by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 20, 2021
After seven years in Tewksbury, trainer Sara Schmitt next month is moving her operation to a larger venue at Riverfield Farm in Annandale, which was a top hunter-jumper operation when owner Karen Peterson Da Prato ran it as a show stable..
The versatile Sara, who specializes in both dressage and driving, needed more space after seven years at Centerline Farm, so the facility a bit further west next month will offer room for driving in particular on seven times the acreage she has at present, in addition to more than 30 stalls.
Sara is as committed to driving as she is to dressage. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)
Sara called her Tewksbury operation Sara Schmitt Dressage, so guess what the name of her business will be in Annandale? That’s right, Sara Schmitt Dressage.
“My name is my brand,” she explained.
“I keep reinventing everything and doing something new because it’s fun.”
A believer in broadening the experience her students and others receive, She notes clinics will be a feature at the new venue. Olympian Tina Konyot is coming next month and the August clinic with another veteran U.S. dressage team member, Pam Goodrich,is full. Also featured in August, Tracey Morgan is offering a driving clinic on dates yet to be announced.
Sara’s stable remains involved with driving. Assistant trainer Maggie O’Leary won the training level single horse division at the Elk Creek Combined Driving Event earlier this month. She also.got her USDF dressage gold medal this year on a horse Sara trained to Grand Prix, a 19-year-old Friesian/Arab cross.
The multi-dimensional Sara, who earned a Pony Club HA as a teen, keeps busy with judging, and is working toward her 3-star FEI license.
“I’m judging a lot and I’m really learning something,” she observed.
“I think it brings something back to the table when I teach.”
Sara Schmitt competing at Dressage at Devon. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)
Sara, always energetic, still finds time to be in the saddle, working most recently with Julia Greifeld’s six-year-old Westfalen, Sunflower at Third Level with an eye toward going higher. That horse also will be ridden by Sara’s para-dressage student, Alanna Flax-Clark. Sara meanwhile is still enjoying her two-time world championships pony, a Morgan named High Country Doc. She sold him in 2005, but he came back to her for his retirement.
Ask Sara about long-term ambitions, and she ponders what appears to be a novel question for her.
“Do I have big hopes of going to the Olympics?,” she asks.
“No. But I would like to try to do another team (in driving)” said the former national singles driving champ and veteran of four world championships in that discipline.
“Not this year, but maybe in two or three years. Why not?”
by Nancy Jaffer | May 31, 2021
The Essex Horse Trials didn’t run in 2020 due to Covid, but the event will be making up for that this summer, adding to the competition at Moorland Farm in Far Hills with tailgating, shopping, a car show and a concert.
The fixture runs July 17-18, with the Music in the Somerset Hills organization kicking things off July 16, as Stephen Sands conducts an all-star Broadway orchestra led by Jonathan Dinklage, the concertmaster for the show “Hamilton.” Call (973) 339-7719 for information.
The Essex Horse Trials has a great site at Moorland Farm, also home of the Far Hills Race Meeting. (Photo © 2019 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
“Essex is on the same weekend in July as Fitch’s Corner (New York) used to run,” said Ralph Jones, who co-chairs Essex with cross-country course designer Morgan Rowsell.
Essex Horse Trials co-chairs Ralph Jones and Morgan Rowsell. Photo © 2018 by Nancy Jaffer)
As Fitch’s founder, Fernanda Kellogg, explained her event, “My motivation was to create the best quality event for the lower levels, but with the spirit of a top national or international horse trials.” It ran for 25 years through 2018.
The Essex crew hopes to emulate what Fitch’s Corner achieved.
“Fernanda Kellogg did such a great job with that event and the country weekend atmosphere she created, as well as the support for riders with young horses to bring along,” explained Ralph.
Tickets go on sale this week for the multi-faceted fixture at Moorland Farm in Far Hills, which will offer eventing levels from Beginner Novice through Preliminary, with prize money for the first three places in Open Prelim sponsored by Running S Equine veterinary services. Other sponsors are MARS Equestrian, Peapack Gladstone Bank, AIG, Maxons Restoration, Kienlen Lattmann Sotheby’s International Realty and Turpin Realtors.
