by Nancy Jaffer | May 15, 2017
By Nancy Jaffer
May 5, 2017
The 50th anniversary of the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association is being celebrated this weekend at its national championship show in Kentucky. IHSA, begun by Robert Cacchione at New Jersey’s Fairleigh Dickinson University, has grown to involve 10,000 riders at 400 colleges and inspired start-ups of similar, smaller groups outside the hunt seat and western disciplines, such as dressage and saddle-seat.
But one that has followed the IHSA template and taken off big time is the Interscholastic Equestrian Association, which Cacchione sees as a feeder organization for IHSA. Myron Leff, a founder of IEA with Roxane Durant, Wayne Ackerer, Timothy Boone and Ollie Griffith, considers Cacchione the “grandfather” of IEA, which is 15 years old and, he advises, the largest youth equestrian association in the country.
Of Cacchione, Leff commented, “He gave us permission to mimic IHSA.” IEA has an amazing 13,500 participants in hunt seat and western. It obviously was an idea whose time had come.
Camaraderie is a big part of the IEA experience.
For kids who don’t have their own horses, or can’t afford the expense or time of doing the big horse shows, IEA offers a route for riding.
There are middle school and high school teams across the U.S. involved with the IEA format, open to riders in grades six through high school. Riders pick school horses by lot at various competition venues, so no one has an advantage and catch-riding skills are a must.
Teams can be formed by schools or barns. There are 55 IEA teams in New Jersey, and the response has been so impressive that the Zone 2 team, which was New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York, is having a spin-off. The new Zone 11 will involve New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, with approximately 1,411 riders.
IEA does more than offer participants a team experience. It also gives many students who otherwise wouldn’t have a chance to compete the opportunity to ride, learn and show. That rang a bell with Kathryn Colao of Summit, whose sons had outlets in Little League and Pop Warner football.
Similarly, IEA gave her daughter, Liz, a way to be involved with a sport she loves, without having to own a horse.
“I think it’s fantastic,” said Kathryn.
“It’s very equitable. People draw from the same pool of horses, so no one is showing up with their $250,000 horse and special trainer.” She pointed out that it’s not a one-off show here and there; rather, it’s a process that goes on through the season as a team builds its strength and riders seek to qualify through zone and regional competitions for the nationals, held last month at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Va.
When her friends asked what IEA was, Kathryn replied, “It’s not Springsteen’s daughter or Bloomberg’s daughter in Florida with their horses. It’s a lot more accessible than that. It’s a really good opportunity.”
The most successful effort at nationals by Jerseyans involved Liz and her friend Olivia Hennessy of Basking Ridge, both members of the True Heart Stables team organized by trainer Torri Siegel Dragos, who is moving her operation that includes 12 school horses from Hunterdon County to Bedminster this month.
Liz, a 15-year-old sophomore at Summit High, took the title in the Junior Varsity Beginner on the Flat category, while Olivia, a 15-year-old freshman at Mount Saint Mary Academy in Watchung was runner-up.
“It was a very big proud moment for sure,” said Torri.
Champion Liz Colao and reserve champ Olivia Hennessy with trainer Torri Dragos.
“It makes me feel a lot more accomplished and that I was better than I ever thought I was,” said Liz, who was nine when she began riding at Union County’s Watchung Stables. And being there with Olivia, “made it a lot more fun and meaningful,” she commented.
Assessing the overall impact of the program, Liz said, “IEA really connected me with the people at my barn.”
“It got me to respect everything we do. It’s hard to ride new horses every single show. It taught me how to ride all different types of horses.”
Like many of the IEA participants, she plans to ride with IHSA when she goes to college.
Liz Colao
Olivia’s mother, Tracy Hennessy, said, “I love the team concept, the camaraderie among the girls. We’ve been very impressed.” Discussing the way her daughter finished at nationals, she observed, “I was floored. It was totally unexpected, but we were beyond thrilled. She just wanted to make the first cut so when she ended up getting reserve champion, we were really amazed and proud.”
Olivia, who began riding at Shannon Hill Stables in Basking Ridge, said it was “such a good feeling” when only she and Liz were left in the lineup to be pinned.
“I would have been so happy getting a ribbon at nationals; I never would have thought of getting reserve champion. Knowing I can get on a random horse that I’ve never ridden before, show and then place well and get to regionals, zones and nationals has done wonders for my confidence,” Olivia reflected.
Like Liz, she would like to ride with IHSA when she goes to college; that might even be a deciding factor.
“I just love to ride,” she said.
Olivia Hennessy
Torri grew up at her family’s Snowbird Farm in Long Valley, where “it was always a bunch of girls and we had so much going on all the time. When I started my own operation, things got so small. I was used to being really busy. But I had kids, and I had to be home by 3 p.m. to meet the bus, so there was no chance of me having any juniors (riders) because they all want to ride after school.”
