Hundreds enjoy a scenic Thanksgiving tradition

by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 24, 2022

All across the country, friends and families bond in several ways at Thanksgiving, whether it’s over football, watching the Macy’s parade or of course, sharing a turkey.

But in New Jersey’s peaceful Somerset Hills, hundreds have adopted a different tradition–seeing the Essex Fox Hounds off on their holiday hunt.

The Essex foxhounds head out across their country. (Photo © 2022 by Lawrence J. Nagy)

It started when Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was a member of Essex, and the public would come to the gathering at Ellistan in Peapack for a glimpse of the former first lady and her family.

Even after she was no longer part of the hunt field, however, more and more people would return each Thanksgiving, so they could enjoy the sight of horses and riders at their festive best, watching with interest as they gather, then take off behind the huntsman over green fields.

There was a time when you had to know someone to discover the Thanksgiving meet, but these days, Essex is reaching out to the community. The club invited friends of the hunt to attend, and enjoy a stirrup cup, courtesy of Sarah and Hank Slack, Ellistan’s owners.

Huntsman Bart Poole enjoys a stirrup cup and a greeting from Chris Nelson and Jim Gordon. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)

The Slacks’ front pasture seemed even more crowded today, as hundreds turned out for the occasion, with their stately stone manor providing the perfect backdrop.

Many arrived early to tailgate and enjoy socializing on the grounds of the estate. One group, families that met when they were neighbors in Temple, Texas, nearly a half-century ago, came from as far away as Atlanta and Virginia for a reunion, something they have been doing for 40 years or so.

They had never seen the hunt before, but were eager to try something new. Their menu included champagne (the choice of most people who brought a spread), cider doughnuts and pumpkin muffins. After the riders set off, the friends were heading to Robin Hoffman’s house in nearby Mendham for dinner, with everyone pitching in on the cooking.

Scott Hoffman, Kara Gullo, Meg Trammell, Michele Lafrance, Robin Hoffman, John Francis Gullo II and Dick Lafrance start their day tailgating. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)

Also tailgating were regulars Dana Sendro of Fox River Farm and her daughter, Lexi Sendro, of Trouvaille Equestrian, both in Stockton. Their table was set with roses, candelabra and the same hunt-themed tablecloth they used at the steeplechase races, held in October down the road at Moorland Farm in Far Hills.

Dana and Lexi Sendro were into the festive look. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)

They were enjoying spinach and goat cheese fritatas, blueberry muffins and a charcuterie board. After the hunt, Dana was going home to clean stalls while her father, Bill Kendzulak, handled the cooking.

Donna Durling, who fractured her sacrum while out with Essex six weeks ago, understandably couldn’t be on horseback today, but she wasn’t about to let them take off without being on hand and bringing some champagne. Her partner, Ed Johnson, was mounted, and she was riding with him in spirit.

A carriage always appears at the Thanksgiving meet. Jeromy Smith drove the Johnsons’ carriage to add an extra note of interest. (Photo © 2022 by Lawrence J. Nagy)

As the members of the hunt came together prior to moving off, Jazz Johnson, one of the four Essex masters of foxhounds, walked around to personally greet those who had come out to be part of the scene. She thanked the Slacks for hosting the occasion, then invited the crowd to have a drink and sign up to become a Friend of Essex, so they could be notified of future events.

The Essex masters of foxhounds, Sarah Slack, Dennis Sargenti, Lynn Jones and Jazz Johnson. (Photo © 2022 by Lawrence J. Nagy)

“I’m just trying to take every opportunity to remind people that there’s this huge connection between fox hunting and the land, open space and the countryside,” she told those with whom she chatted.

“It means so much to us to try to preserve this tradition and keep everybody thinking about the beauty of this natural sport.”

To find out more about Jacqueliine Kennedy Onassis’ connection with Essex, click here to read a story I wrote last year.

After a traumatic fall, Cassandra Kahle is making a comeback

by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 18, 2022

A horrific fall in a jump-off tragically put the brakes on professional rider Cassandra Kahle’s promising career last January. The following nine months have tested her, as she works to recover from a traumatic brain injury, focusing on therapy with the same determination she once applied to winning in competition.

Cass has never stopped pointing toward a comeback since she came out of a coma..

There was a moment while Cass was still in the hospital when her mother, Natasha Brash, tactfully asked, “What do you want to do, other than riding?”

Cass didn’t hesitate to respond.

“I don’t really know anything other than riding, I’ve done it my whole life,” she pointed out.

