Untacked may june 2017

The Chronicle of the Horse

THE EQUESTRIAN LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

THE HOLY HORSEMAN FATHER MICHAEL TANG MODERN FABRICS GALORE

HOT SHOW COATS FOR STAYING COOL

6Â

EQUESTRIANS MAKING THEIR MARKS

THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF FLINTRIDGE HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS FROM RIDERS IN AFRICA, PUERTO

RICO AND COMPTON

A SUPPLEMENT TO THE CHRONICLE OF THE HORSE

MAY/JUNE 2017

Tryon, Horse Country North Carolina

RONALD PICCARI

e state prope rtie s & hor se farms

Lakes, Hills and Horses

Advantage Realty 177 N. Trade St. Tryon, NC 28782

828-606-7441 828-859-5454

mountain view estate

shady patch farm – turnkey facility

Lake Adger Private Lake Community: Fantastic home w/sweeping mtn views. This 4,000sf contemporary home; private marina slip; direct access to miles of shaded trails. On 12+ acres with pool. $949K

Convenient to 3 show facilities. Cozy 2BR/2BA updated cottage on 21+ acres. Features 2 barns, 12 stalls total, grooms quarters, irrigated riding arena, multi fenced pastures, on CETA Riding Trails. $895K

holly spring farm – on ceta trails

one more time farm – turnkey farm

In Stirrup Downs equestrian community set on 16+ acres. New shed row barn, 3-board fencing. 4BR/4.5BA brick home, lower level walkout in-law apartment. Detached garage. 3 miles to TIEC. $839K

3BR/3BA home, garage, pond, 3- stall barn on 46 acres, private trail system, x-country course, fenced pastures. Additional home site with septic & power. 2 separate RV sites w/hookups. 6 miles to TIEC. $699K

lakeside community – derbyshire NEW CONSTRUCTION: Custom 3BR/3.5BA home with low-maintenance/

high-efficiency living. High-end finishes, porches, outdoor FP & 2-car garage. HOA barn available. 5 min to TIEC. Customize today! $595K

oak hill farm – stoneybrook Custom 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath home w/year round mtn views. 6-stall barn, 3-board fencing, lush pastures - a perfect small farm… . Direct access to FETA trails, 5 min to FENCE, only 12 min to TIEC. $559.9K

LakesHillsAndHorses.com

Home of 2018 FEI World Equestrian Game at TIEC

BONNIE LINGERFELT Fine Equestrian Properties & Country Homes

think meadow wood 4BD/3.5BA Brick plantation house set on 39 acres. Views from every room, heart pine floors, custom molding, LR w/solarium. Pasture, woods, CETA trail access & 10 minutes to town and TIEC. $1.50M

think green pastures – motivated seller

think spacious — reduced

Luxury living in Motlow Creek equestrian community. 4BD/3.5BA home on 9+ acres; endless custom details, enhanced by countryside & mtn views. Apt above garage. Barn, pastures, creek. 22 min to TIEC. $799K

Roomy 4BD/3.5BA home on 30+ acres. Main level w/tile entry. All BDs-are on main level-have spa-like bath. New 4-stall barn w/matted stalls, tack room, covered trailer parking. 14 mi to TIEC. $574K

think panorama! – reduced $100k

think mill pond farm

27+ acre property with exceptional 180° mountain views. Established pasture with wooded perimeter. Ideal location to build equestrian facility – only 4 miles to TIEC! No restrictions. $549K

One level living: Main floor-3BR/2BA/2-car garage, separate lower level 1BR/1.5BA 1-car garage. 2-Stall barn, 2 paddocks, hay storage, pond, creek frontage, eligible for CETA trail access. 4.86 acres. $449K

TryonProperties.com

think c hoic e s in tryon hor se coun try

think honeyhill cove Custom 5 BR, 4.5 BA home on 54+ acres: features FPs, white oak floors, high ceilings. patios. 2-Stall barn, fenced pastures, mtn views, privacy, FETA trails. Close to shopping, interstates and TIEC. $1.650M

Advantage Realty 177 N. Trade St. Tryon, NC 28782

828-817-0166 828-859-5454

WE LOVE A SPORT THAT REWARDS PRECISION. CP is proud to be an Official Partner of the Rolex Central Park Horse Show, New York.

cpr.ca

World Equestrian Center in Wilmington, Ohio and Kentucky Horse Shows present

National Hunter Derby Series

2017 Series Shows

Photo courtesy Third Shutter from the Sun Photography

Kentucky Spring ............................................. May 10 - May 14 Kentucky Spring Classic ................................. May 17 - May 21 WEC Summer Series I ..................................... May 24 - May 28 WEC Summer Series II .................................... May 31 - June 4 Kentucky Summer .......................................... July 26 - July 30 Kentucky Summer Classic .............................. Aug 1 - Aug 6 WEC Summer Series III ................................... Aug 9 - Aug 13 Bluegrass Festival ........................................... Aug 15 - Aug 20 KHJA .............................................................. Aug 23 - Aug 27 Kentucky National .......................................... Sept 20 - Sept 24

WEC Invitational .............................Oct 24 - Oct 29

Featuring the $30,000 Series Finale $30,000 LEADING RIDER AWARDS A $20,000 cash prize will be awarded to the professional rider accumulating the most points in the eleven classes that make up the 2017 World Equestrian Center/Kentucky Horse Shows series. The amateur rider and junior rider accumulating the most points will each receive a $5000 cash prize. Riders will receive points only on their highest placed horse in each of the classes. The awards will be presented at the conclusion of the series class at the WEC Invitational, October 24 -29. In the event of a tie for any of the Leading Rider Awards, the award will be given to the rider who has received points in the most classes. Points will be awarded to the top ten separate individual riders in each class as follows: 250-225-200-175-150-125-100-75-50-25.

CLASS 605 $5,000 USHJA NATIONAL HUNTER DERBY ENTRY FEE: $175.00 (includes $25 USHJA Fee) $1500 $1100 $650 $400 $300 $250 $200 $150 $150 $100 $100 $100

Complete class specifications and more information on the USHJA National Hunter Derby Program are available at ushja.org

COMING TO OCALA, FLORIDA IN 2018

For more information contact:

(352) 629-6229 www.wec.net/ocala Rider: Amanda Steege

Horse Competition Overseas?

Ask Your Horse Shipper About The ARK at JFK As the world’s first privately owned 24/7 animal airport terminal, USDA-approved export inspection facility and quarantine (pending approval), The ARK at JFK is a state-of-the-art resource to all horse transportation agents and their clients — you!

Proud sponsor of the

Rolex Central Park Horse Show

Located at JFK International Airport in Cargo Area D, the Equine Import and Export Center features:

• Individual 12’ x 12’ mesh-front, climate-controlled stalls for pre-export rest and inspection

• Natural lighting, non-slip flooring and high quality hay and shavings • Ability to accommodate multiple shipments, with all animal handling occurring indoors

• Direct “airside” access for safe and efficient loading into or out of jet stalls or trailers

• Trailer drop-off and pickup available at any hour, with accessible loading ramps

• A pre-departure grooms lounge and 24/7 observation and care by experienced ARK grooms and veterinary staff The ARK at JFK is committed to the safe and humane treatment of all animals traveling by air and setting the gold standard in animal handling and transportation.

Make your reservation today!

ARKJFK.com | (212) 328-9132

©2017 ARK Development, LLC

Grand Prix Village - There¶s a 16-stall barn that includes a half-bathroom, two tack rooms, two feed rooms, and wash stations. A one-bedroom grooms¶ apartment is on the second floor of the building, and includes a full bathroom and kitchen. Connected to the barn is a full owners¶ home with vaulted ceilings and a gourmet kitchen. Offered at $12,995,000

Grand Prix Village - With six-acres of land, an 18stall center aisle barn, gorgeous lake views, and hacking distance to the Winter Equestrian Festival, this property has everything a discerning equestrian could desire. There¶s a spacious owners¶ lounge with vaulted ceilings and skylights. Grass Grand Prix field and all weather ring in place. Offered at $10,900,000

Across from Horse Show - 4.5 acre farm boasts solar tunnel lighting, solar panel power, gorgeous bamboo wood Rower & Rub Stalls, Nelson automatic waters, and a luxurious detached owners lounge overlooking the ring. The home has a pool with outdoor kitchen and balcony that overlooks the farm.

Offered at $12,750,000

Grand Prix Village - The center-aisle barn includes 20 -stalls, 2 large tack rooms, 4 wash/grooming stalls, 2 feed rooms, 2 storage rooms, laundry, a full bathroom, and an office. The second-story serves as a luxurious owner¶s penthouse. This open and spacious retreat has a bedroom and full bath, as well as a full kitchen that flows into the living and dining rooms. Offered at $10,950,000

Grand Prix Village - Newly constructed 20-stall equestrian facility with spacious 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom owner¶s quarters upstairs and amazing kitchen with topof-the-line appliances. Downstairs viewing room opens to the riding arena. Full bathroom and office with plenty of storage, 4 wash stalls, laundry, tack and feed rooms.

Offered at $10,900,000

Grand Prix Village - Situated on 4-acres of lush land, is an amazing 20-stall barn with 4 wash stalls, 2 tack rooms, a laundry room, and a feed room. The owners¶ lounge has a beautiful fireplace as the focal point, as well as a kitchen with great room for entertaining and a wonderful view of the ¶ x ¶ competition ring with superior custom footing. Offered at $10,500,000

Saddle Trail Park - Private equestrian estate is located on 4+ acres with direct access to the Bridle path and across from WEF. Beautifully designed and built, this magnificent barn, with rubber pavers and mats throughout, includes 15 European stalls with running water, an air conditioned office with galley kitchen.

Offered at $8,500,000

Grand Prix Village - With 18-stalls, 6 wash/grooming stalls, two tack rooms, two feed rooms, two large storage rooms, and two powder rooms. The private owners¶ lounge is just up the elevator and includes a gorgeous custom kitchen and bath. The property also has an all-weather ring and four paddocks.

Offered at $17,900,000

Grand Prix Village - Situated on 5.8 acres of land this property is well-planned and enjoys mature landscaping and a peaceful lake. There are 41 stalls in total, between two barns. The main, center-aisle barn includes 18stalls, two wash stalls, two grooming stalls, laundry, feed and miscellaneous storage, and a half-bathroom.

Offered at $14,000,000

Carol A. Sollak, P.A. Phone +1 561-818-9476 Fax +1 561-791-2221 www.carolsollak.evusa.com Wellington, Florida Carol.Sollak@evusa.com

©2017 Engel & Völkers. All rights reserved. Each brokerage independently owned and operated. All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. Engel & Völkers and its independent License Partners are Equal Opportunity Employers and fully support the principles of the Fair Housing Act.

Over 20 years of expertise, discretion and exceptional results representing premier Manhattan properties.

Lisa Tarnopol Deslauriers

Linda Reiner

L IC E N S E D R E A L E STAT E B ROKE R

LIC E NSE D R E AL E STATE B ROKE R

212.439.5182 | ldeslauriers@warburgrealty.com

212.439.4538 | lreiner@warburgrealty.com

654 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10065 | warburgrealty.com

Welcome to Aljassimya Farm Come and see our beautiful foals in California.

Pictured: Anwar Aljassimya by SMA Magic One ex Annaiss by Ansata Nile Echo info@aljassimyafarm.com | www.aljassimyafarm.com

TRYON, NC

The Carolina Foothills, Where the Meadows and the Mountains meet Tryon’s Timeless Equestrian Tradition

L A N D R U M ,

S C

Madelon Wallace 864-316-3484 Specializing in Equestrian, Conservation and Estate Properties www.CarolinaHorseFarmsAndMore.com

P F

eacefield arm

Inspiringly handsome, classic horse farm, on 20+ acres, in the heart of Tryon’s horse country. The enormously comfortable main house with its detached 3 bay garage, exquisite studio and delightfully arranged floor plan is perfectly situated overlooking the guest house, barn, ring and rolling pastures. Located on the CETA trail system it is an easy commute to the Tryon International Equestrian Center, FENCE and Harmon Field as well as numerous airports for your commuting convenience.

Offered at $2,200,000.

Call Madelon Wallace 864-316-3484

S F

ilver Fox arm

Nestled on 37 acres of beautiful farmland, this 3 bedroom, 4 bath modern farmhouse has a terrific open floor plan with a gourmet kitchen, wonderful light filled rooms and is perfectly suited for entertaining friends and family. This horse country estate also includes a three stall barn with a second floor which would make a great guest apartment, second home, studio space. Ample pasture and alternate locations for another barn and ring as well as a stream and mountain views. Located just 7.6 miles from Tryon International Equestrian Center.

Offered at $1,349,000.

Call Madelon Wallace 864-316-3484

Know T h ese Hills Better T han A n yone e

Golf Course Road | $735,000.

“Wright Way Farm” | $649,000 Lake Adger | $660,000.

32.22 Acres | FETA Trail System | Fenced Pastures 15.70 Acres | GENTS Trail System | Mountain Views 22.54 Acres | Private Trails | Lake Access | 4 Stall Barn 2 Run-ins | 4 Stall Barn | Updated Kitchen Fenced Pastures | 4 Stall Barn | Storage Buildings Fenced Pastures | Run-ins | 3BR/3BA Farmhouse In-ground Pool | Mountain Views Log Cabin | Modern Updates | Vaulted Ceilings In-ground Pool | Screened Porches.

Roberta Heinrich 828-817-5080 Roberta Heinrich 828-817-5080 Mickey Hambright 828-817-1796 | Madelon Wallace 864-316-3484

Collinsville Road | $749,900.

25.10 Acres | Established Pasture | Creek Frontage Road Frontage on 2 Roads | Farm Buildings Small House | Level Land | CETA Trails Madelon Wallace 864-316-3484 Roberta Heinrich 828-817-5080

“Hidden Hollow Farm” | $699,000.

10.44 Acres | 4 Stall Barn | Fenced Pasture Private Valley & Mountain Views | Private Pond Riding Arena | 3BR/3.5BA Lovely Home Jeff Byrd 828-817-0012 Madelon Wallace 864-316-3484

Tryon Horse Country | $1,661,600.

83.08 Acres | 70+ acres of Rolling Pasture Sweeping Mountain Views | Farm House 8 Miles to Tryon International Equestrian Center Horse Farms Potential Madelon Wallace 864-316-3484

adows of Campbell Creek

Stone Cottage Lane | $562,500.

12.45 Acres | GENTS Trails Fully Fenced Pastures | Organic Garden 3BR/2.5BA Home | Additional Acreage Available Mickey Hambright 828-817-1796 Madelon Wallace 864-316-3484

The Meadows of Campbell Creek, 160 acres, is nestled at the base of the southernmost edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains just a short distance from Landrum and Tryon. Farms have dotted these scenic foothills for generations.

The lands at the Meadows are defined by picturesque views of the surrounding mountains and rolling pastures, hardwood forests, creeks, trails for hiking or horse back riding and the remains of a quaint stone cottage. Close proximity to the horse venues of Harmon Field, FENCE and the new Tryon International Equestrian Center. This is a one of a kind location on a quiet country lane protected by covenants and restrictions with a 10 Acre minimum.

Call Madelon Wallace 864-316-3484

W W E R E A L T Y . C O M 400 E. Rutherford Street, Landrum, SC 29356 864-457-2448

s t n e t n o C

The C HRONICLE of the HORSE

Untacked VOL. 5, NO. 3

M AY/ J U N E 2 017

44 The Intertwined

Passions Of Father Michael Tang

54 Southern California’s Equestrian Gem

62 The Horse World’s

Young And Unsung Influencers

74 Humanitarian And

Horsewoman Holly White

84 Ride Away From It

44

PHOTO COURTESY MICHAEL TANG

92

MEREDITH LEE/HSUS PHOTO

All In Alberta’s Rocky Mountains

92 Voyage To Vieques ON THE COVER: David Toma Photo

PHOTO COURTESY HOLLY WHITE

74

20 MAY/JUNE 2017

U N TAC K E D

I N N OVAT I O N R E D E F I N E D

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a r i a t . com ©2017 Ariat is a registered trademark of Ariat International, Inc. ®

PEBAX is a registered trademark of the Arkema Group. ®

s t n e t n o C Departments 24

Editor’s Letter

26

Contributors

30

Around The Arena

32

Editor’s Picks: Acavallo Gel Bandages

34

Tech Spotlight: The Orscana Sensor

36

Test Lab: Pre-Tied Stock Ties

38

The Clothes Horse: Show Coats

68

Seeing The World With “Life Between The Ears”

100

City Guide: Woodstock, Vermont

108

Feed Room: Pubs For Equestrians

114

Charity Spotlight: Horses In The Hood

118

Best Of Web & Print

120

Parting Ways

34

CHRISTOFFER ADRIANSSON/@CHRISTOFFERADRIANSSON PHOTO

38

22 MAY/JUNE 2017

68 U N TAC K E D

MOVES AS ONE Ariat Show Collection – designed to follow your every move.

KNOW WHERE YOU STAND. ©2016 Ariat International, Inc.

More information at Ariat.com

EDITOR’S LETTER

What Do You Love?

Like most other humans on this planet, I spent the last year obsessed with Hamilton: An American Musical and its creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda.

24 MAY/JUNE 2017

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programs, including one involving wild horses in Puerto Rico (p. 92), focuses on helping animals because she loves them. And even though a human relations job might sound mundane to some, it’s not at all to Holly White, who’s featured on page 74. Her efforts led her to work at the United Nations Population Fund in Senegal.

“I think—and this is HR geeky of me—but I do believe if you have human capital, it is an asset, and even though I wanted to work with horses, I do really believe in human potential and capability,” she said.

All their stories are perfect examples of people who help, who create, who give and who work from a place of passion and not a place of obligation. So it’s really no coincidence that they’re all helping make the horse world, and in many cases the world at large, a better place.

ANDREW HOCK PHOTO

This might not seem relevant to life with horses (though Alexander Hamilton of course did ride) or this magazine, but as we worked on this issue, a quote from Miranda kept popping into my head.

“I think an artist’s only responsibility is to chase their inspiration and to fall in love,” he said. “If it happens to make the world a better place, that’s great, but if you’re trying to do that consciously, it feels like homework. We can smell when an artist is doing something out of obligation versus, ‘Something in me demands that I write this.’ ” The six equestrians featured as young and unsung influencers (p. 62) are from different areas of the country, two of them from other countries, and they have different backgrounds. They’re all doing completely different things; for example, Jessica Rattner is running a camp for grassroots dressage riders while Diarmuid Byrne and Sam Watson are making eventing safer through statistics. None of them started their journeys with preconceived notions of what it means to make a difference.

But they’ve all found their niches—the ways they can best contribute based on their talents and interests. Change “artist” to “horseman” in that quote, and I think it’s a perfect description of how they’re living and working.

The same idea surfaced in several of our other stories from this issue. Our cover feature Michael Tang (p. 44), who is an artist in addition to his work as a priest and a professor, often paints horses for a simple reason—it’s what he knows and loves.

