by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 3, 2024
Steffen Peters had a disappointing test with the veteran Suppenkasper in the 4-star Grand Prix at the Aachen World Equestrian Festival on Wednesday, scoring 68.131 percent as he finished nineteenth in a field of 22 starters.
The 16-year-old Suppenkasper, or Mopsie as he is nicknamed, previously never had failed to break 70 percent in a Grand Prix at an FEI competition.
The Dutchbred gelding lacked his characteristic cool, with the trouble starting right at the beginning of the test, when he was marked at 48 percent for the entry and halt, where he was restive and moved backward for a few steps.
Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper.
“Tonight’s test had uncharacteristic tension,” observed U.S. Chef d’Equipe Christine Traurig.
“Steffen, with his vast amount of experience, handled it skillfully.”
While Germany and Denmark are not naming their dressage teams for Paris until after Aachen, the U.S. squad was selected June 25. Steffen was named along with Marcus Orlob and Adrienne Lyle.
Ranked first in the Olympic standings since last year, Steffen competed in Europe during the head-to-head Grand Prix match for short-listed riders at Hagen, Germany. He was, however, excused from June competitions in Rotterdam and Kronberg, Germany, where other candidates participated.
Marcus is competing on Jane with the U.S. team in the 5-star at Aachen, where the U.S. Olympic traveling alternate, Endel Ots, also is on the squad with Zen Elite Equestrian’s Bohemian. Adrienne skipped Aachen to give Helix a break and do a bit of fine-tuning. (Read about it in the second feature on this website)
The 4-star was won by world champion Lottie Fry of Great Britain on Glamourdale, who blew everyone away with a perfectly measured test and great extensions, a package marked at 80.78 percent. That was her second-highest score since she earned 80.97 percent in the 2023 European Championshps. Lottie was far ahead of German favorite Isabell Werth on DSP Quantaz (75.443), who lost impulsion in the second pirouette.
Lottie Fry and the glamorous Glamourdale. (Photo courtesy British Dressage)
Another German, Frederic Wandres on Duke of Britain, had some brilliant moments, but his score wasn’t what it could have been due to mistakes in his tempi changes, so he settled for third on 73.913 percent.
There was better news for the U.S. in the jumper arena, where McLain Ward finished second of 44 starters in the Turkish Airlines Prize of Europe grand prix with Callas.
One of seven clears in a 12-horse jump-off, Callas was clocked at 44.06 seconds, a tenth of a second ahead of Germany’s Janna Wargers on Dorette and 1.62 seconds behind the winner, Richard Vogel of Germany on Cepano Baloubet. It was the second victory of the day for Richard, who took top honors earlier in the Prize of Handwerk with Phenyo van het Keysersbos.
“My mare jumped spectacular. She’s been having a great summer, so I’m not disappointed,” McLain said about his placing in what riders consider the second-hardest class at the show.
About Richard, McLain said, “He’s a great winner. It’s a fast horse and a super-fast rider. I pushed him to the limit. I made it not so easy.”
McLain Ward and Callas. (Photo U.S. Equestrian)
Although he has been competing at Aachen for three decades, McLain still finds it a thrill to be in the awards ceremony.
“It never gets old,” he said.
Katie Dinan, part of the U.S. Nations Cup team that will be in Thursday’s two-round class, was thirteenth with a single time fault on Atika des Hauts Vents. The other U.S. rider in the fray, Lauraa Kraut, wound up thirtieth with 8 faults on Bisquetta.
Click here for dressage results
Click here for Turkish Airlines Prize of Europe show jumping results
by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 2, 2024
Arguably, the Aachen World Equestrian Festival is the greatest horse show on earth. But Adrienne Lyle won’t be joining her U.S. Olympic dressage teammates there this week.
Instead, she’s staying at Swiss equestrian Daniel Ramseier’s farm in Germany to focus on working with her Games mount, Helix, as there is only a little more than three weeks to go before the opening ceremonies in Paris.
Adrienne Lyle and Helix. (Susan J. Stickle Photography)
“I think we can fine-tune little stuff to maybe bring the scores up a little bit,” Adrienne responded when asked what she would be doing with the 12-year-old by Apache. Since she started riding him only this year, she’s appreciative of any extra time she can have with Helix when a competition isn’t imminent.