“I couldn’t come up with something else I felt as passionate about. I just knew I had to work at getting back to it.”

Cass and her physical therapist, Pete Marsicano, joined her mother on Zoom last night to fill in friends and relatives on how her recovery is going.

Cass can smile as she discusses her progress.

Pete, based at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in Flanders, N.J., originally was working with Cass five days a week.

The sessions have been cut to three days a week as Cass gets better. She is back to riding at Redfields in Tewksbury Township, N.J., where she works for Emil Spadone, but notes it’s a slow process.

“There wasn’t really a thought about not getting back on,” she mentioned, while at the same time admitting, “I was nervous about getting back on.”

That was only the beginning. It was a start, yet the challenges continue.

“I can’t see a distance to a rail anymore,” she said with a smile.

“Any chance of seeing my spot like I used to; it’s gone.”

But just being on top of a horse is huge step for Cass, who was in a coma after her accident. Since she doesn’t remember the accident, or even the week before it, “In one way, I’m really fortunate,” she said. “because I have no actual fear.”

Progress has been slow, yet steady.

At the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, where Cass underwent therapy after getting out of the hospital, she learned how to stand and walk again.

When she came back to New Jersey and started going to Kessler at the end of May, it “jump-started my progress,” Cass recalled.

Knowing his patient was set on riding again, Pete set up a bolster in therapy, to simulate something that would have a relationship to a horse’s back. That enabled her to practice regaining her balance before getting into the saddle again. Pete even figured out a way for her to use an overhead weight bar, making the move equivalent to holding the reins on a strong horse without getting pulled out of the saddle.

Cass’s physical therapist at Kessler, Pete Mariscano.

“I’d have to hold my balance with my feet off the floor, so it was really like riding a strong horse with no stirrups. That really resonated with the feeling of riding and being able to hold my core and my balance and not get pulled over the fence. That was a big confidence booster,” said Cass.

“An exercise being as close to the actual task is beneficial,” Pete observed.

Natasha showed Pete how to give Cass a leg up on the bolster, because “mounting seemed like the biggest question.”

Once that got answered, it eased one of Cass’s worries.

“I hadn’t been emotional at all this whole time,” said Cass, but “just that feeling I was getting a leg up and swinging my leg over–oh my gosh, I just about broke down into tears. That was the closest I felt to getting back on a horse. And I was like, oh my goodness, this is actually real. I guess it’s going to happen.”

As Pete noted, “She’s been game for all of it, and that makes the whole PT process that much more effective.”

It was his experience working with stroke patients when he was in school the made him realize it was his life’s calling. With Cass, he is learning about horses, and on occasion he has even been spotted neighing and cantering around the clinic. They both believe a sense of humor and few laughs are a good way to smooth the journey.

Meanwhile, actually riding is a form of therapy in itself, Pete observed.

Cass at Devon when she was competing. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)

Cass has started to talk to a sports psychologist, who advised her to go from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.

“That has helped me keep my positive attitude, because it’s easy to get hard on yourself and you’re learning to post all over again and you can’t keep your stirrups. It’s a rough road.”

Added Cass, “She has helped me see the other side of how hopefully I can learn from it and grow from it. Something that may have held me back before the accident, now is a good time to work on it and get down to the basics and overcome some of those issues.”

Sometimes, though, that’s easier said than done.

“It’s hard to keep a positive attitude at this stage. I’m ready to be right back to normal. I think I should be jumping and competing.”

Realistically, she added, “I’m a few months away from that. It’s time to dig in and push through and try to get back to feeling confident in my riding again. It’s a process.”

Her situation has helped her understand what her amateur students go through, “the issues and struggles they have,” and she hopes what she has gone through will help with the way she teaches them.

As she becomes fitter, things become easier. She is still working on posting trot with no stirrups.

“At first, it was half a lap each way and walk in between. Now I can trot for five minutes. That’s enough to keep you motivated and going the right way.”

Knowing that so many people care about her is crucial to her improvement, and looking ahead, she would like to find a way to help people in her position who don’t have that kind of support.

“It has made such a difference and given me comfort,” she explained.

“There could be dark times, you have to watch where you let your mind go. When I was in the hospital, coming in and seeing a new bouquet of flowers and a card really gave me the confidence that, `Okay, I can do this.’ There are no words how grateful I am for that support. It really made the difference.”

You are being watched…

by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 17, 2022

When you are spending time with your horses, it’s quite possible you are being watched, whether you’re showing, grooming, riding, training or engaged in some other activity. That’s the way it is when everyone has access to a digital video camera, and it can cause an issue with animal welfare.

