The Garden State Horse Show, once New Jersey’s largest hunter/jumper competition, is moving next year from the Sussex County fairgrounds to the U.S. Equestrian Federation Foundation’s historic Gladstone facility.
Garden State, set to run its 69th edition April 27-May 5, is following the lead of the Monmouth County Horse Show, which left Freehold for the foundation grounds in Somerset County two years ago. The third edition of what is now called Monmouth at the Team is set for Aug. 12-20, but Monmouth has long been billed as the oldest continually running show in the country.
With the move, Monmouth became a boutique one-ring show, rather than a multi-ring affair, in a setting that is a big selling point. People enjoy riding in the same arena (albeit with new state-of-the-art footing) where the likes of show jumping legends including Bill Steinkraus, Frank Chapot and George Morris trained. A Monmouth trademark is the hospitality in a ringside tent, offering a warm welcome, music, and plenty to eat and drink. High-end vendors and a good sponsor experience complete the picture.
One thing Garden State and Monmouth now have in common is their manager, Tucker Ericson, an insurance executive and horse show judge who splits his time between Ocala, Fla., and Far Hills. He also manages the successful Country Heir shows in Kentucky.
“Tucker’s an excellent guy. I couldn’t be more thrilled,” said Tim Cleary, 61, who stepped down as Garden State’s manager after this year’s show.
Garden State is run by the alumni of the Junior Essex Troop of Cavalry, which originally was based at its own farm in West Orange. The troop was open to boys between the ages of 10 and 18 who trained in the cavalry tradition. But after the farm was sold following the 1983 show, troop membership declined and finally, the organization for young people could not continue.
Even so, the former troopers were a tight-knit group who kept the show going, first at Chubb Park in Chester, before moving to Sussex in 1987 when Garden State outgrew the Morris County venue.
Recently, however, entry numbers dropped as the needs and desires of exhibitors changed with the times and more shows crowded the calendar.
“We were struggling. This year, we really worked hard to try and make ends meet,” said Tim. The former troopers who did much of that work also are getting older, and while they enjoyed their annual reunion at the show, the amount of effort it required was becoming daunting. Concern arose that Garden State might not continue.
So Tim, who works as an announcer at the Monmouth show, believes the new approach for Garden State is the perfect fit and will insure that the show can go on.
“I think it’s awesome. I couldn’t be more thrilled about the whole thing. It’s the tradition of Troop locking up with the tradition of the Team,” explained Tim, an associate professor of equine studies at Centenary University in Hackettstown.
Tim noted that having only one ring makes it “almost like an indoor.” The show is nine days (the first two days’ offerings are not recognized by the U.S. Equestrian Federation) so it can accommodate the wide range of classes Garden State always presented for all levels in multiple rings, but there also will be some editing to make sure every division presented makes sense.
“Trying to determine what the consumer wants is critical,” said Tucker.
Tim appreciates the way Garden State 2019 is developing.
“We were a horse show trying to be an event, and I kind of look at it now that we’re going to be an event surrounded by a horse show,” said Tim.
Tucker, 49, bought the Monmouth show with his cousin, Michael Dowling, an assistant professor of equine studies at Centenary, where he also is a coach of the intercollegiate riding team. It provides a template for Garden State’s evolution.
“The guys from Junior Essex Troop have worked so hard for so many decades on creating a horse show that became a priority to many in New Jersey and surrounding states. At the same time, the industry has put such an emphasis on footing, hotels, restaurants and a special boutique experience,” Tucker observed.
The Somerset Hills where the foundation is located has many amenities close at hand. For instance, there are four high-end restaurants in the borough of Peapack and Gladstone, along with several smaller dining establishments that are a drive of three or four minutes from the showgrounds.
“What Monmouth at the Team has done has shown horse shows that a show like that can thrive. We certainly love Sussex County, but that (the fairgrounds) is such an overwhelming facility to try and get your arms around. Gladstone enables us to do something that’s achievable on the high end, so we can provide that experience an entire family would enjoy,” Tucker continued.
He views hospitality as “so critical” to enable even those who aren’t riders to have some fun. There are gifts for competitors who win first place in every class and the championships, all part of making “the entire experience something people look forward to and not just another run-of-the-mill horse show. Having the entire show focused on one ring creates an atmosphere where the spectators are really enjoying the sport again. That energy at the USET Foundation is hard to replace,” continued Tucker, who compared the concept to the Devon Horse show, which has a main ring and a smaller, ancillary ring often used for warm-up.
