by Nancy Jaffer | May 30, 2023
I felt as if I were time traveling, right there in the Dixon Oval at the Devon Horse Show Tuesday night.
The featured jumper class, the $38,700 Jet Run Welcome, was won by Alex Matz. He’s the son of Michael Matz, whose most famous mount was Jet Run. And the arena is named after F. Eugene Dixon Jr., who owned Jet Run.
How many times had I taken photos of Michael and Jet Run in awards ceremonies? This victory by Alex took me back as I focused my camera on him in the round of honor; he looks a bit like his father, and his horse, Cashew CR (Cassini II X Udenna), is a bay with a little star on his forehead like Jet Run. Was I back in the early 1980s, or was I in 2023, watching the next generation continue a family’s tradition of victory? For a few seconds, I wondered.
Alex Matz and Cashew on their way to victory. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
A field of 33 encountered a challenge against the clock in the course laid out by Anderson Lima of Peru. The one-round test featured two double combinations and some long gallops, offering an opportunity to make time. Approximately one-third of the field, 11 competitors, was fault-free, but the times were all over the place.
Alex’s mark was 56.32 seconds, with Devin Ryan hot on his heels aboard Eddie Blue in 57.83 seconds. The slowest round where all the rails stayed in place belonged to McLain Ward, 12th on Callas in 79.66 seconds, incurring three time penalties for finishing over the 77-second time allowed.
Welcome class runners-up Devin Ryan and Eddie Blue. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
When the class ended, I went to find Alex’s parents to get their take on a spectacular effort.
“We’re very happy, especially to win the Jet Run trophy,” said Michael.
When I asked whether it brought back memories, Michael joked that he can’t remember that far back.
Alex’s mother, D.D., sparkled with enthusiasm.
“I’m thrilled. I just love that horse,” she said. Alex mentioned that his mother rides the 15-year-old Holsteiner more than he does.
“He’s been such a good horse since we got him,” D.D. explained.
“He’s such a trier. It’ hard to find a horse that tries like he does, and he does every time. He loves it.”
The victory was special to Alex for obvious reasons.
“It’s pretty cool. I have a great horse and to win the class named after my father’s best horse, riding wha tis my best horse right now, it seems too good to be true. It’s special,” he commented.
“With Cashew, I always think he can win the class. He tries so hard, he gives me a lot of confidence.”
When he was in school, he used to gallop horses for his father, who went from show jumping to being a successful racehorse trainer. Michael’s most famous racehorse was Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro.
Alex, a 26-year-old professional horseman, is a graduate of Vanderbilt University. Not surprisingly, he is interested in riding on U.S. teams. His parents travel to most shows with him and Michael helps him on daily basis.
Don’t be surprised if you someday see him on an Olympic team. Not surprisingly, he has that in his sights. He’s got the right attitude.
“The harder you work, and the longer you stay in it,” he told me, “the more realistic those goals can become.”
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by Nancy Jaffer | May 20, 2023
The Essex Horse Trials is a celebration as much as it is a competition; a time for friends and families to get together and enjoy New Jersey’s countryside while watching a special sporting event.
A fixture that dates back 55 years, Essex gets under way at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation in Gladstone on June 3, with the dressage phase in the morning, followed by show jumping in the afternoon and early evening. The venue changes on June 4 to Moorland Farm in Far Hills, less than 10 minutes away, where the cross-country phase will take place all day over the hills and through the water. There are new tracks for the Beginner Novice, Novice and Training levels.
The water obstacle at Essex always draws a crowd. (Photo © 2022 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
Eventing fans will recognize many of the riders competing. They include Buck Davidson (whose parents, Carol Hannum and Bruce Davidson, also rode at Essex), Hannah Sue Burnett, Erin Sylvester Kanara, Caroline Martin and some local favorites, among them Meg Kepferle and Elle de Recat. There actually may be some more boldface names by the time entries close May 23.
Essex is a revival of a very adaptable event that has developed as required over the years.
It began out of necessity. When Essex was founded, the U.S. didn’t have much to offer in the way of three-day events That meant those who wanted them on the calendar had to do the staging. In the case of the first Essex, it involved clearing land, assembling jumps and digging ditches to develop a cross-country course.