As a result, her business primarily involved teaching adults. Then three years ago, with more freedom as her own children got more independent, she heard about IEA. She needed three kids to start a team and recruited them.
“It was fun. We had a good time, but I didn’t have any idea what I was doing,” said Torri, who now has 21 girls on her team.
By the second year, however, “We got a little serious. We made it to nationals. Some of the girls were better than others, but it really comes down to the luck of the draw. You draw a good horse, there’s a much better chance.”
Her middle school team made it through last year; this year, it was individuals, rather than a team, that got to nationals under Torri’s direction.
“It’s a chance to get into a stadium. It’s a chance to go back to my Snowbird roots; most of those kids rode school horses. It’s very familiar, and for me, it’s a good niche,” said Torri.
Asked about Liz and Olivia’s performances, Torri said, “We prepared, we did so many extra practices. They just nailed it.”
But it was tense waiting for the results.
“Until they pin the class, you never know,” she commented, saying the awards were announced one by one, from the lowest to the highest.
“When they called third place, and it wasn’t either one of my girls, we have a video of them hugging when they knew it was the two of them at the end. I was crying. It was a beautiful thing. If you have one good rider, you feel like you get lucky. But when you have two and make it all the way after working so hard…for me, it was very rewarding. And it was on live feed so everybody at home could see it. We started getting texts right away.”
Torri described IEA as a grassroots program, “because it’s teaching kids how to ride, how to get on any horse and be a competitor. I love being a part of it and being able to share the show world with kids who in other circumstances might not be able to get in the show ring.”
No New Jersey teams qualified for nationals, but three other individual riders from New Jersey also took part in the show.
Katherine Titus was fifth in Varsity Open over 2-6 fences Individual. She also was seventh in the Varsity Open Championship Class. She rides with Atlantic Cape Equestrians in Woodbine.
From The Ridge in Lebanon, Amanda Tom placed eighth in varsity intermediate over 2-foot fences and Taylor Pruitt of the Southern New Jersey team participated as well.
For more information on IEA, go to www.rideiea.org
by Nancy Jaffer | May 5, 2017
By Nancy Jaffer
April 23, 2017
What type of footing should you put in your ring? The number of options is positively confusing—do you want an artificial surface? And if you choose that, will it include bits of rubber, fiber or wax? How about something more natural, such as sand? How should the surface be cared for and watered?
A look at the front hooves of a horse landing from a show jump shows the amount of pressure that comes to bear on them. (Photo copyright 2017 by Nancy Jaffer)
It’s an incredibly complex subject, but I thought the man with the definitive answers to those questions would be Dr. Jeffrey Thomason from the University of Guelph in Ontario. After all, he is an expert on equine hoof anatomy and mechanics, while the subject of footing (the effects of surfaces) also is a big part of his game.
So when he was one of the keynote speakers earlier this spring at the Rutgers Equine Science Center’s vastly informative two-day “Horses” symposium in Piscataway, I took the opportunity to get his thoughts on the subject. As his bio for the Rutgers program noted about his work, “the effects on limb loading of factors such as surface properties is key to improving equine performance, while reducing the high frequency of limb injuries.” And who doesn’t want to do that?
He was most generous with his time, but the bottom line is that I got no sure-fire footing recipe. Apparently, there isn’t one.
“It’s not a single-answer question,” he told me.
Dr. Karyn Malinowksi of the Rutgers Equine Science Center and Dr. Jeffrey Thomason of the University of Guelph. (Photo copyright 2017 by Nancy Jaffer)
“The jury is still out, there’s no two ways about it,” the professor commented, pointing out, “It depends on the discipline.”
I did, however, receive a lot of information.
In his talk, he noted that risk factors related to the mechanics of motion involve not only the composition of the surface on which the horse is moving, but a number of other factors as well, including whether the activity is strenuous and/or repetitive, and shoeing status—is the horse barefoot or wearing shoes; if it’s the latter, do they have grips or caulks? There are discipline-specific injuries that include (to mention just a few) hock and suspensory problems in jumping and dressage, knee and pelvis problems in thoroughbred racing and navicular in jumping and general use.
Each stage of the hoof’s movement has different kinds of loading. The initial impact is shock. Then you’ve got the slip-and-slide, which is horizontal loading, and the weight of the force, which is vertical loading. Every type of load interacts with a different property of the surface. The first impact involves how much energy the hoof and leg have to absorb, depending on the hardness or softness of the surface. The amount of slide is controlled by the grip and we don’t yet know, he said, what an appropriate amount of slide involves.
In terms of what causes injury—do we want the foot to come to a halt? Definitely no, but then other than reining, we don’t want foot to slide out too much. Sponginess of the surface is important in the weight-bearing phase, because it will increase the amount of force on the leg.