Although sponsors will have the opportunity to be involved with two shows at the same facility, Tucker noted Garden State will be “distinct and separate” from Monmouth at the Team. At the same time, Monmouth will be an experience “that we want to replicate, in some regard. I’m sure Garden State will create some of its own nuances” to keep it distinct and separate. That’s especially true since one show is in the spring and the other is in the summer, which means they won’t become redundant. Meanwhile, Tucker is hoping that Garden State will help bring some new people to Monmouth at the Team, and vice-versa.
Another benefit, from Tucker’s viewpoint, “is that we get to promote the USET Foundation at the same time. So many kids growing up today don’t understand the roots of our sport and the mission of the foundation. Every chance we get to promote that facility and help them raise money for our teams and games around the world, it’s so critical to carrying on a tradition that is a whole exciting offshoot of bringing horses to the team (facility).”
Unlike Monmouth, where the highest rating is B, subject to USEF approval Garden State will continue to be rated AA for hunters during its seven recognized days. As usual, it also will have a show jumping grand prix with a purse of at least $25,000. Monmouth does not have a grand prix.
Tucker is hoping that by the time Monmouth at the Team gets under way, a sponsorship packet and tentative schedule for Garden State will be available so people can get an idea what the show will look like.
“Bringing in the community and sponsors will be critical,” Tucker pointed out.
Monmouth’s offerings are similar to last year, but an extra B-rated day has been added to give people another chance to earn points or ride in a division if they’ve been shut out of it earlier in the show because there were so many entries.
“It’s our way of being able to include everyone,” said Tucker.
News about Garden State’s move comes on the heels of word from the Mars Essex Horse Trials, held in June at Moorland Farm in Far Hills, that plans call for its new advanced division in 2019 to have its dressage and show jumping phases at the foundation, with cross-country remaining at Moorland.
The momentum is impressive since the ball got rolling three years ago with the Gladstone Gathering at the foundation. That cocktail party with a purpose brought together more than 200 supporters of horse sport an d representatives of equestrian organizations.
It was a first step toward greater utilization of the foundation’s facility and increasing equestrian involvement in the Somerset Hills. The Gathering sparked the rebirth of the Essex Horse Trials, formerly presented on foundation property, which hadn’t been held for 19 years until it was reorganized in 2017. The Horse Trials are not an anomaly.
Newer facilities in Skillman, run by Princeton Show Jumping, and in Asbury, Warren County, where The Ridge has a series, also are adding life to the state’s show scene.
“It seems to me that the equestrian community in New Jersey is gaining strength again as far as high-end horse shows and people really trying to identify a strategy and a vision that is going to work,” said Tucker.
“Some of that certainly is because of the economy. It’s a lot easier to succeed in promoting a strong vision when the economy supports it. When the economy does dip again, if you’ve proven yourself as a standout and people are pickier with how they spend their dollars, they are going to go to those standout shows and make sure they are the ones that have legs and longevity. I’m always trying to think of ways to have the horse shows work together and share some synergy, whether it’s a vendor or an award, or ideas.”
As he sees it, “There’s a desire to want to keep people locally. If everyone goes away for the entire summer or stays on circuits longer from the winter, if we don’t give them a reason to come back to New Jersey, then shame on us. They may now have a reason to come back to our community and embrace our show.
“We’re giving trainers and exhibitors a reason to stay in New Jersey now. As long as we continue to do that, it’s going to help the area thrive and make people think twice before they’re willing to spend thousands of dollars to travel away, when they’ve got something special in their backyard.”
Not only is it ready to host an Advanced division (Preliminary was the highest level offered this year and in 2017), it plans to supplement its location at Moorland Farm in Far Hills with a side-trip to the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation headquarters in Gladstone, where Essex was held until lack of cross-country space at the foundation site led to its termination after the 1998 edition.
The Advanced section would have its dressage and show jumping Thursday and Friday at the Foundation, where the historic arena has top-flight, up-to-date artificial footing. The Advanced entries would return to Moorland Saturday for cross-country, but all the other divisions will do their entire competition at Moorland, where the surface is turf for each segment. That concept would double the length of Essex, which has only been held on the weekend for the past two years.
Guy Torsilieri, an Essex board member and a key player in bringing Essex back to the scene in 2017 after a 19-year absence, noted Essex had permission to do Advanced for 2018, but passed.
“We chose not to do it this year because we’re still growing and working out the kinks as we re-invigorate Essex,” he said.
“We could do the total Advanced package here (at Moorland), but the turf and footing becomes questionable for the show jumping and dressage if we get weather conditions. Turf is the best—until it isn’t; until you get three inches of rain the night before, like we did last year and our dressage fields were flooded.”