It’s a nice opportunity, but she observed in the window available, “you’re not going to change dramatically the strength and the training and all that. So I really like to just maintain and perfect the little details. But we’re not going to introduce anything new or really challenging at this point.
“We want to grow his confidence and make it routine,” the two-time Olympian explained.
Chef d’Equipe Christine Traurig noted, “I supported that idea because I feel she has made such great progress on Helix that she now really focuses. It’s a very good strategy. We talk about these things and consider all aspects very carefully.”
Christine Traurig with Steffen Peters and U.S. Dressage Federation President George Williams. (Photo courtesy Christine Traurig)
She said plans are implemented “in consultation with the riders and the team around them, their personal trainers, coaches, home veterinarians, team vets and of course, the USEF staff.”
Meanwhile, Steffen Peters, who rode with Adrienne on the silver medal Tokyo Olympic team three years ago, will be participating Wednesday as an individual on Suppenkasper in the 4-star competition at Aachen during his preparation for Paris.
Adrienne’s other Games teammate, Marcus Orlob, will be on the U.S. Nations Cup squad in Aachen’s elite 5-star competition. He has had even less time with his horse, Alice Tarjan’s Jane, than Adrienne has had with hers. And it’s a comparable situation with Olympic traveling reserve rider Endel Ots and Zen Elite’s Bohemian, who belongs to the same stable as Helix.
He and Marcus will be joined on the Dutta Corp. team at Aachen by Pan American Games double medalist Anna Marek (Fire Fly) and Anna Buffini (Fiontini).
Aachen will have more atmosphere than any other competition experienced by Jane, who is only 10. But Adrienne noted that Helix’s resume included some big shows with his Swedish former rider, including Rotterdam in the Netherlands, so he knows about crowds She pointed out, however, that at Olympic Games, the crowd generally is seated further from the arena than in big stadiums like those in Aachen or Rotterdam. That would make fan presence less of a factor than in the other venues.
In the Olympic observation competitions, Adrienne and her mentor, Debbie McDonald, took care to make sure Helix didn’t startle.
“He is Dutch bred and can be a little looky,” she mentioned.
“We do a lot of groundwork with him. We knew it might rain at Kronberg (the venue for the final trial), so Debbie and I spent a lot of time doing umbrella training the week before — opening umbrellas next to the arena while I was riding and throwing tarps over the letter boxes (the markers around the arena).
“He got really comfortable with that and I was really glad. When we went in for the Grand Prix, it started to sprinkle and they threw a big rain jacket over the (video) camera. He took one look at it and said, `No big deal. I’ve been practicing that.’”
Helix has adjusted well to travel and his new crew.
“He enjoyed himself. We were all commenting on that at the last show,” Adrienne revealed.
“The more he’s kind of gotten to know us, the more his personality has come out. At the end of these long shows, some of these horses have this feeling of `Just leave me alone.’ ”
But not Helix.
“He still walks to the front of his stall, he’s still nuzzling whoever walks by. I think he enjoys the attention and enjoys being a show horse and having that much interaction with people,” Adrienne mused.
“He’s been going pretty strong since he arrived (in the U.S.) at the end of January. He’s had an intense spring and a lot of CDIs to complete for our initial qualifying, and then, of course, our trip to Europe.
“Right now, he’s having a week of down time, tack walking, trail riding a little light trot work to let him have a little rest and recovery and that’s why we chose not to do Aachen. He’s proven himself at many different venues. And he’s been very good about it. I thought it would be the best plan for him to get to rest a little bit and then focus on training.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 2, 2024
Slices of American life, from surfing to Barbie, cowboys, cheerleaders and even the Statue of Liberty (not the real one, of course) were on display during the energetic opening ceremonies of the Aachen World Equestrian Festival Tuesday.
A view of the arena during the opening ceremonies.
The USA is Aachen’s “partner country,” for 2024. The role was filled last year by Great Britain, which brought over its Household Cavalry for the occasion. That prompted the query. “How can you top it?”
Here’s how: with 800 performers and 200 horses; a chorus line in pink tutus and riders in pink shirts holding pink balloons (Barbie), inflatable shark pool floats (accompanying surfers who dangled their feet in the Aachen lake), a stagecoach carrying Mrs. Universe and a football team. Did I mention the bubbles let loose to dance around in front of the packed grandstands, where spectators waved little American flags?