It all happened during the spring of 1968 on the Haller family farm in Bedminster–not that anyone believed at the time they were building a project for posterity.
“We were more thinking about fulfilling a need,” Roger Haller remembered in an interview 24 years ago, referring to the fact that when the Essex event debuted at his family’s Hoopstick Farm on Lamington Road, there were few horse trials in America that could develop competitors in the European-dominated sport.
Sally Ike remembers going to the farm to help put things together, along with other members of the 1968 Olympic team, who had gathered in Gladstone before their departure for Mexico. She was at Hoopstick on the evening before the first Essex was scheduled to start, while Roger still was working on one of the fences. When she asked whether the course would be finished on time, he reassured her.
Sally Ike on Roxboro at the 1984 Essex Horse Trials. (Photo courtesy of Sally Ike)
” `Oh yeah, it will be ready,'” he told her, “and it was, and it worked fine,” she said.
Sally remembered that Jill Slater, a joint master of the Essex Foxhounds, rode in the first Essex on Knockbawn, a horse who also competed in the Maryland Hunt Cup.
“It was a very different group of people,” Sally reminisced. It was also a very different event. Essex at that time was a three-day event that ran “long format,” with miles of roads and tracks and a steeplechase in addition to the three phases that remain today. It was quite an endurance test.
Sally went on to win it herself in 1984 with Roxboro, one of her many links to Essex, which she also has served as a trustee and show jumping course designer.
Essex in its heyday could rightly be called an occasion. It had moved to the USET after it outgrew Hoopstick. but. the event was held at the Team for the last time in 1998, after much of the land needed went for a golf course. Its absence stretched for 19 years, until the revival at Moorland in 2017 generated excitement in the eventing ranks. Co-organizers Ralph Jones and Morgan Rowsell are devoted to improving it every year, adding the USET Foundation venue to the equation in 2022.
Guests in the VIP section at the USET Foundation during the Essex Horse Trials can watch showjumping as they party. (Photo © 2022 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
Shelley Page, a well-known eventing organizer, has never forgotten riding at Essex in its heyday.
“I did my very first three-day event at Essex in 1980-something and I won it,” recalled Shelley, who was aboard an Appaloosa named The Magic Dragon in the Preliminary section.
“It was huge. It was the event to go to, to do a three-day event,” she observed.
“I think it is so exciting that it is back at Gladstone and its roots. Morgan and Ralph and that team have done such an amazing job to bring that event full circle. They brought it back to life and brought it back home, so to speak.”
Essex is produced with the help of 100 volunteers, part of the community spirit that energizes the event as it evolves annually. This year, there’s a new Intermediate division, a notch above the Preliminary section that was the top segment last year. Running S Equine Veterinary Services has put up $10,000 in prize money for the Intermediate. Other major ESsex backers are Peapack-Gladstone Bank and PURE Insurance.
Additional sponsors include Turpin Realty, Sotheby’s and Open Road. Essex benefits the Life Camp in Pottersville, which provides an enriching summer day camp experience for 300 youths daily for six weeks during July and August. Campers between the ages of 6 and 13 come from the greater Newark public school system, as well as from Newark Charter School Programs. After orientation on June 4, campers will be coming to Essex for a picnic, sponsored by Aon insurance. The occasion will offer the kids and their families a chance to watch the cross-country.
For those who appreciate horsepower as much as (or maybe more than) horses, the Peter Chesson Memorial Car Show will run from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. June 4 at Moorland.
Admission is $20 per car. There will be vendors on the grounds at both the USET Foundation and Moorland, as well as four food trucks. A VIP cocktail party at the USET Foundation will be held during the show jumping. Tickets for the party are $100.
For more information, go to www.essexhorsetrials.org.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 1, 2023
It was a marathon.
The $38,700 Mainline Challenge lasted two hours, with 47 horses competing in the two-phase competition at the Devon Horse Show Wednesday night, as the four-in-hands waiting for the next class cooled their heels for more than an hour.