The solution this year involved moving dressage away from the boggy area where it was held in 2017, and prime weather meant the show jumping arena was perfect. But the climate doesn’t always cooperate.
Guy and Ralph Jones, who co-chairs Essex with cross-country course designer Morgan Rowsell, had discussions with foundation Executive Director Bonnie Jenkins and Jim Wolf, the assistant executive director, about moving two-thirds of the Advanced test to Gladstone.
“The big story is tying in the traditional home of the Essex Horse Trials with its modern home. It’s gone full circle,” said Jim, who is a member of the Essex board.
Putting the historic foundation facility in the picture adds cachet to the event.
“I always say about Gladstone, when you walk into that stable, the walls talk, all those people who have been there, the history, you can’t replicate that anywhere else in the country,” Jim commented.
“I look at those stables and think about the famous horses that have been there that represented this country. For a rider to ride at a horse trials and be able to have their horse in the same stall as some of those horses is an amazing experience.”
This need to schedule Advanced dressage and show jumping at Gladstone raises a question for Guy about when he should put in a permanent ring with synthetic footing at Moorland, site of the Far Hills Race Meeting each October. He isn’t ready to do that yet, so Gladstone offers a perfect solution.
Asked to sum up where he thinks Essex is at the moment, Ralph said “This is all going according to plan.” He was pleased that the weather cooperated over the weekend (unlike what was predicted) and more than 2,500 people came out on the second day, when a car show was among the activities featured.
Putting everything together “really is a balancing act,” observed Ralph.
“You want to hold a very good equestrian competition. On the other hand, you want to make it a show, a country weekend and a family weekend for the community. The people here at Moorland Farm are dedicated to that. Putting on a good show is your best marketing. In the end, it’s really word of mouth that will bring this fixture back to the magic it was, the old Essex. And that’s really our goal, to bring it back.”
Essex is run for the benefit of the Greater Newark Life Camp in Pottersville, where approximately 300 Newark area youth each summer spend time learning about the environment and otherwise stretching their talent and imagination. More than 130 volunteers have enabled Essex to flourish. Without them, Ralph noted, “we wouldn’t be able to do it.”
The Preliminary Essex Division, offering $20,000 in prize money, was held on Saturday (click on this link to read the story), but there was plenty of action on Sunday for the Training, Novice and Beginner novice levels.
Donna White of Newton and her longtime partner, High Stakes (better known as Cowboy), won the Training B division. She has owned the unraced thoroughbred for 10 years. He started out with her trainer, Holly Payne Caravella.
In a story I wrote for Practical Horseman magazine in 2016, Holly recalled how and why she bought Cowboy.
“His owners had started endurance riding him in Arizona,” she told me.
“They sent me a video, set to music. He was trotting and galloping with his head in the air on a straight line toward the camera, so you couldn’t see anything about his stride or way of moving. Then the cowboy riding him got off and tied his shoe—and the horse just stood there. After that, they threw a tarp over him and he was still motionless. I looked at the video and thought, `This horse is a saint.’
Donna seconds that thought.
“He’s a Training Level packer,” said the 51-year-old rider, who works in analytics for a pharmaceutical company.
In the large Training Rider A section, Valito topped a field of 27 for Dawn Eastabrooks of Tewksbury.
The United Airlines flight attendant was cheered by a crew of United employees who had come out to watch her long-held dreams with Valito finally come to fruition.
Her challenges with the horse included one at Essex last year, when he “balked at the water jump” and that was that. This year, she led all the way through, from dressage and cross-country to a clean round in show jumping. She admitted she was shaking as she cleared each stadium fence (“It was a lot of pressure”) and finished on her dressage score of 30.50—oddly, the same score as Donna earned in her division.
Dawn, 50, bought the Hanoverian/thoroughbred cross Canadian sporthorse as a four-year-old and has owned him for nine years. She credited her trainers, Corey Edwards and Meg Kepferle, who spent time with him over the winter, with helping her get to the point where she could win.
“I’ve had my trials and tribulations, but he showed his true potential today,” she said, the thrill of it all written in her smile.
Dawn and Donna enjoyed their victory gallops in the awards ceremony. Hannah Simmons left her horse on the trailer, so she brought along her new dog, Tonks, who proudly wore the fourth-place ribbon she had earned in Training Rider B. The rescued pup had just been adopted Wednesday, but already was a natural for the spotlight. Click on the video to watch.
