ESDCTA Collective Remarks - November 2021

ESDCTA MAGAZINE

COLLECTIVE REMARKS

WWW.ESDCTA.ORG November 2021

Table of Contents 3

15

The Highs and Lows of Riding Shine at the Region 1 Championships

President’s Message

6

ESDCTA Championships Recap

18

The Amateur Dilemma

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Horse Treats News from Outside the Ring

COLLECTIVE REMARKS

I hope everyone had a happy Halloween – if you dressed up your horse and have any pictures, please share them and we might post them on Facebook or in the next issue of the Newsletter.

As the show season comes to a close, I hope everyone is satisfied with the progress you’ve made during this past year, considering 2020 was not really a full year of activities. From my perspective, it seems most shows continued with their pre-COVID schedules, and most competitors were more than thrilled to get back in the ring and back to doing what we all love best – working with our horses.

We still have one activity left this year, the annual Turkey Trot on Sunday, November21, for riders and Sunday, December 5, for Drivers, at the Horse Park of New Jersey and the adjacent Assunpink Wildlife Management Area. It’s a wonderfully fun activity for both riders and drivers (and horses).

Look for information coming soon about the Annual Awards presentation; whether in person or virtually, it will be a wonderful event for everyone.

President

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Board of Trustees OFFICERS

Phone only before 9 p.m. please

President

Holly Cornell

president@esdcta.org

732.208.8715

Vice President

Ellen Brindle-Clark

vicepresident@esdcta.org

609.351.1054

Secretary

Ruth McCormick

secretary@esdcta.org

201.240.4505

Treasurer

Betty Adduci

treasurer@esdcta

610.564.9169

3340 Curley Ct, Mullins SC 29574 Executive Board Dressage at Large

Jena Rondinelli

datlargeMAL@esdcta.org

732.814.1117

Eventing at Large

Jennifer Duelfer

eatlargeMAL@esdcta.org

732.598.3077

Dressage Competitions

Dr. Lisa Toaldo

dressage@esdcta.org

201.874.0373

Eventing Competitions

Janice Pellegrino

eventing@esdcta.org

Marketing

Erin Gale

marketing@esdcta.org

Membership

Vacant

membership@esdcta.org

Membership

Heidi Lemack

membership@esdcta.org

609.306.8221

Finance

Gary Maholic

finance@esdcta.org

215.489.1557

Education

Victoria Shilton

education@esdcta.org

6093511054

Youth

Stephanie Warner

youth@esdcta.org

NJEAB Representative

Carolyn Montgomery

crunner141@comcast.net

Awards

Becky Kuc

awards@esdcta.org

Calendars/Activities

Mia Zimmerman

activities@esdcta.org

Grants

Holly Cornell

grants@esdcta.org

Equipment

Wilma Pfeffer

dressage@esdcta.org

OFF BOARD COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Newsletter

Meredith Rogers

newsletter@esdcta.org

Vacant

nominations@esdcta.org

Omnibus

Mia Zimmerman

calendar@esdcta.org

Show Results

Lori Kelly

results@esdcta.org

Nominating

Become a friend of the ESDCTA on Facebook Follow us on Twitter @ESDCTA 4

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CROSS COUNTRY...

News Across Our Region COMMUNITY NEWS

Milestone

If you’re reading this, you are probably a member of ESDCTA, but I’m sure you know of someone who rides dressage or events who is not a member. You know all about the wonderful things offered like educational programs, clinics with big name trainers, horse shows, year-end awards, and not least, that sense of being part of a community of likeminded people. The more members ESDCTA has, the better the programs we can offer. Our membership numbers are also important considerations when state and local governments decide on legislature that affects us (like open space), and we advocate for our sports (We helped get better footing at the HPNJ). Please reach out to your equestrian buddies and tell them about all of the benefits of membership and have them sign up. The more the merrier!

Please Contact Linda Marciante if you know any ESDCTA members who have achieved any Milestones.

Success at a show, regional/national/international award, new horse, or anything else you want to celebrate.

WHAT’S YOUR TALENT??

Let us know what you would like to help us with in 2021. All skills and interests wanted. Have an idea? We want to hear about it. Remember, this club is what YOU make it. Contact president@esdcta.org if you are interested.

NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE

Have a great article that you would like to share?

