by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 1, 2022
The Devon Horse Show is all about tradition—it’s entitled to that, having been around since 1896, though it didn’t run for the last two years due to Covid. But now it’s back, and the tradition also is carried on at another location, about a 20-minute drive from the showgrounds on Philadelphia’s Main Line, at the venerable Merion Cricket Club.
The National Show Hunter Hall of Fame had missed its last two dinners but made up for it Tuesday night with a sellout crowd for its annual function, with 180 show world luminaries and their friends on hand to celebrate and swap stories.
A table in a room that looked out at the club’s green fields displayed portraits of those who had died since the dinner last was held. Mason Phelps, John Franzreb, Ray Francis, Kenny Wheeler, and sadly, too many others, were part of that group, and those who passed by stopped to take a look.
While remembrance has a big role in the hall’s dinner, it’s also about adding new names, human and equine, to the list of the inducted.
“It’s so important,” said Jimmy Lee, president of the Hall, who took over from its founder, Carol Maloney.
“Hopefully, younger generations will follow what we’re doing. We’re in a grab-and-go society,” Jimmy continued, explaining it would be a loss “if we don’t have the history, if we don’t have the tradition. For us to be able to sit down here during a really busy horse show and for people to take the time to pay their respects, I think it says volumes about where our sport is. I’m very encouraged.”
Hunt Tosh was the Hall of Fame Rider of the Year, the Wheeler family were Owners of the Year and Cannon Creek took the High Performance Hunter Championship at Devon. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
Jane Womble Gaston who used to train with Jimmy and rode his favorite horse, Sign the Card, was on hand to salute inductee Henry the Hawk, a horse she took to many championships.
“He spent his life trying to please,” she told the crowd.
Afterward, she pointed out to me, “This was a thoroughbred horse who was champion at the Garden when he was three years old, and nobody thought anything about it. If you appreciate the type of horses we rode then and what showing was about, it wasn’t week after week. They were all natural, more horse-friendly areas, it’s important to look back on that.”
Jane Womble Gaston and Jimmy Lee, president of the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
The ceremony is always good for a few laughs and even occasional tears, as memories take center stage. It’s a reminiscence for some, and a time to salute the new group of deserving inductees, each introduced by a friend who had tales to tell.
Scott Evans recalled watching a young Scott Stewart as the lead in “West Side Story” at an amateur theater in Connecticut. The actor realized at that time he would have to make a decision between the theater and horses.
We all know what he chose, and today, he won his 17th Leading Hunter Rider title at Devon. He also has taken that honor 14 times at the National Horse Show and on numerous occasions at other prestigious shows.
As Scott Stewart pointed out, if he had chosen the theater, it’s likely he wouldn’t have had as long a career, and would need to be doing something else right now anyway.
Hunter rider John French offered a long but amusing monologue about his life. As Jen Bauersachs, who introduced him pointed out, if he hadn’t been a rider, he could have been a singer, a writer or perhaps a stand-up comic, as we saw.
He remembered that he had decided as a teen to take a break from riding, until a friend saw a critique of a photo of him written by George Morris in Practical Horseman magazine. After criticizing the length of his hair, George stated that the rider “had the best example of classic hunter seat equitation that I’ve ever seen.”
John French gave the crowd some laughs. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
That encouraged John to give horses another try. He did all his own work in the beginning of his career, from braiding to transporting his horse. John was inspired by his mother, who died a few weeks ago.
She had been tough on John, but at the end, she told him, “You did all of this with no help from me or your father.”
John believed otherwise.
“It was because of your help,” he said, noting she had taught him, “a horseman is a lot more than just riding. It was knowing your horse, taking care of your horse, having that special bond with your horse.”
Judy Mangin Kelley began her riding career in her native British Columbia, but went on to guide such great horses as Boyne Valley and Vital Victory in the U.S. as she became a household name in the horse world.
“It’s been a great ride,” she told those at the dinner.