Several special awards were given out. They included the Jean and Elliot Haller Perpetual Trophy for Horsemanship. The trophy is named in memory of the couple who owned Hoopstick Farm in Bedminster, where Essex started. The award went to John Nunn, the owner of the Bit of Britain tack shop in Pennsylvania, who competed in the Preliminary division.
Sally Ike, a member of the Essex board, chose him for the honor because of his sportsmanship and his contributions to the sport. “He loves the sport. He just has a smile on his face every time you see him. He loves being here. When I think of what he has done with Bit O’ Britain, giving back to the eventing community, it was a no-brainer.”
The Golden Nugget Memorial Trophy, donated by Clarissa Wilmerding, goes to the lowest-scoring member of a Pony Club (low is good in eventing) who has completed all three phases at Essex. It went to Radnor, Pa., Pony Club member Marina Cassou, 13, second in Beginner Novice Rider A on The Dude.
To see a gallery of photos from Essex, click on this link
For results of the Essex Horse Trials, go to this link.
After a brilliant return to the eventing calendar in 2017 following a 19-year absence, the Mars Essex Horse Trials had a hard act to follow for 2018. But today, more big names competing in the Preliminary division and a promise to add the Advanced division next year (more on that tomorrow) demonstrated this beloved fixture isn’t just getting older, it’s getting better.
The new Preliminary Essex section, with $20,000 in prize money, offered a greater challenge cross-country than the Open Preliminary and Preliminary Rider divisions.
“I added the Essex Division to give more excitement to the game,” said cross-country course designer Morgan Rowsell, who co-chairs Essex with Ralph Jones.
The concept worked. Buck Davidson was the marquee rider who appeared last year at Moorland Farm in Far Hills, taking first through fourth places in prelim. But this time, there were a lot more recognizable faces, from Ryan Wood, who earned the $8,000 winner’s share of the Preliminary Essex purse, to second-place Michael Walton (he also is known as a show jumper); Buck, of course; Sally Cousins, Madeline Blackman, Courtney Cooper, Sara Kozumplik Murphy and a few more of whom you may have heard.
The cross-country course was inviting, while offering exactly the right amount of questions to make horses and riders really pay attention.
“It was a very strong track. I walked it this morning and thought there were enough questions and terrain and very well-presented jumps,” said Ryan.
“By the end of it, I thought it was going to be a good round if you went clear and under time. It proved it to be just that. There were a couple of rider falls and multiple run-outs and I was lucky enough to be on a very experienced horse, Ruby, who finished on her dressage score of 27. So she led from start to finish,” noted the Australian citizen, who is based at Phillip Dutton’s farm in West Grove Pa.
Nine horses, or less than a third of the 30 who finished the division, got around without time penalties. They found themselves with another challenge when facing Chris Barnard’s show jumping route later in the day in front of a cocktail party held in the Hoopstick Club, named after the Bedminster farm where Roger Haller, his family and friends first staged Essex in 1968.
“It was interesting to see the rails that were coming down,” said Ryan, who was tied for eighth on another mount, Ben Nevis, and 11th aboard Chusinmyconfession.
“I was a victim of a rail on each of my other horses,” noted Ryan, while praising the designer’s ability.
“Jump one looked like the softest jump on the course, a little bit of a rampy oxer, but it came down more than any other jump on the track. I thought the treble (triple) looked tough and it jumped better than any other combination. I was lucky enough to have two practices at it before piloting Ruby around.”
Not everyone was as lucky. Take Cole Horn, who had been standing second on Cooley Sligo after cross country. He dropped three rails to finish 13th.
Ruby, an 8-year-old Oldenburg mare by Royal Prince, is a New Jersey-bred from Summit Sporthorses, Ilona English’s farm in Ringoes. The clever chestnut is a half-sister to Powell, another Summit horse on whom Ryan won the Jersey Fresh International CCI 3-star in 2016.
Watch this video to find out more about Ruby.
Ryan hadn’t been to Essex previously, but he’ll return.
“I think it’s phenomenal. I can’t wait to come back. I will be promoting it to everyone in Pennsylvania,” he said.
Click on this video to see Ryan’s award presentation and his well-deserved victory gallop.
Another first-timer from Pennsylvania, Kaitlin Clasing, won the Open Preliminary division aboard Warren LVS on his dressage score of 29.80. She came from second place with her clean round to pass overnight leader Elizabeth Bortuzzo on Belongs to Teuffer, who dropped three rails.