For all the wonderful photos and videos of riders demonstrating their love and appreciation of their horse with a pat or a hug, it only takes one negative picture to set off critics of horse sport.

A rider showing appreciation for her horse helps the image of the sport. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)

Although you may be doing nothing wrong, a lot depends on how your actions are interpreted. There is great concern these days about “social license,” which means the way those who are exposed to equestrian sport–even if they know nothing about it–perceive and accept how animals are being treated.

It’s something that can go viral fast. Remember the outcry over what happened in the pentathlon at the Tokyo Olympics, when a coach punched a horse who had refused a jump? Pentathlon moved quickly to eliminate the equestrian portion of the five-part event (which also includes swimming, shooting, running and fencing) after it is held at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

But the incident also sparked comments from those with no knowledge of horse sport about how horses were treated in other disciplines at the Games. In today’s world, fewer people than ever are connected with horses, or in the larger picture, agriculture, as we grow increasingly urbanized and suburbanized.

At last weekend’s FEI General Assembly in South Africa, social license was a hot topic.

Roly Owers, CEO of the World Horse Welfare organization, explained “The idea behind social license is that we must be transparent, ethical and accountable for what we do. We must do right by our horses–and be seen to be doing so.

“If we are not,” he warned, “we risk losing our social license and face dwindling support, and potential intervention by outside regulation.”

The European Equestrian Federation, which participated in the meeting, cited “the importance for all stakeholders to understand the pressing needs for our sport to adapt and monitor the opinions of those around us.”

When remembering the need to do right by our horses, it is also important to keep in mind the omnipresence of digital cameras.

FEI President Ingmar de Vos stated, “There can be no complacency or reticence to change, to keep things as they are. Because the world is changing, the sporting, media and sponsorship landscapes are changing. And as a result, the way we present and manage our sports also have to change.”

That obviously will mean some new rules, sooner rather than later.

Dr. Natalie Waran, chair of the new FEI Equine Ethics and Welfare Commission, said, “there is change that needs to happen and we are here to develop a strategy, provide objective advice, make recommendations and then see how these recommendations can be put into operation.”

The commission’s first task was to obtain research about the current views of stakeholders and the wider public.

A survey involving research by the independent Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission had 27,710 people involved with horses responding. The most were from France, followed by the USA and Germany, but residents of 116 countries were queried.

Seventy eight percent of those answering the survey believed believed that welfare standards need improving, while 6 percent felt it is impossible to provide adequate welfare protection. Only 16 percent believed welfare standards are high.The majority of the respondents contend that horses frequently (46 percent) or sometimes (45 percent) enjoy being used in sports. The most respondents concerned about the welfare of horses in sport were veterinarians (87 percent) and leisure riders or drivers (84 percent.) Those least concerned were FEI board members (53 percent).

Key concerns were  what happens in “the other 23 hours” that horses don’t spend competing, as well as tack/equipment, and training and riding practices.

Respondents indicated that in order for the future of the horse sport to be protected, it will be
important that above all, there is improved enforcement of existing welfare rules, as well as new welfare rules developed with an eye toward science and a required level of knowledge about equine welfare by those involved with horses.

A companion survey of the general public’s opinions about horses being used in sport had 14,273 respondents from 14 countries, but the numbers were scaled, so they could be weighted as 1,000 respondents per country. Nearly half of the respondents had had some experience with horses in the past (47 percent), while 27 percent had no experience with horses.

Asked whether they though horses enjoyed being used in sport, 47 percent believed they did sometimes, while 20 percent thought they never enjoy sports. The more experienced the respondents were with horses, the more they believed that they enjoyed being used in sport.

Those who have no experience with horses would have no way of knowing what equines do or do not enjoy, but again, this is simply a matter of how they perceive things–rather than being based on actual knowledge.

While 65 percent of the respondents were concerned about the use of horses in sport, only
35 percent had no concerns. Respondents were most concerned about endurance,
followed by eventing and carriage driving. They were the least concerned about
dressage.

Their biggest areas of concern were horse welfare (34 percent), followed by horse safety (32 percent) and then, at 9 percent, human safety and sustainability (8 percent). In terms of use of horses for leisure, 62 percent of the public had concerns.

To improve their confidence in sport horse welfare, 19 percent of the respondents would like to see or hear more about the daily care the horses receive. Another 18 percent wants
to know what happens to horses when they leave sport.