Similarly, show jumper Georgina Bloomberg, who’s worked with several Humane Society of the United States

—Lisa Slade

CONTRIBUTORS

In This Issue

CONTACT US: SUBSCRIPTIONS & RENEWALS: Mail: The Chronicle of the Horse, P. O. Box 433288 Palm Coast, FL 32143-3288 Phone: 800.877.5467

Manuscripts and photographs, accompanied by return postage, will be handled with care. Publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material.

TEO SANCHEZ PHOTO

SANDY SHARKEY PHOTO

Email: subscriptions@coth.com

Shawn Hamilton

Kelly Sanchez

Christina Keim

Shawn started her career shooting horse shows but now focuses on documenting wild herds and unique riding vacations around the world, including Mexico’s Rancho Las Cascadas for this issue. Other trips have taken her to visit Mongolia’s horsemen and into the Andes on horseback. Shawn now lives on a small farm in Orono, Ontario, with her husband Joe, four children, five horses, one cat and one Bernese Mountain dog. In the winter months she teaches skiing, and she’s currently working on presenting her photography in the fine art world.

Kelly, who lives outside Los Angeles with her husband and two teenaged sons, has been visiting the Monterey Peninsula since she was a child—and that made her a natural to write about a glorious slice of Pebble Beach’s history in this issue. A frequent contributor to The Chronicle of the Horse and other horse publications, she also has written about architecture and design for Architectural Digest, Coastal Living and Dwell, where she is a contributing editor.

Christina is a self-diagnosed equine addict who has been around or on top of horses for a nearly uninterrupted span of over 30 years, when she was first given riding lessons “just for the summer.” She has enjoyed many disciplines including hunters, equitation, jumpers, dressage, eventing, Pony Club and most recently competitive trail riding.

Christina is based at her Cold Moon Farm in Rochester, N.H., and is currently a lecturer at the University of New Hampshire Equine Program, where she coaches their intercollegiate hunt seat team.

RACHEL FLORMAN PHOTO

Megan Brincks

Leslie Wylie

After growing up eventing in the Midwest and attending journalism school at the University of Georgia, Kat spent nine years serving on The Chronicle of the Horse’s editorial staff, first in its Middleburg, Va., main office and then in Chicago. She’s now the director of communications at a youthfocused social change non-profit in Memphis, where she lives with her husband Brett, Fitz the corgi and Burger the pit bull.

A former staff reporter for The Chronicle of the Horse, Megan now lives with her dog and cat in Midland, Texas, where she works for a local community college. With time spent in almost every kind of saddle over the years, she rides whenever she gets the chance, recently focusing on eventing. In addition to spending time with and riding horses, she enjoys reading, traveling and hiking.

Leslie is a failed upper-level eventer, successful equestrian journalist and amateur Champagne connoisseur. She lives in Knoxville, Tenn., where she bankrolls the lives of many spoiled rotten animals, including her current competition pony, Princess. She co-edits the website Eventing Nation and is the creator of sister websites Horse Nation and Jumper Nation.

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THE CHRONICLE OF THE HORSE (ISSN 0009-5990) is published January 16, January 23, February 6, February 20, February 27, March 6, March 20, March 27, April 3, April 17, April 24, May 1, May 15, May 29, June 5, June 19, July 3, July 10, July 24, August 7, August 14, August 21, September 4, September 18, September 25, October 9, October 16, October 23, November 6, November 13, November 27, December 11, December 18 and December 25 in 2017 by The Chronicle of the Horse, LLC, 108 The Plains Road, Middleburg, Virginia.

Periodicals postage paid at Middleburg, VA and additional mailing offices.

THE CHRONICLE OF THE HORSE UNTACKED is published bimonthly. It is part of your subscription to The Chronicle of the Horse. To order single copies, call 800-877-5467 or e-mail subscriptions@ coth.com.

Kat Netzler

26 MAY/JUNE 2017

Copyright© 2017 by The Chronicle of the Horse, LLC. Reproduction of any material (including photographs and drawings) without written permission is prohibited.

All rights reserved. The Chronicle of the Horse® and the distinctive masthead that appear on the cover of the magazine are all registered trademarks of The Chronicle of the Horse, LLC. and may not be used in any manner without prior written permission.

SUBSCRIPTION RATES United States and possessions $59.95/ yr. Canada $79.95/yr. Foreign (other than Canada) $159.95/yr. For all subscription options see www.coth.com.

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The C HRONICLE of the HORSE

Untacked Volume 5 • Number 3 • May/June 2017

E

produced and published by The Chronicle of the Horse

xclusive Linda Luster scarf depicting eight sport horse disciplines: Dressage, Reining, Endurance, Vaulting, Para Dressage, Show Jumping, Driving, and Eventing. Pure silk, hand-rolled edges.

PUBLISHER

KATHERINE BELLISSIMO PRESIDENT/EXECUTIVE EDITOR

BETH RASIN, brasin@coth.com

Editorial EDITOR

LISA SLADE, lslade@coth.com MANAGING EDITOR

SARA LIESER , slieser@coth.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR

MOLLY SORGE, msorge@coth.com SENIOR REPORTER & MARKETING COORDINATOR

MOLLIE BAILEY, mbailey@coth.com EDITORIAL STAFF

SHARON ROSE, srose@coth.com LINDSAY BERRETH, lberreth@coth.com JENNIFER CALDER, jcalder@coth.com KIMBERLY LOUSHIN, kloushin@coth.com ANN GLAVAN, aglavan@coth.com LAURA LEMON, llemon@coth.com EDITORIAL PRODUCTION MANAGER

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chronofhorse.com 28 MAY/JUNE 2017

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RELEASING ARCH

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DESIGN COMFORT SECURITY R O TAT I N G A R C H

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tidbits from across the industry

Aroundthe Arena k My Faves: Chase Hicko

Successful young rider career? Check. Victories in the Under-25 Grand Prix division? Check. Winning transition into the open CDI classes? Also check.

Since riding her first pony at 5 years old, Chase Hickok has steadily moved up the levels in dressage.

In 2011, she won an individual bronze medal at the Adequan/FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (Ky.) aboard her horse Palermo. About a year after graduating from Stanford University (Calif.) with a degree in English, she partnered with Hyperion Farm’s Sagacious HF in 2014. She won 10 consecutive blues at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (Fla.) in 2015 and campaigned in Europe before coming back stateside to win the USEF Young Adult ‘Brentina Cup’ Dressage National Championship (Ill.).

Now 27, Hickok balances working as a real estate agent for Equestrian Sotheby’s International Realty with her competition schedule. And it’s clearly working well: Hickok and the 18-year-old “Kitty” topped the open Grand Prix and open Grand Prix freestyle divisions at the 2016 U.S. Dressage Finals (Ky.) and won an AGDF CDI*** Grand Prix Special this season (Fla.).

Breeches: Full-seat Alessandro Albanese Footwear: König Drink: Coconut water Food: Sushi Movie: Love Actually Book: The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger Non-horsey hobby: Reading and yoga

LINDSAY BERRETH PHOTO

Favorite yoga pose: Pigeon. “It’s great for riding.”

30 MAY/JUNE 2017

Guilty pleasure: Watching Dateline and murder/

mystery shows Memory in the saddle: Winning the Brentina Cup in

2015 U N TAC K E D

On Deck

Competition venue: The Adequan

Mark your calendar with these upcoming important dates.

Place to shop for non-horsey items: The internet

X May 18-21 After a year away and a year off, the U.S. Dressage Festival Of Champions is returning to the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation’s famed headquarters at Hamilton Farm in Gladstone, N.J. The top U.S. pairs at Grand Prix, Under-25 Grand Prix and the small tour level will vie for championships. Spectators are welcome.

Learn more at usef.org.

App: Netflix. “I’m always watching

something.” Mad Men is part of her current binge. “Six-and-a-half years too late, I know! But it’s great because they have every episode—I can power through season after season.”

Quality in a person: Compassion or

X May 20-24 If you’re a dressage enthusiast in the Colorado area, you don’t want to miss the first Dressage Symposium In The Rockies, taking place at the Colorado Horse Park in Parker. This year’s program features clinicians Lars Petersen, Axel Steiner, Steffen Peters, Michael Klimke, Jane Weatherwax, Jane Savoie and Scott Hassler. There will also be a trade fair and other exhibitions. Learn about auditing opportunities at chp.coth.com/page/dressage-symposium-in-the-rockies.

Workout: Yoga or running Family activity: “My family and I sail.

It’s our family vacation every year; we go sailing in the British Virgin Islands.

It’s been 20 years or so—my parents have been going since before then. I’ve been invited along in the last 20 years.”

Famous person: The Obamas Song: Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed

Girl” TV show: Grey’s Anatomy. “[I’m a] very loyal fan. I’ve been doing it for 12 years, and I will keep going. I can’t stop at this point.”

Most embarrassing horsey experience: Competing at the

AGDF a couple of years ago in the CDI Under-25 Grand Prix. “Halfway through the test, the judge rang the bell to tell me that I was going off course. But I was so sure I wasn’t that I just kept riding. She had to ring it three separate times. And finally I’m like, ‘What?’—and then it turns out I actually wasn’t off course, and she had made the mistake. I was confident that I wasn’t going off course. She basically had to come out into the ring and wave her hands at me to get me to stop.”

MOLLY SORGE PHOTO

Season: Fall

X May 28 This year’s Devon Horse Show in Devon, Pa., features all the usual excitement—the $225,000 Sapphire Grand Prix, the country’s top hunters and jumpers in all divisions, and of course famous fudge, lemonade and cucumber sandwiches. But competitors and spectators have a new class this year in the $50,000 Arena Eventing class, which will take place at 7 p.m. Forty eventers and jumpers will tackle a Mark Phillips-designed course of solid obstacles in a linked Dixon Oval and Gold Ring. Learn more at devonhorseshow.net.

X June 7 Don’t miss the deadline to submit artwork for the Chronicle’s Junior Gallery in the annual Junior & Pony Issue, which will be published July 3. Readers 18 and younger may submit entries for consideration. Artistic submissions must be related to sport with either horse or hound. They can be any medium except photographs.

Horse-related essays and poems by juniors will also be considered. All submissions—art and writing—must be original creations by the artist or writer.

Email submissions (300 dpi at 4"x 6") to Lfoley@coth. com. Include artist’s/writer’s full name, age and hometown. Original artwork can be sent via regular mail to: P.O. Box 46, Middleburg, VA 20118. If sending by courier, the address is 108 The Plains Rd., Middleburg, VA 20117. If sending original artwork that cannot be returned in a 9"x 12" envelope, please include paid return postage in order to have your art shipped back to you.

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MEG SELVIDGE ARTWORK

sense of humor

Emoji: The monkey with the hands over the eyes

SARA LIESER PHOTO

Global Dressage Festival and Hamilton Farm in Gladstone, N.J.

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EDITOR’S PICKS

The Next Generation Of Exercise Bandage

By K IMBERLY LOUSHIN Photo courtesy of ACAVALLO

W

hen I came across the Acavallo Gel Bandages, to say I was intrigued was an understatement. The horse I ride is older, and after a few days of hard work his legs show some filling around the tendons. These wraps purported to help reduce swelling without leaving marks on the legs, so I was ready to take them for a test ride.

The bandages are half gel material and half standard exercise bandage, either fleece, acrylic or elastic. The gel material sits on the leg smoothly and sticks to itself, which reduces the chance of a wrinkled wrap. The gel portion is bonded to the exercise bandage to eliminate an awkward seam between the two materials.

Applying them does take some practice, as the gel portion is wider and shorter than the elastic half of the bandage. You want the gel to cover the entire leg evenly before you wrap back up over it with the elastic, and it took me a few tries to get the technique down.

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The gel provides more shock absorption against impact than a typical exercise bandage. It also conforms closely to the horse’s leg, which prevents the wrap from picking up arena dirt.

The non-toxic gel doesn’t leave marks on the leg and doesn’t slide down. Regardless of the conditions I rode in, these wraps stayed exactly as they were before a ride. I was concerned the gel might stick to itself in extreme temperatures, but I never had an issue rolling or unrolling them.

Most importantly, these wraps delivered on their claim to help reduce swelling.

I used them every time my horse came in with puffy legs, and by the end of the ride his legs looked much tighter than before.

Overall I saw a reduction in the amount of swelling and the number of days his legs looked larger than normal.

Since the bandages are heavy I did have some concerns about whether they’d hold heat, but the gel is porous, and my horse’s legs didn’t feel warmer after rides than in any other boot or wrap. You can also chill

or freeze the wrap to provide cold therapy.

While I never tried this with my horse, I did freeze the wraps and used them on my own ankle while on “stall rest” due to injury, and I found that worked well.

Their care is simple. You can rinse the wraps at the barn or throw them into your washing machine on a low temperature. An unexpected plus was that the gel doesn’t pick up shedding hair the way fleece polos do, which meant my washing machine stayed cleaner, and there was less stray horse hair on my work clothes.

The wraps are available in three materials with four choices of color. They retail for $49.99, and the company also offers gel jumping boots or gel wraps to go underneath your current bandages. Visit acavallo. com to find retailers.

Editor’s Note: Acavallo provided the wraps to Untacked for unbiased testing and review free of charge. After testing, the product was donated to an equine charity.

MONACO COMPETITION SHIRT | ATHENS LADIES BREECHES

I N S T O R E

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M O B I L E

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# A A R I D I N G S T Y L E

TECH SPOTLIGHT

Too Hot Or Too Cold No More The Orscana sensor takes the guesswork, and the stress, out of blanketing.

By L ISA SL A DE

isit any barn, at really any hour of the day, and you’re likely to hear some version of the same conversation: “What blanket are you putting on him?”

Blankets are a source of anxiety for most owners since, unless your horses start either shivering or sweating, it’s impossible to know if they’re a comfortable temperature.

Enter Orscana, which aims to take the guesswork—and a lot of the anxiety—out of your blanketing protocol, while also keeping track of your horse’s overall movement and health.

The product was developed by French company Arioneo and came on the market about six months ago. Arioneo founders and lifelong friends Valentin Rapin and Erwan Mellerio have a background in horses, with Rapin studying business in college and Mellerio studying biomechanics.

“They had the passion for horses, and they realized there was a massive gap in the market,” said Claire Buchanan, manager of Orscana in the United Kingdom. “They started to look at, from a biomechanics perspective because that’s what Erwan was into, the performance of horses—really looking at heart rate and respiration, looking at how you could look at stride patterns and split times in race horses. That’s a product we’re still working on called Ecumetre.”

Ecumetre will likely hit the market in early 2018, with the first version targeting the racing industry.

“That was where the company started,” said Buchanan.

“But as we were developing this, we realized there are lots of issues to do with the care of horses at rest, never mind performance. We got involved with some research around thermoregulation and the damaging effects we humans have on our horses without really realizing it. Pros and amateurs alike, we all over-rug our horses out of kindness.

The problem is we rug them as we feel the cold, and they don’t feel the cold the same way we feel the cold. We have very little tolerance to cold or heat, but horses have a massive range where they’re comfortable.

“We’re all about the science behind this,” she added. “It

V

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may be a really cool gadget, but there are real health reasons why this product exists. I think it’s really about teaching people that their horses don’t feel the cold as much as they think they do and to be able to make the right choices every day and night for those horses.”

The Orscana sensor—about the size of the palm of your hand—fits into a mesh pocket, which is attached to the inside of your horse’s blanket or fly sheet with pins, or you can sew pockets into your different rugs for ease of swapping.

It should always be located over the horse’s hip.

The sensor is then linked via Bluetooth to your mobile phone, and you use the Orscana application to look at your horse’s information.

When you set up the application, you enter basic information about your horse (breed, age, gender, level of activity, size, and if the horse is clipped or has a summer or winter coat), and then that information goes through Arioneo’s extensively tested algorithms to determine your individual horse’s best parameters for comfort.

The developers discovered a Thoroughbred with a winter coat is comfortable without a blanket from about 37 degrees Fahrenheit to 79 degrees. The same horse with a clipped coat will likely require some form of blanket or sheet at 52 degrees Fahrenheit and should stay comfortable up through 88 degrees. Arabians are similar. But, per their algorithms, a Hanoverian will be happier at a slightly lower temperature, and ponies prefer it cooler as well.

“The minute they go below that comfort zone, they start to shiver, and their breathing speeds up to compensate to keep them warm,” said Buchanan. “If they go over the top, they obviously start to breathe more slowly, and also they start to perspire to cool themselves.”

But Orscana doesn’t just measure temperature. It detects moisture levels on the horse, a helpful feature for cooling out.

“I use it absolutely after exercise because what we want to do is maintain the body temperature of the horse, but we want the humidity levels to drop,” said Buchanan. “What you find is that people take those coolers off way, way too soon. You think the horse is fine, and you put the stable rugs on, but they haven’t cooled off enough, and they start to heat back up again. You see humidity go up, and then you see the body temperature drop, which is what you don’t want.”

The application also tells you the percentage of time your horse spent resting versus moving about since the last sync. It can be used during travel for the same purposes. If you want

to use Orscana during warmer months, the sensor can go underneath a fly or summer sheet.

If you’re using the sensor at night, it’ll track your horse’s temperature, moisture levels and movement, and then you sync your phone with it in the morning or when you arrive at the barn.

An updated version of the application allows you to share your horse’s data with your contacts—like a friend, barn manager or trainer. They can then sync with your horse and send you the data.

“If my horse has been out grazing and lying down, I want to know about that, especially if it’s been more than 10 minutes,” Buchanan said. “For me, this is my eyes and ears and heat sensors. I get up in the morning, I feed them, I check the sensor, and I know they’ve had a comfortable night. I do another sync when I’m rugging them at night, so I know which one to put on. I know they’re good. I don’t have anxiety anymore.”

An important note: The sensor is water resistant enough to handle normal dampness that’ll occur under a blanket, but it’s not waterproof. Make sure to remove it before washing your rugs.

The Orscana sensor retails for $99. Learn more at the company’s website at arioneo.com/en/home, or purchase if you’re in the United States at statelinetack.com/content/orscana/ introducing-orscana.

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TEST LAB

Neckwear Made Simple—Or Fancy Whether you want custom colors and bling or a more classic design, these pre-tied stock ties are easy to use, stylish and fun.

By LINDSAY BERRETH

Ovaaat Ovation’s budgetfrie en Dri-Tex e friendly Drrre Dressage Stock T is no frills Tie b all comfort. but A Available only in white and in sizes small through extra large, the tie is made from the brand’s moisturewicking Dri-Tex fabric.

The tie was light as a feather when I wore it, and I hardly noticed it. It doesn’t come with a pin, so if you want to dress it up, it’s on you. It looks a little limp compared to some of the fancier ties, but I’ll take that over feeling like I can’t move my head due to too much fabric under my neck. It looks classic, despite fewer ruffles or a fancier “knot.”

Based on the feel of the fabric, I think it will work well on a summer day.

The tie features a hook-and-loop fastener, and the fabric is treated with Scotchgard™ to help stains come out in the wash. If you want easy and simple, this tie is for you. There’s also an untied version.