Betty Oare saluted her wonderful mare Estrella, a U.S Equestrian Federation Horse of the Year, who joined her as a member of the Hall. She mentioned how everyone in her family, her husband, Ernie; her late brother, Bucky Reynolds and his wife, Linda, was involved in having the remarkable mare join their ranks.
Betty Oare with a ribbon for Estrella. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
“She carried me to great places,” Betty said.
Carleton Brooks spoke for Lu Thomas, a Californian who couldn’t be present due to health issues.
“She won everything and fought for each win,” he recounted of her career as a top rider.
Trainer Tom Wright got his interest in teaching from his parents, both college professors. He worked with many top professionals and well-known owners. Whatever it took to succeed, he pursued, recalling how Fran Bushkin advised him to lose 40 pounds if he wanted to show her horses; so he did.
Other awards were 2021 Horse Show of the Year, which was the Upperville, Va., Colt and Horse Show and the Derby Finals, Derby of the year.
Awards voted on by champions at a variety of shows and not announced until the dinner included Rider of the Year, Hunt Tosh; Owners of the Year, the Wheeler family and Horse of the Year Lafite de Muze, who was also High Performance Hunter of the year for his rider, Amanda Steege, and owner, Cheryl Olsten.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jun 2, 2022
There are not many places where you can see the best show hunters from East and West, but Devon is that spot in the spring, and both coasts were well-represented this week.
The Grand Hunter Champion, Balmoral’s Only Always, came from California with trainer Carleton Brooks and rider Nick Haness, earning 45 points in the Green Conformation Hunter section, more than any other titleist in the professional divisions.
Trainer Carleton Brooks and groom David Vega with Only Always, Devon Grand Hunter Champion. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
The High Performance Hunter Champion, Cannon Creek, meanwhile, is owned by a Virginia family, the Wheelers, who also took the $25,000 USHJA Hunter Derby with Green Hunter Champion Autograph.
Both horses are ridden by Hunt Tosh, who was named Rider of the Year at the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame dinner Tuesday.
The task of winning the Derby fell on Autograph, after Hunt made a mistake in the double during the Classic Round with Cannon Creek.
Topping a field of 33, he won the Classic round but lost the Handy round to Chappy, ridden by Greg Crolick. The final total was close; 383.500 overall for Autograph, and just 0.500 less for Chappy as the reserve.
“Not being here for two years, to come back this year being able to win the Derby was so special,” said Hunt, referring to the fact that the show wasn’t held during the Covid pandemic.
“Devon is my favorite horse show,” Hunt said. “To come here and peak at the right time kind of shows we’re doing the right thing.”
Autograph, a son of Balou who was the Hall of Fame’s Green Hunter of the Year, hasn’t done many derbies, and in the Handy section, everything was on the line.
Hunt Tosh and Autograph. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
“I got a little nervous, I touched the second jump and thought `I’ve got to try to do everything I can,’” Hunt reported.
“I tried to go a little quicker to the next-to-last jump and gallop the last jump. It was a great class. The horses jumped beautifully, Greg’s horse was amazing.”
This was Greg’s best Derby finish at Devon.
“To me, it’s like winning. It’s so exciting to be here. There’s great energy in the air,” Greg said about being second.
Ken Wheeler came up to Devon early to watch Hunt’s daughter, Maddie, compete in junior classes.
Authentic and Hunt Tosh on the way to hunter derby victory.(Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
“I don’t want to leave my dad’s box empty,” he told Hunt. This was his first Devon without his late father, Kenneth Wheeler, after whom the Wheeler Ring at the showgrounds is named.
Carleton had a definite goal with Only Always: “We’re going to shoot for Devon.”
It was a long way to travel from California, but he explained, “Devon is tradition. I still believe it’s the ultimate. You have to be consistent through the whole division. I think it’s a performance facility, you have to perform.
“It has all the outside distraction. It’s the ultimate. It’s a one-ring horse show. We don’t have those anymore. You are front and center. Devon doesn’t make or break you, but it sure tells you that you are on the right track if you are successful.”