“A Perfect Match,” was the slogan of the partnership, appropriately inaugurated in speeches by German dressage star Isabell Werth and U.S. show jumping star Laura Kraut before the festivities really got under way.
A sign from the opening ceremonies; NRW is North Rhine-Westphalia, where Aachen is located.
Bald eagles, the symbol of America, were among the cast of characters that appeared in the ring. The list was a long one, including a country singer from Texas, a covered wagon complete with pioneers, a lariat artist who also was proficient with two whips and in-line skaters towed by a horse. They jumped off a ramp as fireworks exploded from their skates in several “wow” moments.
Will Connell, the U.S.-based Partner Nation project consultant, said “the Aachen team did an outstanding job producing a fun, entertaining program that I hope all Americans present and watching enjoyed.”
He added, “It was a privilege to be involved in a very small way. Tonight, the USA arrived in the Soers, Aachen.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 1, 2024
Alice Tarjan is best known as a dressage rider. Dennis Sargenti is a master of the Essex Fox Hounds. But enjoying the discipline of driving is something they have in common. And, oh yeah, they happen to be married.
The couple from Oldwick, N.J., spent the weekend near their home competing in the Gladstone Horse Driving Trials at the Pine Meadow section of Hamilton Farm, the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation property. This is their fun, a break after returning from Germany, where Alice’s horse, Jane, made the U.S. Olympic dressage team with her trainer, Marcus Orlob. Alice served as the groom for the mare she trained to Grand Prix from the time she got her as a three-year-old.
Dennis entered a Dutch harness horse in the Gladstone competition for singles, while Alice drove a pair, but decided one of the horses competing was not ready to try the marathon, so she skipped that segment.
Alice and Dennis were among 21 competitors at the event that is working to bring back popularity of the sport, which once drew international riders to the site that hosted the globally acclaimed 1993 World Pairs Driving Championship. Alice has fond memories of those championships; as a teenager, she groomed there for her neighbor, Doug Kemmerer, who drove in the parade of coaches that was part of the production.
Dennis Sargenti rode as groom for his wife Alice Tarjan in the dressage. (Photo © 2024 by Nancy Jaffer)
Since Pine Meadow’s heyday, however, many of the people who were pillars of competitive driving in the region either have died, retired or moved south. The once fancy facility now lacks the frills it used to have, but it is still a good location for a competition and attracted exhibitors from New England, Maryland and Pennsylvania, as well as New Jersey.
Rebecca Gutierrez, the technical delegate for the event, noted the organizing committee is attempting to “regrow the show and bring the facility back to the way it was in 1993, when it was fantastic.”
She pointed out, “it has a lot of good elements. Original (marathon) obstacles here are in good shape, but they had some obstacles that were not able to be used this time. So maybe there will be some benefactors who want to donate some money so we can access those.”
Event secretary Ellen Ettenger noted a golf course has encroached on part of the property since its glory days “so it’s not exactly the same as it was, but I think it makes a great venue for the lower level. Through Intermediate, it’s an excellent facility.” She mentioned that the ring can hold up to even the heaviest rain.
The event briefly was put in jeopardy last week by a tornado that left tree limbs down in three marathon obstacles and caused closure of Fowler Road, which runs alongside Pine Meadow. Luckily, a volunteer effort aided by chainsaws and the efforts of USET Foundation employees put things to rights, just as drivers were shipping in, enabling the event to get under way on schedule.
It has a relaxed feel, which means people interested in driving can enjoy a comfortable place to start pursuing their interest and learning skills.
Alice supports the organization’s initiative.
“It’s great that they’re trying. They’re putting a lot of work into it,” she said, noting she participated in one of the schooling days the committee staged.
Dennis and Alice switched places for the marathon, with Dennis in the driver’s seat and Alice as the navigator. (Photo © 2024 by Nancy Jaffer)
Alice and others, including technical delegate Rebecca Gutierrez, were encouraged by the fact that the event attracted six junior competitors, driving everything from mini horses to a Fjord horse and a senior citizen Morgan/thoroughbred cross.