Learn more: ovationriding.com Cost: $22.95

Salute Stock Ties Pre-Tied Stock Tie

GINA FALCONE PHOTO

Ovation O Dri-Tex D Dressage Dres ss s PreTied d Stock Tie

Style Stock Pre-Tied Stock Tie Adored by top eventers, including Tamra Smith and Lauren Billys, West Coast-based Style Stock makes stocks in a variety of fabrics, selling untied and pre-tied versions of designs created in 2014 by eventer Hannah Childs of Santa Barbara, Calif.

From ruffles to rhinestones and knots to more simple pieces, Childs’ designs aren’t over the top. The colors and patterns are great for someone just stepping out of the comfort zone of a traditional white tie.

Light pinks, blues, lavender, silver, gold and cream shades give these stock ties an elegant look. The tie I tried included a pin you insert after crossing the two pieces of fabric.

The tie, which fastens with two snaps, was a bit tight, and although they’re only available in one size, extenders are available. Many designs are machine washable.

Learn more: stylestock.co Cost: $59-$69

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Founded in 2014 in Princeton,, N.J., by U.S. Equestrian Federation “S” judge Kem de er Barbosa and FEI dressage rider T Lisa Stockman, Salute Stock Ties e eces offers conservative-looking pieces with a bit of flare. a anted Barbosa and Stockman wanted to create a well-fitting stock tie that e didn’t sag, was flattering to the neck, and easy to put on.

The ties are designed to come high up the neck, and the knot is placed high as well, so the tie stays full and sits securely under the chin.

They’re wide enough to stay securely under a jacket, and the hook-and-loop closure was generous and comfortable.

Blue or black polka dots, gingham and checked patters are different, but not too flashy for competition. In addition, foxhunters should like how similar this tie looks to a traditional stock, and many of the colors and patterns are subtle enough for the hunt field.

A fun feature with these ties is that they’re reversible. You can wear them four different ways by flipping the collar and the tie piece. My favorite was a blue-checked collar with a white tie. The fit was comfortable and just required a pin to secure the tie in the right place.

The ties are manufactured in the United States by members of the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana.

Learn more: salutestockties.com Cost: $60

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TESTER’S CHOICE

Bad Habit Pre-Tied Stock Tie

tarted in 2014 by dressage rider Veronica Himmelberger in Schnecksville, Pa., Bad Habit Stock Ties’ slogan is, “Put the dress in dressage.”

When she started the company, Himmelberger had recently purchased a custom saddle pad and wanted a stock tie to match. She wasn’t finding what she wanted, so she made her own. After she ended up with a pile of stock ties, her husband suggested she sell them to pay for her “bad habit.”

Combined with inspiration from the term “riding habit,” the company and its name were created.

Himmelberger is a one-woman operation and sells her ties to cover her horse expenses.

I had a hard time choosing one to try because of the endless options. From fabric color and texture, to the size of the buttons, pins, ribbons or gems you can add, every stock tie is enviable.

S

Equi-Logic Stock Tie Created by equestrian entrepreneur Julie Lackey, Equi-Logic pre-tied stock ties come in several different styles.

Lackey started making stock ties in the 1990s, and her original, the “Tie One On,” is still available today. A dressage rider sick of choking on the traditional stock tie, Lackey, of Las Vegas, tries to emulate the traditional knot in some of her designs, but she also has bib and ruffle collar versions.

The Tie One On comes in a textured piqué fabric or a cotton poplin, both of which hold their shapes without ironing. It comes in plain white with a simple pin or with colored trim. A unique feature is the removable fabric that turns the stock into a ratcatcher.

My favorite of Lackey’s ties was the colorblock tie (pictured), which comes in satin or poplin and a choice of black, blue, purple or red for the collar. It was not bulky and laid nicely under my coat. It’s machine washable too, making it easy to care for.

Learn more: equi-logic.net Cost: $28-$36

As an eventer, I loved the colorblocked styles that use white and a custom color on the edges, with optional gems, but if you’re looking for something even fancier, some of the ties looked straight out of Downton Abbey—made of silk or lace with fancy brooches that look very Victorian chic.

Picking your cross-country or barn colors is fun, but if you need a more muted tie to follow Fédération Equestre Internationale rules, you can still dress it up by choosing a textured fabric and adding some bling. Collar extenders are also available for $1.50.

Learn more: etsy.com/shop/BadHabitStockTies Cost: $60 for a handmade tie; $45-50 for pre-made ties

Fancy Pants 2-Color Pre-Tied Stock Tie e The eventer in me silently squealed when I saw the Fancy d Pants 2-Color pre-tied stock tie. I love color coordination, and 2016, Amanda Ruane, of Sarver, Pa., who started her company in 2016, am me. had a beautiful red, white and black tie that was calling my name. ot of o Made of polyester taffeta and polyester satin, there is a lot he tie t fabric, but it laid flat and didn’t feel bulky around my neck. The had a generously sized hook-and-loop fastener. le.

If it’s too much color for you, the “knot” is interchangeable.

I switched it from black to white, and it looked just as nice.

There is also a permanent knot option. ls Ruane offers different brooches and one-color ties and sell sells ties with crystal embellishment.

The general style and pattern of the ties are the same, but custom color options make these really fun. Ruane said she invites creativity and will work with a rider to make her vision a reality as she continues to grow her business.

Learn more: fancypantsstockties.com Cost: $60 and above

Editor’s note: All companies provided stock ties to Untacked for unbiased testing and review free of charge. After testing, the products were returned to the companies or purchased at retail price by the reviewer.

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THE CLOTHES HORSE

AMAZING TECHNIFABRIC DREAMCOATS Summer’s just around the corner, the show ring is your stage, and these jackets—in a dizzying array of modern materials, cuts and colors—are definitely worthy of standing ovations.

BY K AT N E T Z LER

ANIMO LIDA This second-skin show coat is of course water and stain resistant and machine washable, and it features zippered pockets and cuffs and a beautiful floral lining. Available in tomato, londra, blu navy, marrone, nero or bluette (shown). Sizes 36-52. $580. usanimo.com.

CARMA ELISE EVO Fair warning: Don’t even go to Carma’s website unless you can spare a significant chunk of time, because you are going to get hooked on the thrill of designing these fully customizable tech jackets. You can build your dream coat piece by piece, choosing your fabric color (black, dark blue, blue, royal blue, grey, light grey, sand, red or brown) and collar, piping, logo and other details (in all those colors and more).

Sizes XXS-XL. Starting at $585. carmaitalia.com.

SARM HIPPIQUE VERBANIA In case there was any doubt remaining about Italian designers’ grasp on elegance, Sarm Hippique is ready to disabuse you of that notion. With a timeless silhouette, waterproof and breathable fabric, and a color combination list that’ll make you feel like a kid in a candy store, it’s no surprise that the Verbania is the brand’s most popular style in the U.S. market. It features zippered pockets and cuffs, double back vents, and is machine washable and stain resistant. Available in grey, navy, tan (all shown) and black, with accents in navy, dark grey, violet, burgundy, beige, light blue, light grey or green. Italian sizes 38-50; regular or long. $699. galleriamorusso.com.

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KINGSLAND HAYLE Taupey hues are making a surge of late, and Kingsland’s softshell, machine-washable Hayle jacket makes the trend look especially pretty. Mesh side panels keep you cool under pressure, and with 6 percent elastane, you’ll be comfy and unconstricted, too. Available in navy or brown iron (shown).

Sizes 32-44. $499. usa.kingsland.com.

RJ CLASSICS MONTEREY XTREME For the traditionalist who just can’t bear one more bout of heat stroke: This baby is your new bestie. It combines classic tailoring that recalls the finest wool hunt coats of eras gone by and a shockingly lightweight and stretchy (20 percent elastane!) fabric. There’s also a hidden zipper to create an extra-flattering, seamless silhouette. An unconstructed interior (no lining) keeps riders cool, and the fabric repels UV rays for an equivalent effect of SPF 50. Machine washable, wrinkle free and water resistant. Available in black, navy, brown and green herringbone (shown). Sizes 00-16, lengths le engths regular or long. $504-$528. $504-$528 rjclassics.com.

EQUILINE SAMANTHA & MARLEE To each her own: Whether your style tends toward the techy or the blingy, Equiline has you covered. The Samantha features a sprinkle of sequins (but the tiniest, most tasteful ones ever, we swear!) on the collar and above the back vent, while the Marlee is totally Sporty Spice, with zippers, snaps, ergonomic cuts and mesh panels galore. The Samantha is available in blue, black or grey (all with black sequins and black glitter buttons), with a customizable tail weight. $1,020. The Marlee is available only in black. $895. Both come in Italian sizes 36-48. equilineamerica.com.

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THE CLOTHES HORSE FITS ZEPHYR DRESSAGE FITS has tweaked its full-mesh Zephyr nearly to perfection since it made its big debut a few years back. Still as perforated yet opaque as ever, the dressage version of the Zephyr features a new zipper behind its four black and silver snaps, as well as silver piping and a double-vented back. Available only in black.

Sizes XS-XL. $329. fitsriding.com. g

CAVALLERIA TOSCANA GRAND PRIX New for spring/summer 2017, the Grand Prix model is elegant from all angles, but especially from the back, where princess seams and a double vent allow for a feminine fit and ease of motion. Plus there’s that cool CT logo embossed on the upper right arm in the brand’s trademark subtle style. Available in blue, burgundy, black, navy and grey (shown). Italian sizes 36-42 (but they run small, so consider sizing up). $535. cavalleriatoscana.it.

ALESSANDRO ALBANESE MOTION LITE A 2016 BETA Innovation Awards winner, the multi-discipline Motion Lite has all the bells and whistles you want and need: It’s unlined and fully mesh but still appears solid, no matter how bright your shirt, boasts a hidden zipper, and even has interchangeable buttons and a removable lapel logo. Available in black (shown), navy (shown), aviation blue, hunter green (shown) and burgundy.

Sizes XXS-XXL. $250. alessandroalbanese.com.

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WELLINGTON, FLORIDA HAMPTONS, NEW YORK ASPEN, COLORADO

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THE CLOTHES HORSE

FOR THE FELLAS… SCHOCKEMÖHLE RUSSELL While its trademarked “coldblack” finish protects from UV rays and prevents its fabric from heating up, the sporty softshell Russell also wicks moisture in a flash. This water-repellent, machine-washable jacket features plenty of functional pockets and a hidden front zipper to prevent bunching. Available in navy, anthracite (shown) and black. Sizes 44-52. $569. schockemoehle-sports.com.

MARK TODD EDWARD

PIKEUR GRASCO With just a hint of white stitching, Pikeur has transformed an otherwise ordinary men’s jacket into a head-turner. With all the elasticity and ease of care you’d expect from a modern show coat, the Grasco has a half-length net inner lining and double vented back. Available in navy, grey or black (shown). Sizes 34-48. $361. pikeur.de.

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Most of us would probably head into the ring wearing a burlap sack if an eight-time Olympian (in not one but two disciplines) told us to, but luckily Mark Todd’s collection is significantly more stylish and comfortable. The Italian-tailored Edward even features the famous Kiwi’s signature as its brand logo right on the breast pocket.

Available in navy, black or grey (shown). Sizes 34-42. $323.99. equestrian.com.

HAVE YOU ANY WOOL? If you still favor old-fashioned materials, you’re e in luck. You can still find them here and there, and despite e its many technical innovations, Kingsland offers an especially pecially pretty option. It boasts velvet details and layered red pleats that flatter the waist, and there’s even a quote e from Winston Churchill hidden inside. (Bet you can n guess which one.) Made of lightweight one-way stretch etch Italian wool. Available in black with gold-tone and enamel buttons and embroidery or navy with silver-tone and crystal accents (shown). Sizess 30-44. $499. usa.kingsland.com.

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DAVID TOMA PHOTO

ARTIST PROFILE

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The Intertwined Passions Of Father

Michael Tang Despite necessitating a painful transition from one type of priesthood to another, horses have always factored into his life alongside his faith and artistic endeavors.

By JENNIFER B. CALDER

J

PHOTO COURTESY MICHAEL TANG

contemporary portraits of tourust as he has for decades, ists in Los Angeles, injuring his Michael Tang recently threw dominant hand and side is conhis leg over a young horse cerning, although he is expected at the barn where he helps to make a full recovery followschool new arrivals. But from the ing physical therapy. beginning of his ride, something “It is part and parcel with felt off—his leg and seat aids were horses,” Tang says from his home misunderstood, the horse confused. at the rectory of the Church of Unbeknownst to Tang, the little Saint Mark in Venice, Calif., training the 4-year-old had was in a days after his release. western saddle. Agitated or frustrated “But I am 58 now, and I by the miscommunication, it spooked don’t think you bounce as easand finally bucked him off. ily as in your 30s and 40s,” he The result? A broken scapula, adds. “The difficult part for me clavicle and nine fractured ribs is I’m used to having a horse and on Tang’s right side, one of which riding, and it’s hard just to give punctured his lung—resulting in a it up. But again, when does one 10-day hospital stay, including four stop? How does it happen?” nights in the intensive care unit in “My life now is very full,” says Michael Tang, who rides in addition to his work as a priest, an artist and as a It’s a question Tang has an induced coma, and then surgery professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. grappled with his entire life. In a few weeks later to help repair his fact, his love of horses and showing was the impetus behind ribs, clavicle and lung. transitioning from a Jesuit to a Diocesan parish priest nearly As a successful painter with a diverse oeuvre encom20 years ago. passing equine sport and hounds to religious subjects and

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PHOTO COURTESY MICHAEL TANG

PROFILE

Michael Tang was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 1990 but transitioned to the Diocesan priesthood in 1998.

Although he’s in residence at the Church of Saint Mark, he also says Mass at three other parishes in the Los Angeles area.

And some he delivers in fluent Spanish, which he learned at 50.

“The Society of Jesus is a religious order where one takes a vow of poverty. I eventually left them because I wanted to pursue my love of horses and own things and have animals,” says Tang. “A Diocesan priest works in parishes. They don’t take a vow of poverty.”

Just as constant as his love of horses and his service to faith are his artistic endeavors. Tang has been a professor of art and art history at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles for almost three decades and was chair of the department from 1996-2006.

One can’t understand Tang without acknowledging the interdependence of these braided threads, each strand necessary to complete the whole: his ministry, his art and his animals.

Remove one, and the entire thing unravels.

But figuring that out took a bit of soul searching.

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SERVICE TO OTHERS Tang, who is of Chinese and German descent, is a fourthgeneration Phoenician, his family settling in Arizona when it was still a territory. He was raised in Cave Creek, Ariz., outside of Phoenix, with his three sisters and two brothers. (He is the second oldest and the oldest son.) The family kept horses as pets, hacking them in western tack on the trails around his home.

“It was basically just expansive desert in the middle of country,” he says of his childhood home.

His father worked in real estate, and his mother had a master’s degree from Teachers College at Columbia University (N.Y.).

Omnipresent from childhood was his love of art.

“I always painted. It was as much a means of communication as speaking for me as a kid. I always had this intense urge to create, you know? Always making messes,” he says with a laugh.

“My mom was very supportive,” he continues. “She had a master’s degree, which back then was unusually educated.

She did everything to encourage us in terms of our talents.

PHOTO COURTESY MICHAEL TANG

PHOTO COURTESY MICHAEL TANG

“I’ve had my doubts at times, but anyone does,” says Michael Tang of his decision to become a priest—a decision he made at 19.

My sisters took ballet lessons, and I took drawing and painting as a kid.”

They also influenced his desire to become a priest.

“My grandmother was very Catholic, and I had an uncle who was a Franciscan priest and an aunt who was a nun,” he says. “And my uncle was a very famous retreat master and preacher, so I always had that example.”

Even as a child, he had an idea he might pursue a life of faith. He was an altar server and went to Catholic grade school and a Jesuit prep school.

“I had a good example of people trying to be of service to others and to make our world a better place,” he says.

JESUIT JOURNEY He began his studies to be a priest at 19 years old.

“I’ve had my doubts at times, but anyone does,” Tang says. “It’s like getting married or any relationship. Everyone has their doubts, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve been confirmed that I made the right choice, and I’m quite happy with the way my life has gone.”

After graduating from Brophy College Preparatory, a Jesuit

“Sometimes God calls us through tragedy, as there is something else he wants us to do,” says Michael Tang of his decision to transition to the Diocesan priesthood, which allowed him to keep riding and own dogs.

high school in Phoenix, Tang spent one year in college before entering the Society of Jesus in Montecito, Calif.

In concert with his path to becoming a Jesuit priest, a process which takes 13 years, Tang earned a bachelor’s degree in studio art from Loyola Marymount College and three advanced degrees: a Master of Fine Arts from the prestigious and highly competitive School of the Art Institute of Chicago; and master’s degrees in both theology and divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University in Berkeley, Calif.

He was ordained on June 16, 1990.

Jesuits are reputed as the most intellectual of the Catholic orders, placing a premium on education, with top institutions such as Georgetown University (D.C.), Fordham University (N.Y.) and Boston College founded by the order.

“As a young Jesuit, I knew I wanted to be a university professor, and the order supported that,” says Tang. “So they educated me and sent me to top graduate schools. I also had

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Michael Tang’s art often focuses on the equine form, sometimes featuring famous mounts like hunter Rox Dene with Elizabeth Solter (left) or Lone Star with Hunt Tosh (right).

numerous solo exhibitions when I was studying theology.

They supported that because they knew for me to be competitive and get a job at one of their universities I had to have the exhibitions and reviews.”

After receiving his MFA in 1983, Tang was hired as an assistant professor of visual arts at the College of the Holy Cross (Mass.), a top Jesuit institution, for two years, 1983-1985. This was unusual since most first teaching experiences for young Jesuits are in high schools—and because it was outside his home province of California, Utah and Arizona.

“Holy Cross had heard about me and my talents,” he admits when I question why this happened.

His time in Massachusetts was pivotal.

Being in a university setting surrounded by supportive colleagues educated him on the tools he would need to eventually become a tenured professor—exhibitions and reviews.

His early artistic endeavors, in the late 1980s and 1990s were,

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by his explanation, “very modern and avant-garde installation work.” He had his first solo exhibit in 1986, at only 26, at the Eilat Gordin Gallery in Los Angeles with a series of paintings inspired

by Gerard Manly Hopkins, a Jesuit and a Victorian-era poet. The show was reviewed in the Los Angeles Times—no small feat for a burgeoning artist.

His success in the commercial art world did indeed lead to him getting tenure, early tenure in fact, back at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he has been a professor ever since.

But equally crucial during his years in Massachusetts was his reintroduction to riding, and that reignited passion would ultimately redefine his ministry.

ALTERING THE ALTAR Although he had grown up riding backyard horses, it wasn’t until he was on the East Coast, at the age of 24, that he was introduced to the world of smaller saddles and no pommel horns.

PHOTO COURTESY MICHAEL TANG

“I always wanted to jump, so we did some of that,” he says. “It was fun, and I really loved having an outlet. I realized how much I missed having an animal and bonding with animals, because we always had dogs and horses when I was growing up.”

Tang would take lessons whenever his teaching schedule allowed, drawn to Thoroughbreds “because of their sensitivity.”

“If one has ever ridden a horse and knows it well, there is an innate communication,” he says. “There’s a sense of one brain thinking together; when approaching a fence all I needed to do was to subtly shift my weight, and the horse would steady. I didn’t even have to touch the reins.”