Carleton, who has a colorful way of putting things, noted, “I think a lot of East Coasters still feel we’re cowboys and the sage brush still blows across the road. We do not have as many options to show, so we have to show against each other week-in and week-out, which I think keeps our level up.
“There’s no coasting out there. You can’t just find a casual horse show where you’re the best one for sure.”
Only Always was in Germany when Carleton saw him on a video.
“I watched him jump two jumps and said `Buy him,’” Carlton recalled. He liked his presence and balance, how he cantered away from the first jump. The woman who had the horse called him Carlton (without the “e”) but that may have been part of the sales pitch, the trainer admitted.
“The lady who sent the video is pretty smart. I don’t know if his name is really Carlton or not,” he admitted.
The horse had done a couple of jumper classes with an amateur in Europe, but Devon was a new experience.
“He’d never been in this type of environment before. We gave him time to take a deep breath and just let him hang out.”
Scott Stewart is a Devon perennial; the round silver platter that is the trophy for Leading Hunter Rider is engraved with his name more times (17) than that of any other person.
He did it again of course, collecting additional souvenirs for the Devon corner (complete with dozens of show programs) in the trophy room at his New Jersey home, where he also has two pet steers. (No, he doesn’t eat meat.)
Scott Stewart with his trophy. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
Amanda Steege, who rides the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame Horse of the Year and High Performance Horse of the Year, Lafite de Muze, had a disappointment in the Classic Round of the Hunter Derby when a rail fell from the high side of a hay bales and brush jump.
Aside from that, she had quite a week, also collecting the show’s High Performance Working Hunter Leading Lady Rider Award and the reserve championship in the High Performance Hunter.
The Horse of the Year title was a standout among everything Lafite won because ballots go to champions at the 10 most competitive horse shows, and they decide who should win.
“I think it’s very special to win awards like that, that are chosen by professionals you compete against as opposed to point-based awards. It was a huge surprise and an honor,” said Amanda.
“Lafite is the most consistent horse I’ve ever had,” commented the rider, who has a special bond with the horse, as does her boyfriend, Tim Delovich, and the gelding’s owner, Cheryl Olsten.
Amanda Steege and Lafite de Muze. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
“He’s a trier; he has an unbelievably large heart and he’s very intelligent and understands what we’re doing out there, that when he walks into the ring he’s supposed to be performing,” said Amanda.
“What he’s able to do goes beyond his talent level, it goes deeper down inside the horse than that. He’s a perfectionist, and he wants to win as much as we want to win, which is an amazing feeling to have as the rider.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 24, 2022
It was a hit from the beginning.
Monmouth at the Team involved moving what had been an iconic horse show (the oldest in New Jersey) to the grounds of the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation in 2016. With lavish hospitality, an array of recognized and unrecognized classes over eight days and the backdrop of the famous stable in Gladstone, Somerset County, the competition was a perfect way to end the summer.
Ringside hospitality was a highlight of Monmouth at the Team. (Photo © 2016 by Nancy Jaffer)
Then came Covid.
It was tough enough financially running a one-ring show, but in 2020, Covid made it impossible to offer the close-quarters ringside hospitality that was the show’s signature, so it was cancelled.
In 2021, quarantine issues at the foundation venue involving teams for the Tokyo Olympics made the special location a no-go, so the show was held at Centenary University in Morris County, about a half-hour from Gladstone. It was a nice show, but it lacked the special ambience that being at the USET Foundation provided.
This year, the show is being outsourced.
Claudine Libertore, who runs so many of the hunter/jumper shows in New Jersey, has leased the 2022 Aug. 15-18 dates and will stage it at the Horse Park of New Jersey, which is located in Monmouth County.