Great competition for the Longines crown at the Royal

by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 13, 2022

Irish rider Daniel Coyle got some good advice from his countryman, Conor Swail, before heading into the jump-off of the $250,000 Longines FEI World Cup at the Royal Winter Fair last night.

After Daniel asked whether his main intent should involve going for a clear round or “do I need to be quick as well?” Conor told him “you need to be fast,” and it paid off in a victory at the Toronto competition, where it was an all-mares game in the tiebreaker.

Two weeks ago, Daniel had taken the slower approach in a class and it didn’t work, “so tonight I was hungry for more,” he noted.

Daniel Coyle pulled out all the stops with Legacy to secure his win at the Royal. (Photo © 2022 by Lawrence J. Nagy)

“There wasn’t a whole lot you could do in the jump-off,” observed Daniel, referring to the difficulty in getting a fast time because of the way it was laid out, with an extreme rollback to the next-to-last fence, a vertical, and then a long run to the final obstacle, the Longines oxer.

He saw the distance early to that last fence, and while that sort of gallop is something that he hadn’t done much with his mount, Legacy, “she went all the way.” The Zangersheide he rode certainly was up to the challenge of covering ground for Daniel, who was clocked in 37.02 seconds.

Another Daniel, Bluman, followed him in the tiebreaker on the durable Gemma, but an early rail put the Israeli rider one placing down, in a slower time of 39.21.

The tiebreaker was led off by a favorite of the sold-out house, Tiffany Foster, who got support as the only Canadian with a chance to win after the initial round. The tenth of 21 riders to compete, she was the first to leave all the fences standing with Northern Light.

Tiffany Foster and Northern Light. (Photo © 2022 by Lawrence J. Nagy)

That plucky Swedish warmblood was a fill-in for Tiffany’s top mount, Figor, who is recovering from an injury. But even though Tiffany took it slow, Northern Light already had given all she had in the first World Cup of her career, and wound up with two rails down and a time penalty in 44.23 seconds to finish third.

Speaking about his first-round route, course designer Michel Vaillancourt said, “We had some silly little rails, we could have had a few more clear.”

Only two U.S. riders, Laura Kraut on Calgary Tame and Kent Farrington with Landon, made the top 10, finishing eighth and ninth respectively with four faults, as McLain Ward lost his bid with Callas for a tenth win in the class.

Michel conceded he would have liked to have five or six in the jump-off for the audience who filled every seat in the coliseum. Even so, they got their money’s worth of excitement.

The course designer, who was the 1976 Olympic individual silver medalist, made his Royal debut as a rider at the age of 15 in the open jumpers, 53 years ago, so few know the show as well as he does.

He noted there’s a big difference “between performing in front of a sold-out packed house that encourages you to go, versus hardly anybody in the stands. It’s a special, special event for sure.”

Canadians were a bit frustrated because they could have had one more to cheer for if Ali Ramsay, who rode after Tiffany, had not logged a time fault with Bonita VH Kezershof Z after keeping all the rails in place in the first round. Ramsay earned the Canadian national championship the first week of the show, an honor that also gave her an entry to the FEI weekend.

For Daniel Coyle, it’s been a hard week, with “one down, one down, one down.”

Legacy is owned by Ariel Grange, who is based locally “and that’s maybe why I was trying so hard to get something to happen, and nothing was. From the first fence forward tonight it was real difficult. It seemed like you were always turning. It wasn’t simple at any point.”

The mare came from 2000 Olympic individual gold medalist Jeroen Dubbeldam of the Netherlands, who is training Daniel. They made it to the world championships last summer, where the Irish qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics “but no medals,” so Daniel said, “I want to keep going.”

Like many riders, he is shooting for next April’s Longines FEI World Cup Finals in Omaha.

Daniel Bluman is now leading the North American League for the finals, despite “too many seconds.” He has never been to the finals, and plans to go only if he has two horses who are up to the task.

Daniel Bluman and Gemma. (Photo © 2022 by Lawrence J. Nagy)

Tiffany, who wound up as leading Canadian rider, said every rider she talks to considers the Royal “their favorite show in North America,” citing the energy the crowd imparts.

Daniel Bluman, Daniel Coyle and Tiffany Foster. (Photo © 2022 by Lawrence J. Nagy)

The bubbly equestrian’s fond memories of the show include winning the Canadian medal finals and Jump Canada class in her youth. For financial reasons, she couldn’t compete very often, so the opportunity came about because her trainers paid for her to ride at the Royal and a client groomed for her.