“That’s where I started out. Just get around the ring and get some experience,” said Alice noting a fancy horse is not needed at this level.
“The kids are out there having a good time. To me that’s grass roots; horsemanship, that’s what it’s about. They’re actually doing the work. They have to train their horses. They don’t have the funds to go and buy a made horse. That’s how they’re going to learn and excel.” It is, as she acknowledged, the story of her early life with her first feisty backyard pony, Licorice.
“We need to grow the next generation coming along,” said Rebecca.
John Layton, president of the Gladstone Equestrian Association Gladstone Driving, who trains young drivers at his Tailspin Farm in Juliustown, part of Springfield, Burlington County, points out about the kids, “they’re the future of our sport.”
He was the navigator during the marathon for Lynden Kersten, a 12-year-old who won the junior singles section with her 20-year-old Morgan/thoroughbred cross, Splash of Chrome. Lynden, who has been driving for less than a year, trains with Laura DeFazio of Whistle Hill Farm in West Grove, Pa. Laura is the president of the Brandywine Valley Driving Club, which had a summer camp last year that got kids involved in driving.
Lynden Kersten in the marathon with navigator John Layton. (Photo © 2024 by Nancy Jaffer)
“It turned into yearlong summer camp and I love it,” said Laura.
She brought four junior competitors, including Colette Gray, who at eight years old was the youngest person Laura had taken in an event. Tiny Colette was driving a 21-year-old warmblood mare, Victoria’s Secret.
Competing in a driving event over two days involves a lot of work.
“It’s not a horse show where you sit around and watch,” said Laura.
“It’s a family affair and everyone’s gung-ho to help, For that, I’m entirely grateful. This was a very successful event. We’re looking forward to next year.”
With an eye-catching orange-themed marathon ensemble, Ben Riesse finished third in the junior singles division driving a Norwegian Fjord horse, Isla, an 11-year-old, one year younger than Bill.
Orange is Ben Riesse’s marathon color. Totally. Check out the mane and tail on his Norwegian Fjord, Isla. (Photo © 2024 by Nancy Jaffer)
The driver lives on a farm in Frederick, Md., where he takes care of his horse and has ambitions to compete a second time at the major Live Oak event in Florida.
His enthusiasm about driving is catching. He advises, “You should really get into it, it’s really fun.”
Part of the fun for those watching was to see the variety of horses, ponies and mini-horses (officially listed as Very Small Equines) as they proceeded through the phases.
Kaylee Angstadt, a 29-year-old professional trainer from Massachusetts’ Bradford Equestrian Center, caught everyone’s eye with Gail Wong’s black and white mini pair of 17-year-old Jewel and her son, Wicked, 11.
It was their first time doing the advanced dressage and cones course. I wondered how those tiny animals could be conditioned to pull a carriage and two passengers. Kaylee said it involved interval training and dressage work.
“The people get tired before the ponies do,” maintained Kaylee, an FEI 3-star single pony driver.
Jewel and Wicked reminded me of the mice that pulled Cinderella’s carriage in the animated feature of that name. When I mentioned that to Susan Wong, Gail’s daughter and Kaylee’s navigator, she told me I was right on target.
Kaylee Angstadt and Susan Wong with mini mother-son duo Jewel and Wicked. (Photo © 2024 by Nancy Jaffer)
The minis, it seemed, had pulled “a winter-themed Cinderella carriage” in the local Wassail parade.
Susan belongs to the Myopia (Mass.) Driving Club, which was on the ground floor of developing the sport of combined driving in the U.S. that eventually led to a foundation that could support something like the world championships.
Raffa, a Welsh cob owned by Suzanne Johnson of Readington, is a veteran who at age 17 has done several kinds of competition.
A determined Suzanne Johnson and Raffa in the cones portion of the driving event. (Photo © 2024 by Nancy Jaffer)
Suzanne remembered that his best finish came at a pleasure show at Morven Park, where he won championship and reserve ribbons.
“So maybe I should go back to pleasure driving,” she mused, but then went on to finish second in the Preliminary Single Horse category after winning the dressage phase at Gladstone. So a change of occupation may not be in the cards for Raffa after all.
Volunteers, as always, were the backbone of the event. Perennial volunteer and organizing committee member Susan Data-Samtak has been involved for a long time and still believes it’s important to keep the competitions at Pine Meadow going.