The next step is linking the mechanics to the type of injury you might see, he said. Impact involves hock issues, slip and slide is probably deleterious to tendons; mid-stance, when the leg is vertical, puts 2 ½ times body weight on one leg, so “every tissue in the leg is wronged at that point.”
“Given you’ve got this partitioning out of different types of loading and interaction with different properties at different stages of the stance, every surface has a different combination. One that’s really good for cushioning the landing may actually increase the peak loading, and vice versa,” he pointed out.
Therefore, he added, we shouldn’t be looking at a single property of surfaces. Rather, we must look at them all in combination.
“That makes it complicated. That’s why we don’t have answers. It’s only 10 years into these kinds of studies.”
He also pointed out that among the risk factors for injury, “surface composition is nowhere near the top of the list.” More pertinent are the type and intensity of activity, how strenuous and repetitive it is and whether the animal is conditioned for the competition properly, which leads back to training methods.
Dressage horses do many different type of movements that require the optimum in footing. (Photo copyright 2017 by Nancy Jaffer)
Meanwhile, each type of artificial footing comes with its own set of problems. They’re all different, depending on how they’re constructed and who put them together.
Designers are experimenting with varying mixtures of the components, the percentage of rubber vs fiber, types of fiber, types of sand, he said. Clay with its little binding particles is another component. He said it’s a low percentage, 10 percent or less.
More questions: What kind of sand do you use, what’s the moisture content? How often do you water during an event? Water fed from underneath will superhydrate and then the water becomes part of the equation, not just the moisture in the surface, but the water itself has a hydraulic effect.
Water can give more of a cushion, he said, explaining, “Think of a waterbed, it has different properties than a regular mattress.” Systems that can do that are not inexpensive to put in and maintain, however.
He observed, “designers know what they’re doing and know the principles on which they design, but very few actually test forces” (to verify that their design does work).
Understandably, he won’t endorse any particular type of footing, or footing formula.
“We do not have enough information to state that definitively,” he said.
“A 100 percent perfect answer? The reality is not yet, (but) we should be able to get quite a bit closer than we are today. We’re answering basic questions but finding more questions every time we do. The rate of progress is increasing. What we’ll understand in 10 years is five times what we learned in the last 10 years.”
He mentioned it would be useful to check out the racing surfaces testing laboratory (www.racingsurfaces.org). It produces white papers on surfaces and how they’re tested. Although they are focused on racing, not showing, Thomason said, “The principles are the same; the outcomes are different, depending on the need.”
And certainly, you need a different surface for different disciplines. “One size doesn’t fit all,” said Thomason, who envisions the possibility of some kind of meter behind the harrow with a machine, that has a needle the driver can see, showing that the harrowing is appropriate for a certain discipline, as long as the needle is between the green lines. He said there’s no reason that couldn’t be done for all surface types, “so during the daily maintenance, you could recondition the surface to be appropriate for the use.”
So what should you do about your arena? He advises, “Find yourself somebody who’s reputable, because the good designers are good, they can get you the best product you can get for your needs.” Tell them about those, then get them to explain to you what they are doing.
“Interview a couple of them and see the different messages you get. Then make a decision on your best judgment.”
Added Thomason: “Realize that next time you want to put a surface in, your conversation will be very different, because there will be new information.” Rather than trial and error at work, “we should be progressing more toward knowing how the design will affect the horse. That has been the parameter that is missing.”
Remember, surface properties are just one of many risk factors. The intensity of the workload, speed, repetitions, that’s the biggest risk factor for injury, he said. That’s got the direct effect on the mechanics and loading of the leg.
“It’s loaded very differently in each of the different disciplines. Dressage is sufficiently different from show jumping that I think at some point they will have to be different surfaces.
“If you condition it for one discipline you’re going to injure horses in the other. If we know that is going to happen then it’s some kind of negligence. It becomes an ethical issue. We’re not there, but I predict we’ll get to that point where we have enough knowledge and say this surface isn’t good for this discipline.”
On the other hand, there definitely is some leeway. “If you condition a horse to work on different surfaces when they’re training then, they will be able to accept a variety of surfaces for competition too. (It’s like cross-training).
Riders of show jumpers who spend most of 12 weeks on a state-of-the-art artificial surface at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Fla., often will try occasionally to take them to shows held on turf during that period, to give their horses a break. While there are many pluses to grass, it can’t take heavy use and weather can wreak havoc on it.
Thomason emphasized that research into surfaces needs more sponsorship. At least 10 different groups around the world are capable of handling it, Thomason said; they just need the funding..
“We’ve gone beyond experience and observation. We’ve got scientific measurement and it’s changing the name of the game.”
Want more details? The FEI has produced a white paper on the subject: http://inside.fei.org/system/files/Equine%20Surfaces%20White%20Paper.pdf
by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 23, 2017
By Nancy Jaffer
April 14, 2017
They saw the light.