Essex was a mainstay of equestrian sport in the Somerset Hills for 30 years until it ceased running at the U.S. Equestrian Team headquarters after 1998. It made a comeback at Moorland in 2017, followed by successful editions in 2018 and 2019 before the pandemic put it, like so many other things, on hold. And now Essex is making another comeback.
It’s for a good cause. Proceeds benefit the Greater Newark LifeCamp in Pottersville, which provides an enriching day camp experience for approximately 300 Newark-area youths per day for six weeks during July and August.
General admission for Essex is $10 for adults, with those under 17 complimentary, as is the parking. Those who want to get closer to the action and enjoy a picnic have a choice of locations for tailgating. Each tailgating spot offers four general admission tickets good for both the Saturday and the Sunday. A waterside location is $300; a water view is $150 and a hillside location goes for $50. Get tickets at https://essexhorsetrials.org/tailgate. Private tents are also available by the show jumping arena upon request by emailing Katherine@essexhorsetrials.org.
The car show at the 2019 Essex Horse Trials drew hundreds of vehicles and enthusiasts. (Photo © 2019 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
An added attraction on Saturday is the Peter Chesson Memorial Car Show. Peter, a Gladstone resident who died in April, is best known in the equestrian community as the father of Lizzy Chesson, the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s managing director of show jumping, and the former husband of Sharon Chesson, who was one of the USA’s top driving competitors.
For more information about Peter, read the obituary in the box below. It was written by P.J. Chesson for those in the race car world:
The man, the myth, the legend…..as cliché as it sounds, that was Pete! Growing up in a small town in New Jersey with two sisters, Susan and Sally, Peter always saw the world through a different lens than most. With humble beginnings and large aspirations, the stage was set for a young “rule-breaking” boy to explore the realm of possibilities.
Referred to as the ‘Dirty Revolutionary’ by Hot Rod Magazine in 1975, Peter was a self-proclaimed ‘grease monkey’ from the ‘old school’ and a true innovator. Whether it was transcending the international sport of combined driving at the World Championship-level with his wife, Sharon, as well as with Finn Caspersen’s four-in-hand with Bill Long, or holding a national drag racing record for 10-plus years, or building a business, he was constantly pushing the boundaries of life.
A childhood friend of Pete’s, Larry Mongo, shared a story. Peter’s father, “Bump” Chesson, had a couple of Ford dealerships where Pete would hang around. One day, a trailer with a bunch of new cars showed up. There was one car that stood out to Pete. It was a navy blue Mustang, which he took the liberty of unloading straight into the shop, where he proceeded to strip it down and turn it into a drag car, unbeknownst to Bump. When Bump found out about this, weeks later, he was furious and chased Peter around the shop with an exhaust pipe. The story has a good ending. That car, which Pete drove, went on to set a national record in the B stock automatic class with factory Ford support.
Pete loved racing.He started building race cars in his early teens and never stopped. Pete transcended every form of racing he got involved in. From Drag Racing, Dirt Modifieds, Go Karts, Motocross to WoO Sprint Cars. Pete left his mark. He was a very humble man with a great passion for life. When he got involved in something, there was nothing half-hearted about it. It didn’t matter if it was growing his family business, Barker Bus Company; building a hot rod/race car or imparting knowledge to one of his kids, Pete was all in.
Dad would never say it, but he was very successful in life; both in his family life and in business. He was the ultimate protector, provider and patriarch of his family. He was the glue, he was a real life superman. He made everyone feel important by caring and being present in the moment.
He once said, ‘at the core of every challenge is a very simple solution’. This was his North Star and guiding principle throughout his life. Dad was a proud man. He was most proud of his family and his businesses. He was not the best at saying it to the family member in front of him, but he would brag about each one of us any chance he got. We are a very close family and we owe it to Dad. His greatest accomplishment in life, by far, was his family and the bond that we all have. Peter left behind his four children; Lizzy, PJ, James and Tim, along with eight loving grandchildren, with the youngest one due in August. Sharon, Peter’s former wife but still his partner in so many ways, together shared a deep love, contributing to the inseparable Chesson family bond of which Peter was so proud.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 24, 2021
A quick description of Ray Francis would be perfectly accurate using just three words: dignified, respected and meticulous.