The class, an update of the old Power and Speed format, involved jumping six fences as a preliminary to fences seven through 12, taken at a fast clip. The route, designed by Anderson Lima of Peru, had nearly half the starters finishing without jumping faults.
Laura Chapot, who is known for being quick, set the pace to catch on Chandon Blue, 10th to go. Clocked at 31.09 seconds, she looked unbeatable for the next 35 rounds. Then McLain Ward came into the ring with First Lady, a mount who has been developing ove the last three years for owner Robin Parsky, who also has horses with world number one. Henrik von Eckermann.
McLain’s mark of 30.69 had staying power. The only entry that came close was British rider Jessica Mendoza on Changing Tatum, third from the end. But she took her horse back at the final fence, a sturdy dark green oxer, which meant she missed the mark. Her time of 30.73 seconds put her second.
McLain is understandably excited about the elegant First Lady, an Oldenburg displaying a refined thoroughbred look.
“The mare has super quality and is a wonderful type horse, a beautiful model. She had to learn the ropes a little bit,” McLain said.
“She always was a spectacular jumper. Now she’s really figuring the sport out and the results are starting to show that.”
by Nancy Jaffer | May 27, 2023
Is Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital the best place to provide treatment for Michael Barisone, found not guilty by reason of insanity in his 2022 trial on a charge of second-degree attempted murder?
The dressage trainer’s legal team contended in court yesterday that he can’t get the therapy he needs at the state facility, maintaining he should receive it on an outpatient basis from a private hospital.
The Morris County, N.J., Prosecutor’s office, meanwhile, maintains Greystone is the venue that minimizes risk to the patient and society as Barisone gets treatment.
Those viewpoints were expressed yesterday in a daylong Krol hearing before Superior Court Judge Stephen Taylor, who heard testimony from a psychiatrist and psychologists as each side presented its case. In New Jersey, Krol hearings are held periodically to judge the progress of a criminal defendant who has been confined to a psychiatric institution following a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
Barisone, the alternate for the 2008 U.S. Olympic dressage team, was tried on attempted murder and several other charges in connection with the shooting of Lauren Kanarek, a tenant on his Long Valley, N.J., farm. The two and Kanarek’s fiancee, Rob Goodwin, had a long-running dispute that erupted into gunfire on Aug. 7, 2019.
Kanarek, a rider who came to the farm to be trained by Barisone, took two bullets in the chest and was rushed to Morristown Medical Center’s intensive care unit after the incident, which Barisone says he doesn’t remember. Kanarek’s parents, Kirby and Jonathan Kanarek, were in the courtroom monitoring Friday’s proceedings.
Following the April 2022 verdict, Barisone was sent to the state’s Anne Klein Forensic Center in West Trenton before being transferred to Greystone in Parsippany, N.J., six months later.
Citing the voluminous amount of testimony presented during Friday’s court session in Morristown, Taylor reserved decision until Wednesday, when the next steps for Barisone will be determined as he meets with lawyers for both sides, Morris County Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn and Chris Deininger on behalf of Barisone. Meanwhile, the outcome of the last Krol hearing in September, which kept Barisone at Greystone, is being appealed.
Michael Barisone and attorney Chris Deininger. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
Attorney Edward Bilinkas, representing Barisone, noted in court that individual treatment for his client at Greystone did not get under way until March 2023, even though the defendant entered the hospital in October 2022.
Initially, Barisone was in group sessions where patients listened to music and filled in coloring books, according to Bilinkas. Barisone filed 15 requests to get the treatment that would help him. After the threat of a lawsuit, individual treatment began.
Dr. Sarah Pachner, a Greystone psychologist, stated from the witness stand that there were “significant delays” at the hospital across the board because the department is “considerably short-staffed, we are down a number of positions in the department, making it difficult to keep up with demand.”
Bilinkas told the judge that in regard to Greystone, his client was “being punished here. It has nothing to do with recovery.”
Schellhorn, citing comments from Greystone’s treatment team that Barisone often went off on tangents bringing up the “index crime” of the shooting and trying to “relitigate the case” instead of focusing on efforts to heal his mental health issues, suggested another Krol hearing should be held in six months “to see how the therapy treatment is going.”