The CP National Horse Show, where the ASPCA Maclay at 3-6 has been the industry standard for generations, just scrapped plans to use the Maclay name for a new 3-3 equitation competition.
The ASPCA Maclay stands alone at the CP National Horse Show. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
In my column of last week, linked here, past Maclay winners polled were outraged that the name of their class was to be used for a less-demanding test. Confusion also was guaranteed by staging a 3-3 class, whose title included the word Maclay, a week before the ASPCA Maclay itself would be held at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena .
“We have taken into consideration the many comments that were received and have since removed the ‘Maclay’ designation from the title of the class,” said Geoff Teall, chairman of the National’s equitation committee.
CP National Horse Show President Mason Phelps had explained originally when questioned about the new class, “We think it has a lot more punch using the word Maclay in there, versus not. We want to keep it all sort of in the spirit of what we do.”
But there was just too much pushback for that reasoning to survive.
The new class has been renamed the National Horse Show 3’3″ Equitation Championship in honor of the USHJA Foundation. The class, which will be held in the Alltech Arena on October 28-29, before the 2017 CP National Horse Show gets under way, will be a stand-alone under USEF rules.
There will be only one Maclay trophy at the CP National Horse Show. (Photo copyright 2017 by Nancy Jaffer)
“It’s a long title, but I think it’s great. I really like that name because it makes it really important and it’s its own entity now, instead of something that is less than a big, important event,” said 1977 ASPCA Maclay winner Francie Steinwedell Carvin, one of many who had protested using the Maclay name for another class.
“I think they’re smart and I think a lot of people are a lot happier, including me,” she said when commenting about the change.
“The goal of the National Horse Show 3’3″ Equitation Championship is to offer a stepping stone to riders who aspire to compete in the ASPCA Maclay National Championships,” Geoff noted.
This also takes pressure off riders who aren’t ready for the difficulties of the Maclay to try an alternative and a more gradual approach that can educate them for a shot at the Maclay down the road.
As Geoff pointed out, “The fact that it is National Horse Show and is going to be in that ring gives it enough cachet that people will willingly give up” the idea of competing at 3-6 if they’re not really prepared.”
“We are certain that the addition of this class will allow more riders an opportunity to compete and prepare for the major ASPCA Maclay National Championship,” commented Geoff.
Geoff Teall, head of the CP National Horse Show’s Equitation Committee. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
He added, “The creation of the National Horse Show 3’3″ Equitation Championship solidifies the National Horse Show Association’s commitment to elevating competitive hunter and equitation competition. We chose to host the class in honor of the USHJA Foundation because the organization’s goals of supporting riders in competition, especially juniors, aligns perfectly with our goals in the creation of the NHS 3’3″ Equitation Championship.”
For the first year of the class, riders don’t need to be a member of the National Horse Show Association and will not need to qualify. Qualifying for the championship at the 2018 show will begin Sept. 1.
However, those wishing to take part in the inaugural class must be under 18 and have not competed over the 3-6 fences in the ASPCA Maclay Finals, US Equestrian Federation Medal Finals, U.S. Equestrian Federation Talent Search, the Washington International Horse Show Equitation Classic Finals, the Jump Canada Medal Finals or the North American Equitation Championship.
While riders eligible for the 3-3 championship may participate in the Maclay regionals, they may not show in both the ASPCA Maclay Finals and the National Horse Show 3’3″ Equitation Championship in the same competition year.
by Nancy Jaffer | Mar 21, 2017
By Nancy Jaffer
March 21, 2017
This month’s Live Oak International driving event, which hosted four national championships, brought back memories from the era when the sport of combined driving reached its peak in the U.S.
Chester Weber won the national four-in-hand driving championship for the 14th time at Live Oak International. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
It built to a crescendo in 1993, the year that the World Pair Driving Championships were held in Gladstone. Maybe you were there and recall the impressive array of international competitors who came to New Jersey for an event that drew amazing crowds; 40,000 spectators, including Great Britain’s Prince Philip.
Enthusiasm about combined driving built during the 1980s, when Finn Caspersen supported the sport and started the Gladstone Equestrian Association. Its annual Gladstone Driving Event was a very big deal. The 1993 championship was awarded to the U.S. after the American team won the title meet in Austria two years earlier. Plans to host the World Singles Championships in 2000 had to be cancelled due to the West Nile virus threat, and things began unraveling to some extent for the sport here after that.
There was a small revival leading up to the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky. Four months before the WEG, 11 four-in-hands–an unheard of number for the U.S. at the advanced level–competed for spots on the WEG team in the Garden State Driving Event at the Horse Park of New Jersey. Having the WEG in the U.S. for the first time was a magnet not only for team regulars, but also for anyone who could put together a group of horses and give it a go.
But since then, the driving ranks in the U.S. have dwindled.