Please send article to: Meredith Rogers: newsletter@esdcta.org All submissions are due by the 15th of the month. Due to space considerations, the editor reserves the right to edit submitted articles.

If necessary, articles will be edited and returned for your review.

AND YOU GET VOLUNTEER HOUR FOR EACH STORY!

e-mail: lindalbbf@gmail.com

MEMBERSHIP QUESTIONS For membership questions including updating physical or e-mail addresses please contact: Heidi Lemack membership@esdcta.org

2021 ADVERTISING RATES

MEMBER NON-MEMBER FULL PAGE $100 $130 HALF PAGE $65 $85 QUARTER PAGE $40 $60 BUSINESS CARD $20 $30 CARD FOR 3 MONTHS $45 $65 CLASSIFIEDS $10 $15 Deadline: 15th of prior month Email: newsletter@esdcta.org Please have electronic ads in Adobe PDF or .jpg format

You will receive an invoice for ad via email.

Send Payment to: Betty Adduci 3340 Curley Ct, Mullins, SC 29574 Email: treasurer@esdcta.org

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ESDCTA Championships Recap By, Ruth McCormick

October 16 turned out to be a glorious day. The weather was perfect. The Horse Park of New Jersey was ready to go. A few remarked that it was a little chilly in the morning and warm as the day went on but no one complained about sunshine in mid-October.

More than 50 ESDCTA members, ranging from those aged in the single digits to the late 70s, entered and rode more than 100 tests. Good spirits were the order of the day, perhaps with a few nerves, and everyone came ready to do their best.

The ESDCTA Board thanks all of the entrants for their flexibility in completing this year’s brief qualification process.

Most (or all) of you know that general showing in dressage can put the new competitor in a class with professionals or yes, even Olympians – especially in our area, which is so close to the USET and a lot of top class barns. It can be intimidating, even though the goal we set may be to do our “personal best”. For the ESDCTA Championship show, riders are grouped by the levels at which they have competed, unrelated to the horse being ridden. In this case, Division 1 is reserved for members who have not shown above Training Level Test 1. The next division is for those who haven’t shown above Second Level and Division 3 is for those who have shown at Third Level or higher. These criteria are based solely on the rider’s experience.

At the show many types of horses were represented. Certainly there were warmbloods, but also Arabians, OTTBs, Quarter Horses, pintos, Haflingers, PREs, and at least one draft horse. This isn’t a complete catalog but it shows the variety of horses our members ride. Harmony, accuracy, and cooperation in general lead to better results no matter the size or color of equine partner. And, it was all on display this weekend.

Fifteen beautiful and flowing blue ribbons were awarded to the winners of each championship class. All competitors were able to take a victory lap and pose for pictures in front of the main ring. The “open” show had five classes and the awards were a highlight there also.

Many volunteers assisted Dr. Lisa Toaldo, the show manager, and Shannon Bossung, the show secretary. Without volunteers, the show couldn’t go on. That is not an exaggeration. Scribes, ring stewards, scorers, runners, and other jobs were handled cheerfully.

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A big “thank you” goes to:

Scribes: Carolyn Montgomery, Irene O’Brien, Shari Lawrence, Ring Stewards: Ann Schneider, Jane Wiley, Karin Worm, Scorers: Ruth McCormick, Holly Cornell, Runners: Ella Berry, and Marley McCourt

And I’m sure there were others…if you were one of them, I’m sorry I missed your name – please raise your hand and we’ll add you to this list.

The ESDCTA Board expresses appreciation to everyone who competed and the teams with them helping to groom, train, support, and encourage, and to our esteemed judges, Kari Allen, Stephanie Burgess, and Susan Jones-Sinelnik for their time and dedication.

We hope next year is a successful one for each of you. See you in 2022!