But when one talks about him as a horseman’s horseman, there has to be more detail to explain his essence. A convivial top trainer and judge who made a graceful transition from riding in competition to showing young horses in hand and serving as head of the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s hunter breeding committee, he set a standard and left his mark on the industry, as well as the people who are a part of it.
Ray and Cheryle Francis. (Photo by James Leslie Parker)
When he died yesterday at age 96, we lost a true gentleman who not only did it all, but more important, did it all well. With his loss coming just days after the passing of Mason Phelps and John Franzreb, the equestrian community is truly bereft.
Ray’s wife, Cheryle, said “My belief is that Devon Horse Show is going on in heaven and all the special people are there.”
Rita Timpanero, a fellow judge who was a longtime friend of Ray’s, noted that although he had health problems in recent years and was confined to his chair and bed much of the time, Ray still had that special twinkle in his eye and loved being with Princess, a Jack Russell she bought for him that became his constant companion.
Ray and Cheryle, together for 42 years, ran Offington Stable in Pennsylvania. It was named for the horse business Ray and his mother had in his native Britain, where he left school at age 14 to work in the stable on the historic Offington Hall estate after his father died of a heart attack.
He was involved with a broad spectrum of equestrian activities–teaching and training, playing polo as well as fox hunting and showing, As a youngster aboard a 12.2-hand hackney pony named Bill, he set a record, jumping a five-foot, eight-inch fence in competition. He would hitch his pony to a cart and drive him to the shows, then saddle up and compete, before putting Bill in harness again and heading home.
He came to the U.S. in 1959, figuring rightly that in those days, he could make a better living in America than in England, though he never lost his delightful British accent or precise diction. In Ohio, he worked at Cyrus Eaton’s stable, Acadia Farms. He replaced a mediocre group of horses there with better mounts, and soon Eaton’s friends started coming around and bringing their children for lessons.
Acadia became one of the country’s top show stables in the 1960s. Ray’s star students included Pam Carmichael, who had Chance Step and Lansonette, a pair that became the Horse of the Year and reserve two years in a row for the junior hunters. Pam is the mother of top show jumper Lillie Keenan.
Trainer Robin Rost Brown remembered that when she was growing up in the 1970s, Ray was very businesslike. “His kids (students) were always presented perfectly, horses presented perfectly. He brought us up to a new standard, a new level.”
When Ray turned to hunter breeding competition, he put on the white cowboy hat that was his trademark in the ring. Named leading handler at Devon eight times, he also was involved in breeding horses that he showed. Hunter breeding day at Devon in 2016 was dedicated to him; it was the first time in 45 years that he couldn’t show there.
Ray showing at Devon. (Photo courtesy of Cheryle Francis)
Some of the best horses he worked with included Trouble with Tom (his first in-hand horse), Beau’s Cottage, a pony named Flying Mouse, Given Road and Character Count, as well as Anastazia and Spanish Spear (both Best Young Horse at Devon), among many others.
Despite his busy career, he always found time to put his efforts toward the betterment of the sport, serving as president of the National Professional Horsemen’s Association, as well as heading the Ohio and Eastern Pennsylvania chapters, and becoming vice chairman of USEF Zone II.
After he and Cheryle closed their stable, they moved to Maryland. Their location on the Chester River was perfect, next door to hunter pony breeder Nancy Jayne Reed of Lands End Farm, whom he advised and helped in promotion of her ponies.
Explaining why Ray was so popular, National Horse Show Secretary Cindy Bozan noted that “first and foremost, in the minds of horsemen, if anything ever happened, you knew you could call Ray. If you were broken down on the side of the road, without a question he would be there with a trailer, no matter what the time. He was a true friend and a horseman. He always had a joke, he always had a laugh. He understood everything there was about getting to the ring, being in the ring.”