“We are in serious decline,” observed Heather Walker, who ran the GEA and serves on the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s Driving Sport Committee.
“There’s a lot of concern about our numbers shrinking,” agreed Lizzy Staller, the USEF’s managing director of driving.
That’s especially true in New Jersey, where the number of driving participants was reduced by competitors moving south, aging out or dying. The Gladstone event in May is a shadow of its former self, though there is determination to improve it. The Garden State Driving Event has been upgraded to a 1-star and is set for the weekend of Sept. 15. It should draw four-in-hands looking to compete at WEG next year, though the odds are against a number even approaching the 2010 turnout.
At the upper levels, U.S. driving ranks are thin for the most part, except in the single ponies and horses. The cost of the sport is a factor, as is the time and effort it takes. Competing in driving with a single animal generally requires help from another person, and more than one equine means more help, as well as extra animals that can fill in when necessary. Equipment also is bulky to transport and pricey; having both a carriage for dressage and cones and a marathon vehicle is a lot to buy and tote around.
Few have the wherewithal to compete in the four-in-hands, since the demands of that division increase exponentially from competing one or two horses. Tucker Johnson, a former national champion who was long a mainstay of the U.S. four-in-hand squad, retired after winning an individual bronze medal in Kentucky seven years ago. His perennial teammates, Chester Weber (individual silver medalist at the 2014 WEG) and Jimmy Fairclough of Newton, are still going, but there are less team candidates to choose from in the ranks of the fours, the glamour division.
Chester took his 14th national championship at Live Oak, held at his family’s farm in Ocala, Fla. While he’s one of the best in the world, having won individual silver at the 2014 WEG, there’s no one currently on the U.S. scene who can give him a real run for his money.
“The sport has been a little bit fragmented with some difficulties with the ADS (American Driving Society),” said Chester. He was referring to the fact that the USEF, of which he is the secretary/treasurer, and ADS parted ways over various issues earlier this year. This month, however, it was announced the two organizations had reached a preliminary agreement that could enable restoration of ADS as the federation’s driving discipline affiliate. Stay tuned for this one.
While USEF CEO Bill Moroney says he’s still learning more about driving, he commented, “We need to somehow to make driving more accessible, combined driving especially, and how to raise awareness of it. Instead of getting caught up in what exists now, look at it from the viewpoint of if you could create it however you wanted to, what would you do to attract people, encourage people, mentor people, make it more accessible, whether it’s financially or time-wise.”
He said what is required is having the interested parties “sit at a table and put in the hard work and figure out where this sport needs to go.”
“Hopefully, we can put the sport together with a cohesive line from the grassroots forward,” Chester commented. “We try to do our fair share at Live Oak and present the sport to a lot of people,” he continued, noting he also gives clinics and tries to help those who are interested in getting involved with driving.
Lizzy Staller called Live Oak–which hosted four national championships this year–the best driving show in the country, but noted other organizers shouldn’t be intimidated by it, thinking they have to meet the same expectations.
An elaborate circus party at Live Oak featured Chester Weber as a ringmaster and his sister, Juliet Reid, as another big top personality. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
“What we really need are local shows, where you can spend the weekend and not take eight days off. We need to grow the sport at the local level,” Lizzy said.
“We’re trying to figure out how to come up with funds to help organizers,” she added. “People aren’t giving back to the sport. There’s no other way to support it. You have to give to the (U.S. Equestrian Team) Foundation, or volunteer. You can’t just stand there and say, ‘I made a team. How much money am I getting?’”
Lizzy added, “Our developing driver program is extremely popular. I think that’s because it caters to people at the lower levels who want to move up but just need some help. Hopefully, we’ll be able to expand that program. People need places to compete where they don’t have to travel across the country or down the entire East Coast.”
Heather also noted it’s time to put the fun back into driving. Not everyone who hitches up a horse wants to compete at a high level; recreational aspects have to get their due, because that can help attract new people to the sport.
At the same time, “When you build up that group of people who do it because it’s such fun, then that tends to feed up to the elite level. That’s where we’re not getting the job done. We’re not focusing enough on lower-level drivers and people coming into the sport.”
She also likes the idea of promoting “the joy of horse sports,” which was the motto of the USEF’s annual meeting in January.
But Heather pointed out time is a problem, which wasn’t the case in the 1990s.
“People had a 40-hour work week so they could come home and drive their horses. Now, everybody I know is working 60-, 70-hour weeks.” She added that young people are often playing games on their computers instead of getting involved in horse sports, so an effort needs to be made to change that.
Chester, who puts on the Live Oak show with his sister, Juliet Reid, doesn’t think he’s always a shoo-in for the national title on his home turf.
“I never take any U.S. championship for granted,” he commented.