Carolyn and Susan (Judge)

Christy and Janice Pellegrino

Ella Berry and Marley McCourt

Shari and Stephanie (Judge)

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Volunteer Karin Worm

Volunteer Ann Schneider

Jane Wiley

Our Wonderful Volunteers

Our President, Holly Cornell and Jasper 8

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Jasper, The Office Assistant

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ESDCTA SCHOOLING SHOW CHAMPIONSHIPS AND OPEN SCHOOLING SHOW RESULTS

# 458 441 778 372 830 231 354 388

# 429 506 160 244

Rider

Starter Rider Walk/Trot Champion Class 1AC Horse Intro A

Sara Bagala Hannah Kerr Maja Bown Cheryl Lewis Michelle Lewkowicz Mary Anne Gerrity Avery Wuhrl Noella Girard

Stay Gold Jazz Native Wave Sir Quincy Charm Cierge Magique Argen Fuerst In Line Bregalad Four Farthings Rosemary

Rider Paige Banks Sarah Florentine Keira Wynn Ella Berry

Starter Rider Walk/Trot/Canter Champion Class 2AC Horse Intro C Trinity Blackberry 69.750 Silver Lining 68.500 Sealed in Black 65.750 Sugar Rush 65.500

72.500 76.875 71.250 69.063 70.313 68.125 59.688 62.500

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Class 1BC Intro B

Average

Placing

66.875 61.875 66.875 61.563 59.375 59.688 55.313 51.250

69.688 69.375 69.063 65.313 64.844 63.907 57.501 56.875

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Class 2BC Training 1 61.538 59.808 57.885 54.692

Average 65.644 64.154 61.818 60.096

Placing 1 2 3 4

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# 153 802 784 447 505 443 333 494 387 336 257

# 256 164

# 467

# 302 770 289 188 440 857

# 337

# 319 446

10

Rider Janina Parmelee Deanne Hertzog-Heacock Olivia Mertz Karen Harbeck Laura Cannillo Heather McLean Cheryl Ann Rickards Nancy Donelon Jessica Calabrese Mary Nucci Gunn Heiberg

Training Level Division 2 Champion AA Class 3AC Horse Training 2 Redfield Mikke 69.138 Chestnut Oak's Luka 69.483 Majestic 67.586 Preview My Assets 68.793 Three Bars Attraction 63.448 Don Mateo 61.724 Esperanza 62.069 This King Can Tango 60.862 Sweet Caroline 55.517 Imponente 56.034 Zuko XVII DQ

Class 3BC Training 3 71.897 66.207 68.103 66.379 67.759 66.897 66.552 67.069 66.552 57.931 73.448

Average 70.518 67.845 67.845 67.586 65.604 64.311 64.311 63.966 61.035 56.983 NA

Placing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 NA

Rider Charlotte Fenerty Sophia Davis

Training Level Division 2 Champion JYR Class 3AC Horse Training 2 Donnermeister 59.483 Seminole Wind 61.379

Class 3BC Training 3 66.724 62.759

Average 63.104 62.069

Placing 1 2

Rider Victoria Thompson

Training Level Division 2 Champion O Class 3AC Horse Training 2 Heyday Demetrius 67.931

Class 3BC Training 3 72.931

Average 70.431

Placing 1

Rider Julia Cutler Krysia Potter Marley McCourt Michelle Gelrod Sharielle Lawrence Kathryn Nelson

First Level Division 2 Champion Class 4AC Horse First 2 Premier Jet 68.000 Solasta 65.000 Dartanian 66.000 T Bird Z 61.857 HS Wrosaletti 60.857 For Pete's Sake

Class 4BC First 3 69.444 70.139 67.500 69.444 63.472

Average 68.722 67.570 66.750 65.651 62.165

Placing 1 2 3 4 5 scratch

Rider Sarah Stinneford

Second Level Division 2 Champion Class 5AC Horse Second 2 Orchid's Tamino 64.390

Class 5BC Second 3 64.286

Average 64.338

Placing 1

Rider Eliza Puttkamer-Banks Christy Pellegrino

Training Level Division 3 Champion Class 6AC Horse Training 2 SB Park Avenue's Song 73.621 Northern Quest Special Sea 68.103

Class 6BC Training 3 72.586 68.103

Average 73.104 68.103

Placing 1 2

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#

Rider 782 Jena Rondinelli 831 Adrie Hoogsteen

Second Level Division 3 Champion Class 8AC Horse Second 2 Andrit NTF 67.561 Lucinda Z 67.927

Class 8BC Second 3 67.976 65.238

Average 67.769 66.583

Placing 1 2

Class 9BC Third 3 73.000 68.000 69.750 65.250

Average 69.527 66.632 65.665 64.731

Placing 1 2 3 4

# 444 401 451 836

Rider Sophie Wayner Melissa Reese Mila Sambunjak Adrie Hoogsteen

Third Level Division 3 Champion Class 9AC Horse Third 2 Lyrical 66.053 Esprit De La Rue 65.263 Just Keep Swimming 61.579 Sandra Lee 64.211