He continued riding when he returned to the West Coast, showing hunters and getting his first horse at 26, Trooping The Color, or “Trooper,” while living in Berkeley and finishing his dual religious master’s degrees.

When he moved to Los Angeles in 1990 to teach at

Michael Tang conducts at least four Masses a week, and he does some of those in Spanish—a language he only learned at 50.

Loyola Marymount, he began training with Cyndi Grossman Merritt and Rob Gage at what was then G&G Farms and continued showing hunters.

For Tang, riding was a necessity for a content life. But things became a little thorny with some of his fellow Jesuits.

“I had been riding and showing horses, and my family was paying for it, but I had a superior who didn’t like the image of me riding horses,” he says.

“The rub became larger because it wasn’t working out. I was not happy,” he continues. “I wanted to ride and to show, as it filled a need for me. I loved going to the barn several times a week. Half of my life was missing—I didn’t have a wife or family or kids or a dog—so riding made me a complete person.”

Tang approached the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and requested to become a Diocesan priest. He would live and work

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PROFILE Michael Tang’s artistic passions range from religious themes to horses and hounds to Los Angeles city scenes.

in the Archdiocese but keep his tenured professorship and pursue his riding. The Archdiocese welcomed him.

“Making that decision was difficult at first, but I could have my horses, show and have my dogs. I could live an independent life,” he says.

He would own some eight horses over the years, leasing several more. Two were warmbloods, but his heart belonged to the Thoroughbred. And although liberated to show, it became difficult to find the time.

“I quit showing years ago because I say Masses on the weekend. What worked best for me was to bring along young horses and sell them, so I did that with my trainer for years,” he says. “I did the flatwork and would help her, and she would show, and we’d sell the horses. It didn’t really make sense for me to be an amateur because I didn’t have the time on the weekends.”

This arrangement filled a gap in his life.

“As someone who is celibate, having a young horse, developing their talent and seeing them succeed is very much like having a child,” says Tang.

Tang also partnered with Merritt on several mounts.

“We had some very nice horses,” says Merritt. “We bought a few of them, some from here, and some of the best ones from Europe, and it was fun because once they could get going, he would definitely do the flatwork and loved to come hack.

“He couldn’t come ride every day, but it worked out,” she adds. “When we would be showing, he had such a good eye about how the horses needed to be going. I think having an artistic eye with its precision, he could say, ‘Oh, he was a little uneven at this jump—the arc was a little flat,’ and we would be able to work on it back at the barn, so that was really help-

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ful. He had a really good eye about a way of going and style.”

Of his decision to leave the Jesuit order, Tang is confident that, while perhaps a bit painful at the time, he made the right one.

“I really did make the right choice for myself, and I feel that it enabled me to develop my priesthood on a larger level,” he says. “I’m not just a professor at a university, and my life now is very full.

Sometimes God calls us through tragedy, as there is something else he wants us to do. I really do think that growth can only come through pain. These are the types of things I talk about in my sermon.”

YOU FIGURE IT OUT Tang brings decades of intellectual knowledge that he gained as a Jesuit to his role as a Diocesan priest, though his duties in this role differ a bit.

“What I was lacking when I switched was parish work, because I was just a university professor, so I’ve had to learn about hearing confessions, saying Masses on a frequent basis, and visiting the sick,” he says. “The Jesuits do have parishes, but their No. 1 apostolate is education.”

The educational component was clearly imprinted. Eight years ago, when he was 50, Tang learned Spanish. He wanted to be able to preside at Mass in the native tongue of his congregation.

“It took six months to get the basic bearing of the language, but I had only been in the parish for six weeks when I had to do my first Spanish Mass. I walked into the church and saw 2,000 people sitting there and wanted to run out and never come back again!” he says with a laugh. “But you figure it out!”

Did he feel he had God on his side when undertaking such an endeavor? He chuckles again.

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PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTORS OF PROFILE MICHAEL TANG’S ART

• The University of Texas at Austin • The Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, St. Louis, Mo.

• Mr. and Mrs. Bertram Firestone • Becky Gochman • Bridget Hallman • Laura Kent Kraut • Ann Lapides • The Lindner Family

• The National Museum of Catholic Art and History, New York City

• Peter Pletcher

• Boston College Museum of Art, Chestnut Hill, Mass.

• The Nissen Family

• The American Council on Education, Washington, D.C.

• Katie Monahan Prudent

• The International Museum of the Horse, Lexington, Ky.

• Jennifer McLaughlin • Caroline Clark Morrison • Dr. Betsee Parker • Janet Read • Danny Robertshaw • Louise Serio

• The de Saisset Art Museum, Santa Clara, Calif.

• Christina Schlusemeyer

• TRANSCO Energy Corporation, Houston, Texas

• Scott Stewart

• L.J. Kraft Corporation, Hershey, Pa.

• Chris Kappler

• Mr. and Mrs. Edward S. Bonnie

• Susie Schoellkopf

• Elizabeth Solter

• John French • Holly Hayes Orlando

• Hunt Tosh

• Lulu Davis

• Aaron Vale

• Sandy Ferrell

“Oh no, God helps those who help themselves,” he says.

“That’s what I always tell people. No, I wanted to learn Spanish, as a lack of the language was a handicap for me. It’s never too late to become everything God wants you to be or to enable yourself.

“Learning Spanish was one of the best and greatest things that I did,” he adds.

Even during these undeniably volatile times in our country, Tang keeps his Mass messages relatable to all.

“You know, I’m an individual,” he says. “I think a little bit of it comes out in the way I preach. But a cardinal rule is I avoid discussing politics from the pulpit. People are in so many different

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Michael Tang usually has a Jack Russell terrier or two.

• Jane Forbes Clark

• Havens Shatt

• Tricia Booker

PHOTO COURTESY MICHAEL TANG

• The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, Austin, Texas

places in terms of intellect and education. In my homilies, I try to take scripture and make it appropriate for today.

“What does it mean to you or me in our current situations, in our struggles as human persons? Where is God as a supreme being at work in our lives?” he adds. “How do we make sense of things that happen to us negatively? In other words, when someone walks out on us, or relationships are failing, when someone we love is sick or dying, or something happens at work, how do we keep our chin up and move forward? These are the things I talk about. They have to do with day-to-day life and trying to make sense of being a human being.”

ARTISTIC EVOLUTION While much of Tang’s work isn’t related to sport horses, he’s perhaps best known in equestrian circles for his breathtaking and powerful pieces of horses and riders.

“I think what sets me apart from most equine painters and sporting artists is that I do ride and know horses intimately; it’s not something that is superficial. This is why there are so very few good sporting artists out there,” Tang says. “How many times have I corrected the horse’s form, the rider’s leg and hands, to make it look presentable? All that stuff is just part and parcel of what I do

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PHOTO COURTESY MICHAEL TANG

because I know it.”

While he was an installation artist in his early career, Tang’s primary medium now is watercolor, many enormously scaled. The Hollywood series paintings are 6' to 8' tall.

“Even though I received a rave review for [the installation] pieces, no one is going to buy them, and so there were storage problems,” says Tang.

“With watercolors, I framed the paintings for exhibitions against the wall with glass. I didn’t have to pay for the frame, and once it was over the glass could be removed, and I could take the paper and roll it up. In addition to this, I loved the brilliance of watercolors. It’s my medium of choice [since] it’s non-toxic too, and that appeals to me.”

He had his first big break in equestrian art when The New York Times Magazine reproduced his painting of Katie Monahan Prudent and Nordic Venture on its cover in 1993.

Despite a recent fall and subsequent surgery, Michael Tang is looking forward to getting back in the saddle of some young horses once he’s fully recovered.

Lifelong horsewoman Nina Bonnie has been a friend and patron of Tang’s celebration, will coincide with the show. Additionally, plans for decades, meeting him first in Wellington, Fla., where she was are in the works for an accompanying book. showing. She has many of his pieces.

“Select members of the Academy will be invited to contribute, “I had a horse I showed called Orion that was champion at and in the book we hope to have reproductions of the work along Upperville [Va.], and Mike did a painting of Orion jumping, and with written introductions for each hunt,” he says. it’s fabulous,” says Bonnie. “I also have a small one of hounds he He currently owns one horse, a beloved retiree named Storydid that I love and another in our house in Montana he did of a teller, who is 28. He had developed the Thoroughbred as a youngcowboy on a horse that is really nice. Mike is a really good artist, ster and rode him successfully in the hunter ring before selling and he is just a wonderful human being.” him for a significant amount of money in 1997, only to later disHe created the art for the Capital Challenge Horse Show cover in 2011 that he had been abused. He bought him back.

(Md.) poster for two decades, and his work has also graced several “I rescued him six years ago and showed him for five years until The Chronicle of the Horse magazine covers. he became unsound,” says Tang. “He now is retired and happy.”

A member of the American Academy of Equine Artists, Tang Although his recent accident has given him pause, he’s optiis currently working with AAEA President Booth Malone and mistic about a return to riding.

Bonnie on a project designed to rejuvenate the academy.

“I’m still interested in getting a young horse to bring along It’s an ambitious undertaking: an exhibit that will feature and to maybe find someone to go in with me in the investment— all 25 Virginia hunts. It’s slated for May 2018 at the Museum of a trainer like Cyndi was—and for me to do some of the flatwork Hounds and Hunting North America at Morven Park during and show the horse and sell it and then maybe do another one,” he the Virginia Foxhound Show, and Hark Forward, a Masters says. “I enjoy that.” of Foxhounds Association-sponsored international foxhunting

HISTORY

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA’S

Equestrian Gem Whether spawning the careers of riders like Anne Kursinski, Robert Ridland and Susie Hutchison or creating a family-friendly atmosphere, the Flintridge Riding Club has nurtured a love of horses for nearly 100 years.

FALLAW PHOTO

By KELLY SANCHEZ

In 1968, California’s Flintridge Riding Club was home to numerous riders who’d later climb to the top of the horse show world, including Susie Hutchison, Robert Ridland, Hap Hansen and Rob Gage—all of whom trained under legendary horseman Jimmy A. Williams.

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t might be just another charming yet unremarkable show photo if not for the fact that the teenagers include competitors who would rise to the highest ranks of show jumping: Susan “Susie” Hutchison, Robert Ridland, Hap Hansen and Rob Gage.

The four were members of California’s Flintridge Riding Club and among the scores of professionals who got their start under the direction of riding master Jimmy A. Williams.

With Williams at the helm, the club, set in the wooded foothill community of La Cañada Flintridge about 15 miles north of Los Angeles, was more than a private sanctuary where local families rode and gathered for parties, dinners and bridge. It became a breeding ground for show jumping talent.

“Flintridge in its heyday was probably one of three places you would ride,” says Hutchison, who has since represented the United States at six FEI World Cup Finals and the 1994 FEI World Equestrian Games in the Netherlands. “It was such an iconic time. You could go on and on about the superstars who came out of that facility.

That just doesn’t happen anymore. We were all lucky to be there.”

Ridland, now the U.S. show jumping chef d’equipe and technical advisor, calls Williams “the best allaround horseman I’ve ever been in contact with. We owe our careers to him.

He was the common denominator.”

And a common denominator he

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I

was, from 1956 until his death in 1993. When he arrived at Flintridge, Williams had already made a name for himself as a trainer of stock, saddleseat and cutting horses, and for his knack for bringing out the best in riders as well as horses. Soon, Flintridge was attracting a reputation for producing talented riders.

Mary Mairs (later Chapot) was 12 when she began working with Williams, and she stayed at Flintridge for three years before heading east in 1960. When she won the AHSA Medal Final and the ASPCA Maclay Final at the National Horse Show in New York City, she was the first West Coast rider to accomplish the feat. (Flintridge member Francie Steinwedell won the Medal Final in 1976 and the Maclay the following year.)

A Flintridge Riding Club trio (from left: Andy Scott Klug, Lizzy Bradley and Mason Phelps Jr.) clear a fence in a 1968 tandem jumping class at the facility. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is visible in the background.

The 1960s were an especially fruitful period for the club, attracting riders like Hutchison, Hansen, Ridland, Gage and Mason Phelps Jr., as well as a local girl who would become a member of five U.S. Olympic teams, Anne Kursinski. “[Jimmy] was a master horseman, a master teacher,” George Morris said after his friend and colleague’s death.

“He was a star and bigger than life.

He leaves legions of pupils who are tops in their own right.”

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THE OLDEST RIDING CLUB WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI

Flintridge might never have come to be had four area residents—Robert Fullerton Jr., Reginald Johnson, S.C. Fertig and John Marble—not joined forces to fulfill a singular vision: a fine facility where they could enjoy equestrian activities, friendship and top instruction. They began in 1922 with 10 acres purchased from Frank Flint, a California state senator and an avid equestrian. The club, named after Flint, was incorporated the following year.

In 1925, Johnson, a prominent architect and the club’s first president, designed the Spanish Colonial-style clubhouse that is still the centerpiece of the property, with its enormous fireplace and a stone patio shaded by oak trees.

Thirty more acres were added to the original 10, and stables and riding rings were built and later expanded.

Today, nearly 100 years after its founding, the club boasts four jumping arenas, two dressage courts, a crosscountry field and stalls for 180 horses.

Despite its proximity to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which shot off rockets from time to time, the setting is rustic and peaceful. Of the club’s current 335 members, most ride, choosing from nine trainers in residence.

Now 86, Gail Martin joined Flintridge in the late 1950s, a time when many members kept their horses at home. “They’d ride over or keep their horses at the club in summer when they traveled,” she says.

Then, as now, members came from all walks of life, says Martin.

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Robert Ridland, now USEF show jumping chef d’equipe and technical advisor, got his start at the Flintridge Riding Club when he was a teenager.

PHOTOS COURTESY SUSIE HUTCHISON

HISTORY

Legendary horseman and trainer Jimmy A. Williams worked out of Flintridge Riding Club from 1956 until his death in 1993, training numerous riders who’d go on to represent the United States in international show jumping competitions.

Hap Hansen, who’s now won nearly 100 grand prix classes throughout his career, was another rider who trained under Jimmy A. Williams at Flintridge.

value of your horse didn’t matter, and it wasn’t important if you had a lot of them.

You enjoyed the animals and enjoyed the sport. When we’d have a show, a lot of us would help out—as clerks, doing the decorations, braiding.”

Founded in 1922, the Children’s Horse Show was for years the oldest alljunior competition in the United States.

In 1927, it attracted 56 exhibitors and 86 horses. There were classes for ponies, under saddle, over jumps, in harness and in combinations; children’s hunters, singly and in pairs, riding tandem, and an exhibition of “fancy riding” and musical chairs. By 1959, the show received more than 1,000 entries.

In those days, Martin says, Flin-

tridge’s younger riders didn’t specialize in one discipline.

“A lot of them had ponies at home and did fun things on horseback as well as showing, which gives you a lot of horse sense. Now they don’t have horses at home, and you can’t ride up and down the streets anymore,” she says.

The youngsters learned to keep their tack clean, and if they went to a show, they were expected to look immaculate. Even in lessons, members wore jackets or riding coats.

“There were always high standards,” says Martin. “When an adult spoke to you, you respected that adult. When you were in a lesson, you were there to listen and learn.”

But club life revolved as much around social gatherings as horses.

There were formal dinners and dances, as well as trail rides accompanied by the grooms and the cook, who would prepare steaks over the fire.

Martin remembers Thursday evenings when the adults would gather for sit-down dinners in the clubhouse or on the patio. “The women wore long skirts, and the men wore suits; it wasn’t casual at all,” she says. “And there was a formal Sunday lunch. You would come in your church clothes, or if you’d been riding, you’d put a coat on. Heaven forbid if you wore sneakers or slacks.”

Some traditions have relaxed with the times. In the 1990s, the Thursday night dinners evolved into informal barbecues, with paper and plastic replacing ceramic and cutlery.

The change wasn’t universally embraced. Says one member, “That’s when my husband and I stopped coming to the dinners.”

CHERI DE HARO PHOTOS

Despite its location less than 20 miles from Los Angeles, Flintridge Riding Club is still a 40-acre haven for its members.

“Heaven forbid if you wore sneakers or slacks.”

–Gail Martin

Nevertheless, a certain formality prevails at Flintridge. A staffed kitchen serves breakfast, lunch and snacks, and there are annual events like the holiday tea and the New Year’s Eve Punch Bowl.

Look closely, and you’ll see a small plaque on the clubhouse door that reads

“Adult Room.” Juniors aren’t permitted unless they’re accompanied by an adult.

“They can walk through and go to the kitchen, but they cannot come into the main room,” Martin explains. “It’s just not done.”

For Kursinski, Flintridge was always a family affair.

“My parents would go ride in the evening, and there’d be a barbecue or something like that,” she says. “It was competitive, but some members went to just enjoy their horses. There was a group that would go for lunch and play bridge. Once in a while, someone would come in and want to put in a tennis court, and we’d fight it.”

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HISTORY The juniors got a place of their own after member Larry Lansburgh recruited them and their horses to be extras in the 1968 Disney film The Horse In The Gray Flannel Suit, starring Dean Jones and Kurt Russell. So they could retain their amateur status, payment went to the club, which built an addition to the clubhouse just for them.

“The Junior Room was built on child labor,” longtime member Don Hibner once quipped.

The club in those days was abuzz with youthful energy. Andy Scott Klug, who started riding at Flintridge at 3 under beginner trainer Annie Lathrop and later did the junior hunters, equitation and medal classes alongside Hutchison and Hansen, remembers spending more time there than at home.

“You somehow got there after school, and your parents picked you up when it was dark,” says Klug. “We rode and played and climbed in the haystacks.

Horse trials are no longer hosted at Flintridge, but some of the crosscountry fences are maintained for members to school.

“Flintridge was in the ribbons a lot,” she adds. “It was definitely a competition barn, but we’d all go along and root for one another. We didn’t fight about who was the better rider. None of us bragged; we knew we had it good.”

Flintridge’s younger members were often tapped to organize parties as well as the annual Parents’ Day, which featured events like the mounted Bloody Mary Class.

“We’d fill their cups with booze, and whoever had the most alcohol at the end won,” says Klug. “I think I was 10 at the time.”

A stock horse and cutting champion, Williams had grown up around horses and served in the U.S. Army in Italy, where he learned dressage and organized horse races and shows. In Hollywood, he’d worked as a stunt double for Tyrone Power, performing the riding scenes in films like The Mark Of Zorro, Jesse James and Captain From Castile.

He recounted that his father, a horse trader and race horse owner, would lob CHERI DE HARO PHOTO

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A HORSEMAN’S HORSEMAN

Today the Flintridge Riding Club has four jumping and two dressage rings plus stalls for 180 horses.

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PUTTING THE SHOW IN HORSE SHOWS

H

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orse shows at Flintridge Riding Club are known for their history and for their many firsts on the West Coast.

The annual April event was relaunched as the Flintridge Horse Show in 2012 and expanded to include adults, with veteran show manager Dale Harvey and his West Palms Events taking the reins. This year—its 96th—the April show included At the 1976 Flintridge Riding a $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Club Horse Show, Lisa Running Derby, a $15,000 Grand Prix of rode her own Happy Go Lucky to first in the junior/amateur-owner Flintridge with dinner ringside, a silent jumper classic. auction and live music, along with a tequila tasting during the tandem class.