Ray earned many honors outside the show ring, including the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also in the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame and received the Pennsylvania Horse Show Association Lifetime Achievement Award, in addition to the National Professional Horsemen’s Association’s Frank Hawkins Lifetime Achievement Award and the New England Equitation Finals Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the USEF’s Pegasus Award.
Those wishing to make a donation in Ray’s memory may contribute to Compass Regional Hospice 150 Courseball Dr., Centreville, MD, 21617; the Equestrian Aid Foundation (https://www.equestrianaidfoundation.org) or Danny and Ron’s Dog Rescue (https://dannyronsrescue.org).
Cheryle, who is secretary of the Devon Horse Show, said Ray didn’t want a funeral and was cremated, but asked that a tablespoon of his ashes be placed in the Dixon Oval at Devon. You can expect that there will be some celebrations of his life. Perhaps the National Horse Show can do something for Mason, the former chairman; John Franzreb, the longtime ringmaster and Ray.
“It’s been a wonderful life with horses,” Ray once told me.
“I had some beautiful horses, great horses, and known a lot of nice horses too. And good riders. I’ve got no complaints.”
by Nancy Jaffer | May 22, 2021
The horse show world has lost another icon during a very sad week.
John Franzreb III, the ringmaster of ringmasters, died yesterday at age 79. He was diagnosed with cancer only recently, after coming back from last month’s Pin Oak show in Texas, where he worked as hard as he always did. His death came four days after we lost his friend Mason Phelps, former chairman of the National Horse Show. It’s all very hard to handle.
John served everywhere from the Florida circuit to Devon, the Washington International and National Horse Shows, as well as points west, but will be remembered as much for his warm and welcoming personality as for his dignified and effective arena demeanor. Despite having done his job for decades, he never lost his enthusiasm for playing such a key role on the sporting scene.
John Franzreb where he belonged, center stage at the National Horse Show. (Photo © 2019 by Nancy Jaffer)
John made every class and every presentation seem special, whether it was at a smaller show or an international competition. Always perfectly turned out, his mere presence demonstrated a standard that paid respect to the sport. He was old school at its best.
His wife, Judith, recalled how he loved to pose for photos with children, who years later would come up and remind him, “You gave me my first ribbon.”
John was as vibrant as a man 30 years his junior. His work kept him young and gave him energy..
“He was blessed by every person he ever came across in the horse show world. He thrived on their enthusiasm and love of horses and hoped each day he was with them he was a contributing factor to their lives,” Judith said.
She noted that in addition to his horse show work, he was active on Staten Island with the Boy Scouts, Red Cross and local zoo.
Vicki Lowell, president of the Washington show, called John “an integral part of the Washington family,” a genial presence who “always brought his wonderful style, smile and pomp and circumstance to the opening of each class and the presentation of awards. Start to finish, he was all class, warmth and kindness. We loved John.”
Every presentation was special for John Franzreb ( Photo © 2019 by Nancy Jaffer)
As she fondly recalled, “He was so kind and reassuring. He really loved everyone and was so positive.”
“He was like everybody’s horse show grandpa,” remembered Liz Soroka, a key staffer at many horse shows, noting John was a real gentleman. He always used to compliment the women working at the National when they dressed up for the Saturday night grand prix, which made them feel very special.
John was tapped for his first ringmaster position at the age of 17 at Madison Square Garden by National Horse Show Manager Honey Craven. He was supposed to compete in the show, but his junior hunter had gone lame.
Honey recognized talent when he saw it. He told John’s father, who ran the family’s Clove Lake Stables on Staten Island, “I need someone to be a ringmaster. Your son knows what to do.”
And indeed he did.
Honey also passed along some “advice”, an order, not a suggestion: “Stand up straight, keep your hands out of your pockets, keep your jacket closed at all times, say `Yes, sir, no sir, yes ma’am, no ma’am’ and make sure you go to Mass on Sunday.”
While John served as a horse show manager over the years, including at the National, he was best known for his style and capability in his ring duties.