# 340

Rider Tara Mokszycki

USDF Musical Freestyle Champion Horse Class 15C Acclamation 73.033

Placing 1

# 178

Rider Melissa Capozzoli

FEI Musical Freestyle Champion Horse Class 12C Esmaltado IV 68.350

Placing 1

# 360

Rider Rachel Migler

Western Dressage Gaited Champion Horse Class 13BC Chance of a Lifetime 65.750

Placing 1

# 451 770 458 784

Rider Mila Sambunjak Krysia Potter Sara Bagala Olivia Mertz

Dressage Seat Equitation Adult Amateur Champion Horse Class 16C AA Just Keep Swimming 78.000 Solasta 76.000 Stay Gold 70.000 Majestic 68.000

Placing 1 2 3 4

# 506 429 160

Rider Sarah Florentine Paige Banks Keira Wynn

Dressage Seat Equitation JYR Champion Horse Class 16C JYR Silver Lining 73.000 Trinity Blackberry 71.000 Sealed In Black 67.000

Placing 1 2 3

# 192

Rider Carey Williams

Open Schooling Intro Level TOC Horse Class TOC I Jaguar Valor WG 68.250

# 442 503 192 503

Rider Katarina Antens-Miller Jessi Pridmore Carey Williams Jessi Pridmore

Open Schooling Training Level TOC Horse Class TOC T Ziggy Stardust 65.172 Information Center 64.615 Jaguar Valor WG 64.615 Information Center 43.621

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Int C

Placing 1

Tr 3 Tr 1 Tr 1 Tr 2

Placing 1 2 3 4

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# 442

#

#

Rider Katarina Antens-Miller

Open Schooling First Level TOC Horse Class TOC 1 Ziggy Stardust 62.759

First 1

Placing 1

Rider 445 Christy Pellegrino 445 Christy Pellegrino

Open Schooling Second Level TOC Horse Class TOC 2 Denali 65.000 Denali 64.268

Sec 3 Sec 2

Placing 1 2

Rider 167 Lauri Albert 167 Lauri Albert

Open Schooling Third Level TOC Horse Class TOC 3 Donner Tanz 69.500 Donner Tanz 68.421

Third 3 Third 2

Placing 1 2

Public Service Announcement: The MAXIMUM useful lifespan of a riding helmet is five {5} years. Inside of your helmet should be a tag which will show the date of manufacture (MFG). The helmet life span is 5 years from the MFG date, even if your helmet appears to be in good condition, and even if the helmet has not been used, or lightly used. In addition all types of helmets are only good for one major fall and then need to be replaced irrespective of the age of the helmet.

The glue which holds things in place, such as the stitching that binds or holds the buckles on the chin strap, the composition of the inner liner or outer shield can deteriorate over time. The sun UV rays, rain and snow, body heat and sweat have an overall impact on the condition of the helmet.

The Snell Foundation which makes Safety Standards for all sorts of helmets, has a standard for Protective Headgear for additional information. Thank you and stay safe.

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Amateur Dilemma Special Edition: My Clinic Experience with Felicitas von Neumann-Cosel By, Meredith Rogers

This month Paige and I are switching places: she wrote about Regionals and I’m writing about my experience at a Felicitas von NeumannCosel clinic. This time hosted

by Carolyn Laurent at the beautiful Stone Horse Farm in Lebanon, NJ, October 29-31. In order to progress in our riding journey, it is important to have a system. I have that with my trainer and we’re making great strides. However, we can’t work on everything at every lesson and that can result in training holes. For some people those holes are many and large and for others they are few and tiny, Felicitas Clinic but we all (trainers too) have them. That’s why it’s good to sometimes switch things up and ride with someone else.

It doesn’t mean you’re giving up on your system, it’s just an opportunity to fill in some holes. That’s what I was hoping would happen with this clinic. I feel that my position issues are holding Leo and I from reaching our potential and from what I’ve read about Felicitas (a lot from Paige), she was the go-to person for these issues. I was not disappointed.