The Flintridge Autumn Classic began as the Flintridge Amateur Horse Show and has been held continuously for more than 60 years. Francie Steinwedell oversaw its reorganization in 1976, and the competition became the first American Horse Shows Association A-rated amateur-owner and junior show held on the West Coast, complete with a grand prix jumping class.

After the club held several schooling and recognized competitions, the Flintridge Horse Trials was added to the schedule in 1979, making it the only combined training event in Los Angeles County. Though eventing competitions are no longer held at the club, the cross-country obstacles are still used by members.

Club members organized an international dressage judging forum, after which Flintridge sponsored the USET Dressage Selection Trials for the Pan American Games in 1979 and the Olympics in 1980.

In 1988, club members Scarlett Hibner, Clara Dee Thiesmeyer and Bob Attiyeh created Dressage Under The Oaks, and in 1989 it became California’s first FEI dressage competition, drawing competitors like Debbie McDonald, Steffen Peters, Guenter Seidel and Hilda Gurney.

“The whole purpose was to put on a dressage show that looked like a European dressage show—specifically a German dressage show,” Hibner explains.

When the show was designated a CDI-W in 1990, organizers made sure to have a European judge on the ground jury, so California’s dressage riders, who weren’t yet regularly competing in Europe, could get international exposure.

In 2000 a group of local women formed the Flintridge La Cañada Guild of Huntington Hospital in nearby Pasadena and began coordinating the Children’s Horse Show, raising more than $10 Horse shows continue at the Flintridge Riding Club today, and million for the hospital in the process.

FLYING HORSE PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO

stones at him when he displayed less than stellar position. No stones were thrown at Flintridge, but riders grew accustomed to his unconventional training methods, like tying their wrists to keep their hands low or blindfolding them in the jumping chute, so they would learn to keep their balance.

Williams had the same goal no matter what type of horse he was riding, and it was something he passed on to his students. “I want my horses trained so it’s like pushing an electric light switch,” he told Sports Illustrated.

Drawing on his reining experience, he taught his hunter/jumper riders to do rollbacks instead of turns, which gave them an advantage on timed courses.

He routinely admonished his students to ride with their legs.

Exasperated when they didn’t follow his directions, Williams once took away their bridles for a month. As a result, says Ridland, “We learned to not pull on their mouths and that we could actually balance with our seat and our legs.”

A flier from one of Flintridge’s scrapbooks shows all the events offered over the course of one year.

Molly Talla on Complete Luck was last year’s winner of the 95th annual competition’s $15,000 Grand Prix of Flintridge.

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There are currently nine trainers in residence at Flintridge Riding Club.

ANITA NARDINE PHOTO

HISTORY

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and ride two horses, then go to school and come back after and ride five or six more.”

Kursinski still remembers the excitement of running down to the big green chalkboard after school to see which horse she’d be riding. “To get to ride and take a lesson—for a kid starting out, it was marvelous,” she says.

“We were really taught the basics— how to handle horses, how to put the bridles together, how to clip and bandage, how to shine your boots properly,” Kursinski adds. “Kids today don’t care about that. Even though there were grooms that took care of the horses, we’d ride them bareback out in the crosscountry course. We might have even had bareback jumping lessons.”

She soaked up Williams’ wisdom.

The Flintridge Riding Club has about 335 members now, and it retains some of its original rules. For instance, juniors aren’t allowed into the clubhouse’s “Adult Room.”

ANITA NARDINE PHOTO

Ridland began riding with Williams when he was 12. A year later, Williams paired him with his own jumper, Kid Shannon.

“Why Jimmy let me ride him is beyond me—I was 13 and riding in the open jumper division,” Ridland says. “Four or five rounds into it was the puissance class, and Kenny Nordstrom and I were in the jump-off. I won the whole thing, so I was king for a day with all the kids.”

But at their next show, Ridland and Kid Shannon floundered.

“Jimmy took me off the horse for probably six months,” says Ridland. “I think I learned more from that than anything.”

Hutchison was all of 5 when she began riding at Flintridge, a place she remembers as “a magical world.” Under Williams’ tutelage, she began showing hunters, and as a junior she won every West Coast medal final. She was just 12 when she and her Thoroughbred Best Bet competed in the junior hunter division at the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

“I was still kind of considered a beginner, but I was reserve champion at the Garden,” she remembers.

She spent every moment she could there. “Jimmy had me teaching and riding quite a few horses from the time I was 16 on,” says Hutchison. “I’d go before school

“He was a disciplinarian, very strict,” says Kursinski. “But he was brilliant about reading people and reading horses. With me, he was tough. There was no candy coating. I’d get a little big for my britches, and he’d put me on a difficult horse, and I’d be on the ground in no time. He knew how to make me keep working for it.”

With Williams, it was about being the best you could be. “It was how he dressed, how he turned himself out, and how he trained the horses,” she says. “I’m sure all of that influenced me going on to the Olympics.”

Members of the club, in fact, helped Kursinski buy her first international horse, Livius, with whom she won individual and team gold at the 1983 Pan American Games (Venezuela) and was team alternate at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984.

Current Flintridge hunter/jumper and equitation trainer Heidi Misrahy also rode with Williams as a kid.

“He wouldn’t only take the best horses,” she says. “He loved figuring out the ‘project’ and problem horses. As riders, you got to ride everything.

“And he didn’t care if you had 20 horses or were on a lesson horse,” she continues. “If you wanted to learn, he was all in.”

“I’d get a little big for my britches, and he’d put me on a difficult horse, and I’d be on the ground in no time.”

–Anne Kursinski

STILL A SECOND HOME

Life at Flintridge under Jimmy Williams was never dull, says Ridland.

At one show in Indio, Calif., Williams’ hunter East Point had won the regular conformation division, and after the class wrapped, the judge came around to say hello and ask Williams about a rumor that his horses had been trained to push a beach ball.

Williams said that they had, and which horse did he want to see do it? Surprised, the judge looked at the stalls and sputtered, “East Point.”

Ridland picks up the story.

“So Jimmy walked down the aisle, opened East Point’s stall and whistled.

East Point—who’d just won the regular

conformation division—walked out of his stall and did a turn on the forehand to face Jimmy, who whistled again,” he says. “The horse put his head down and started rolling a beach ball towards Jimmy and the judge. Jimmy whistled again, and East Point walked back to his stall. There was silence.

“He could train anything,” Ridland adds. “He even trained his dog, Huggy Puppy, to pee on someone’s leg.”

The club today may lack Williams’ star power, but for many members, its biggest draw lies in its familyfriendly identity.

“You don’t just come and ride your horse and then go home,” says Jeannie

Bone, who joined the club in the early 1980s with her husband, Chris, along with a horse they’d bought for $200. “Everyone is treated the same.

It doesn’t matter what your discipline is or how expensive your horse is; it’s a real community. And the members have real pride in the club.”

Trends come and go, but Flintridge has endured, says Jeannie.

“We’re always looking to the future, so the next generation of people can enjoy this place for years to come,” she says. “The club has endured remarkably well, and I believe it’s because of the camaraderie among the members. It’s become a second home for all of us.”

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FEATURE

The Horse World’s

Young And Unsung

They find solutions, give back to the sport, and work tirelessly behind the scenes to make an impact that has nothing to do with winning ribbons.

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DIARMUID BYRNE Age: 31 SAM WATSON Age: 31

Making Sports Safer One Statistic At A Time

PATRICIA DA SILVA PHOTO

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t first, he just wanted to analyze data to improve his own eventing performances. But along the way, Irish four-star rider Sam Watson may have revolutionized his sport with the creation of EquiRatings, developed with his college friend Diarmuid Byrne. Using statistics and analytics, they’re increasing fan engagement and making the sport safer across all levels.

A statistics major at Trinity College in Dublin, Watson’s senior project involved tracking and studying the form of top eventers. Looking at his own performances, especially in show jumping, he came up with a way to manage his errors, setting up exercises at home to repeat until every part was mistake free.

Watson, who’s ridden at two FEI World Equestrian Games, saw his show jumping improve. He knew he was on to something.

After graduation, he partnered with Byrne, a horse racing fan who was working at a commercial law firm, to launch EquiRatings in 2015.

“I could see sports data growing quickly. I’m a big fan of almost all sports, but I knew the Moneyball story and everything that happened in baseball, and the same was happening in basketball, and the same in the NFL and in hockey,” said Byrne, who’s in charge of the business side while Watson crunches the numbers. “Everyone began to see, ‘Is there an advantage that we can begin to guess from studying data and studying our own performance using data and using analytics?’ ” EquiRatings’ big break came at the 2015 Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials CCI**** (England) when Byrne was sitting ringside with his laptop and a database built by Watson.

He could hear the live stream commentary, including the usual stats like age of rider and breed of horse, but it sounded dry.

Because of the data in front of him, Byrne could start building a predictive analysis based on a rider’s past runs. He began tweeting some predicted scores ringside.

“No longer were you just going to be looking at a horse doing a test; you’d actually have a reason to watch. Like, will they actually get a 43?” he said.

Byrne was invited into the commentary booth, which inspired the pair to begin working with major events to provide previews, reviews and predictive analysis.

EquiRatings is now working with high performance eventing teams to advise them on horse and rider selection and how to best manage their resources and time—for example, deciding which times of the year or courses to run.

They’ve also expanded into endurance, looking at risk and performance analysis, and show jumping is on the horizon.

Byrne said they want to predict even small details, like when a jumper is most likely to have a rail down—maybe off a right-handed turn where they consistently knock the back rail of an oxer.

But perhaps one of the most exciting developments from the company is the EquiRatings Quality Index, a safety rating system Eventing Ireland used last year to restrict riders from entering a higher level if they have insufficient performances.

In its first year, the ERQI helped reduce falls in Ireland at the intermediate level by 66 percent, though Byrne said a lot of that change is likely thanks to increased rider responsibility. British Eventing will experiment with the ERQI this season, and the U.S. Eventing Association is considering it for the future.

EquiRatings just announced a four-year partnership with the Fédération Equestre Internationale to work on risk management in eventing and endurance—the two equestrian sports most plagued by safety problems. But not for long if Watson and Byrne have anything to say about it.

–LINDSAY BERRETH C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M

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FEATURE DEREK BRAUN Age: 32

Bringing Back A Better Way To Horse Show

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VICTORIA CLERMONT PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO

hen you visualize today’s horse show circuit, you might picture expansive facilities with 10 rings running simultaneously. You might also remember the times you ran from ring to ring in a desperate panic, trying to calculate when your classes would go. This frenzied scene exasperated young professional Derek Braun.

He’ll admit he’s perhaps not the most patient person. But when he channeled his impatience into positive action, the result was the Split Rock Jumping Tour.

Braun’s inspiration? Europe and his memories of showing on Long Island, N.Y., as a child. “[In Europe] it’s a lifestyle. It’s a culture. It’s more social, family oriented,” said Braun. “[In America] the horse shows have gotten so big, so confusing and so diluted that we’ve kind of lost that feel.

At my shows, I like to think that people can come, they can spend the entire day—and get back to feeling like they enjoy it again.

They know where to focus themselves. They know where to watch.

They know what they’re watching and when they’re going to watch it—very predictable and organized.”

Braun creates that atmosphere by simplifying the show schedule and then zooming in on the details. He runs two rings maximum, and he limits the number of entries, so each rider knows the time of his or her rides, and classes don’t run late. Braun and his team of six employees focus on rider, spectator and sponsor needs.

Braun got his start managing local horse shows on his Split Rock Farm in Lexington, Ky. But in 2014, he decided to take it a step further, and he premiered the Split Rock Show Jumping Tour in May of 2015. In only its third year, Braun has expanded outside of Lexington, to include Columbus, Ohio, where he will offer a CSI** and CSI*** event this year.

But he’s not done yet. Each year, Braun, who also shows, trains and sells horses from his Split Rock Farm, hopes to add another location, sending the series across the United States.

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SUMMER STOFFEL Age: 34

Finding Horses Lost In Plain Sight

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s a breeder of warmbloods out of her Silver Creek International in Broken Arrow, Okla., Summer Stoffel knew the U.S. industry had a problem. American breeders had always struggled to compete with the lower prices and vast selection of European warmbloods, but they had another significant disadvantage: the inability to showcase the results of their breeding program.

European warmblood registries require breeders to microchip horses, and U.S. registries don’t. If a horse was sold and his name changed, and the new owner didn’t record the horse’s bloodlines under its new name, in the eyes of the breeder that horse was gone. He could no longer serve as a testament to the breeder’s program.

“People were telling me, ‘I don’t even know why I’m doing this. I can’t track my horses or the progeny of my stallions. I can’t prove that they’re great. I can’t help grow the industry here,’ ” said Stoffel.

In addition to her breeding program, Stoffel’s farm hosts North American stallion tests, and through this Stoffel met people in breed registries throughout Europe.

“We learned what they were doing, how their data was collected, how their programs were run, and at the core of all of it was proper horse identification with microchips,” said Stoffel.

The tiny chips were giving European breeders the ability to follow foals from the day they left their farms. When that chip was registered with organizations like the Fédération Equestre Internationale or the U.S. Equestrian Federation, breeders could follow their sold horse’s results and use them to advertise and sell more young horses.

Through her contacts with registries, Stoffel set about building her own database, called Equicore. It compiles all available information based on a horse’s microchip—competition records, bloodlines, previous owners—and it displays statistics such as how many shows a horse entered in one year.

USEF asked Stoffel to join their Horse Recording and ID Task Force Committee, and she was integral in the passing of a rule that requires all horses competing in hunter/jumper classes to be microchipped by December 2017. And that rule was integral for USHJA’s rollout of new age-limited hunter and jumper divisions, which require horses to be microchipped and age-verified to compete in the classes.

But there are benefits to microchips beyond breeding and competing. When a horse is bought or sold, both parties can have a veterinarian scan for the chip to verify the horse’s identification. If there’s a disease outbreak, a microchip can help track a horse’s origin point and locate other horses who may have encountered the animal. In the case of theft, or even a horse getting loose after a natural disaster, a chip could be scanned to prove ownership.

Whether a horse has strayed from home or disappeared from a breeder in plain sight, Stoffel’s efforts have given the hunter/ jumper industry a way to find them.

–ANN GLAVAN

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FEATURE

CAVALLIS PHOTO

JESSICA RATTNER Age: 34

Placing A Premium On Giving Back

J

essica Rattner started her dressage career as so many young riders do—with a trip to the Adequan/FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships and a bronze medal there to boot. She worked with and for top trainers, including Lendon Gray and Anne Gribbons.

But in many ways, Rattner wasn’t ever your average young rider. She started attending the U.S. Dressage Federation Annual Convention when she was a junior in high school. She joined the USDF’s Youth Executive Board and helped create the USDF Youth Volunteer of the Year award and a scholarship for other young riders to attend the convention. She wrote an 80-page senior thesis on the history of dressage before graduating from Scripps College (Calif.).

When Rattner was 24, after stints working for top trainers in Florida and New York, she moved back to Sherwood, Ore., to help run her family’s DevonWood Equestrian Centre, far from the dressage meccas of Wellington, Fla., and Southern California.

She graduated from the USDF L Program with distinction before she was 30. And at an age when many dressage riders are scouting sponsors and climbing the competition ladder, Rattner realized her passion for teaching exceeded her desire to compete.

“I remember a moment in one of my lessons where I asked Anne [Gribbons] a question, and I remember thinking, ‘The reason I’m asking this is because I’m going to have to teach this to someone else,’ ” said Rattner. “That was a pivotal moment where I thought, ‘OK, I want to be a trainer.’ I love training. I love the intellectual challenge of the sport.”

Now, in addition to teaching, training and riding, Rattner gives nearly equal amounts of time to projects that benefit others—helping run DevonWood’s symposiums, clinics and Pony Club rallies, and still attending the USDF Convention every year. There’s also the incredibly popular USDF Region 6 Youth Dressage Overnight Camp, which Rattner started in 2010 and is now serving as a model for youth camps in other regions.

Every summer, as many as 100 children—mainly grassroots riders—descend on DevonWood with their horses for four days.

They sleep under a big tent, take lessons, watch demonstrations and stay for a competition at the end if they want, though competing isn’t required.

Rattner developed the clinic with the theme of mentorship, so the more advanced young riders help the less advanced ones.

Some instructors are former NAJYRC stars, and everyone is required to watch other lessons and care for their own horses.

Speakers discuss topics on everything from veterinary care to sports psychology to communication skills and body language as they relate to horses and other humans.

“I wanted the younger kids to look at these older kids and think, ‘That could be me. I could do that. I could do what she did,’ ” said Rattner. “It’s a project, but it’s a doable project.”

–LISA SLADE

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CHRISTINA “CRICKET” RUSSILLO Age: 42

Protecting Horses And Their Performances Internationally

PHOTO COURTESY VIRGINIA EQUINE IMAGING

W

hen the U.S. Equestrian Team heads to a major international event, they want to send the most talented and qualified equine athletes—but also the soundest.

That’s where Christina “Cricket” Russillo, DVM, comes in.

As the U.S. Equestrian Dressage Team’s veterinarian, she’s an advocate and steward for her equine athletes, working alongside a horse’s regular veterinarian throughout the year and then overseeing the horse’s day-to-day health and facilitating any necessary treatments during competitions.

But unlike many top sport horse veterinarians, Russillo grew up without Breyer horses scattered throughout her room or a mile-long show record of her own, and most of her horse experience came from summer camp. When she entered veterinary school at Tufts University (Mass.), her planned focus was wildlife diseases. But on the advice of a mentor, she spent a summer working for an ambulatory veterinarian with a focus on sport horse medicine. It changed her path.

Russillo’s passion became lameness evaluation, as she studied equine biomechanics and used that information alongside traditional observation and diagnostic imaging to locate pain and irregularities in a horse’s movement.

She started working at Fairfield Equine Associates in Newtown, Conn., under the tutelage of Rick Mitchell, DVM, MRCVS, DACVSMR, in 2002. Mitchell initially had some reservations about bringing in someone without much firsthand knowledge of the sport horse world, but one of her professors from a year-long internship at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine, Kent Carter, DVM, DACVIM, assured him that Russillo had a real knack for diagnosing and, more importantly, understanding lameness.

“I think she’s learned to look at the whole horse, which is imperative, and that makes her good at her job,” said Mitchell.

Mitchell served as a U.S. team veterinarian for 14 years, eventually bringing Russillo under his wing as a secondary veterinary selector. When Mitchell expressed interest in retiring from his role after the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Russillo was offered the position.

She officially stepped into her new role this February, and the 2017 FEI World Cup Dressage Final in Omaha, Neb., marked her first international championship as lead team veterinarian.

“When it comes down to it, I just love these athletes and what they can do and trying to make them the best versions of themselves,” Russillo said. “Sure you might evaluate a horse on a straight line in an exam format, but I personally prefer to watch them do their job and from there understand better what they might need. That’s the fun in being in a competition.”

When horses can do their jobs well, Russillo considers her work successful.