A professional trainer who is married to another trainer, Daniel Clasing, Kaitlin had hoped each of them could win their division at the same event for the first time. But Daniel’s two rails down iwth Captivate in the Preliminary Essex division dropped him from a tie for fourth to 10th place, so that dream has to live another day. “We keep waiting for that weekend to happen,” Kaitlin said.
She has been working with Warren for the last two years, since he was four. Kaitlin was particularly pleased with his show jumping, since she noted he thought he had worked pretty hard on cross-country.
The Preliminary Rider division went to Juliana Hutchings-Sebring of Fair Hill, Md. It was her second victory in a row with Welbourne, who also won at Plantation Field. She got the Dutch warmblood two years ago in a trade.
He had come to her to be sold, because he was unsuitable for his older rider. But the sellers wanted a quieter mount and found it in her barn’s best lesson horse. Juli wasn’t sure she should give up that patient paragon.
“I was like, `An 8-year-old Dutch warmblood or a 12-year-old school horse I got for free who had arthritis but was a good horse and serviceably sound?’ It was funny, I really debated whether or not to take this horse for free. I’m obviously glad I did.”
She noted, however, “He’s a tricky horse, because he’s very spooky. This was the first event where he didn’t look at anything in cross-country or stadium.”
She was the only rider in her division who made the time on cross-country, moving her up from sixth after dressage, and her flawless stadium round kept her on top.
As a Fair Hill resident, her ambition long has been to ride in the Fair Hill International, and she hopes to compete in the 2-star there in the fall of 2019.
Beezie Madden winning her second Longines FEI World Cup Show Jumping Finals in Paris last weekend? Not surprising.
But Devin Ryan as the runner-up? Now there’s an unexpected result from a field that included the likes of 2017 winner McLain Ward, three-time winner Marcus Ehning of Germany and two-time Swiss winner Steve Guerdat.
Devin Ryan riding Eddie Blue in Paris (Photo FEI/Christophe Tanière)
Devin, a 36-year-old Long Valley, N.J., resident, was hardly an equestrian household name when he arrived in the City of Lights earlier this month–even if he had competed in last year’s Longines Paris Masters and been victorious in the 2017 Longines American Gold Cup.
While many of the riders knew Devin, “the general public, the news people at that end, they didn’t have a clue,” said the 2018 runner-up, who was ranked 68th in the world at the end of March. He will, of course, see his standing rise dramatically on the list that comes out at the end of April.
“That is an unbelievable story,” declared George Morris, about Devin’s incredible finish on Eddie Blue at the world indoor show jumping championship.
It was a 1-2 U.S. finish at the Longines FEI World Cup Show Jumping Finals, where Beezie Madden held aloft her winner’s trophy, on the podium with Devin Ryan (L) , who won second place, and Henrik von Eckermann of Sweden, who took third place. (Photo FEI/Jim Hollander)
When Devin started as a working student for George, the teenager was as green as the grass at Hunterdon Inc. in Pittstown.
“He was just a local kid,” recalled George.
“It’s impossible what happened to him. It’s great for the sport and for people to see that,” George declared, noting that Devin always worked hard (to the point of polishing George’s boots as part of his responsibilities, Devin revealed.)
As George pointed out, it demonstrates that hard work can still pay off in the sport for those without an unlimited budget.
“I’d do anything to just be given the opportunity,” said Devin, who mucked a lot of stalls and groomed a lot of horses in the process.
Devin went on to a paying job at Hunterdon for two years, picking up pointers from Chris Kappler and other trainers there, before going off to work with horse dealer Alan Waldman in the Netherlands. Then he came home to start his own operation at River Run Farm.
At the World Cup, Alan told him frankly, “Fifteen years ago, when you were working for me, I never thought you’d be here. You’re like the American dream.”
During his first World Cup finals, Devin tried to keep things in perspective.
“To me, it was another horse show,” said Devin, explaining how he approached it. Of course, initially all eyes were on the likes of Beezie and McLain; certainly not on Devin.
“I didn’t feel the pressure; I put pressure on myself,” he commented, while adding he didn’t head to France just for the experience. Preparing for the competition, he wasn’t excited or nervous, but he had goals.
This is what he told himself: “I know what Eddie is capable of doing. I have a great horse; I trust him and he trusts me. I’m going to ride every round like it’s another horse show.”
At the same time, he noted, “I want to win every class I go into.”
He came close with the 9-year-old by VDL Zirocco Blue, the youngest horse in this year’s finals. Eddie has been trained by Devin for five years, since the gray Dutchbred was just started under saddle. What makes Eddie successful?