“If you needed a ringmaster at your horse show, there was nobody better,” said David Distler, Washington’s manager and Devon’s co-manager. When something went wrong, “John kept his cool and knew exactly how to handle it,” David stated.
He recalled that when a four-in-hand had jackknifed at Devon, John specified what needed to be done, and that kept the coach from turning over. Once when a horse went down, John called members of the jump crew to surround the animal until screens could be put up to shield the scene from the public.
“The ringmaster should always be a horseman,” John used to say, and that he was.
“If something goes amok, the ringmaster must stop it,” he emphasized when we talked about it a few years ago.
“I am omnipresent,” he told me, “I’m always watching.”
Alan Keely, a ringmaster who worked with John at Devon, noted “he always had great stories to tell.” Alan sometimes wondered if they were a bit embellished, but after knowing John for awhile, he said “I could see the twinkle in his eye.
“He was a pleasure to work with,” added Alan, commenting that he and John “spoke the same language. If he saw something going on in the ring, he did something about it, whether it was a dog in the ring or a rider down.”
John Franzreb and Mason Phelps at the National Horse Show. (Photo © 2019 by Nancy Jaffer)
Lenore Phillips, president of the Phelps Media Group founded by Mason, recalled that she liked to see John brushing his coats at 6:15 a.m. at the National, making sure all was perfect for his appearance that morning.
“I felt like I was watching a piece of history in action, someone who took pride in carrying on a tradition,” she said.
When many people decided not to go to the National last year due to the Covid situation, she was gratified to see John there.
“I wouldn’t miss this,” he told her.
Noting that Mason and John had known each other for decades, she said, “as sad as I am not to see either of them any more, I’m just happy they’re together now.”
In addition to his wife, John is survived by their three sons: John IV (Cheryl), Jeffrey (Christine) and Jarad (Crissy), as well as six grandchildren: Dr. Taylor Franzreb, who graduated from veterinary school this month as John III watched on his iPad; John IV, Margaret Rose, Casey, Sean and Ally.
There are no plans as yet for memorial ceremonies, but there certainly will be.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 3, 2021
There’s quite a lineup for the Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event, which gets under way with dressage competition on Thursday, May 6 at the Horse Park of New Jersey in Allentown. (Diehards can attend the horse inspection on Wednesday for free.)
Boyd Martin, no stranger to the Horse Park, will be riding Luke 140 in the Jersey Fresh 4-star Long. (Photo © by Lawrence J. Nagy)
The final selection trial for the U.S. Olympic eventing team that will go to Tokyo has drawn 2016 Olympic individual medalist Phillip Dutton with Sea of Clouds and Pan American Games double gold medalist Boyd Martin with one of his top horses, Luke 140 for the featured 4-star Long.
It will also offer a rematch between the 1-2 finishers in the Land Rover Kentucky 4-star Short, Alyssa Phillips, who won with Oskar, and Tamie Smith with En Vogue, who dropped from the lead after two phases with a rail down and time penalties in the show jumping segment.
The U.S. Equestrian Federation is now allowing spectators at competitions it licesnes, so find out how to get tickets in advance or at the gate here.
Children under 12 years old will be admitted free of charge, as will 4-H and FFA members (with ID), Pony Club members (with pin), and military members and their dependents (with ID). Seniors 65 years and older will be admitted at a discount of $5 per person.
Unlike the case at the Land Rover Kentucky event last month, where Oliver Townend made his victory gallop past cardboard cutout photos of spectators, live fans will be allowed at Jersey Fresh. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
Alyssa, who trains with Jennie Brannigan, is a regular at Jersey Fresh.This year, Alyssa noted, “With everything happening with Covid and all the closures, it fits perfectly with my schedule and he’s fit and ready, so Jersey is the perfect place for him to do his first 4-Long based on the terrain and the technicality that Jersey has to offer. I’m really excited; I’m really looking forward to it. He’s an awesome cross-country horse.”