—KIMBERLY LOUSHIN

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LIFE BETWEEN THE EARS SEEING THE WORLD WITH

“Life Between The Ears”

TANIA ROBUSTELLI/@SHINEANDRIDE PHOTOS

Contributors to the “Life Between The Ears” social media accounts transport us to the world’s most interesting and beautiful places—all viewed from the saddle. Each issue, we share a few of their images.

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VAL BADIA, ITALY Tania Robustelli lives and works as a business consultant in Milan, but she and her boyfriend, Stefano, keep three horses in the Lombardy countryside near Crema.

“My home is where my horses are. For me, Friday is the best day of the week because I will spend all the weekend with them in the small stable in the countryside,” Robustelli said.

Their horses are Twom Kaliph, an 11-year-old Arabian; Pitingo, a 12-year-old Cruzado from Andalusia, Spain; and Baito, a 2-year-old Cruzado colt.

Robustelli and Stefano ride with a group of friends called the “Wild Riders.”

“We enjoy [riding] in the beautiful country around the stable, a flat area rich in cornfields and natural cold streams perfect for the horses’ tendons and legs,” Robustelli said. “For the horses, it is very therapeutic walking in these natural springs, especially in the summertime. We like to spend days going through the landscapes of the surrounding country with friends, and often we organize lunches on horseback. During the summer, when it is too hot for horses and there are many insects, we ride at night, and sometimes we dine out on the trails. Riding at night is quite amazing! You can really feel the symbiosis with your horse because the only light we have on our path is the moonlight.”

Every few months, the Wild Riders organize a riding trip.

“Italy is the perfect place to go because we have mountains, lakes, country, hills and seaside very close to our stable. Italy is rich of history and gastronomy,” Robustelli said.

This photo came from their 2015 journey to the Dolomites, a mountain range in northeastern Italy. “I used to go to this place every year during the winter because it’s the best place in Italy for skiing,” said Robustelli. “That year we decided to visit in summer with our horses. It was a great adventure for all of us because very few horse riders face these mountain routes that are popular only among bikers and runners.”

Robustelli identified the Sella group of mountains, between the four Ladin valleys, as particularly beautiful.

“With our horses we have ridden all the Ladin Valley of Badia, reaching the height of 2,000 meters. The nature here is stunning, and you can enjoy the good food specialties of South Tyrol,” she said.

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GJØVIK, NORWAY This photo was taken at the top of a forest trail on a hill overlooking the city of Gjøvik, where Betty Camilla Hellum lives.

“I ride here often, and it’s a great spot for an amazing view,” she said. Gjøvik is on the shores of Mjøsa Lake, the largest lake in Norway.

The gray ears belong to Regidor XXXV, the 13-year-old PRE gelding Hellum imported from Spain in 2013.

“It took us over six months to find the right horse. There are so few PRE horses in Norway. We went to Spain, and my daughter and I both fell in love with him. It was really love at first sight,” Hellum said. “He is energetic, hardworking and sensitive. He’s also very courageous. In Spain these horses are bred for bullfighting, so they stay very calm when other horses might lose control.”

Hellum rode as a child and has always loved horses.

“Riding got put on hold when I had children, and then while I studied nursing and started my career,” she said. “I am now a full-time nurse with a daughter, 19, and twin boys, 15. My daughter loves riding as much as I do.”

Hellum mostly trail rides and does some dressage, but she has played with jumping and some cross-country “just for fun!” she said.

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ELLEN FELSENTHAL/@NEWMOONFARMGOATRESCUE PHOTO

WELLINGTON, FLORIDA “An early morning as the rising sun met the mist from the night before,” is how Christoffer Adriansson described this photo.

“Pretty romantic, if you ask me,” he said.

But this view is all in a morning’s work for Adriansson, who’s a professional freelance rider on the hunter/ jumper show circuit.

“Currently I’m studying at university online, working toward a degree in economics,” he said. “Being in school, it’s hard to have a career showing, but I ride as much as I can, freelancing in Wellington in the winter. In the summer I spend most of my time in Sweden, where I try to catch up with the schoolwork I should have done in the winter when I was riding too much.”

Adriansson grew up riding in Sweden. At 14 he started riding professionally for a dealer.

“Since then I’ve always been doing horses and probably spent most of my waking time in the saddle,” he said.

He has worked for and shown with Lisen and Peder Fredricson in Sweden, Markus Beerbaum and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum in Germany, and Shane Sweetnam in the United States. “Being able to develop my passion for horses into a profession truly is a blessing,” he said.

The horse is Great White, or “Bruce,” a 9-year-old Holsteiner owned by the Farish family and shown by Daisy Farish in the under-25 grand prix classes.

“I help Daisy, riding Bruce to get him better on the flat and to get him ready for the show,” Adriansson said.

“Bruce is a very talented and competitive horse that always comes out from the barn sharp and ready to work.

He really is an athlete and very nice to ride.”

The Farishes’ horses are based at Skara Glen Stables in Wellington when not showing, and this photo was taken over the grass riding field there.

BETTY CAMILLA HELLUM/@BETTYCAM PHOTO

CHRISTOFFER ADRIANSSON/@CHRISTOFFERADRIANSSON PHOTO

LIFE BETWEEN THE EARS

TESS COHEN/@TESSCOHEN PHOTO

CANNON BEACH, OREGON “This photo is a childhood fantasy come true—riding my own horse on the beach,” Ellen Felsenthal said. “It only took 30 years! My friends tease me that I smile so hard the whole time we’re there that my face might freeze.”

Cannon Beach is a small town on the Oregon coast, and the large rock formation seen in the photo is Haystack Rock, which has a small cave system and is protected as a marine sanctuary within the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge.

“I go horse camping at Nehalem Bay (close to Cannon Beach) for a week every summer. This year will be my 18th year,” Felsenthal said.

Felsenthal is a tenured college professor in photography, and she also runs a non-profit goat rescue out of her New Moon Farm in Arlington, Wash., about an hour north of Seattle.

She’s schooling first level dressage but doesn’t compete much. Instead, she focuses on trail riding, camping, some mountain packing and extreme obstacle courses alongside her dressage, and she’s very interested in working equitation too.

“I make time to take two dressage lessons every week and try to hit the trails as often as possible,” she said.

The ears in the photo belong to Eclipse, Felsenthal’s 12-year-old PMU rescue who is a Paint-Quarter Horse-Thoroughbred-Percheron cross.

Felsenthal adopted her from Canada when the mare was 5 months old.

“She is brave, smart and sassy. She challenges me every ride. She has a lot of opinions! But she takes good care of me. She’s a social butterfly and really pretty too,” she said.

Felsenthal also has a 25-year-old Paint mare and a retired Percheron plow horse, both rescues.

JACKSON, WYOMING Tess Cohen is originally from Florida, but she arrived in Wyoming after college for a summer job to work on a guest ranch three years ago, and she’s still there. “I can’t bring myself to leave; it’s too pretty!” she said.

Cohen works as a wrangler on ranches but likes to ride for pleasure as well.

“This photo was taken on the banks of the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park, between the ears of a horse named Wild Card. It has a very dear place in my heart—it is where I fell in love with the mountains of Wyoming,” Cohen said. “In the summer I ride here a few days a week with some of my girlfriends. We all have other jobs, so we take the horses out around sunset and come back just before dark.”

Cohen captioned this image, “Happy 100th birthday @nationalparkservice, thanks for keeping my Insta game on point,” on her Instagram feed.

The Snake River originates in Yellowstone National Park and flows through the Grand Teton National Park, into Idaho and Oregon, and then it feeds into the Columbia River in Washington.

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LUXOR, EGYPT This photo shows the Colossi of Memnon—two massive stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III, who reigned in Egypt during Dynasty XVIII. For the past 3,400 years, they have stood in the Theban Necropolis, located west of the Nile River in Luxor.

“It’s a really special place for me, as Luxor is where I now call home, and the Colossi of Memnon was one of the first places I visited when I moved to Luxor,” said Emma Jane Levin, who founded and runs the Ride Egypt riding holiday company. “I was overwhelmed by the history, the grandeur and the peacefulness of this place, so much so that I included it as part of our most popular riding holiday, Adventures of Luxor and Makadi Bay. It’s great to see my clients’ faces when they see this awe-inspiring view through our horses’ ears.”

Levin, who grew up in England and show jumped as a child, didn’t ride for 13 years before she first traveled to Egypt and decided to get in the saddle again.

“My first ride was in Nabq National Park on a pure Arabian called Belal,” she said. “Let’s just say Belal taught me to fall in love with riding again and with Egypt’s stunning scenery. I’m happy to say not only did he change my life, but he now belongs to me too.”

Levin began Ride Egypt six years ago. “Ride Egypt was my dream, and now I’m living it,” she said. “I get to ride all day, every day, and take my clients to see the history and beauty that Egypt has to offer. I’m super lucky and blessed to live in such an amazing country and spend my time seeing such awesome places through my horses’ ears. I spend a lot of time visiting the sights and sounds of Luxor, Hurghada and Sharm el Sheikh on horseback, swimming with our horses in the Red Sea, and galloping through the vast expanses of sugar cane fields and desert that we have on our doorstep.”

The ears in this photo belong to Amira, a 6-year-old Arabiancross mare whose name means princess in Arabic.

“She’s one of my clients’ favorites because she’s a true confidence giver crossed with a secret speed demon,” Levin said. “If you are not a confident rider, she’ll be relaxed taking in the scenery and guiding you through Egypt’s ancient history. But if, like me, you feel the need for speed, she can really shift and seriously lets loose in the desert—she flies!”

Sharing Life Between The Ears RICK DAHMS PHOTO

EMMA JANE LEVIN/@RIDE_EGYPT PHOTO

LIFE BETWEEN THE EARS

Since 2008, Life Between The Ears founder Kristine Dahms has posted stunning photos shot by riders in all corners of the world with one hand on the reins and the other on the shutter. Dahms mines photos with the hashtag #lifebetweentheears, contacts the original poster of the image, then features the photo, complete with educational details about the place that’s portrayed.

Life Between The Ears photos appear on a LBTE Facebook page, an Instagram feed, a dedicated website (lifebetweentheears.com), a Twitter feed and a Pinterest account, all under lifebetweentheears account names.

Dahms—who lives in Vashon, Wash., with her Welsh Cob, mini horse, pygmy goats, two dogs and two cats—rides dressage and takes quite a few photos herself on the picturesque Vashon-Maury Island.

Dahms has taken some of the Life Between The Ears images from cyberspace to print, creating three lines of greeting cards with selected photos from her social media pages. A portion of the proceeds from the card sales goes to the Equine Land Conservation Resource (elcr.org). Cards are available at lifebetweentheears.com/retail.

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Horse country, Florida style.

Must be the sunshine.

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Holly White

PHOTO COURTESY HOLLY WHITE

HUMANITARIAN

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HORSEWOMAN

A long distance from her roots in rural New York, White continues pursuing her equine passion in Senegal while bettering the world via her day job at the United Nations Population Fund.

KRISTIN ROBERTS PHOTO

By JENNIFER B. CALDER

“She was a very outgoing and brave child,” says Heidi White of her daughter, Holly White.

T

he road Holly White travels leading out of Dakar, Senegal, is choked with cars, mini-taxis and trucks, the latter often with people hanging off the sides and sheep being transported on the top. Motor vehicles share the congested space with the street vendors populating the shoulder.

It is a trip White, 43, makes at least five times a week, carefully navigating her car through the chaos from her office at the United Nations Population Fund, where she works as the regional human resource advisor for West and Central Africa, to the barn where she rides.

On the outskirts of Dakar—a former French colony located on the Cap-Vert peninsula jutting into the Atlantic Ocean—a modern highway is available for the remaining stretch to the Racing Club de Dakar. It is an expensive toll road, and there are fewer cars. It is a luxury many residents of the West African country can’t afford.

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Holly White (right) and her sister Heather White grew up with horses, and their father Bernie White still breeds and races Standardbreds.

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PHOTO COURTESY HOLLY WHITE

PHOTO COURTESY HOLLY WHITE

PHOTO COURTESY HOLLY WHITE

Holly White’s rewards for fighting insane rush hour traffic from downtown Dakar to her barn are long hacks on the beach with her horse United Love De Safray.

Cars, taxis and mini-buses share the clogged roads of Dakar with vehicles such as this. “My cousin saw this photo on my Facebook page and asked if the sheep were wearing ‘sheep belts,’ ” jokes Holly White.

Senegal doesn’t immediately come to mind for most as a hub for equestrian pursuits, and it didn’t for White either. Upon accepting the position with the UN in January 2015, she assumed she’d have to leave behind her lifelong passion for riding.

“I always wanted to work internationally, but I was thinking Johannesburg, South Africa, mainly because of the equestrian activity,” she says. “But I was assigned to Dakar. A colleague said, ‘Oh, you know you can ride there, right?’ I had no idea.

And sure enough, there is a pretty vibrant equestrian community here, with a competition season from November until June, every other weekend. I ended up joining a local equestrian club and leased a mare.

And then I bought a horse.”

For White—who has been in the saddle since she was 3 and foxhunting since 7, more recently showing her homebreds in the United States in the amateur-owner hunter and adult jumper divisions—the “There is a pretty vibrant equestrian community here with a competition season from November until June, every other weekend,” says Holly White, pictured competing United Love De Safray, a horse her trainer found in France and had shipped, via boat, to Senegal.

revelation she could ride offered solace in an unfamiliar environment.

“I’m very thankful,” she says. “Because it’s not easy work. My job has really been a challenge. Our mandate with the Population Fund is called Women’s Empowerment, but it’s really focused around sexual reproductive health and rights. We want to be sure women in Central and West Africa have a skilled birth attendant if they chose to have a child—that they are getting prenatal care. We want to make sure women have options for modern contraception.”

Although she had long worked in human resources for major corporations like Kraft and Mars, after losing her job during the financial crisis of 2008, White was compelled to find a position with greater impact.

“I was looking for meaningful work,” she says of her tenure with the United Nations, which has also included stints with their Development Program and International Children’s Emergency Fund prior to her current appointment with the Population Fund.

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PROFILE “I wanted to join an organization with a really powerful mandate, and I always wanted to work in human resources where people were investing in human capital, human capabilities and, ideally, it would be great to work for an organization that is trying to make the world a better place,” she says.

Serendipitously, the horses helped that happen.

PHOTO COURTESY HOLLY WHITE

A CHILDHOOD AT TAMARACK MANOR

Holly White is passionate about breeding and has several homebreds in New York, including Praia, who is out of her favorite mare, Czelda Fitzgerald, also a homebred.

White and her older sister, Heather, grew up on their family’s horse farm in the Hudson Valley, some 80 miles northwest of New York City.

White’s mother, Heidi White, a transplant from Wisconsin, fulfilled a lifelong dream and bought her first horse soon after she married Holly’s father, Bernie White.

“My grandfather had purchased

land in Orange County because he was an immigrant from Ireland and wanted a place in the country that reminded him of home and where he could have sheep,” Holly says.

Heidi, a French teacher, decided to build a barn and boarding facility on the 28-acre family property in Pine Bush, N.Y., and Bernie, a Standardbred breeder and trainer, based his operation out of the facility they named Tamarack Manor.

“Since my father got interested in Standardbred horses separate from my mom’s interest, the farm became a boarding and breeding operation focused on Standardbreds,” Holly says.

“We then started breeding warmbloods because of my passion for riding and most recently started breeding and boarding Thoroughbreds.

“It’s a lovely farm that allows for custom care for mares and foals,” she adds.

Holly’s mother, now 77, began foxhunting in 1968 and is the honorary

PHOTO COURTESY HOLLY WHITE

A Senegalese native, trainer Pape Seck runs the Racing Club de Dakar where Holly White rides.

He often hosts clinicians from around the world, and his fearless approach to riding has pushed White beyond her comfort zone in jumping higher fences.

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MFH for the Windy Hollow Hunt, with fixtures in northern New Jersey and Orange County, N.Y. She still goes out every Wednesday and Saturday during hunt season until the weather turns but not because conditions are too challenging—then it’s ski season.

“She’s an amazing woman,” Holly says. “She absolutely loves, loves, loves foxhunting. She loves being out in the countryside and watching the hounds work. I started foxhunting with her when I was 7 years old. I couldn’t even jump the jumps because I was too little, but the next year she had me going over small ones. I love going out with her, and it’s something we really enjoy doing together.”

Heidi reciprocates her daughter’s admiration and says many of those same fearless qualities Holly demonstrated when she was young continue to reverberate.

“She was a very outgoing and brave child. She was riding her pony on a leadline at 4; she went to her first Pony Club rally at 5. We let her pretend she was older because her sister was in Pony Club.

She couldn’t tell her left from her right, so I had to mark it on her hand because she was too little,” Heidi recalls with a laugh.

Holly foxhunted with her mother throughout her childhood and did Pony Club before focusing on equitation from 1989-1991.

“I never made it to the [ASPCA] Maclay Finals, but I did the [Pessoa/U.S. Hunter Seat] Medal Finals in 1991 and got a ribbon in the warm-up,” Holly says.

Following high school, Holly attended Cornell University (N.Y.), where she rode on the equestrian team, which was a club sport during her tenure there, and played polo as a varsity sport.

“I was pre-vet at Cornell, but I have

EVEN THOUGH I WANTED TO WORK WITH HORSES, I DO REALLY BELIEVE IN HUMAN POTENTIAL AND CAPABILITY.” —Holly White

to say, I was a terrible science student,” she admits. “My grades weren’t that great, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to always be treating sick horses. So when I decided not to take the veterinary track, I was trying to think of ways I could work, have flexibility and enough money to support my horse habit.”

While she struggled with science classes, she excelled in business and decided to get an MBA from Xavier University (Ohio).

“I sort of fell into the world of human resources, but I actually really do love it,” Holly says. “I like the idea of organizations investing in their staff skills and potential, so they can grow and help the organizations deliver results. I think— and this is HR geeky of me—but I do believe if you have human capital, it is an asset, and even though I wanted to work with horses, I do really believe in human potential and capability.”

FOXHUNTING PUTS A JOB TO GROUND

Belief in human potential and capability eventually led her to the United Nations, the path set one day while on the back of a horse.

She was foxhunting with her mother, and a fellow hunter knew of a contact at the UN who was also into horses and put the two in touch.

As mentioned, her work in Dakar is focused on women’s reproductive health and rights. Women and girls face early marriage, trafficking, female genital mutilation and sexual exploitation—and that last one is further exacerbated during crisis and conflict situations.

According to the UNPF, the prevalence of child marriage in West and Central Africa is amongst the highest in the world.

Four out of 10 girls are married before their 18th birthday, 16 percent before they are 15.

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AL COOK PRODUCTIONS PHOTO

“We are also trying to focus on the youth and adolescent development, so we want to prevent early marriage because early marriage leads to young girls getting pregnant,” Holly says. “They are too young to have babies and die during childbirth. They also don’t go to school, and it affects their overall economic development. We also want them to know abortion is a legal option, and to ensure safe abortions are available if that’s a choice a woman wants to make.

“We also, historically, are helping the government do their census process because if you don’t know how many people you have, it’s difficult to do developing planning,” she continues. “So we support that, and that is why we are called the Population Fund, but it’s really family planning services.”