“In the days when Tucker and I used to fight it out to the 100th of a point, I never took that for granted, and I don’t take these for granted either,” he said pointing out that Misdee Wrigley Miller, who was second at Live Oak, and Allison Stroud, third in the four-entry division and the winner of the cones phase, both have world championship experience and are “doing better every time.”
The national driving champions at Live Oak–Tracy Morgan, single pony; Chester Weber, four-in-hands; Steve Wilson, pair horses and Katie Whaley, pair ponies. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
Chester uses the competitions in the U.S. a little like a “test lab” as he develops his horses, but noted that in order to make the top five or better in the world rankings, a driver has to compete in Europe, which involves more expense.
He sees the WEG in Tryon stimulating interest in combined driving, though there is a shorter run-up to it than the Kentucky WEG, because the venue was announced only last year. That doesn’t give people a lot of time to assemble a four-in-hand team if they are so inclined.
Jimmy Fairclough thinks part of the problem in stimulating interest in driving is that, “It’s become such a winter sport,” where everyone has to go to Florida to compete during that season. That’s difficult for people from other parts of the country who work for a living.
“Almost all the Northeast shows are gone or are at low levels,” he commented.
“The rhythm isn’t there.”
Once there were often 65 advanced entries at the big shows, he recalled.
“Now they get 25 or 30 across the board.” The problems are “financial support, number one, and number two, the economy has hurt it,” said Jimmy.
There were just three advanced pair horses at Ocala, where Steve Wilson won with his Lippizans, the perfect candidates for 2017 World Pairs Championship in Lipica, Slovenia, where the state Lippizan stud farm is located.
The pair ponies, where Katie Whaley took the national title, had only three entries as well, though the single pony section, topped by national champion Tracy Morgan, attracted nine starters. That is reflective of the fact it takes much less money and help to drive a single. The single horses had six entries, but their national championship will be contested this fall in Kentucky, so there was no U.S. title for them at Live Oak.
by Nancy Jaffer | Mar 21, 2017
By Nancy Jaffer
March 8, 2017
The scenic Somerset Hills, once one of the horsiest areas in New Jersey, is making a big comeback in terms of equestrian activities.
The Mars Essex Horse Trials returns to the Somerset Hills this June after an absence of 18 years. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
They had gradually tapered off over the years, until the Gladstone Gathering in 2015 generated new energy. That party at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation’s Gladstone headquarters brought together more than 200 of the equestrian-involved and members of the community in the area around Peapack-Gladstone, which also includes Bedminster, Far Hills and Tewksbury in neighboring Hunterdon County.
The Gathering led directly to the renewal of the Mars Essex Horse Trials, which will be held in June for the first time since 1998. It also generated rejuvenation of the Gladstone Equestrian Association, whose high point was the 1993 World Pair Driving Championships.
And now there’s something else as the effort continues to pick up speed. Making its debut is www.somersethillsevents.org, which is offering a listing of major happenings in the region that will appeal not only to horse people, but also to others interested in sporting activities.
Clicking on the link brings readers to the GEA website platform, where the calendar is presented, along with links to the websites of the organizations listed. In addition, it includes relevant news stories, such as a piece about the highly successful Monmouth at the Team horse show, held in August at the USET Foundation.
Monmouth at the Team had a successful 2016 debut at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation’s Gladstone headquarters. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
“Our goal and intent is to promote the area, not exclusively equestrian activities. Any activity that draws spectators to the area could fall under that umbrella. We’re taking control of our own destiny,” said Guy Torsilieri, one of the key players behind the Essex Horse Trials.
As it continues to develop, the website will offer a guide that could lead to cross-pollination among different groups, which should pay off in attracting a broader audience and support for the activities.
For instance, in addition to such equestrian standouts as the Far Hills Race Meeting and Essex at Moorland Farms in Far Hills, as well as May’s U.S. Equestrian Federation National Dressage Championships at the U.S. Equestrian Team facility, it also lists the U.S. Women’s Open Golf Tournament in July at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster.
Talking about the development process of the effort sparked by the Gathering, Jim Brady commented, “2015 was crawl, 2016 was walk, this is the year to run.”
Jim, one of the Gathering’s organizers, is the great-grandson of James Cox Brady, who built the historic USET Foundation stables a century ago, and is the grandson of the next James Cox Brady, who brought the USET to the property in 1960.
As Jim observed, other non-equestrian activities can be included going forward.
Guy pointed out, for instance, that “the U.S. Golf Association (located in Far Hills) is right in our backyard. It’s spent a tremendous amount of money on refurbishing and enlarging its campus.”
Meanwhile, equestrian activities continue to expand in the area.
“We’re looking at all the options for show jumping at Moorland Farms,” said Guy, who also is chairman of the Far Hills Race Meeting there.