Devin Ryan and Eddie Blue on their way to winning the American Gold Cup Longines FEI World Cup qualifier in 2017. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
“When he goes in the ring, he’s careful; his scope and his brain, putting those three things together, that’s what makes an amazing horse,” explained Devin.
“Sometimes they have the scope and the carefulness, but they’re spooky or they can’t stay focused.” Not Eddie.
On the other hand, “outside the ring, he’s a nudge, he’s pushy, he’s cheeky, he’s in your space,” chuckled Devin, who admires his mount’s “heart and bravery.”
After being third place in the opening speed leg, where he was less than a second behind Beezie and Germany’s Daniel Deusser, Devin went on to miss the jump-off in the second round by a single time fault, missing the time allowed of 75 seconds by 0.09 seconds. Even so, he remained in third place overall.
But on the third day, in a difficult two-round test that ended without a jump-off, Devin and Eddie were clear in both rounds, tying for first place in the segment with Steve Guerdat, while Beezie toppled a rail with Breitling in the second of her two trips to wind up tied for fourth in that segment.
Overall, though, when the ribbons were awarded on the basis of three days of competition, Devin was only two penalties behind Beezie and stood just below her on the podium, with Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann, who was third last year, in the same position once more with Toveks Mary Lou. McLain, who has been very encouraging to Devin, wound up fourth with HH Azur on 16 penalties, 12 behind Beezie.
When Henrik, who was standing second, knocked a rail down in his final round, Devin snapped to attention.
“Holy cow,” he said to himself, “I’m in second. This is crazy.”
One of Devin’s goals in going to the World Cup Finals was to be considered for the U.S. team that will contest the FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon, N.C., this September.
Without a string of 5-star horses, said Devin, “The only way I’m going to get recognition and have a chance of maybe getting on a team is through the World Cup finals. That’s an individual championship. I have two horses (Cooper is his other one), but not as many as a lot of people do. World Cup finals, the nice thing about it, is that it gives riders like me a chance to really prove they’re capable of representing the United States at some level.”
Post-World Cup, Devin is eighth on the U.S. ranking list. As the highest-placing American in the World Cup finals who wasn’t already named to the short list for September’s FEI World Equestrian Games (Beezie had secured her spot previously), he’ll make that roster of 10 athletes too.
While the World Cup is an individual championship, the WEG is a team competition, and doubly important because it’s a qualifier for the 2020 Olympics. The next step is going to Europe with the U.S. team to ride in two of four observation events, which include Dublin, Aachen, Rotterdam and Sopot, Poland. Obviously, Devin has come a long way and persevered.
He has made it through the down times, including the fatal injury of his first good horse in a pasture accident. Another was a ruling by a U.S Equestrian Federation hearing committee that he had presented five horses at the 2015 Hampton Classic “in a condition that was not in the best interest of the welfare of the horses.” He was fined $6,000 and suspended for six months during 2016.
Devin doesn’t give details, noting “I’m not allowed to talk about it.” But he did his time and came back. He had been taught from the beginning to persist.
“I came from a middle-class family, it’s not a horse family at all,” said Devin, whose first horse cost $50.
“I knew I didn’t have the big money, the big backing. I said years ago the only way I’m going to get a good horse is buying a young one and developing it. And the young horses are what has developed me as a rider.”
His parents were strict about his equestrian involvement, and made sure he worked at it on the family farm.
“If you don’t take care of your horse and ride it every day and get up early and sacrifice going out with friends, if you’re not going to do it, then the horse is gone and you don’t do horses, you do something else,” they told him.
Eddie is owned by Lori Larrabee, who “loves the sport,” said Devin, noting she came to France to support him with her husband, Steve, and three of their children.
Despite his success, Devin knows better than to get overconfident.
“I still have to prove myself,” he explained.
“This was definitely a big step in my career, to be able to do something like this,” he said, but realistic as always, added, “It’s round one.”
Laura Chapot took the Equiline Overall Jumper Rider title for the 2018 Winter Equestrian Festival. The Neshanic Station resident has won that championship so many times she can’t put a number on it. But rest assured it was earned with a consistent record, dozens of starts and a good number of victories.
“We show not just in the grands prix or one division,” said Laura, explaining how she keeps claiming the honor.
“I have a couple of horses in a range of divisions and they all have performed really well in their own spot. I think that comes through in that award.”
For Chapot, 46, the WEF in Wellington, Fla., is the greatest opportunity she has all year to make her mark at the highest level of the sport. She shows on a budget, and the WEF lends itself to enabling her participation in FEI (international) classes.