He said the Greystone doctors “testified their goal is not to keep Michael Barisone at Greystone Hospital any longer than it needs to, but he has to participate and cooperate, and he has to understand these things before they are going to be able to make a recommendation to the court that it would be appropriate for him to go out into the community safely.”
Schellhorn stated that based on the testimony from Greystone team members, Barisone has “overall a lack of insight with respect to what is necessary for him to cope.”
The defense psychologist, Dr. Charles Hasson, characterized Barisone as narcissistic, which he described as a personality disorder, stemming from feelings of inadequacy dating back to his childhood and “a lot of trauma.”
According to Hasson, Barisone felt he was defective. To fight that, “he worked hard,” and was driven to become a perfectionist, the psychologist continued.
Psychologist Dr. Charles Hasson testifies. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“It drove him to prove he was halfway decent.”
While feelings of shame occasionally surface and Barisone has struggled with depression, “he’s not a danger,” Hasson contended, taking issue with the type of the specific type of assessment tests used by the hospital.
“There’s a difference between mental illness and mental health,” he added, saying Barisone definitely needs therapy but could get it on an outpatient basis five days a week at a private treatment center if he lives with a friend in New Jersey. That dovetails with a previous recommendation by a defense psychiatrist.
Hasson advised that Greystone staff needs to listen to Barisone, but at the same time, “not react to the BS.”
Comments by Hasson and others who testified indicated there was frustration on the part of both therapists and Barisone. Hasson said narcissists can “turn off the therapist, make the therapist angry.”
Greystone psychiatrist Dr. Anthony Gotay said Barisone has “a sense of grandiosity and self-importance,” as well as a preoccupation with “success and power.”
Grandiose people think “rules don’t apply to them” and “they’re better than other people.”
He said Barisone also has obsessive/compulsive personality disorder, which is approached with therapy, rather than medication.
Psychiatrist Dr. Anthony Gotay. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
The doctor expressed skepticism when he recounted how Barisone mentioned a movie may be made about him, and insisted he had hosted late night comedian Stephen Colbert’s show.
Bilinkas pointed out to the doctor in his cross-examination that Barisone, the subject of a 48 Hours documentary on CBS, had been approached about a book and a movie–“I’m not aware of that,” Gotay replied. Bilinkas also noted that Barisone had done a show with Colbert in which he gave the comedian a dressage lesson. Gotay said he had not seen it.
Gotay mentioned Barisone is smart, but “keeps getting in his own way.”
He said Barisone should continue individual and group therapy so Greystone can “ease restrictions and see how he does.” If it goes well “we can give him more freedom.” That could include outings and overnight visits.
“He needs the safety and structure of Greystone or a 24-hour hospital. He needs to be able to go into the community and come back and be reassessed.”
If you missed last month’s story about the settlement in the civil lawsuit involving Barisone, here is a link.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 21, 2023
People keep asking me about the tragic situation involving nine thoroughbreds who were euthanized at Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby, beginning during in late April up through May 20.
More hard questions at another venue came yesterday, when Havnameltdown was put down after incurring a non-operable left front fetlock injury during a race on the Preakness undercard at Pimlico in Maryland, where the second leg of the Triple Crown was being contested. Ironically, this is happening as racehorse deaths in the country are at their lowest level since tracking them began in 2009.
Lisa Lazarus, who the sport horse world remembers as general counsel and later chief of business development and strategy at the FEI (international equestrian federation), now serves as CEO of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA). She pointed out an important factor toward addressing the issue of horse deaths at racetracks is the fact that the Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program resumes May 22 under the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU).
On May 12, Lisa issued an open letter explaining what HISA is doing about this heart-breaking situation. This is what she wrote:
“Our first priority is to support efforts to better understand, to the degree possible, the root causes of the deaths last week at Churchill Downs.