Guy Torsilieri and Ralph Jones, chairman of the Mars Essex Horse Trials. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
A bid has been submitted for Moorland to host one of the Longines FEI World Cup Jumping qualifying classes, beginning in the 2018-2019 season.Show jumping has never been held at the site, but as Guy put it, “Even though we’re a longshot, I think we’ve got a lot of very, very positive things going in our direction.”
One is location.
“Part of our presentation is the fact that we’re 42 miles from Manhattan,” said Guy, noting Moorland is also very flexible in terms of its date.
If Moorland isn’t awarded get the qualifier, “that isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning. We’re still in the game, we’re still going to pursue activities at Moorland Farms and we’re going to continue to pursue events with Longines and other major players in the jumping world,” Guy commented.
He suggested the possibility for Moorland of something modeled after the three-year-old Central Park Horse Show in New York City.
“We’ve just got to figure out the right formula,” said Guy, noting it is possible to build a base and drainage on the Moorland property for an all-weather arena, with an option of holding classes on the grass as well. The Palm Beach Masters, a World Cup qualifier held last month in Wellington, Fla., utilized both an all-weather ring and a show jumping field at its facility.
Grass was the jumping surface for the Palm Beach Masters. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
The bid “was just to begin the process, to let everybody know we are going to be building more equestrian activity in this area, whether it’s at the team, Pine Meadow (on the USET Foundation property) , at Natirar (a Somerset County park in Peapack, where the Essex Fox Hounds held low-key amateur races) or Moorland,” Guy pointed out.
“We’re all working together as a group to bring equestrian activity back here. We’re not excluding anybody. This is a broad net we’re throwing over the area. It gets more exciting as you go along.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Feb 28, 2017
By Nancy Jaffer
Feb. 14, 2017
It wasn’t just an ordinary announcement. Word that former U.S. eventing coach and Olympic medalist Mark Phillips will be the new cross-country course designer for the Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event looks like it could be a game-changer in several ways for the 15-year-old competition.
Mark Phillips and Boyd Martin at Jersey Fresh International. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
That’s how Dr. Brendan Furlong sees it. He believes in the event, and has been putting his money where his mouth is, so to speak. The veterinarian’s Oldwick-based practice, B.W. Furlong & Associates, is investing $30,000 in the May 11-14 competition at the Horse Park of New Jersey.
“I think it’s great to have Mark on board. He’s a world-renowned course designer. I can’t wait to see what Mark will do with it,” said Brendan.
He won’t have to wait long. The designer said he already has devised his plan for the property in Allentown. Mark laid out the route this month for the highly successful Land Rover Eventing Showcase in Wellington, Fla., and handles a number of other events, including Britain’s Burghley 4-star (considered by many the toughest three-day event in the world). He also has developed the cross-country facilities for the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon, N.C.
Having Mark involved “will be a very positive step in helping Jersey Fresh stay on the map, and I think the riders will welcome it,” Brendan commented.
Several riders last year mentioned that the tracks for the featured CCIs (the longer routes) were too twisty, blaming the need to compress them on a lack of sufficient land. Additional property has been made available for the course this year, so Mark will have more acreage with which to work.
Dr. Brendan Furlong. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
While as Mark pointed out, there are turns in every course, his will be “completely different” from what has been done in the past.
“I promise you, it has mix and flow,” he said.
Holly Payne Caravella, a Jersey Fresh regular who has competed over Mark’s courses at Burghley and the Eventing Showcase, said riders wanted a change at Jersey Fresh, where John Williams has been the only designer for the last 14 years.
“I think people were definitely behind Mark designing it. His courses are not easy, but he makes them fair and definitely is good at using different terrain,” said the Gladstone resident. “I think everybody just wanted some new development there.”
She added, “The organizers are trying really hard to make it work. Over the years, they’ve done such a good job getting more sponsors behind it and drawing more people in. I think getting the land for the cross-country is a really big game-changer, too. That, combined with Mark, can bring a different feel to the event.”
The presence of such a high-profile designer also puts a bit of shine on the reputation of the event and the Horse Park, as Jersey Fresh organizer Jane Cory noted, while adding she hopes members of the park board who “are not so pro-Jersey Fresh, might help them see this is a really, really good thing.”
She added, “Anything Jersey Fresh does, if it turns out well, is a plus for the Horse Park. The member of the Horse Park board and chair of the Jersey Fresh committee, Dan Wunderlich, has been very helpful to us and is very onboard with the whole thing. Knowing he’s extremely positive about the progression, it has to help.”
Philliip Dutton competing at Jersey Fresh. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
John Williams had an extremely long run, but as Brendan pointed out, “It seems to be a trend that all the great events rotate course designers after several years. It brings a different flavor and perspective to it.”
An example is Rolex Kentucky, America’s only 4-star, where Roger Haller was succeeded by Great Britain’s Michael Etherington-Smith, who in turn moved on as Derek DiGrazia took over.