She and her mother, Olympic veteran Mary Chapot, have a house in Wellington. While they don’t own a farm there, stabling at WEF is convenient and less costly than renting or buying a facility, as so many other jumper riders do.
She takes a volume approach to the cornucopia of classes in the Winter Equestrian Capital of the World, knowing that she has limited chances during the year to take part in FEI shows.
At the end of the WEF, which finished its 12-week run April 1, Chapot’s horses headed home to New Jersey for a long rest. Her next big outing is Devon, about two hours from her Chado Farm, but there is little opportunity around the region where she can get an FEI tune-up before that special show in Pennsylvania at the end of May.
As a result of the lack of points from FEI classes, despite her record, she is number 297 in the world rankings. She noted prize money also has dropped in the area around New Jersey.
“It’s a little bit disappointing and it makes you want to look at other places to go that are maybe not quite as convenient as having something right in our area, which is such a well-populated place to have horse shows.”
Going to Canada’s Spruce Meadows series in Alberta, as so many from the U.S. do each summer is not an option.
“It’s so far and so expensive. For our customers, that’s not really even in their thoughts, it’s not possible for them,” said Laura, who doesn’t want to leave her clients for weeks after going to Florida, which means Europe, also pricey, isn’t an option.
“It would be really nice if we could keep continuing to build up our sport in this country, so we have some other places to go without having to spend a fortune in order to get there,” she observed, noting how important it is from the standpoint of self-improvement to compete against the best.
At any rate, she’s rarely rusty at Devon, where she also makes a habit of being leading rider, at least half a dozen times by last count.
It will be interesting to see how she does at that show with her newest star, Chandon Blue, a 13-year-old son of popular sire Chacco Blue.
She got the horse in December through Irish Olympic medalist Cian O’Connor. During WEF, she trains with him and his assistant, Michael Kelly. Wellington is really the only place all year where she has eyes on the ground in addition to help from her mother, and she appreciates getting a variety of viewpoints and new ideas.
Chapot likes buying horses via Cian because if they don’t work out, she has the option of returning them. Laura hasn’t gone abroad recently to look for horses, finding it easier and more effective to work with Cian.
“That way, we really get to know the real horse, and whether it’s going to suit or not. It’s hard to go over there and be a small fish in a big pond and see a horse on one or two days and think you know what you’re getting,” said Laura.
“You need a good connection over there, someone scouting and watching and being sure that the horse you see on your short trip is the same horse that appears every week, in and out. The people over there may ride differently than you ride, and the horse is used to that ride. So then all of a sudden, you ride it for two weeks, and it’s a different horse, for the good or the bad.”
Of Chandon Blue, whose previous riders included Cian and Israeli competitor Daniel Bluman, she said, “Originally, I wasn’t sure he was going to be my style. But he’s really a game horse and quite quick and careful. He’s had a little bit of experience, so he was ready to go when he came over. We just have to figure out the ride a little bit.”
His achievements at WEF included a win in the $35,000 Hollow Creek 1.50m Classic CSI 3-star.
As far as his future goes, though, Chapot isn’t making predictions–despite some “pretty fantastic rounds in Florida.”
She noted “he was not billed to us as being the next Olympic star, but I don’t think you can always predict those kinds of things. He’s a really useful horse—we just have to see where it goes.”
Among the names of her more familiar mounts, such as Thornhill Kate and ISHD Dual Star, is another new one, Cybel II, a 10-year-old Irishbred sporthorse by Varo.
“I kept her a little bit lower, at 1.40 and 1.45 meters. She’s quite careful and has a lot off ability, but she’s a much more difficult ride and a lot less experienced,” she said of the mare, formerly ridden by Cian and another Irishman, Ross Mulholland.
“I’ve got a nice string right now,” said Laura, who noted it’s good “to have a few back-ups, so there’s not so much pressure on each horse. That way, it’s a little bit easier to pick and choose the right places for the right horses.”
Since that hasn’t always been the case for Laura, it’s a big plus this season.
She also has a number of mounts waiting in the wings, including offspring of Gemini, the clone of the great Gem Twist who won double silver at the 1988 Olympics with Greg Best up.
Gem was the son of Good Twist, ridden to many victories by Laura’s late father, former U.S. show jumping team captain and coach Frank Chapot.
The sons and daughters of Gemini, who stands in France, are just turning six now, so it will still be a few years before it can be seen whether they have a shot at grand prix stardom.
Of her own Geminis (she says she has “a bunch”) who will be coming out more this spring locally, Laura commented about the six-year-old group, “they’re all a little bit different, and a bit different type, but they all are pretty clever and look like they’ve got some talent.”