Despite not winning the Longines class, she did realize one ambition at the show, sitting next to the whip on one of the coaches in the Pemberton Green Meadows division, renamed in tribute to a Canadian who was a pillar of the driving sport.

Tiffany Foster realizes her dream. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)

Tiffany had mentioned to Cawthra Burns, whose family had ridden at the Royal for generations, that her dream was to ride on a coach at the Royal.

“We can make that happen,” said Cawthra.

The rider looked incredibly glamorous, and when I asked what she had done to herself, she laughed and responded, “I brushed my hair,” then admitted she had gotten it done at a salon. She wore Cawthra’s jewels and fluffy wrap as she accompanied John White on his coach, which won Friday night’s class.

Coaches are only one part of what makes the Royal what it is. The variety in the type of competition ranges all the way from hackneys to the six-horse hitches in the draft division. Seeing an arena filled to the brim with brilliantly turned out Percherons, Clydesdales and Belgians is a something to be remembered for a lifetime.

What a magnificent sight, the six-horse draft hitches. (Photo © 2022 by Lawrence J. Nagy)

The exhibitions are always special, and this year it was the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, in their scarlet tunics, who thrilled the crowd with their precision on the black Hanoverians specially bred for that purpose.

The Royal is unlike any show in this hemisphere; the closest comparison would be the London International (formerly Olympia). If you ever have the chance to see the Canadian competition, take it. You’ll be thrilled.

Nassar a winner at the Royal

by Nancy Jaffer | Nov 12, 2022

El Conde told his rider, Nayel Nassar, he was up to the challenge of the $75,000 Centennial Cup speed class at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto last night, even before the partnership entered the arena surrounded by a crowd that packed the stands and appreciated every effort by the competitors.

“Standing at the ingate, he was pawing and kind of ready to go,” Nayel said of his 11-year-old Belgian sporthorse gelding.

“He was definitely pumped-up tonight.”

That was reflected in a very forward round, one of only four in a field of 19 that also was fault-free over Michel Vaillancourt’s course that dealt in adamant contrasts. It blended rollbacks requiring a bold approach with the need for discretion over strategically placed delicate, tall verticals.

Course designer Michel Vaillancourt discusses the route with McLain Ward. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)

Nayel was clocked in 53.54 seconds; impressive but not secure. Such stars as Ireland’s Conor Swail (Theo) and Olympic individual gold medalist Ben Maher of Great Britain (TicTac) weren’t able to leave the rails in place.

But with perennial Royal winner McLain Ward in the advantageous position of being last to go with Lezaro, it seemed the odds were not on Nayel’s side; he just had to wait and watch.

McLain demonstrated his usual determination to beat the clock, but came up just a bit short, finishing in 54.05 seconds.  Beat Mändli of Switzerland was much further back in third place on Chartraine Pre Noir (56.70), while 2004 Olympic individual gold medalist Rodrigo Pessoa on Quality FZ finished fourth (57.38).

McLain Ward and Lezaro. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)

El Conde was bred by 2010 world champion Philippe LeJeune of Belgium. His sire goes by the regal-sounding name, Lorde Piana Filou de Muze, but they called the mare just plain Birdy. She descended from Connemara pony stock, and perhaps it was the bloodlines of those famous jumping ponies that gave El Conde the nimble aptitude that won him the class.

Nayel, who has ridden for Egypt in the Olympics, cited the challenge of competing in the confines of a relatively narrow space at the Royal.

“We’re all coming from outdoors; this is the first indoor show I’ve done with Conde.”

But as he pointed out, “The experienced horses and the smart ones, they kind of know their job regardless of the ring. He comes out trying every single time.”

Nayel has developed a special partnership in less than a year with El Conde, perhaps because the horse reminds him of a previous favorite mount, Lucifer, now 17 and retired.

“He’s really my type of horse,” said Nayel of El Conde.

“He is just such a fighter in every sense of the word.  He’s a great guy.”

He calls El Conde, “kind of a jack of all trades.” In a speed class, he can “have a good shot at it and also jump a big grand prix. He’ll usually always try his best.”

Centennial Cup winner Nayel Nassar and El Conde. (Photo © 2022 by Lawrence J. Nagy)

It is Nayel’s first visit to the Royal, which is celebrating its hundredth anniversary (hence the Centennial Cup.)

He called the show “unbelievable,” citing “this kind of atmosphere, these kinds of crowds. These are the events that really motivate you.”

He is seeking a berth in next year’s FEI World Cup Finals in Omaha, and hopes to add to his qualifications tonight in the Longines Grand Prix.