On the first day, after hearing our story and my goals, and watching us warm up, she called me over and it was evident she had a plan. She put these crisscross bands on me and explained how they would help position and stabilize.me. The extra motion in my body was interfering with my communication with Leo. Besides the bands, she tweaked other things, like lengthening the back of my neck, with the cue being the brim of my helmet lowering just a centimeter. She rotated my arms out from the top and then rotated my forearm back into riding position, so I could feel how this

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opened up my chest and shoulders. She had me think of my body as an A-frame instead of an “O” shape, which meant stop using my spurs so much. Off I went around the ring again. Leo became so responsive to super light aids. Whereas previously I had to use a lot of leg to get a walk-canter transition, now I just had to nudge with my seat.

My friend Sue, had come with us and videoed the entire ride from my warm-up to the end work. I haven’t watched it yet but she said it looked as transformative as it felt.

The second day started out on the wrong foot, literally. As I was getting out of the shower I got 4 texts in a row from my trainer telling me Leo had lost a shoe, he was running around like a lunatic, and they couldn’t catch him. I got dressed in whatever was on top of the laundry pile and sped over there. Yup; no shoe and no farrier who could come and put it back on. I threw him on the lunge line and he was soundish, so I figured I could still go to the clinic even if we just worked at the walk. Since I was at the barn 2 hours earlier than I had planned, I left for the clinic early. It meant Leo had to stand on the trailer for a while, but he was going nuts in his stall anyway (he’s not good with changes to his routine or being alone in the barn). I got to watch a bunch of lessons. Hearing Felicitas’ explanations behind what she was asking each rider to do was invaluable.

I was the last lesson of the day. Leo was sound at the walk. Yay! Then we trotted a little and he was sound other than for the first few steps. Yay again! Then we cantered and he took a bit more time but became sound at the canter too. We were good to go. The great thing was that we pretty much started from where we left off yesterday. First, she had me ride Leo straight instead of in shoulder in. She explained that if he decided to spook and I already had him bent in, then he was one step closer to doing a 180 away from whatever was scary. At its basics it was inside leg to outside rein. Leo can brace against the right rein, and instead of having me use my left rein (my go-to fix), she had me pick up the left shoulder with my left leg. The next thing she had me do was stand for a couple of strides then sit, then stand, etc. This helped me get my balance in the A-frame that she had touched upon yesterday. It felt almost like I was leaning forward because it was different than how I normally rode. Again, Leo was super light to my aids, which was something I didn’t trust would happen until the end. She wanted me to pick up counter-canter and I kept overriding because that’s what I’m used to doing. I finally got some good transitions from walk to counter-canter and we ended with that. Unfortunately, Sue couldn’t join me for day 2 so I don’t have today’s ride on video, but I drove home thinking about lengthening the back of my neck and rotating my upper arms out, which I hope will solidify some muscle memory from today. I wish I had signed up for day 3 but at least there’s a lot of time to practice between now and the next time Felicitas is in town.

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The Highs and Lows of Riding Shine at the Region 1 Championships

By Paige Zimmerman

October 13-17, I had the opportunity to compete at the USDF Region 1 Championships with my trainer Olivia Steidle. It took place at the beautiful Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Virginia. I’ve only been to Regionals once before, and that was 2 years ago, so it was a great experience to get out and show off what Ducati and I have been working on.

We left PA in the morning and arrived on Wednesday in the mid-afternoon. We brought along 3 horses: Ducati and Flying Colors aka Muppet (both owned by Brenda Curnin), and Huno (a Lusitano gelding owned by Nicole Lee). Ducati and I were set up to compete in the 3rd Level Jr/Yr championships, and Olivia was to compete with Muppet and Huno in the 3rd Level Open championships. All of the horses travelled well, and even though they were all a bit anxious at first, they settled in nicely on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Olivia and I rode in our open class, which was just a practice session for the championship classes later in the week. The class was massive: about 35 people were competing. I went early in the morning, and Ducati was feeling his oats.

The warmup was small and it was indoors, but Ducati handled it really well and he felt very nice and relaxed, but powerful enough that he wasn’t behind my leg. Once we went through the chute to the bigger indoor where the ring was set up, he got a bit more nervous, so certain parts of our test suffered. While we got 8s and 8.5s on the medium/ extended trots and some of the lateral work, he had a bit of a meltdown in the trot half-pass, and the turns on the haunches in the walk had a lot of tension.

