As dusk fell on the evening before the first Essex Horse Trials in 1968, Sally Ike was helping organizer Roger Haller complete work on the final cross-country fence at his family’s Hoopstick Farm in Bedminster, N.J.
At the time, Sally was a candidate for the Olympic eventing team. It was an era when horse trials were scarce and eventing was just beginning to gather its strength in the U.S. Essex filled a need, and everyone pitched in to help make it happen.
While the event started as a one-day, homemade fixture, it wasn’t long before it became a staple of the country’s eventing calendar. Essex attracted the country’s best eventers, from Bruce Davidson to Mike Plumb, and many other famous names. Sally went on to win it aboard the ex-racehorse, Roxboro.
In 1979, Essex moved a few miles away to the U.S. Equestrian Team in Gladstone. There it stayed as a popular fixture through 1998, until part of the property was sold and there wasn’t enough room to stage the cross-country segment.
But in 2017, Essex made a big comeback at Moorland Farm, the home of the Far Hills Race Meeting, a short canter from the USET.
The 2023 Essex Horse Trials Intermediate winner, Hannah Sue Hollberg, with Hachi. (Photo © 2023 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
The lack of an all-weather arena at Moorland became a sticking point, however. It was solved in 2022 by holding the dressage and show jumping phases at the USET Foundation, then switching over to Moorland the next day for competition over its scenic cross-country course. Cross-country day at Moorland is highlighted by an extremely successful car show, which draws a big crowd.
That’s the format being followed again this year, when Essex runs June 1-2. Sally, who pitched in with the first Essex, is now the event’s president.
When Sally was asked why she took the position after Ralph Jones, the previous co-chairman retired along with his wife Lynn, who also was active with Essex, she replied, “How could you not?
“This is such an important community event and it must continue.”
Sally Ike has a thorough knowledge of eventing, and even has designed stadium jumping courses for the sport. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)
Sally found a place for it with her other activities, which include consulting for the U.S. Equestrian Federation, serving on the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association’s Emerging Athlete Program Committee and chairing the hunt committee for the Essex Fox Hounds.
Holding an event at two venues is not usual, except for the Olympic Games on occasion, “but this is not the Olympic Games,” she pointed out. So people have to get used to it.
While the USET Foundation venue is special—”it doesn’t get any better than that,” said Sally, having a two-day format is an exception for U.S. Eventing’s Area II, where most divisions are completed in one day. But there are fewer eventing opportunities than there used to be in Area II, which means Essex is important. And while some may find it less convenient than completing all three phases in the same venue, there is a definite allure to being at the USET Foundation.
The event offers divisions from Beginner Novice up through Intermediate. In the combined test (dressage and show jumping) at Essex in 2023, Caroline Pamucku won with HSH Blake, then went on to take double silver on the same horse at the Pan American Games in the autumn.
The 2023 Essex Combined Test winner Carolyn Pamucku on HSH Blake went on to medal at the Pan Am Games. (Photo © 2023 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
After her Essex victory, she said, “There aren’t a lot of places in this country to get this kind of atmosphere at a venue that’s so historic. You ride around here, and you almost pinch yourself, because you know all the greats of eventing culture have been here before you. It’s so cool.”
Joining Sally in putting Essex together are cross-country course designer Morgan Rowsell, former co-chairman; Gwen Packard, who is involved with sponsorship and veterinarian Greg Staller, taking on more responsibility after being a sponsor of the event.
“It’s been remarkable,” said Sally, who has administrative experience from her days at both the USEF and USET, as well as a history with not only Essex, but also the sport of eventing.
“We all bring something very different to the table. That’s what it takes to have a team.”
Greg got involved beyond being a sponsor because “I like eventing, I like the history of eventing. I think the horsemanship at this level is amazing and the horses are great to work on.
“I feel strongly I want to give back to the community. That’s what we do as horse vets. Without competition horses, there’s nothing really for us to do. We owe that to our clients,” he explained.
“I like the feel of Essex. It functions as a very nice community outing,” which extends to not only the competitors, but also the volunteers, spectators and vendors.
He sees it as having the potential to be a more prominent event regionally, “an Intermediate and Advanced destination where some of the more prominent trainers on the Eastern Seaboard and beyond might want to bring a top horse, or some of their young horses,” added Greg, who has also stayed on as a sponsor. One of the biggest contributions of his practice, Running S Equine Veterinary Services, involves providing the rider/groom/owner tent, a place to lounge complete with refreshments.
Gwen freely admits she isn’t a horse person (although she did ride a bit while growing up), but Essex appealed to her from the moment she learned about it. She worked for the AIG Private Client Group when they were an Essex sponsor and joined the organizing committee. After she left AIG, she stayed on at Essex. She has a subcommittee that has worked with Essex in the past, reaching out to former sponsors and new prospects.
“Because it is such a community event, we want to see all different kinds of companies and business in our community involved in this,” she said.
Essex benefits the Life Camp in Pottersville, which provides an enriching summer day camp experience for 300 youths daily for six weeks during July and August. Campers between the ages of 6 and 13 come from the greater Newark public school system, as well as from Newark Charter School Programs. A group of the children attend the horse trials and have a ball with a picnic by the water jump.
An Essex sponsorship has value, according to Gwen.
“For a lot of companies, the equine community, the local community, the volunteers—it’s a phenomenal demographic for a business to get involved in and get their name out there. People want to do business with companies they perceive as being involved in philanthropic and community events.”
Meanwhile, Gwen has become a fan of eventing. She notes at this point, she can even explain eventing to someone who doesn’t know what it is. Her 17-year-old son, Sebastian Eid, has volunteered for several years, with a skill set that runs from helping put together cross-country jumps to parking cars.
Asked what he sees in the future for Essex, Morgan cited, “Building more on what we’ve done. It’s getting better and refining what we’re already doing.”
Morgan Rowsell never stops working on the Essex cross-country course. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer
He noted that those who volunteer can sign up on the website, www.essexhorsetrials.org, and choose what job they want to do for the event.
At some point, Morgan would like to have a Modified (section) come into play, “because it’s a popular division and gives another reason for other riders to come.”
He added the event’s late spring dates should be optimum in terms of weather, and the footing issues were solved with the move to the USET Foundation.
“We’ve got to keep getting the word out,” he said, “and keep doing what we’re doing, and do it better every year.”