The Essex Horse Trials is Alive and Well

An eventing competition that nearly didn’t happen contradicted the skeptics with a memorable Sunday of sport at Moorland Farm in Far Hills, N.J.

“It was a total success,” declared eventer, trainer and Olympic judge Marilyn Payne, who rode in the first Essex in 1968 and was determined its 2024 edition wouldn’t be the last.

She stepped up to be the organizer, despite fears that the event wouldn’t attract enough competitors to break even. But 124 riders participated during the weekend and loved the experience, despite ground that was a bit squishy here and there due to torrential rain the previous week.

“I think they’ve done an absolutely great job handling the weather,” said Nicholas Hansen, who came from central Pennsylvania to win the Open Preliminary on Mr. Max.

“I think they did as well as they could have with the ground and as always, they put on a pretty well-run show. I have to say it was really cool to see so many spectators, especially around the water (complex). It was great to see the community came around and supported the show so much.”

Marilyn faced quite a task in her quest to make sure that Essex could run. She correctly figured the way to insure it happened was to downsize from a two-venue, two-day fixture to a one venue, one day event at scenic Moorland Farm in Far Hills,N.J., home of October’s popular Far Hills Race Meeting.

I asked Marilyn’s daughter, competitor Holly Payne Caravella, who was second with Quality time in Open Training, how she reacted when her mother took on the daunting task of making sure Essex survived.

“She’s so good at that stuff. It comes naturally to her,” Holly observed matter-of-factly.

While  Marilyn was optimistic about how the event would run, she commented as Essex wrapped up, “It was way better than I thought. It was so exciting to see all the riders come out and have such a fabulous time. The hundreds of spectators enjoyed watching the horses and going to the trade fair. The tailgating was packed and they all were cheering every time a horse went through and the riders just loved it.”

After spending thousands of hours on perpetuating Essex, she committed to doing it all again next year, “as long as all my helpers will do it with me. I have a fantastic team. I could not do it without all the great volunteers I had,” she emphasized.

“It was muddy, but we dealt with it,” Marilyn commented, noting how volunteers moved the show jumps after each division to make sure they were out of the muddy tracks.

The competitors liked the way the cross-country and stadium jumping tracks, both designed by Morgan Rowsell, worked out on the all-grass terrain.

The busiest rider at Essex, Ryan Wood, said, “They did a great job working with what they had and it was as good as you could have hoped for.”

Ryan won the Open Training division with the Optimist, an Irish import from Cooley farm who will be coming up for sale soon. and was also third in that section with Cooley Versace who is “looking like he will be a top-class horse.”

In the Open Preliminary, he was fourth with KHH Cooely and sixth with Cooley Maestro.

A native of Australia now based in Pennsylvania, Ryan is no stranger to Essex. He took the $20,000 Preliminary title on Ruby in 2018 when Essex (which has had its ups and downs) re-emerged on the scene after not having been contested since 1998.

Ryan came up to New Jersey from competing Saturday in the Maryland Combined Training Association Horse Trials with four horses. He withdrew them from that event before cross-country noting, “It was pretty wet down there,” since the facility was lacking the extra day to dry out that Essex enjoyed.

Asked why he was aboard so many horses, Ryan replied straight-faced, “I was riding for an owner who puts a lot of pressure on me.”

That would be his wife, the former Lillian Heard, who is pregnant. Funnily enough, Nick, the Open Prlim winner, got the ride on the Dutch-bred Mr. Max because his wife, Hanna, also is pregnant.

The horse’s owner, Marsha Nahra, bought the Dutch-bred mount for Hanna, but since March, Nick has been keeping the 8-year-old chestnut gelding going until after the baby arrives. Then Hanna is looking at building toward a 3-star event in the spring.

“I thought the show jumping looked really challenging today, and he made it look effortless,” she said of her once and future mount.

An “A” Pony Clubber, Nick evented through the 3-star level, but hasn’t done any “real eventing” for nine years. He’s better-known as a dressage rider, having won triple gold in that discipline at Young Riders on a horse he got through Lendon Gray, and also did the Under-25 grand prix.

He and his wife have a training and sales business, Roaring Creek Farm, where he handles the dressage side of things and Hanna deals with the jumping.

But as Nick observed, “It’s a nice breath of fresh air to just be able to run and jump and not worry about the dressage work.”

The decision to focus on the lower levels and add the Starter division to the Essex program paid off. Starter was very popular, drawing two sections of riders. Olivia Hickok, who won the A section, wore a shirt to match her horse’s name, Huckleberry. He was adorned with a lightning bolt on one flank and stars on the other.

Although the Somerset Hills Pony Clubber has competed at novice level, Olivia dropped her Morgan/Standardbred cross down to Starter because he is 19 years old.

Olivia, an extremely poised 15-year-old high school sophomore from Tewksbury, N.J., said of her Essex experience, “I love this event. It’s a great local event for family and friends to come out to watch. I love the tailgating part of it, so much support, the shops and everything.”

For the second year in a row, Olivia received the Golden Nugget Memorial Trophy for the Pony Club member under 18 who had the lowest number of penalties. Coincidentally, the trophy is given by her trainer, Clarissa Wilmerding.

The other special award, the Jean and Eliott Haller Perpetual Trophy for Horsemanship, awarded in memory of the Essex founders, went to Adelaide Reist, a Starter competitor who never gave up with Firecracker, a horse who offered a bit of a challenge.

Julia Cutler riding Marilyn’s Rock Me Mama won the Adult Amateur Best Score Award in winning the Beginner Novice B Rider section with 30.3 penalties.

Essex offered a chance for people to get together with others involved with equestrian sport, or just horses in general. The volunteer pool came from that group. At the water complex, Beth Groblewski was a fence judge, something she has been doing since she stopped competing at Essex after the first two years it was held at Moorland.

“I volunteered because I live right up the road,” said Beth, who runs Fox Bend Farm.

“Now that I’m not competing any more, I give back. It takes a lot of volunteers to keep it going,” she said.

Tailgaters were lined up all along the area with a view of the water. Sponsors had tents where they welcomed guests, alongside those from local groups such as the Somerset Hills Pony Club and Tewksbury Trail Association.

Guy Torsiliei, who runs the Far Hills Race Meeting with Ron Kennedy, hosted Fox News star Jesse Watters and his family. Jesse moved from New York to Bernardsville and became part of the Somerset Hills Community. He enjoys skeet shooting at Moorland and is becoming a regular at Essex.

 

“I haven’t ridden a horse yet, but one of these days I’ll get up there and try not to fall off,” Jesse told me.

Presenting sponsors for Essex were Pure Insurance and Land Rover of Parsippany, a full-service dealer of luxury brands that is expanding its involvement. Other sponsors included Kienlen Lattmann Sotheby’s International Realty, Hunt’s End Farm, Hewitt Home Heating, Purina Animal Nutrition in conjunction with Somerset Grain & Feed and Sergeantsville Grain & Feed, and Corcoran Sawyer Smith real estate.

Dr. Greg Staller’s Running ‘S’ Equine Veterinary Services sponsored the riders’ tent that were also open to horse owners and grooms. Marilyn noted donations of more than $20,000 helped keep the event running, with individual supporters contributing.

Essex gives back beyond the equestrian scene, benefitting 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.

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