’t have to be an eventer to appreciate the horse world from his special vantagepoint. As he puts it, “I literally grew up with horse sports in the United States.”
The son of an army officer who rode in the 1932 Olympics and became the first president of the U.S. Equestrian Team, Jim spent his youth on the family farm next to Fort Riley Kansas, the home of the U.S. cavalry until 1949. (Did you know that during the cavalry era, the Army bred its own horses–and very successfully, too.) Sadly, Jim’s father, who taught him to ride, died of cancer in 1955. Because the grief-stricken 10-year-old boy associated horses with his father, Jim did not ride for three years after that.
But he soon came around; horses were in his blood. At the time Jim started eventing seriously during the early 1960s, the sport was small in the U.S., what his mother called a poor stepchild of the popular show jumping discipline. And dressage? It barely existed.
“Event riders all knew each other,” Jim recalls. That was easy, there were so few of them. Selected for training at the USET’s Gladstone, N.J., headquarters to prep him for international competition, he interacted with more experienced competitors such as Mike Plumb, Michael Page and Kevin Freeman, among others.
He also had an acquaintance with so many of the big names during that time, from Gen. Fuddy Wing, who was running the USET in the early 1960s, to Philip Hofmann, first president of the U.S. Combined Training Association (now the U.S. Eventing Association) and others who, sadly, likely will be recognized by few in this era. Further afield, Jim even met Queen Elizabeth after finishing in the ribbons at Badminton.
Jim met Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phllip at Badminton.
The great horses he knew are also a major part of the narrative, of course. You’ll meet Castlewellan, The Optimist, Carawich and so many more that galloped through Jim’s life and are seen among the many photos in the book.
The author knows how to tell a story, and the book is filled with scores of intriguing tales, many of which will make the reader feel like an insider. One I particularly liked involved how Jim and Kevin turned the tables on a practical joke perpetrated by a young Robert Ridland (now the U.S. show jumping coach many decades later).
Jim’s heyday in the sport was at a moment when endurance and guts, as much as talent, were the keys to victory. The big players and their mounts were a different breed in those days; in the case of the horses, they were literally a different breed. The successful ones were thoroughbreds, or mostly so.
Jim and I had a conversation about that, and why the eventing of yesteryear (which you can read about in detail in his book) is only a distant relation to today’s competitions.
Jim on Kilkenny at Badminton in 1968.
“Since 2004, we’ve been doing a different sport,” he told me. That, of course, was when the long format with its steeplechase and roads and tracks was abandoned in favor of the current more compact version.
“The only common theme is the fact that we do it with horses,” Jim said.
“Obviously, how you determine your winners is very different now. The old ratio of difficulty was 3 (dressage) to 12 (cross-country) and 2 (stadium jumping). Those were guidelines. If you were a cross-country star, chances are you were going to be a star regardless of the dressage or show jumping.
“And now, after they changed the scoring slightly a few years ago, you have a sport that is judged 1/1/1, with all three disciplines being equally important.”
When the element of endurance is eliminated, he noted, you’re going to get different riders and different horses wearing the ribbons. Horses that won a gold medal in the 1960s and ‘70s would not be successful today, Jim believes. Conversely, he thinks, only a few of today’s 5-star horses would be successful in a classic 22-mile Olympic three day event.
Carawich was one of Jim’s most successful partners.
He recalled that when he was on the rules committee of the FEI (international equestrian federation), in the late 1970s and early ’80s, “the Germans already were haranguing they wanted to change it.”
Why? They wanted conditions more favorable to the warmbloods they bred, sold and competed. The change was entirely German and financially driven, said Jim, explaining that “as long as you had to go 22 miles, the German verbands (breeders) were not going to be successful.”
Not unexpectedly, if Jim had a choice of riding either format, he would pick the classic version, “the thrill of the steeplechase, the difficulty of getting a horse that fit and retaining the soundness.’
He has watched riders looking worried at the Kentucky 5-star, six or eight minutes into a 10-minute course, that the horse is going to hit the wall, “meaning you’re starting to get to the limits of its physical capability.”
He pointed out that in 1978 at the Kentucky Horse Park, the steeplechase was in the infield and we galloped at 690 meters per minute for five minutes–half the length of the (current) 5-star cross-country. And that was just the warm-up.”
Today’s warmbloods are wonderful, he commented, but added, “if I had to choose the era and I were young and fit these days, I would still choose the classic era because of the difference in the horses and the difference in my skill set and the difference in the nature of the scoring. It was skewed toward someone with the skill set I had at the time.”
Jim is a popular emcee for awards ceremonies. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)
He added, “Riders these days are better riders in terms of pure riding capability. They are so far ahead of our era. Having said that, I’m not sure these people would learn how to ride a tired horse, or learn (to ride them) in such a way that they did not get tired. I don’t know how many people today, with all of their technical polish, would have the nerve to go down to the coffin (jump) with a horse that’s starting to get a little heavy in the shoulders.”
Eventing’s roots are in the cavalry, as were Jim’s through his father.
The sport “was designed by the military for the military, to satisfy to satisfy the military’s concerns and goals,” said Jim.
“It was a tough life these horses led. They broke them when they were four and expected them to still be in service when they were 14.”
It took horsemanship as well as riding ability to make that happen.
Part of his mission writing the book is to educate people and memorialize that classic era, while highlighting the incredible changes through which he has lived.
Jim has trained horses and riders at competition all over the world. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)
And his perspective goes beyond being a remarkable rider. He has been a successful coach and played an important role in governance, serving as president of the American Horse Shows Association (a predecessor of the U.S. Equestrian Federation), secretary of the USCTA and a member of committees for other horse sport entities that as a group he and his family referred to (not always fondly) as “the alphabets.”
Jim wrote the book for his four grandsons (all four know how to ride, but none are involved with horses), “so they won’t have the same vacuum that I have about my father,” he explained.
“That was a serious driving force. In another 10 or 15 years, they will get serious. They will keep looking forward and then they will start looking back over their shoulders. I didn’t write this as some earthshaking thing for posterity. I really wrote it as a memorial to my father and as a guideline for my grandsons.”
(Photos from Still Horse Crazy After All These Years by Jim Wofford reprinted with permission from Trafalgar Square Books (www.horseandriderbooks.com)