Here’s what you can expect from the team at HISA and our counterparts at the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) in the coming weeks:
The KHRC is leading an Equine Catastrophic Injury Review to investigate the circumstances of and potential contributing factors to each of the fatalities that occurred. The investigations are already under way, and involve, at a minimum, interviews with the horses’ connections and security personnel and review of the horses’ racing, training, veterinary and pre-race exam inspection records as well as video surveillance. This is in addition to the mandatory necropsies (the equine version of autopsies)that will be performed to further inform our collective understanding of the circumstances as outlined by HISA’s Racetrack Safety Program. All findings will be submitted to HISA upon the completion of the review.
HISA will conduct its own, independent investigation of each fatality to inform whether additional steps need to be taken. HISA’s investigation will include the following:
- A review of the records pertaining to each horse which died, including the necropsy report, Vets’ List history, past performances, exercise history, treatment records, pre-race inspection, and video records;
- A review of Churchill Downs equine fatality rates from the recent period, the same period the year prior, and the most recently concluded year; as well as training fatality data;
- A review of racetrack maintenance records, surface measurements, and testing data;
- Interviews with the Regulatory Vet, Attending Vet, track management officials, and other relevant third parties.
HISA’s findings, including the determination of whether any rule violations occurred to refer for potential enforcement proceedings, will be made public following the investigation’s conclusion.
The findings associated with these investigations will also be recorded and aggregated along with other industry-wide data for in-depth analysis to eventually establish a baseline for determining with greater clarity factors that may contribute to risk of injury.
While these changes take time and do little to address the immediate and pressing concerns we share as an industry, we have operational safety rules in place that by most accounts are making a difference. And soon, we’ll take another critical step toward an improved, more modern sport when the Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program (ADMC) resumes on May 22 under the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit.
For the first time in the storied history of Thoroughbred racing, there will be one set of uniform, consistent rules across all racing jurisdictions. Under the ADMC Program there will also be greater efficiency for all participants and real consequences for those who seek to break the rules for their own benefit and to the detriment of the horses under their care. The rules also create a rational, fair system for adjudicating penalties and taking into account environmental and other accidental contamination.
There is no doubt that the combination of the Racetrack Safety Program and the ADMC Program will make our sport safer for the horses entrusted to our care.
As we move forward from this collective low, I hope it is together, united with a renewed commitment to what matters most: the safety of our horses and our riders. We owe it to them to get this right. And we owe it to them to do it now.”
by Nancy Jaffer | May 14, 2023
The home team scored an important victory in California Sunday afternoon, as the squad won the first Longines FEI Nations Cup of the USA ever held on the West Coast. It comes after a triumph in the Mexican leg of the Cup last month, and puts the U.S. in the lead for the overall North and Central American/Caribbean Nations Cup League, with one leg of the series to go in Canada next month.
“This is a crucial step for us to qualify for the Nations Cup Final in Barcelona,” said an elated coach Robert Ridland. Winning the league would give the U.S. a spot in the Nations Cup final in Barcelona this fall, and a chance to compete there for a berth in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“To do it in your home Nations Cup and for the first time ever on the West Coast is a very special feeling,” noted Robert, whose wife, Hillary, runs Blenheim Equisports which hosted the competition at the Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park in San Juan Capistrano.
McLain Ward was the only double-clear in the entire competition, handling Leopoldo Palacios’ demanding course with the effervescent Contagious, who was totally on his game. The U.S. had a five-point lead over Mexico after the first round. The home team ended the California class with 12 penalties over two rounds, to 17 for Ireland, 33 for Mexico and 42 for Canada.
In the overall League series, the U.S. has 200 points, Mexico 170 and Canada 150. Ireland, which already has qualified for Paris, is not part of the North American League (obviously).
McLain Ward and Contagious.
“We definitely said ahead of time we were bringing our A team. It was an amazing performance. All four riders on our Tokyo Olympic team were part of those Nations Cups,” said Robert, referring to both Mexico and California.
McLain observed,”I thought Leopoldo set a very challenging track. When I walked it, I have to say I was a tiny bit surprised at how big it was.But it’s a five-star Nations Cup. There are huge consequences to this qualification, and that’s the way it should be.”
Laura Kraut, like several of the riders in the competition, was aboard a horse making a first appearance in a Nations Cup on the Oaks International Grand Prix field. In the initial round, the 10-year-old Dorado toppled the plank that was the first part of the troublesome vertical/oxer double, but he learned from his mistake and his determined rider, enabling him to go fault-free in the second round, which was run over the same course.