In addition to education on the front end, the UNPF also attacks it from the other side.

“Part of the other initiative that we are launching in our organization is

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called Harnessing the Demographic Dividends, because if you look at the number of young people, like 60 percent of the population in West Africa is under 35, and so there are all these young people,” she says. “In Africa, they don’t have jobs. They don’t have a future, and frequently that’s how Boko Haram, the terrorist group based in Northern Nigeria, recruits people. They show them, here is a gun, and you give them money, and that’s how you get these young people to join militant organizations.”

Holly envisions a solution, something of a pipe dream, but her “crazy idea” doesn’t sound that crazy.

“We need to have skilled health professionals. You have to have doctors, nurses and midwives,” she says. “And we’ve got all these young people who need jobs, and I wish I could just send them all to medical school and midwifery school and nursing school, and then create incentives to keep them in Africa because then at least we’d be creating a situation where they have a

future possibility, and they are also supporting themselves because it’s definitely going to be a serious issue if we don’t figure out how to improve the educational system. That’s the other challenge.

“Even if I wanted to send these kids to medical school or midwifery school, the basic education in Africa is so poor,” she adds.

Although Dakar is relatively modern compared to other West African cities, it remains challenging in many ways. The Internet works sporadically. Same with the electricity, water and automatic teller machines. Worse, however, is the dearth of adequate medical care despite it being the regional center for such things.

“My colleague needed a mammogram, and there is no machine that works here,” Holly says. “Then there was a demonstration because cancer patients going through chemotherapy and radiation were unable to get care because the machine that does radiation and the medication required for chemotherapy

is unavailable, and it’s been not working for a number of months. I mean, if you needed basic care you could get it.”

Like stitches, I ask?

“Maybe stitches,” she answers, not at all convincingly, and laughs.

“I was thinking more if you needed some Advil,” she adds, only half joking.

PRACTICING SOME VETERINARY SKILLS AFTER ALL Obviously, medical attention for horses is even harder to find.

After leasing a mare at the Racing Club de Dakar for a few months, she decided to purchase her own horse, a Selle Français by Kashmir Von Schuttershof named United Love De Safray, or “Kaz.” “My trainer here, Pape Seck, who also runs the club, is Senegalese but goes to France quite frequently buying horses, so I gave him money to buy me a horse,”

Holly says. “I thought the horse was going to arrive in March of 2015 because I wanted to continue the competition season but, of course, nothing works as normal in Senegal.”

Part of that delay was because her new mount arrived via boat, a 12-day journey that occurred after an effort to drive them to Africa through Spain and Morocco was thwarted.

“So the horse doesn’t arrive until July!” says Holly. “And he was so skinny. It was a really challenging experience. Then he colicked really bad in May of 2016, and the vet never came. There is no surgery option.

I brought Banamine and some [Dormosedan], whatever I could bring with me, but if the horse needs surgery, you don’t have that option. I was on the phone with my vet in New York asking what to do. Thankfully he got through it, but it just showed me how challenging it was.”

With Kaz recovered, the duo have been competing in the 1.20- and 1.30-meter classes in Africa.

“I actually compete in the 1.10, 1.15 back in the United States, so it’s been an interesting experience to jump these bigger jumps. I’m always amazed at the people here—they have no fear,” Holly says with a laugh. “They don’t count strides; they kind of just go balls out and jump the jumps! It’s amazing there aren’t more accidents here.”

Holly was introduced to the Dakar equestrian scene by Jennifer Taylor, a fellow American working for the regional UNICEF office. Both Taylor and her daughters show in the jumpers and in dressage, and Taylor was adult champion in the Senegalese National Jumping Championships for the 2014-15 season.

“When Holly arrived in Senegal—a former colleague connected us—I was happy to have a compatriot to share the horse scene, so I took her around to various clubs and introduced her around,” says Taylor. “We both have that need for a daily horse fix, so she rode at my barn and then joined it. Our coach, Pape, is awesome and kicked me right out of my

Holly White (right) used one of her trips back to the United States last year to ride Czelda Fitzgerald on the winning Windy Hollow Hunt team at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show’s Hunt Night with sisters Emily Wiley (center) on Google Me and Jane Wiley on Yahtzee.

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PHOTO COURTESY HOLLY WHITE

PROFILE

comfort zone and up into higher levels of jumping. It’s great!”

The club hosts outside clinicians from Europe and also schools race horses.

Hacks are often on the beach.

“Holly and I are both experienced horsewomen, and we love to compete,” says Taylor. “Having a strong connection with a happy, healthy horse is an essential part of daily life, and it’s so important to both of us. Riding makes us whole and makes us better people. We both got new horses last year, imported by boat, and I’ve been so grateful to have Holly here to share this unique horse experience.”

The city has numerous riding clubs, and the environment is surprisingly formal, with white breeches, collared shirts and proper competition jackets required—a bit of a trial considering the dust and heat.

“Competition is tough, though the focus is not on equitation,” Taylor says.

“Courses can be extremely challenging and technical. Sometimes I wonder how people get around the course in one piece.”

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When on her leave from her job with the United Nations in Africa, Holly White makes a point to show her homebred, Czelda Fitzgerald.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME Though she’s carved out a life of purpose and horses in Africa, Holly’s heart is back in the Hudson Valley. Well, her heart and her homebred “babies.”

Czelda Fitzgerald, or “Moo Moo” (because her sister Heather thought she looked like a cow when she was born due to her large blaze), is a homebred.

“She will be 13 this year, and it’s a little sensitive,” Holly jokes. “My little girl is getting older. I just love her to death. She is such a great mare. I foxhunted her; I trail ride her; she did the amateur-owner hunters with me, and I

just started doing the adult jumpers with her. I really love her.”

Two years ago she bred Dutch Warmblood Moo Moo (Alla’ Czar—Karin) to Vigo D’Arsouilles, the individual show jumping gold medalist at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (Ky.). She named the foal Praia. Praia and Kaz, Holly’s horse in Africa, share the same grandsire, Nabab De Reve.

“It wasn’t planned, but I think it is such a fun coincidence,” Holly says.

Holly also has a third homebred, a 3–year-old Belgian Warmblood named Odessa by 2012 Rolex FEI Show Jump-

SHAWN MCMILLEN PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO

Holly White has foxhunted alongside her mother, Heidi White, since she was 7.

ing World Cup Final winner Flexible.

Odessa’s dam is Dabelle, owned by Holly’s neighbor, Blue Chip Farms.

“I was working with Linda Mancini, who is a really big fan of Flexible, so I bought a breeding to him in the hopes of using one of my mom’s Thoroughbred mares,” says Holly. “She didn’t get in foal in 2012, so I ended up leasing a mare from Blue Chip, and I am super excited about Odessa’s potential. I presented her in the [keuring for the North American district of the Belgian Warmblood Breeding Association] in 2014, and she was the highest-scoring filly for the day and ended up being the third-highest score for North America.

“I’m really thankful to have the opportunity to raise my own horses.

It’s very rewarding to see their progress,” she adds.

Because of this, Holly returns to the United States as often as possible—though it’s limited by her work circumstances.

“Because I work abroad, and the UN covers my taxes, they want to keep me in a lower tax bracket, so I’m only allowed to be in the United States 30 days a year,” she explains.

Of course, those 30 days are allocated to her horses.

“I was home last fall to make opening day of hunting with my mom and Hunt Night at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show,” she says.

Riding with childhood friends Emily and Jane Wiley for Windy Hollow Hunt in the team competition, the trio took home the blue ribbon.

“Hunt Night is so much fun!” Holly says. “We get to be at the big horse show,

but it’s less stressful and competitive than being there for real.”

The fun of riding is what it’s about for Holly.

“She is competitive, but she doesn’t care if she wins or not as long as she feels she did a good job,” Heidi says.

“That’s a very unusual thing. I mean, she has ribbons all over, but she doesn’t blame her horse or get upset if she doesn’t get pinned. For her, it’s the fun of doing it. She wants to succeed, but it’s not the primary driving force,” Heidi adds.

As her assignment in Africa winds down, her future professional plans are uncertain, but her horse plans are unwavering.

Wherever she lands, Holly White will ride.

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TRAVEL

Ride Away From It All In

Alberta’s ROCKY MOUNTAINS

With the help of long days in the saddle, campfire singalongs and a few mimosas, the Wild Deuce Women’s Retreat gives its participants a brief respite from the rest of the world and a chance to form lasting friendships.

Story And Photos By SHAW N HA MILTON

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“There’s no other ride I know of that caters to every personality, bringing complete strangers together to become such a supportive group for each other,” says photographer Shawn Hamilton.

nce a year, a small group of women from different backgrounds and locations journey by horseback five hours up into the Rocky Mountains of Alberta.

The Wild Deuce Women’s Retreat Ride, run by Wild Deuce Outfitters owned by Terri McKinney and her husband, Chuck, makes base camp at an elevation of 5,500 feet, beside the winding Cutoff Creek.

This past season I had the pleasure of being one of those women for the second time, the first being eight years ago. Beginning in the Cutoff Creek staging area just outside of Rocky Mountain House, a small town in the Bighorn Backcountry, you throw your gear into the accompanying chuck wagon, this year hauled by Belgians Ben and Fred, get introduced to your mount, mine a large Percheron-Quarter Horse named Rusty, then climb in the saddle to ride to your new home for five days of relaxation and revelation in the bush.

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On the last day, each woman gets a white T-shirt, and the other riders write a word or phrase to describe her on the back.

“The only rule is you can’t look at your shirt until after arriving home, where you’ll find a colorful reminder of the person you are,” says Shawn Hamilton.

One mare, Gracy, had an unnamed foal with her throughout the ride.

This ride—from the first morning when the cowboys serve mimosas to the last night of being serenaded by the talent around the fire—is designed for women to let go of their worries, face their fears and open up to complete strangers. You go home with a new outlook on life and a fresh appreciation of who you are.

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Your horse is tacked and untacked for you, gourmet meals are served up daily, and your only worry is whether to ride, lounge around camp with a book, take a hike or sit by the river and meditate. Terri has a way of breaking through everyone’s different shells to bring out all the good stuff that can be hiding inside.

By day, Wild Deuce Women’s Retreat riders scope out the Alberta Rocky Mountains scenery on horseback, and by night they listen to campfire songs.

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Riders can go at their own pace—taking gallops through open meadows when the terrain allows or just meandering and enjoying the scenery.

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A team of Belgian horses, Ben and Fred, help collect firewood for the camp.

Warming shots help keep the mountain chill away around the base camp.

Riders trek around Alberta’s emerald Lost Guide Lake during the Wild Deuce Women’s Retreat.

A gallop through an open meadow with a jaw-droppingly scenic view from every angle gets your adrenaline pumping.

Picking strange objects from a bag around the campfire and creating stories about them sparks your creative side. Riding around the heavenly glacial Lost Guide Lake, where the sun reflects the turquoise water like diamonds, helps you leave your worst fears behind.

Within a few days, a family is formed, and Terri helps every person become a part of the group. Relationships form, and personalities blossom.

Accommodations consist of canvas tents, complete with cots and wood stoves to take the chill out of any cold mountainous evenings. Firewood is dragged in from nearby fallen trees by the Belgian horses and my trusty steed, Rusty. Water is collected from the nearby river. Laughs are abundant.

The wranglers around the campfire perform cowboy songs at night while the homemade log candles burn, and the sounds of bells echo through the woods as the horses graze among the tents. It’s a true getaway, as well as a chance to “get to know yourself.”

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TRAVEL Wild Deuce OutďŹ tters owners Chuck and Terri McKinney ensure all retreat riders are matched with well-schooled mounts they’ve trained themselves.

A chuck wagon pulled by Belgians carries food and other supplies for the retreat riders.

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“Your only worry is whether to ride, lounge around camp with a book, take a hike or sit by the river and meditate,” says Shawn Hamilton of the Wild Deuce Women’s Retreat.

During the Wild Deuce Women’s Retreat, campers stay in tents with cots and plenty of blankets to keep out the mountain chill.

On the last day before riding back to reality, the band gathers to sing “Buckaroo Man” one last time as we sip our parting shots.

Terri has chosen a small rock that resembles each participant’s personality, and she places it in your hand while giving you words of wisdom to send you on your way.

T-shirts are distributed, and we’re told to put them on. We must sum up each person in one word and write it with permanent marker on the back of her shirt. The only rule is you can’t look at your shirt until after arriving home, where you’ll find a colorful reminder of the person you are.

I had the opportunity to ride three different horses on this trip, including Gracy, who had her unnamed foal by her side, and they were all amazing. Chuck and Terri specialize in training trail horses for the bush and run clinics to help people teach their own mounts.

Although the Wild Deuce horses are some of the best trail horses I’ve ever ridden, this ride isn’t really about the riding or the spectacular scenery, the camaraderie, the food or the fun: It is all about you!

Learn more about Wild Deuce Outfitters at wilddeuce.com or facebook.com/Wild-Deuce-Retreats-and-Outfitting-95154862782.

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GLOBAL CULTURE

A five-year equine immunocontraceptive vaccine program is drawing top riders to help solve an overpopulation problem in Puerto Rico.

ild horses in Puerto Rico are a big draw for tourists, and it might seem like there’s no downside to them living on the islands and looking picturesque in the backgrounds of vacation snapshots. But last year Victor Emeric, the mayor of Vieques, an island off Puerto Rico’s coast, called the Humane Society of the United States for help with the horses.

“When the island goes into drought, the horses become desperate for water,” said Tara Loller, director of strategic campaigns and special projects for the HSUS. “If the water is scarce, it becomes a desperate time for them, and a good number would die off. The mares would take their foals up into town, and they got creative enough that they started to break into the piping. On top of that, when mares would be walking their babies back into the jungle areas, inadvertently they would get hit by cars. The mayor knew it was huge problem but one they wanted to handle the right way.”

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MEREDITH LEE/HSUS PHOTO

By LISA SLADE

When there’s a drought in Vieques, the wild horses wander into the center of town in search of water, which is dangerous for them and annoying for the residents.

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GLOBAL CULTURE

As Step 1, HSUS sent a team of experts to Puerto Rico to evaluate the situation. They determined the small island is home to about 2,000 wild horses and growing—too many for its 134 square miles when also accounting for the human population and developed areas. They tracked the bands of horses and watched how they interacted with the town. Then they chose the best way to help—a five-year program administering a porcine zona pellucida (PZP) immunocontraceptive vaccine to mares so they don’t foal every year.

“After year five, the locals will be ready to take over,” said Loller.

It’s similar to a system that’s been used on Assateague Island, off the coast of Maryland and Virginia, but the Vieques one would be on a much larger scale. There was just one major problem: funding. The program costs about $200,000 for one year, and HSUS had exactly zero dollars allotted for it.

“It’s something that popped up that wasn’t in our budget whatsoever,” said Loller. “I knew anyone who loves horses would want to be part of this. The capacity for change is immense since use of PZP for equine populations could help countless other populations in the future. I gathered 24 horse enthusiasts I knew would fall in love with the project, and I asked them to make a donation to come on the trip.”

Loller’s known top show jumper Georgina Bloomberg for years, so she gave her a call. Bloomberg’s been involved with an HSUS Puerto Rico program helping spay and neuter dogs and cats for about two years now, and she was eager to jump into this project too. Fellow show jumpers Stephanie Riggio Bulger and Ariana Rockefeller signed on as well, and the crew made a trip to Vieques in January.

“They spent three days on the ground with us, and they got to be part of the darting team work, part of a horse festival we ran, and then two parts involved domestic animals—dogs and cats,” said Loller. “Each donor participated in two hands-on projects twice a day over the course of three days. We had team dinners, and they went out on Bio Bay. It’s something I’ll run over the next couple of years because it basically pays for the entire darting program. It was my way of not turning away from something really needed, something that will be exemplary work for horses.”

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MEREDITH LEE/HSUS PHOTO

After careful notation of their markings, wild mares on Vieques are shot with dart guns to administer the immunocontraceptive vaccine that’ll prevent them from getting pregnant for one year.

“I’m a huge horse lover, and this seems so sensible to me,” said Tara Loller, director of strategic campaigns and special projects for the Humane Society of the United States, of the organization’s immunocontraceptive program in Puerto Rico.

MEREDITH LEE/HSUS PHOTO

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HOLLY HAZARD/HSUS PHOTO

Wild horses are a tourist draw for Vieques, but droughts and yearly foalings take a toll on the mares there.

As part of its work in Vieques, the Humane Society of the United States is placing water troughs in safe areas for the island’s wild horses.

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The main function of the trip was “darting,” or administering the PZP immunocontraceptive vaccine via dart guns, to about 300 wild mares on Vieques. The vaccine must be given twice in the first year to prevent a mare from getting pregnant, with the second round of shots taking place in April.

But before anyone arrived in Vieques, HSUS experts had concerns as to how they’d be received by local horse owners.

“The big question is what is PZP? Are there negative side effects?” said Loller. “I would say there were a handful of people who were skeptical about, ‘Really, what does this do?’ They were concerned that it might at all harm the horses, which it doesn’t. We’ve taken a large amount of time making the community connections and really bonding with the locals. There’s a huge riding population already on the island, and we go in with respect for that—making sure we give them all the information.

“The mayor also did car announcements with a speaker on top of a car, so they announced it to the entire island multiple times,” she continued. “Because we were asked in by the government, things were a little different that way. Then there were things we weren’t involved in at all; people asking, ‘Are there going to be roundups to get horses out of the main part of town?’ And that’s not our program—ours is solely focused on immunocontraceptive work.”

In addition to slowly decreasing the equine population of the island, Loller noted that mares that don’t foal every year generally look healthier.

“It’s better for tourism if you’re not seeing ribcages,” she said. “It’s a huge work in progress. It’s still in its first year, but for our darters to get to 300 mares, that’s 300 less babies for next year. It’s a big, big difference.”

The Puerto Rican island of Vieques is currently home to about 2,000 wild horses—a number that’s too high for the small island to easily sustain.

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MEREDITH LEE/HSUS PHOTO

“It was very cool for me as a rider to be able to give back to horses,” said top show jumper Georgina Bloomberg of her trip to Vieques to work with the HSUS program.

MEREDITH LEE/HSUS PHOTO

MEREDITH LEE/HSUS PHOTO

Several riders, including Ariana Rockefeller, made the donor trip to Puerto Rico in January, helping with administration of the contraceptive vaccines and the horse fair hosted by the HSUS.

Bulger was interested in watching the darting process, which involves shooting a loose horse on its hindquarters with the dart gun. The dart then administers the vaccine before popping off the horse and being collected. The HSUS staff members write detailed notes about which horses are getting darted, charting markings, taking photos and then putting down as detailed as possible physical description of each.

“It can be hard when it’s a plain gray horse,” Bulger said.

“As civilians, we obviously weren’t allowed to actually dart the horses, but we got to do a trial run with a dart at a target. It was challenging enough to do it at a non-moving target, and these vets are successfully darting moving horses in a big herd, so they are obviously experts.

“It was nice to see the horses weren’t very bothered by it,” she added. “The dart makes a loud noise, which seems to startle them, and then almost immediately after the initial startle, they’re fine. It seems like a humane solution to a terrible problem.”