Four Seasons is more than just a horse show to its manager, Mason Garrity, and his wife, Alexandra “A.J.” Garrity, a freelance trainer.
Once part of a series that began in 1972, Four Seasons was the pet project of trainer Gary Kunsman, A.J.’s father, who died in 2010.
The late trainer/rider Gary Kunsman started the Four Seasons horse shows more than 40 years ago. (Boz Swope photo)
“It’s very important to keep my dad’s name and memory alive,” said A.J. of the fixture dedicated to Gary that runs April 12-15 at the Horse Park of New Jersey. She remembers how Gary “was out there from sun-up to sundown” not only managing the Four Seasons show, but also “helping those who were his clients, those who weren’t his clients, having a good time with everybody.”
Those she recalled attending from the old days with their clients were the late Emerson Burr, Heritage Farm and Ralph Caristo.
It’s the first big outdoor show of the season in the state. This year, it also will be notable as the first show to use the park’s newly refurbished grand prix arena for the jumper competitions, featuring the $5,000 Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center Mini-Prix.
The show series originated at Four Seasons Farm in Readington, but as the years passed and after Four Seasons was sold, the dates eventually were taken by other shows and locations. In the early 1990s, the featured spring show went on to be staged at Duncraven in Titusville, the stable where Mason worked for 12 years as the property manager.
He’s not a rider, but he’s very much a part of the horse industry. His life changed when he met A.J. through a mutual friend who used to date his brother.
“If you told me 20 years ago I would be as involved with horses as I am, I would have told you that you were crazy,” chuckled Mason, 36.
He is now in the jump business with Paul Jewell, announces at a variety of shows and is working on his small “r” as a jumper judge. For most of the year, however, his mind is on the Four Seasons show.
“We work 10 months of the year for four days in April,” Mason observed.
“We put everything into it,” he said of the devotion he and his wife have given to Four Seasons, which last year drew nearly 450 horses.
“This is still Gary’s show,” Mason explained. “We’re just running it for him.”
The Gary H. Kunsman Memorial Trophy is presented to the winner of the USHJA Hunter Derby at the Four Seasons Show. Show manager Mason Garrity was on hand for the presentation to trainer Troy Hendricks, Christina Serio and Game Changer. (Conklin Photography)
The show moved to the Horse Park in 2016 to take advantage of more stabling and rings, as well as additional open space where exhibitors could ride and graze their horses. It is invested in pleasing those who participate, so it doesn’t become simply an exercise to get points.
“We’re trying to keep the tradition of good New Jersey horse shows. We want to have people enjoy themselves,” explained Mason. There are pizza parties and brunch—complete with a band featuring acoustic guitar (no loud horse-disturbing music) in the pavilion on the Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Kaitlyn Williams and Casan, winner of the 2017 USHJA Hunter Derby at Four Seasons. (Photo by Conklin Photography)
An upgrade this spring is the April 15 $10,000 U.S. Hunter Jumper Association Hunter Derby presented by Britta Lippert’s Sea Shore Stables, with the prize money more than doubled from the $4,500 offered last year. Other features include the $2,500 USHJA Pony Derby, and a $2,500 hunter classic.
There’s always a charity component. In Gary’s day, it was the Readington Fire Department. A.J. also remembers him running a benefit for the late Jim Geibel, a trainer who was paralyzed in a diving accident. This year, the beneficiary is the Mid-Atlantic Jack Russell Rescue.
Pennsylvania trainer Troy Hendricks is a regular at Four Seasons, bringing between 15 and 20 horses and riders from his Kimber-View Stables to the show.
He likes the “old-time horse show feeling” of Four Seasons, which he calls “a really great opportunity.”
Four Seasons moved to the Horse Park of New Jersey in 2016. (Conklin Photography)
“It’s family-run and up to very current standards, the jumps are beautiful, everything is decorated nicely,” said Troy, who is the USHJA’S Zone 2 (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania) vice-chairman.
“They’re always sort of reaching out and seeing what their exhibitors want. They always get quality judges. My customers love going there. It’s not a factory show.”
Entries for the USEF national show close Friday at www.horseshowing.com, but post entries are accepted at an additional fee.
It’s nice to see fixtures that are part of New Jersey’s equestrian history surviving and doing well into the present. The revival after 19 years of the Mars Essex Horse Trials, Monmouth’s success at the U.S Equestrian Team Foundation after it changed counties two years ago and others that continue, such as Garden State and Sussex, mean New Jersey equestrians don’t always have to leave the state if they want to go to some bigger competitions.