“New drivers, new people; some of the old show committee is still around, the facility’s still here,” she commented, “so why shouldn’t local folks come and take advantage of all the beautiful scenery and facilities we have?”
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 27, 2024
Moving a business that has been running since 1945 isn’t easy. It’s even more difficult when that business has taken on the status of an institution among area horse people, who have relied on it for decades.
But Somerset Grain and Feed, formerly of Bernardsville, N.J., made a smooth transition this month to the Long Valley section of Washington Township, going from suburbia to farm country.
“This whole area made it feel like home right off the bat. Everybody’s been very warm and welcoming,” said proprietor Tom Milesnick.
In contrast to the smaller Bernardsville location, which was crammed with all kinds of memorabilia around the bird seed, horse feed, fly spray, dog toys and buckets, the new facility is airy and spacious.
Tom Milesnick at his oak counter. (Photo © 2024 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
It’s something Tom had dreamed of for 18 years. He’s running it with his son, Jesse, and Jesse’s girlfriend, Brianna Graf. A former whipper-in with the Essex Foxhounds, she trains horses and runs a magnawave horse therapy business.
The property was dominated by an 1870s barn to match the home of Joan Hemmings, the mother of former owner John Hemmings. When the barn burned in 1970, they pushed off the top half, Tom said, and replaced it with a Morton building (the company known for its pole barns and steel construction).
Somerset Grain’s new home began with what Tom called “a gut job, right to the metal walls.”
It involved starting over in a big way.
“I drew this (the layout) on a piece of paper with a pencil. Every day, seeing what was in my head materialize, was unreal,” he said of the project, done by Ken Boucher and his son, of Ken’s Contracting LLC.
When the conversion started, “The floor was worse than any sidewalk you’ve ever walked on,” said Tom, explaining it was transformed by being cut, smoothed and polished.
“Now it’s fabulous,” he commented.
Even the mailbox is among the unique items at found at Somerset Grain.
New wiring, spray foam insulation and knotty pine everywhere (you can still smell the freshly cut lumber) contribute to the business’s fresh identity; it’s as if you’re entering a very clean barn. Adding to the atmosphere is a “live edge” countertop, a slab of 200-year-old white oak. Among other things hanging from the ceiling is an antique hay hook, a device used to scoop up hay in the days before it was baled. Bits of history like that are everywhere around the store.
One cozy corner features a stove and chairs, next to a table with free, fresh-brewed coffee.
“We encourage people to stay and not be in a hurry,” said Tom.
Jesse Milesnick and Brianna Graf relax with Cali in the coffee nook at the store. (Photo © 2024 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
The coffee nook has Brianna’s imprint. Another of her touches is the toilet paper holder in the restroom that is made from an old feed scoop, decorated with a Mason jar and a little sheaf of wheat. Some customers got such a kick out of it that they were taking its photo with their cellphones, Tom said.
The much-admired feed scoop toilet paper holder
As a horsewoman, Brianna appreciates that fact that she has “found a little niche and will talk to horse people around here and find out what they like.”
The store is putting an emphasis on reasonable prices and still has its basics, but a number of things have changed. More horse-related items, including some tack, will be offered, for instance, along with clothing. Reasonably priced flat tack used by foxhunters will be available from Black Diamond Designs.
“We want to integrate with the neighbors,” said Tom, noting that with Ace Hardware, Hoffman Supply and the Mendham Garden Center nearby, “there’s no reason to lean toward shovels, rakes and lawn and garden stuff, when all that is readily available. That left us room to expand to more for horses and chickens.”
There is plenty of storage in a separate building for feed, in a clean environment that keeps it cool.
“This is the epitome of what an efficient feed warehouse should be,” said Tom.
The store at 224 East Mill Road in Long Valley will have its grand opening Saturday June 29 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Representatives of Purina, Triple Crown and other feed companies will be on hand with coupons and special deals. Ekkia, a British company that offers low-cost everyday riding breeches among other items, but doesn’t sell on line, will have a booth. So will Cowgirl East, with western tack and apparel.
Tom is making a clipboard available at the grand opening, enabling customers to write what they’d be interested in having at the store.