Bobcat ears on helmets were a fun signature of the Bobcat Derby during Monmouth at the Team show against the backdrop of the USET Foundation’s historic stable. (Photo © 2019 by Nancy Jaffer)
According to Tucker Ericson, who ran the show with his cousin, trainer Michael Dowling, the first three-days will be A-rated and the fourth day will be unrecognized. He added that the tradition of the Bobcat Derby (with its trademark bobcat ear headbands), sponsored by The Nature Conservancy, will continue.
Michael Dowling and Tucker Ericson moved the Monmouth County Horse Show to the USET Foundation. (Photo © 2016 by Nancy Jaffer)
Tucker, who works in the insurance business, and his cousin, an associate professor at Centenary, are too involved elsewhere to run the show themselves at this point.
“If someone steps up with a better gameplay for 2023, we will certainly consider it, but I am sure CJL will continue with the dates otherwise,” Tucker stated.
“Neither USET nor Centenary were willing to take on the endeavor and Michael and I are too busy with our careers to put the time into it that is required, not to mention the volatility of losing a lot of money due to viruses, weather, and the economy.”
by Nancy Jaffer | May 11, 2022
Adrienne Lyle and Salvino. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
Alice Tarjan found herself in the company of such big names as Olympic medalists Steffen Peters and Adrienne Lyle today when the U.S. Equestrian Federation announced the Dutta Corp. U.S. Dressage Team Short List for the 2022 FEI Dressage World Championships in Herning, Denmark, this summer.
“It’s an honor,” said Alice. The Oldwick, N.J., resident was chosen with Serenade MF, a 9-year-old Hanoverian mare that she has trained to Grand Prix herself.
“Her breeder, Maryanna Haymon, is absolutely thrilled because she’s the only American-bred on the list. That’s kind of exciting,” said Alice, who has a whole string of horses she bought as youngsters and developed.
“It is amazing how she can just bring up horse after horse to Grand Prix like that and have them do as well as they do. That is remarkable. No one has ever done that here,” said U.S. dressage development coach Charlotte Bredahl.
“All her horses are good horses. Alice has such a talent for putting piaffe/passage on all her horses. She does it really well and they come out doing it well. You don’t see any resistance in the piaffe/passage tour like you often see with others. Her horses are always ready to perform in that.”
Serenade is by Sir Donnerhall out of a Don Principe mare. Making the list is a dream come true from so many angles, and a little hard to believe for the always low-key and modest Alice, who spent some time working with former U.S. dressage technical advisor Debbie McDonald over the winter.
“Growing up, you read all the magazines and think, `Wow, that’s so cool,’ and when it’s you, somehow it’s like, `I’m not that good. Everyone else is awesome.’ I don’t know how I get up there.”
Of her mare, Alice acknowledges, “She’s gone well. She’s an interesting horse, really talented and pretty rideable.”
Even so, she pointed out “when you walk through the barn, she’s not the horse you would pick. It’s interesting because she’s the smallest one of the bunch (her nickname is Shrimp) but she sure does her job every time she goes out there.”
Alice Tarjan and Serenade MF. (Photo © 2021by Nancy Jaffer)
Last year, Alice finished sixth with Candescent in the mandatory observation trial for the U.S. Olympic dressage team candidates. Candescent, a Hanoverian Alice bought as a four-year-old, was on the short list for the Olympic squad and the top six from the trial were supposed to go to Europe before the Tokyo Games, but she didn’t feel her mare had enough experience to make that trip. So she was willing to wait for another opportunity down the road.
Her plans call for her to renew her focus on Candescent in the autumn, explaining, “You can only compete so many horses at once. She had an easy spring.”
The horses and riders on the list will compete at observation events in Europe before final team selection in July. Major shows where they will appear include the Rotterdam,, Netherlands, CDIO5* and the Aachen, Germany, CDIO5*/CDI4*.
It’s a little early to make the choice of which to attend, but Alice is leaning toward Rotterdam. She’ll be helped by her close friend Lauren Chumley, a professional trainer from Pittstown who groomed for her when she went to Aachen last year, and she expects her trainer, Marcus Orlob of Annandale, to fly over when she competes.