However, our flying changes were much improved from over the summer: one was clean and the other was close behind (but nearly clean)! This is a big deal… In the last show I did before Regionals, the flying changes were both late and explosive. I’m very

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pleased with how much better they’ve become. All in all, I was pleased with the test, which earned us 2nd place out of the other youth riders in the class. The test ended up being a 63%, which is not a bad score at all, but it would’ve been much higher without the glaring mistakes and tension.

On Friday, Olivia competed in her championship classes and put in two very clean and lovely tests on both Huno and Muppet. Huno showed off his fantastic flying changes and fluid canter work, earning 7s from both judges. Muppet showed great relaxation and earned a 67.625%, with the judge at C giving her a 71%! Muppet also placed 12th in the gigantic class of 40+ people. It was really fun to watch and see the development of both horses since the last shows they did. It inspired me for my championship class on Saturday. On Friday I only schooled; I didn’t have a class. Ducati was a bit distracted and so was I in the very crowded arena, so it took us a while to get “clicked in”. However, we ended on a really great note after going for a hand gallop and letting all the tension fly away.

Saturday was my day to compete in the championships. We had a really fantastic warmup in which Ducati was much less distracted than the previous days. Our class was outside, so there were some things to look at, but he stayed very focused. Going into the show arena, our trot work was easily the best I’ve ever felt in the show ring… in fact, it felt so good and I was so focused that I forgot about the rein-back after the extended trot!! Whoops… but we picked it back up again. Unfortunately, however, in our trot half-pass to the right Ducati had some anxiety and broke into the canter, which is what had happened in our practice class on Thursday as well. Then our walk turns on the haunches were tense again as well, but we regained some of the relaxation after the extended walk. The flying change to the right was really clear and clean, though his head was a bit high. In our change to the left, he did a few tempis due to tension… oops. By the end, he was a bit tired and ready to go back to the barn, but we finished up without any major problems. We ended up earning 6th place, with one judge giving us a 62.125% and the other giving us a 65.750% for an overall score of 63.937%. And we got to participate in the victory lap, which was really fun!

Some highlights from the test included the trot mediums/ extensions, which earned nothing less than an 8 or an 8.5, our entry centerline got a 9, and our trot work in the championship was entirely scores of 7 to 8.5 (except for the large mistake in the right half-pass). I was also proud that his right flying change earned a 6.5, which shows how much he has improved since the summer when he was earning 4s and 3s for explosions and lateness. So the test was definitely “high-low”, meaning that we had a lot of really high scores but also quite a few low scores that dragged us down. I was checking the scores, and compared to the winner of the class, our trot work had us in the championship placing. If the rest of the test had been as good as the initial trot tour, we 16

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would have been very close to the 75% mark. That gives me a lot of hope that between smoothing out the canter work out and relaxing the tension, we will be able to achieve great scores going forward!

I didn’t come into the show with any expectations since it’s Ducati’s first season at 3rd Level, but I am walking away very proud of how we did! I wanted to show off what we had been working on at home, and I definitely feel that we accomplished this even if we had several bobbles in the tests that brought the scores down. Ducati is a horse with some confidence issues, and he doesn’t have a lot of mileage, so I’m very proud of how he handled the big environment and how he trusted me and tried his heart out even when he wasn’t entirely sure of the situation. He has much more to offer than what we were able to accomplish this year, and so over the winter we hope to get those flying changes and the rest of the work more consistent and then come out with a bang next season again at 3rd Level! When he is ready to move on from 3rd Level, he will let us know, but for now I am very excited to keep working at this level until we are absolutely ready to give it a go at 4th.

Thank you to Olivia Steidle for being the most supportive coach (and congratulations on your successful rides!!). I would not be where I am today without Olivia’s consistent, correct training. Thank you to Brenda Curnin for allowing me to ride Ducati, I am so grateful to have the opportunity to work with such a quality horse. I feel like I can really reach for the stars with him. Thank you to my mom for all the support, to my dad for helping pick up my chores at the barn while I was gone, and to the volunteers and workers that kept this show running smoothly all week. 2022, here we come!!