“To be able to get Mark is a great coup,” commented Brendan, formerly the veterinarian for the U.S. eventing team.
“Our hope is that potential sponsors see it’s a world class course designer coming on board with us, so I think it’s a very positive thing for the event and hopefully to increase awareness among potential sponsors,” Brendan observed.
“I think we’ve got an opportunity to up the ante,” added Brendan, whose son, Adam, serves on the Horse Park’s board. It may also help the park, which has not had much luck with fundraising, to buy new footing for the grand prix ring. More money needs to be invested in upkeep of the park in general as well.
“State land is the future of equestrian endeavors, particularly ones that require space, like driving and eventing,” Brendan commented.
Indeed, Mark is working with Richard Nicoll, who designed the driving marathon route at the park. The two, both natives of Great Britain, also are in touch through their work for the WEG, where Richard is laying out the marathon for the four-in-hand driving that is one of eight disciplines comprising that competition.
Richard told Mark he hated the Jersey Shore water complex on the marathon/cross-country route, because the island was too high.
Four-in-hand driving at the Horse Park of New Jersey. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)
“I said, `If you hate it and I hate it, why don’t we get together and do something about it?’’’ Mark asked him.
The resulting proposal calls for taking “the revetting off the island and lowering its height by about a foot,” so it in effect becomes a mound and the slope into the water is 30 degrees, not the much steeper 60 degrees that it has been.
“It will become a lot more user-friendly, both for the drivers and for us,” Mark maintained.
Fixing it involves a procedure “we think we can do relatively cheaply and the plan is to get the driving community to contribute in a small or major way,” noted Mark.
The water complex is a popular area for tailgating, which has increased at the event over the years. For the CCIs, the competitors will have three fences there, but “it’s very un-intense,” said Mark, because it comes relatively early in the course. The CCI 3-star is the only division that will meet the water both coming and going. There also will be another combination in the area, which tailgaters will be able to see.
Riders won’t have to wonder what Mark has up his sleeve for a twist in the course, the way he did a jump in the VIP tent at the Eventing Showcase.
“I have tried to be totally unclever,” Mark commented.
“I see my role this year as producing an enjoyable, educational fun course for horses and riders, to start to get the thing back on track. Depending on what budget we have in the future, that will determine what else we can do,” he said.
“This was a late decision obviously, so therefore the time and scope and budget for this year was limited. The mission was to make it user-friendly as possible for the horses and riders. It’s still got some 3-star questions—don’t get me wrong. Don’t go to the Jersey Fresh CCI 3-star and think it’s going to be a 2-star plan. It’s not. That wouldn’t be Mark Phillips if I did that.”
What is a Mark Phillips trademark? Every course designer has them. In Mark’s case, one is making sure fences are “up to height,” with an optic that means the fences appear big because of the way they are placed in the terrain.
“I think I have a reputation for making the distances and the questions work for the horses,” he added. Mark will be working with course builder Morgan Rowsell of Long Valley, who is also a course designer certified at the 2-star level. As Mark noted, this can be a learning experience for Morgan, and who knows? Eventually, he might wind up doing the Jersey Fresh courses himself someday. Morgan also is involved with the revival of the Mars Inc.Essex Horse Trials in Far Hills this June.
Already, Mark is getting feedback on his appointment to Jersey Fresh, reporting that riders have come to him and said, “ I wasn’t going to go this year and now I’m going to go.”
He remarked that, “the more that message goes out there, the more people are going to go, the more entries there are going to be; the more entries, the more sponsorship there will be. And if just as a start, (with) the driving and eventing working together, like on the island, we’re all standing together in a good and positive direction.” If between us, we can bring the eventing and driving back to life, God willing, that’s going to have a knock-on effect on the Horse Park.”
Another draw could be riders’ interest in competing over a course designed by Mark with an eye on Tryon 2018.
For someone who is “thinking of going to the WEG, it’s not going to do you any harm to jump a Mark Phillips course somewhere in your preparation,” Mark observed. Although the FEI hasn’t published its list of what needs to be done for riders to qualify for the WEG with a certificate of capability, for previous championships it has been either a CCI4* or a CCI3* and a CIC3*, according to the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s managing director of eventing, Joanie Morris. Jersey Fresh has both the CCI and CIC 3-stars.
“I’m hoping that having some new things happen this year will help to bring in some more bigger sponsors,” said Jane. One change will be to have all the show jumping phases, for both the CCIs and CICs, running on the final day of the competition. Previously, when show jumping was the second phase of the CIC, “it didn’t suit our property,” she noted.
Another attraction will be a 5K run and a 1K pleasure walk for people with or without their dogs on the Sunday, under the auspices of FlyPups. The organization transports dogs from desperate situations to foster homes, no-kill shelters, and forever homes. It also delivers trained dogs to veterans for service and companionship. Additionally, it brings aid to areas of natural disaster.