Alyssa Phillips and Oskar winning the 4-star Short at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Mars Equestria. (Photo by RedBay Stock)
Other big names that will be running in the event, which also includes a 4-star Short and 3-star Long and Short include likely team candidates Liz Halliday-Sharp and local favorite Doug Payne, who grew up in Tewksbury. The 2004 individual Olympic gold medalist from Britain, Leslie Law, now one of the U.S. coaches, will be riding, along with fan favorites Sharon White and Buck Davidson. Doug’s sister, Holly Payne Caravella, is in the 4-star Short.
Dressage continues on Friday, with cross-country on Saturday, as well as show jumping for the 3-star and 4-star Short divisions. The 3 and 4-star Long divisions will show jump on Sunday.
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 8, 2021
The Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event will be back next month after missing its 2020 edition, when competitions across the country were shut down due to the pandemic.
This time around, plenty of top riders are expected to take part, but the state’s biggest eventing fixture won’t be able to welcome spectators at the Horse Park of New Jersey. As a Covid precaution, the U.S. Equestrian Federation has banned the public from attending its licensed shows until at least mid-May (see the story in the On the Rail section of this website).
But Jersey Fresh May 5-9 will persevere with an assortment of divisions, including 3- and 4-star Long and Short.
“We’ve been running for over 20 years. We’re had ups and downs. We’re a very resilient group. We always come out on top, we always improve year to year, and we’re up for the challenge,” said Morgan Rowsell.
He has been the 3-star cross-country course designer in the past. Now he has moved up to handling the 4-stars as well. Former U.S. eventing coach Mark Phillips, who took over the course designing job in 2017, will serve as an advisor this time around.
Morgan Rowsell.
Jersey Fresh is one of only two selection events for the U.S. Olympic team in 2021. The other is the Land Rover Kentucky event April 21-27; Badminton, which was in the mix, has been cancelled due to the Covid lockdown in the United Kingdom.
For the first time, Kentucky has added a 4-star S to its program, which is highlighted by the 5-star. Last year, only one 5-star was held, so Kentucky has attracted a good number of foreign competitors.
Morgan, who is also the course builder and co-organizer of Jersey Fresh with Jane Cory, isn’t worried that having a 4-star S in Kentucky will hurt entries at Jersey Fresh. While he noted his event might lose some horses as a result, he mentioned that since Jersey Fresh is two weeks after Kentucky, some riders may choose to run their 4-star horses again. Horses that don’t finish the 5-star at Kentucky often reroute to Jersey Fresh, which sometimes gets as many as 10 from that group.
“We’re anticipating a pretty full entry and we’re excited about that,” he said.
“We’re going to make a good showing on getting them prepared and getting the selectors a good chance to see the top horses and assess who’s ready for Tokyo.”
Even without the general public, there will still be tailgating by parents of riders, owners and sponsors “so we can still have some atmosphere,” Morgan said.
There is a focus on the grand prix arena, where the base has been replaced and a campaign is under way to update the surface for 2022. Even so, what is there now is decent enough, and arena expert Aaron Thompson of North Carolina has been hired to oversee the footing all week long.
In a non-Covid year, spectators lined the rail of the grand prix arena to catch the action.
“He will keep it at the right moisture content, the right compaction and the right dragging. He’ll be focused on that solely,” said Morgan, noting Aaron does the same type of work for events in Fair Hill, Md.
At Jersey, there will be a tent under the oaks by the ring in case of rain or intense sun so people can watch dressage and jumping under cover, while socially distanced, of course.There also will be a tent at the cross-country water complex for sponsors B.W. Furlong Associates, AIG, Boehringer Ingelheim and Zoetis,
Mark Phillips, who designed the cross-country course for the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games, is coming at the end of April to inspect the Jersey Fresh route.
“I’m extremely grateful for Mark promoting the next generation of designers, he’s been a mentor and a friend. I’m excited about him still being involved,” said Morgan.
“He’ll make sure we’re all on the same page and that I’m asking the right questions and that it’s suitable for Olympic trials and the 4-star championship. He’ll give me the confidence to be bold but not overstep where the horses should be. I’m excited to have someone of his caliber working with me and checking my work.”