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Horse Treats By, Meredith Rogers

Veterans Day (Nov 11, 2021) is a day of remembrance for those who have served in the US Armed Forces. As a point of clarification, Memorial Day was established to honor those men and women who died in the service of our country as part of the US Armed Forces. We should not forget that numerous horses have fought and died in wars, and below is the story of one such honoree.

Sgt Reckless was a mare so heroic during the Korean War that she was promoted to Staff Sergeant by the Commandant of the US Marine Corps. She received two Purple Hearts, a Good Conduct Medal, a Presidential Unit Citation with star, a National Defense Service Medal, a Korean Service Medal, a United Nations Service Medal, a Navy Unit Commendation, and a Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation.

She was originally purchased by Lt Eric Pedersen for $250 of his own money from a Korean boy, who needed the money to pay for an artificial leg for his sister. Reckless’ job was to carry ammunition to the front lines. One of her most heroic feats was crossing the deadly “no man’s land” rice paddies and then up a steep 45-deg mountain trail to the firing site of waiting marines during a particularly fierce battle, with enemy fire coming in at the rate of 500 rounds per minute. She carried injured men back down the mountain, before being loaded back up with ammunition to do it all again. She did this trip 51 times in one day alone, carrying 386 rounds of ammunition (almost 5 tons worth), walking more than 35 miles, and 95% of the time she made the trip on her own! She also served as a shield for several marines who were trapped, and was wounded twice but kept going.

The Marines were not only endeared to her because of her bravery but also because of her playful personality. She was known to eat everything and anything in sight.

She loved scrambled eggs and pancakes along with her morning coffee, but was also known to eat poker chips, blankets, and hats if she thought she was being ignored.

Reckless was retired in 1960 to Camp Pendleton, and died in 1968. She was buried with full military honors at Camp Pendleton.

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News from Outside the Ring No More Jersey Fresh The Jersey Fresh International three-day event will not be held in 2022 or in the foreseeable future. The Horse Park of New Jersey could not financially hold the event after the U.S. Equestrian Federation took away its 4-star Long and Short designations for 2023-2027 and the 3-star Long it previously hosted. It is a sad day for our local eventing community.

No More Fluff The FEI is banning marshmallow fluff starting January 2022. People use the stuff to mimic naturally-occurring mouth foam to disguise contact issues. Here’s the exact wording: “It is strictly forbidden to use any type of white substance around the horse’s mouth to imitate foaming; this is considered cheating and against horse welfare as it can hide lip injuries. This will result in a warning or a yellow card.” You are also not allowed to decorate your horse – no paint, but colored wound-spray and ointment are allowed. The USEF has tweaked the ruling to allow natural foam that occurs after giving a sugar cube but colored ointment cannot be used to cover up an existing wound. Fun fact: Marshmallow Fluff was invented in New England about 100 years ago.

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BUSINESS MEMBERS Jersey Palms Farm

Rhythm and Blues Stables

177 S. Stump Tavern Road Jackson NJ, 08527 609.213.5745 KWLYNX@comcast.net www.jerseypalmsfarm.com

108 Old York Rd. Hamilton, NJ 08620 609 306-8221 RBLStables@aol.com www.rhythmandbluesstables.com

Anjelhart Equestrian Center

Irish Manor Stables

38 Millers Mill Rd, Cream Ridge, NJ 08514 609.758.7676 lacavacreations@aol.com www.Anjelhart.com

718 Sergeantsville RoadStockton, NJ 08559 908.237.1281 info@irishmanorstables.com www.irishmanorstables.com

Good Times Farm

Heart’s Journey Stable

278 Jackson Mills Road, Freehold, NJ 07728 732.409.2882 gtts@optonline.net www.GoodTimeFarm.com

425 Kromer Road Wind Gap, PA 18091 610.863.6616 mmorehouse@epix.net www.heartsjourneystables.com

Equisential Equine LLC 111 Snyder Ave Bellmar NJ 08031 717.649.4799 bryner.2@gmail.com

EVENT CALENDAR ESDCTA’s Calendar contains the complete and up to date list of ESDCTA’s registered shows. It also contains other activities that ESDCTA feels are important to our community.

Click the link to view The Event Calendar

https://www.esdcta.org/home/omni-calendar/ 20

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COLLECTIVE REMARKS

WWW.ESDCTA.ORG November 2021 COLLECTIVE REMARKS

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