Others on the list are Katie Duerrhammer of Colorado with Paxton, a 2011 Westphalian gelding, and Quartett, a 2007 Bradenburg gelding, both owned by Kylee Lourie; Californian Ben Ebeling with Illuster van de Kampert a 2008 Belgian Warmblood gelding owned by ACR Enterprises, Inc., and Indeed, a 2008 Danish Warmblood mare owned by Vantage Equestrian. Also named is Sarah Tubman of Wellington, Fla., with First Apple, a 2010 KWPN stallion owned by Summit Farm.
Former Canadian Olympian Ashley Holzer of Wellington, now a U.S. citizen, was chosen with Valentine, her 2010 Hanoverian mare, while Charlotte Jorst of Reno is on the list with Kastel’s Nintendo, a 2003 Dutch Warmblood stallion owned by Kastel Denmark.
Adrienne, a member of the Tokyo Olympic silver medal team who lives in Wellington, will be competing Salvino, a 2007 Hanoverian stallion owned by Betsy Juliano LLC. She is joined by her teammate, Steffen, of San Diego, riding with Suppenkasper, a 2008 KWPN gelding owned by Four Winds Farm and Akiko Yamazaki.
The third member of the Tokyo team, Sabine Schut-Kery, had said her Sanceo was not ready to compete by the deadline for selection to the short list, but she may have another chance at selection for the championships down the road.
by Nancy Jaffer | May 11, 2022
Bouncing back is Tamie Smith’s specialty, and the same can be said of her Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event mount, Fleeceworks Royal.
The mare’s 5-star debut at the Kentucky Horse Park last month started with a dressage test that put her first in the division on day one, though she had dropped to eighth by the second day.
Tamie Smith and Fleeceworks Royal in the dressage phase at Kentucky. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
Her cross-country trip was cut short at the 11th obstacle when Tamie sensed the mare was injured and pulled her up. Rory, as the mare is known to her friends, underwent surgery on her left front pastern at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute.
She’s healing now, and “as long as she gets through all of it with no complications, she should make a full recovery,” Tamie reported about the U.S.-bred daughter of Riverman.
“She is the toughest mare you’ve ever met,” added the rider, referencing everything Rory has been through. That includes a corneal transplant, an airway obstruction issue and a minor leg problem that kept her off the 2019 Pan American Games team.
But no adversity has stopped her, which also can be said of Tamie.
“Yes, she is just like me,” Tamie agreed happily.
“I told her owner (Judith McSwain) we’re going to rename her “The Cockroach”, because you can’t kill her, you can’t keep her down. She’s going to keep fighting. She’s incredible.”
It’s such good news that Rory is on the road back. The other horse who had a bad fall on cross-country at Kentucky, Emporium, was not injured and went home after a short stay at Hagyard.
Despite ending the Kentucky 5-star with a disappointment, Tamie didn’t dwell on the negative and headed off to the Badminton, England, 5-star, where she finished ninth on Mai Baum to be the best-placed American last weekend.
“Badminton was super-competitive,” said Tamie’s trainer, Erik Duvander.
“The quality of the field was totally outstanding. You looked down the line of combinations that have won championships, Worlds, Europeans and of course previous winners of 5-star, so it was highly competitive.”
He called the cross-country course designed by Eric Winter, “possibly the best I’ve seen in a long, long time. It was a decent track, it was big, it was super well-presented; nothing trappy but demanding on the horses physically and mentally.”
In the show jumping, Tamie and Mai Baum were among only four entries in the field of 52 finishers to go double-clear over Kelvin Bywater’s challenging route.
Erik sees big things in Tamie’s future now, and the rider is, of course, hoping to be named to the team for this summer’s world championships in Italy.
“Now she is really, really ready,” said Erik, ,who has been working with her since 2017.