“In the first round, he definitely was impressed,” Laura said of her mount.
Laura Kraut and Dorado. (McCool Photography)
“I agree with McLain that the course was much more difficult than I was expecting, and it caught me off guard.” Dorado, she conceded, “was a little bit shy from the first round, and he could have gotten smaller for the second round, or he could have grown. He grew and rode around beautifully, like he’d been doing it a long time.
The younger members of the team, Lillie Keenan (Argan de Beliard) and Karl Cook (Kalinka van’t Zorgvliet) each had four faults in the first round. Lillie’s came at the water in the first round and then at the plank in the second round. Karl’s four faults in the first round were at the oxer that followed the plank in the combination and at the plank in the second round.
The U.S. team of Karl Cook, Laura Kraut, Lillie Keenan and McLain Ward with Coach Robert Ridland. (Photo courtesy USEF)
The tight 76-second time allowed caught six riders. Michael Blake, the Irish chef d’equpe, noted that several more competitors might have jumped clear if they had two more seconds “but there wasn’t two more seconds.”
And at the point in the course where riders would have “liked to take a breather,” he noted, they were faced with the Longines fence, the biggest on the course, which he estimated at a bit more than 1.60 meters high.
The Irish had three clear jumping trips in the second round. Conor Swail on Cup newcomer Nadal Hero & DB, Andrew Bourns and Seatop Blue and David Blake with Claude all left the rails in place, though David had one time penalty. If he had been on time, it would have cut the U.S. margin of victory from five penalties to four, but wouldn’t have changed the outcome.
As Michael Blake said of the U.S. contingent, “They would have looked the favorite on the books” for those appraising the odds.
Kent Farrington, who was on the team in Mexico, will be back for the Canadian leg of the Cup with Lillie and Karl, as well as other younger riders, Lacey Gilbertson and Brian Moggre.
“We’re going to win,” Robert promised.
“We’re not going there to just survive so we can qualify for Barcelona. It’s really important after the year we had last year (when the U.S. did not qualify for Barcelona), that we put winning back in the equation.”
With this series, he commented, “Now we’ve won it twice; we want to win all of them.”
It wasn’t just the victory that impressed, it was everything around it, the stands crowded with exuberant spectators.
“What was so unbelievable about today,” Robert explained, “is any time you’re at your home Nations Cup, there’s added importance and excitement and energy. Those wins are always more significant.
“The fans here were absolutely amazing.”
He said it’s important “to bring in the entire country and not just the East Coast, but in a big way. feeling the energy today in California is something I’ll never forget.
“We have a very strong country in a whole lot of ways, but we have to use the whole country.”
Karl agreed.
“Growing up in California, the sport’s in a different location. Everyone talks about going East or going to Europe, and that’s what you hear the whole time you’re growing up. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just that it would be great if the sport was also in California.
“So, it’s great to be able to show 45 minutes from home, and it’s great to have people who are local that I’ve grown up with to be here to see sport like this. I know it helps inspire the next generation. It’s just really important for the West Coast.”
While California hosted Olympic trials in 2004 at the same venue, Robert noted that was restricted to American contenders.
“This was an international event,” like the Cups that also took place in Madrid and Great Britain’s Royal Windsor this weekend.
“This was the most significant international jumping event on the West Coast since the 1984 LA Olympics,” he declared.
“This is part of the lead-up for five years from now, when the Games are back in LA. This was a huge thing for our country and the West Coast. to have those riders step up to the plate.
“They did exactly what we expected them to do. We took the `A’ team and split it in half, Kent, McLain, Laura and Jessie (Springsteen),” who were on the Tokyo silver medal Olympic team.
“These riders have just been amazing, everyone here this week and the ones in Mexico,” said Robert.
“They all jumped on board in December when I said, `Call to arms.,'” and explained the importance of qualifying for Barcelona.
“There wasn’t one single rider who said, `I have something more important to do.'”
And now?
“Our entire team is enjoying the moment,” he told me.
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