“I want to know people’s needs, and what they would like to see here. Now we have the facility to handle that,” he said.
This sign from the late 1800s reflects another bit of history for which the store is known. (Photo © 2024 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
Jesse pointed out, “It will take us a good year or two how to figure out how to make this run the best it can. It’s exciting. It’s nice being in a farm area, where it makes sense for a feed store to be. We have room to grow.”
Rose Prucina, a Bernardsville customer since 1989, made her first trip to see the Long Valley store this week.
“It was a great experience,” she enthused.
“In fact, I came out with more than I came for.”
Even though the store changed counties, from Somerset to Morris, there was no thought of changing the name “because that’s who we are,” Tom declared.
“In the history of what we are and what we do, it stays with us forever.”
When his land use application was presented to Washington Township officials, Tom—as is his way—told them a story.
“Forty years ago, I was hauling grain down this road with a couple of tons of cow feed, and I looked at this place and said, `That place would make the world’s best feed store.’
“And now, 40 years later, I’m sitting before you asking your permission to come in. Look at that, dreams do come true.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 22, 2024
Incredible! Or as the Germans like to say, “Wow, wow, wow!”
That sums up the personal best (by far) performance of Marcus Orlob and Jane at the Schafhof Dresseur Festival in Germany, the final competition for Olympic hopefuls before the U.S. team is named next week.
After winning the 4-star Grand Prix on Friday, Marcus and the 10-year-old mare went one up on themselves with a victory in the Grand Prix Special on a score of 75.930 percent for a test that was smooth and effortless, yet correct. The duo earned marks of more than 77 percent for several movements, including transitions and half-pass.
Second place on 73.319 percent went to Adrienne Lyle with Helix, a horse she started showing for Zen Elite Equestrian in March, at the same time Marcus made his competition debut with Jane, who he had started riding only at the beginning of that month.
Adrienne Lyle and Helix in the awards ceremony.
Jane is owned by Alice Tarjan, who had trained her up through the levels to grand prix, but acted as the groom during her KWPN mare’s European sojourn after thinking Marcus would be a better fit for the mount.
Groom and owner Alice Tarjan led Marcus Orlob and Jane into the ring for the victory ceremony after the Grand Prix Special
Marcus originally was just hoping to be among the eight riders on the list of prospective Olympians who made the trip to Europe for observation competitions.
To think that he likely has made the Olympic team is beyond a dream come true for the native of Germany who is a naturalized American citizen.
Endel Ots, another U.S. team contender, would seem to have lost his chance for the team with a 69.872 percent Special performance on Zen Elite Equestrian’s Bohemian, who was behind the vertical at times and seemed to have less spark than in the Grand Prix, where he was fourth with 72.587 percent.
Pan American Games team and individual medalist Anna Marek on Fire Fly was eighth in the Special with 70.404 percent. In the Grand Prix for the Freestyle, however, she was second with Fayvel on a very respectable 73.131. Adrienne’s second horse, Zen Elite’s Lars de Hoenderheide, finished sixth in that class with a score of 69.109 percent. Both will compete Sunday in the freestyle. At the Olympics, that is the test that decides the individual championship medals.
Adrienne notes that her two horses “are very different rides. Lars is a big, powerful kind of pedal-to-the metal type ride and Helix is more like a ballerina, very light and dainty through the test. It’s fun to have two different types of horses.”
Veteran Olympian Steffen Peters, who headed the U.S. Olympic ranking list with Suppenkasper, was excused from the observation events and will compete as an individual next month at Aachen, where Marcus is on the team. Steffen’s best score in the Special this year was 73.234 percent.
It seems more than likely that he will be joined on the U.S. squad for Paris by Adrienne, his teammate on the 2021 Tokyo Olympic silver medal squad with the now-retired Salvino. And after Marcus’ performance at Schafhof, who could deny him a place on the team?
Ashley Holzer, a late addition to the Olympic short list with Hansel, put herself out of contention with a mark of 59.004 last week in Rotterdam, where the team finished last. The other Olympic hopeful on that squad, Katherine Bateson-Chandler, had a score of 67.848 percent on Haute Couture in the Rotterdam Grand Prix, and was twelfth Saturday in the Grand Prix Special on 70.021 percent.
Click here for results of the Special