“With Tamie, it’s not just her riding skills, but it’ her mental skills to perform all three phases in the manner she did. I feel her future is really bright now.”
by Nancy Jaffer | May 4, 2022
Thoroughbreds are few and far between at the upper ranks of three-day eventing, ever since the steeplechase and roads and tracks elements were eliminated from the sport’s prestige competitions after 2005.
With the departure of the long format, where endurance was key, the heart exhibited by thoroughbreds on cross-country suddenly wasn’t quite as important as the ability to perform first-rate dressage and show jumping.
It was good news for the Europeans, who had long wanted to sell their warmbloods for eventing, but it meant that the horses once synonymous with the game were out of favor. The top 10 in the 5-star division at last weekend’s Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event included everything from a Hanoverian (eventual winner fischerChipmunk FRH) to a Selle Francais and several Holsteiners, but only one thoroughbred in that top group.
That was Phillip Dutton’s well-bred off-the-track mount, Sea of Clouds by Malibu Moon (A.P. Indy X Mr. Prospector). Sea of Clouds is owned by Sheikh Fahad Al Thani of Qatar, who raced him, along with Graham Motion who trained him at the track and his wife, Anita Motion, as well as Phillip and his wife, Evie Dutton. He started just twice in races, then made his debut in FEI competition during 2017.
Phillip Dutton and Sea of Clouds going cross-country at Kentucky. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
There were eight other thoroughbreds in the 5-star field of 45 who appeared for the first horse inspection. They finished 11th, 20th, 21st, 23d and 30th, in last place. Three were eliminated, two on cross-country and one in the final horse inspection.
Sea of Clouds was tied for 31st in dressage, but moved up to seventh after cross-country, one of just three horses who made the optimum time over Derek di Grazia’s exacting track. (Phillip has had 11 cross-country clears at Kentucky between 2008 and this year, more than any other rider.)
The other horses double clear on the 5-star cross-country were Michael Jung’s mount, fisherChipmunk, a Hanoverian who has a heavy dose of thoroughbred in his bloodlines, and Boyd Martin’s ride Tsetserleg, a Trakehner by Windfall whose dam, Wundermaedel, was a thoroughbred off the track.
The 11-year-old Sea of Clouds dropped three places in the final Kentucky 5-star standings after two knockdowns in the show jumping finale. His 10th-place finish was the highest for a thoroughbred in the 5-star.
Sea of Clouds going cross-country at the 2019 Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event in the 4-sart Long division. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
His performance encapsulates the pluses and minuses of a thoroughbred at the highest level of eventing. At Britain’s Badminton 5-star, which gets under way today, only 3.5 percent of the starters are thoroughbreds. Phillip is riding Z, a Zangersheide, at that competition.
So after Kentucky wrapped up, I asked Phillip if thoroughbreds still have a place in the sport at the highest level.
“The right one does,” he said. As he has noted, they are bred for galloping, a key for cross-country success where making the optimum time is so important, as time penalties can often be decisive in the placings.
But even so, “the dressage and show jumping have gotten so difficult that horses are getting bred especially for it,” Phillip pointed out, then added, “You can’t get a better cross-country horse than the thoroughbred.”
Sea of Clouds in the dressage at Kentucky. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
The trick, he said, is to find one who can move well enough for the dressage. That isn’t something in which Sea of Clous is a standout, and at Kentucky, he “got a little tense” as Phillip put it and kicked up his heels in the canter work to the point where the spectators went, “Oooh.”
(Amanda Pottinger of New Zealand found a thoroughbred who can handle the dressage. On the first day of the Badminton Horse Trials May 5, she stood seventh on a very respectable 25.9 penalties with the 16-year-old Just Kidding. He is by 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus.)
If you think back to all the great thoroughbred jumpers (remember Idle Dice and Jet Run?), that phase shouldn’t be an issue.
In addition to his 10th-place ribbon, Sea of Clouds won the Thoroughbred Incentive Program award at Kentucky.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, a sea of clouds is an overcast layer of clouds, as viewed from above. Great name.