The five-year program is acting as a pilot program for future, even larger, horse populations. It can also be applied to deer populations.

“We’re looking at it with the [Bureau of Land Management] horses,” said Loller. “We want this to be a model for the rest of the world. The solution is there; you just have to get ahead of the game. I’m a huge horse lover, and this seems so sensible to me, especially compared to slaughter. This is an easy solution.”

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GLOBAL CULTURE

MEREDITH LEE/HSUS PHOTO

With the darting work done, the crew turned to the next phase of their trip: the horse fair, which HSUS hosted for local riders and owners to come learn more about grooming, riding and general welfare.

“The owners are primarily young kids in Vieques,” said Loller. “It’s quite different. They round up horses when they

want to ride, and then they let them free again. We had 5-yearolds and 6-year-olds riding into the horse festival, and they were some of the best riders I’ve ever seen. It was amazing. They were just riding bareback.”

In addition, HSUS obtained a temporary license to bring a veterinarian from the mainland for the first time.

“Horses got dewormed; the horses there got contracepted; all horses got basic triage if needed, and then the last part was a grooming lesson,” said Loller. “They got to learn how to use a hoof pick and how to comb out the mane and tail—really basic care we take for granted in the United States. But that’s the first time they’ve ever had brushes. It was basically Christmas on the island for these kids.”

Bloomberg coordinated with horse care and tack companies Red Barn Feed and Supply, FarmVet, Beval Saddlery, C.M. Hadfield’s Saddlery and Horseware Ireland, and they donated all of the grooming equipment and supplies.

“A lot of the people in Vieques love their horses and want to take good care of them but don’t have financial means to purchase grooming supplies or don’t know how,” said Bloomberg. “One young rider had a snaffle bit, but he had it over the horse’s nose. He thought it was a fancy noseband, and he didn’t know it went in the horse’s mouth. When you showed them the right way, they were so grateful.”

MEREDITH LEE/HSUS PHOTO

During its first donor trip to Vieques HSUS hosted a horse fair for local young riders and owners, who learned about basic grooming and care for their horses.

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Bulger orchestrated the donation of horse care books, all written in Spanish. “One of my favorite things I’ve ever seen working with HSUS was, at the end of each day when we were driving back into the main part of town, we saw some kids with their horses pulled over under the tree, sitting and reading their books,� said Loller.

The Vieques program is also providing some simple solutions to other problems the island horses face, like placing water troughs in safe areas around the island, so that mares and foals don’t have to troop into town—risking their lives around the cars and annoying the residents. “It was a really cool trip,� said Bloomberg. “I’ve done so much with animal welfare, and I try to make my life about helping animals, but sometimes it’s difficult to find work to do with horses in this country. I can campaign to end horse slaughter, and I can take great care of my horses, but it’s not the same as the work I’ve done in other countries with dogs. It could feel a little less personal. This was the first time I’ve been able to get close to these wild horses and really work with them. It was very cool for me as a rider to be able to give back to horses.�

Bloomberg flew back from Vieques with 24 stray dogs on her plane, and they were all adopted out once they arrived in the United States. “They’ve never gotten a dog rescued from there because there are so many stray dogs. If anybody wants to adopt a dog, you can just open your door,� she said. “To transport out of Puerto Rico for the adoptions was incredibly important.�

The dates of the next donor trip aren’t decided yet, but Bulger is already planning on returning to Vieques. “It was a really humbling experience coming from Wellington [Fla.], with all of its accompanying wealth and luxury—for both humans and horses,� said Bulger. “You could see how people persevere through their struggles to still take care of their animals with what little they do have.

We went to a very impoverished neighborhood, and one woman, I don’t think her house even had a front door. But she’s known as the one in the area to bring unwanted dogs and cats. You could tell she’s the kind of person who goes without to help animals. She’s an amazing lady doing a lot of good without a lot of resources.�

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HENK MEIJER/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

CITY GUIDE

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New England Charm Is On Full Display In

WOODSTOCK, VERMONT

By CHRISTINA KEIM overed bridges. Stunning scenery. Quaint inns, shops and restaurants. A perfect display of all four seasons.

The town of Woodstock, Vt., offers all of this, but there’s another big draw for the horsey crowd too. The village of South Woodstock is home to the Green Mountain Horse Association’s 65-acre facility, and it’s an epicenter of equestrian activity from April through November.

Nestled on the banks of the Ottauquechee River, Woodstock is home to about 3,000 residents, who represent a mix of permanent and seasonal inhabitants. The area tends to draw people from other places, and equine enthusiasts flock to GMHA, which was founded in 1926 and now has 1,200 members.

Each year, GMHA offers several nationally recognized competitions in each of its major disciplines—dressage, driving, eventing, hunter/jumper, endurance and competitive trail/pleasure—and hosts schooling competitions as well. In addition, outside groups rent the facility for their own events.

Tracy Ostler, executive director of GMHA, says that all the organization’s activities, whether competitive or recreational, are related to its mission of promoting horsemanship and providing education. GMHA has also been a leader in preserving access to miles of connected trails for equestrian use, partnering with land owners and off-season users like the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers.

“As development continues to encroach on open spaces and trail networks in other parts of the Northeast, GMHA remains committed to providing an oasis for horse lovers, whether they’re competitors or pleasure riders,” says Ostler. “People are drawn here by the open spaces, the trail system and the beauty that surrounds GMHA. People want to be a part of this way of life. GMHA visitors benefit from the vibrant local businesses that welcome them, even with their boots on. It’s an amazing community.”

The small town welcomes guests with open arms—just don’t break the village speed limit of 25 mph, strictly enforced.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GMHA

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Between the months of April and November, Woodstock, Vt., is a hotspot of equestrian activity thanks to the Green Mountain Horse Association, with disciplines ranging from endurance to dressage.

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SIMON PEARCE Simon Pearce restaurant, in the neighboring village of Quechee, is a popular year-round favorite known for its ambience and creative cuisine. Located in a restored mill overlooking a waterfall and covered bridge on the Ottauquechee River, Simon Pearce offers a series of wine dinners monthly from November through May. Travel & Leisure magazine even voted it one of “America’s most romantic restaurants.”

Food favorites include the Vermont cheddar soup, spiced and charred octopus, and crisp roasted duckling with a balsamic shallot reduction for a main course. The restaurant also offers creative cocktail recipes—all served in handmade glassware—including the Flannel Cocktail, a mixture of Courvoisier VS, allspice dram and apple cider, with an orange twist.

Guests can watch the creation of the glassware and pottery in the on-site glassblowing studio located inside the mill; take home your favorite designs from the retail shop.

1760 Quechee Main Street (802) 295-2711 Quechee, VT 05059 simonpearce.com

JORDAN JENNINGS PHOTO

PHOTO COURTESY OF SIMON PEARCE

CITY GUIDE

BENTLEY’S RESTAURANT Bentley’s has become a Woodstock institution in its 40-plus years of existence, with a motto of “never changing but always new.” Located on the corner of Central and Elm Streets, it’s the unofficial meeting spot of Woodstock with a friendly, neighborly atmosphere.

Serving American fare for lunch and dinner, the menu includes a charcuterie plate with local Vermont cheeses and a bacon cheeseburger with beef from nearby Robie Farms. Bentley’s offers live music many weekend nights, plus dancing later on with a DJ. Reservations are recommended for larger dining parties.

3 Elm Street (802) 457-3232 Woodstock, VT 05091 bentleysrestaurant.com

KEEPER’S A COUNTRY CAFÉ

PHOTO COURTESY OF KEEPER’S

Keeper’s is an intimate and bustling restaurant a short drive away from GMHA and just 12 miles from downtown Woodstock. Its menu changes several times per year but always features farm-to-table organic ingredients and French-American cuisine with an Italian influence. Daily and weekly “Blackboard” specials include seasonal highlights—refreshing salads in the summer and comfort food in the winter.

Each meal is made from scratch, with proteins including grass-fed beef raised in nearby Weathersfield, Vt. (burgers are ground fresh daily), lamb from Second Wind Farm in Woodstock, and fresh, wild-caught fish. The steamed Prince Edward Island mussels are always a good choice, but the café also offers vegan and vegetarian options every day.

3685 Route 106 (802) 484-9090 Reading, VT 05062 keeperscafe.com

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MARSH-BILLINGS-ROCKEFELLER NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK

Billings Farm And Museum is a restored 1890s working farm offering hands-on educational opportunities, several species of livestock, and many special events throughout the year. Visitors can tour the barns and take part in interactive displays featuring the farm’s sheep, chickens, draft horses and Jersey cow herd.

Take a self-guided tour of the main farmhouse—considered modern in its day because it had running water and a bathroom—and enjoy programs like Time Travel Tuesday, where guests can help with the chores. “Farm Life” exhibits show what farming was really like in New England in the 1890s.

During summer months, the farm’s Percherons and Belgians are used for haying demonstrations. Other seasonal features include sheep shearing and herding in the spring, a quilt show and antique tractor day in the summer, and harvest programs and a woodworking festival in the fall. Take home cheddar cheese made with raw milk from the Jersey herd.

69 Old River Road Woodstock, VT 05091 (802) 457-2355 billingsfarm.com

The Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park is dedicated to the history of conservation in the United States and honors the legacy of the three families who once called the farm their home.

The park offers mansion tours from May through October, and there are also an array of special programs highlighting everything from ecology to the arts to fallout shelters. The 500 acres of actively managed forest include 12 miles of carriage roads and eight miles of trails, designed by Frederick Billings, which connect to the Mount Tom State Park and Billings Farm. All trails are for pedestrian or equestrian use only.

Guests coming with horse trailers are encouraged to park at the western entrance on Prosper Road; reservations are not required but call in advance to receive notice of any closures.

In the winter, these trails are groomed for crosscountry skiing and snowshoeing; passes can be picked up at the Woodstock Inn. Main entrance is at the Billings Farm And Museum.

(802) 457-3368 nps.gov/mabi

DON SHALL PHOTO

BILLINGS FARM AND MUSEUM

FARMHOUSE INN AT ROBINSON FARM

KUMAN SRISKANDAN/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

PHOTO COURTESY OF FARMHOUSE INN

The Farmhouse Inn at Robinson Farm is a family-friendly seven-room bed-and-breakfast, nestled on a 13-acre farmstead with a historic five-story barn—now home to Yuma the Quarter Horse and several laying hens. The property borders the Ottauquechee River and beautiful hiking trails.

The open farmland setting is spectacular, the beds are comfortable, and the hospitality is friendly.

The breakfasts will be hot, hearty and homemade, featuring local products—including homemade maple syrup, honey and garden delights. Farmhouse Inn is open year round.

5250 West Woodstock Road Woodstock, VT 05091 (802) 672-5433 farmhouseinnvt.com

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PHOTO COURTESY OF KEDRON VALLEY INN

PHOTO COURTESY OF LINCOLN INN

CITY GUIDE

THE LINCOLN INN AND RESTAURANT AT THE COVERED BRIDGE The Kedron Valley Inn is the closest inn and restaurant to GMHA, so during the facility’s active season, nearly every room is filled with equestrians. Dirty breeches are the standard dinner attire.

This popular hotel attracts repeat business with its equestrianthemed décor and down-to-earth atmosphere. The Kedron’s restaurant and tavern offer fine dining with a seasonal menu (including a house-made spätzle and Alehouse cheddar mac and cheese), an extensive wine list and craft beers—served outside on the porch if weather allows.

The staff at the Kedron works hard to make their guests feel at home, which is no surprise for a facility that’s been in the hotel business since 1822. Reservations fill quickly for competition weekends—book early to ensure a pet-friendly cabin if your four-legged family members are coming along.

4778 South Road (802) 457-1473 South Woodstock, VT 0507 kedronvalleyinn.com

KEDRON VALLEY STABLES Kedron Valley Stables is a small boarding and lesson facility built in 1973, located just a short drive from GMHA. Owner Chip Kendall is a seventh-generation Vermonter and inherited the business from his father, Paul, who also used to own the Kedron Valley Inn. The farm owns six driving horses, and Chip provides private sleigh rides during the winter and carriage rides in the summer. All rides leave from GMHA and take guests along a route featuring the Kedron River, agricultural fields, forests and areas of historical note.

Reservations are required.

4342 South Road (802) 457-1480 South Woodstock, VT 05071 kedron.com

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The Lincoln Inn And Restaurant At The Covered Bridge, a six-room bed-and-breakfast with attached fine dining restaurant and tavern, was built in 1875 as a farmhouse; former resident Norman Lincoln was a cousin of President Abraham Lincoln. The facility is nestled on six gorgeous acres on the Ottauquechee River, bordering the historic Lincoln Covered Bridge.

For the foodie in your group, Forbes rated the restaurant as one of its 10 best in 2016. It features gourmet European cuisine prepared by a Michelin star-trained chef, Jevgenija Saromova. Its creative menus change daily, with courses served slowly, allowing for relaxed, foodfocused dining. The main dining room is intimate and offers one seating per night, starting with drinks in the tavern followed by seating in the dining room, so reservations are a necessity.

2709 West Woodstock Road (802) 457-7052 Woodstock, VT 05091 lincolninn.com

THE SHIRE WOODSTOCK PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SHIRE

KEDRON VALLEY INN

The Shire is a pet-friendly hotel located within walking distance of the center of Woodstock village. Located on the banks of the Ottauquechee River, there are picturesque views of the river in all seasons, and in the summer months guests can lounge on Adirondack chairs by the water.

The business is open 12 months a year, and it’s a popular hotel for equestrians. But if you’re attending during winter months instead, the hotel offers skiing packages.

46 Pleasant Street (802) 457-2211 Woodstock, VT 05091 theshirewoodstock.com

THE VERMONT HORSE COUNTRY STORE PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WOODSTOCK INN

Located right next to GMHA, the Vermont Horse Country Store is the place to go for “everything for horses and the people who love them.” Owner Laura Spittle prides herself on maintaining a traditional tack shop, geared toward people who come to the physical store. The shop carries everything from double-ended snaps to fly spray to bridles and saddles.

In addition, Vermont Horse Country carries a full line of carefully chosen equestrian sportswear, toys and gifts.

In the back of the store is an art gallery, where local artists can display their work, and the store carries a number of one-of-a-kind items.

5331 South Road South Woodstock, VT 05071 (802) 457-4677 vermonthorsecountry.com

THE WOODSTOCK INN AND RESORT The Woodstock Inn And Resort is an iconic hotel, located in the heart of downtown Woodstock right on the village green, and it’s a popular destination for travelers. The 142room facility was recently renovated and now showcases a welcoming and classic New England Federal-style lobby, library and public spaces.

Guests can enjoy seasonal activities through the resort, including golf, the New England School of Falconry, an Orvis-endorsed fly fishing school, and downhill and Nordic skiing.

Visitors seeking a more leisurely pace will enjoy the 10,000-square foot, LEED-certified Woodstock Spa. At the end of the day, enjoy one of their restaurants: the Red Rooster features fine dining with fresh, local ingredients, while Richardson’s Tavern offers a cozy and casual atmosphere, with small plates and a selection of local craft brews and spirits. Proceeds from the resort’s operations support The Woodstock Foundation and Billings Farm and Museum education and conservation programs.

14 The Green (802) 332-6853 Woodstock, VT 05091 woodstockinn.com

The Sleep Woodstock Motel is a newly renovated yet classic 1960s-style roadside motel. Open all year, it offers 12 single rooms—six with king-sized beds, six with two double beds—and a two-bedroom suite. Rooms are cozy with modern amenities, yet they retain the charm of a classic motel; guests park right in front of their rooms for easy unloading.

Ask for one of the four pet-friendly rooms (for a small extra fee), as well as a “local deal sheet” for discounts at restaurants, stores and attractions.

Just 10 minutes from GMHA, the Sleep Woodstock Motel is one of its corporate sponsors.

4324 West Woodstock Road Woodstock, VT 05091 (802) 332-6336 sleepwoodstock.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE UNICORN

SLEEP WOODSTOCK MOTEL

THE UNICORN The Unicorn is a quirky shop, offering an “eclectic mix of the sublime to totally ridiculous, all in close proximity to each other.” Items for sale run the gamut, from a pair of socks bearing a “colorful” phrase to gorgeous jewelry to the best collection of fine pocketknives in the state of Vermont— prices range from less than $20 to thousands of dollars.

Proprietor Jeff Kahn says he and his staff believe they are in the entertainment business.

“Here, you are going to play, and the staff is going to transfer a sense of joy,” says Kahn.

15 Central Street (802) 457-2480 Woodstock, VT 05091 unicornvt.com

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CAROL BARRINGTON/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

PHOTO COURTESY OF F.H. GILLINHAM AND SONS GENERAL STORY

CITY GUIDE

F. H. GILLINGHAM AND SONS GENERAL STORE First opened in 1886, F. H. Gillingham And Sons General Store offers visitors a glimpse into the past yet provides modern products alongside its traditional items. Co-owner Jireh Billings is the greatgrandson of the store’s founder, and his family takes pride in the store’s legacy and evolution from a construction/agricultural supply to its modern iteration featuring groceries, gifts and more.

Gillingham’s is known for its large wine department and selection of Vermont microbrews, as well as fine local cheeses. In housewares, visitors can find many Vermont-themed gourmet products. Gillingham’s

toy section is devoted to classic wooden toys and games—plastic toys are not allowed.

“The Barn” is 3,000 square feet of space located out back, and it stores fishing rods and ties, Gillingham’s T-shirts and hats, and Darn Tough socks (a Vermont brand), as well as a full line of Carhartt clothing.

It’s located in the heart of downtown Woodstock.

16 Elm Street (802) 457-2100 Woodstock, VT 05091 gillinghams.com

Prepare To Unplug—And Maybe Get Lost

WORTHY KITCHEN

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he area around Woodstock, Vt., is charming, beautiful and, as one resident described it, like the village of Brigadoon: lost in time.

Cell service throughout the Kedron Valley is spotty, and GPS units are known to send out-of-towners on wild goose chases, especially in South Woodstock. The locals warn visitors that around here, pen and paper directions are the way to go—and if a road looks like it is unmaintained, it probably is. If you go down it and get stuck, someone will pull you out, but you will have to pay for it!

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PHOTO COURTESY OF WORTHY KITCHEN

Worthy Kitchen is the perfect come-as-you-are restaurant. The restaurant features 18 beers on draft, as well as several wines, local hard ciders and Prosecco, and serves burgers, wings, fried chicken, nachos and other comfort foods to its hungry patrons.

The crowd here is a mix of residents and tourists; guests order and pick up at the counter. Locals say it’s the go-to spot to catch up with friends or bring out-of-town guests; most meals use plenty of locally sourced ingredients.

442 East Woodstock Road Woodstock, VT 05091 (802) 457-7281 worthyvermont.com

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FEED ROOM

Destinations For The Thirsty Equestrian In search of a little liquid adventure with a horsey flair? Belly up to the bar at five North American watering holes.

BY LESLIE WYLIE

etween riding, barn chores and everything else that goes into our horsecentric lifestyles, we equestrians can work up a mean thirst.

Nothing against stashing a box of wine in the tack room fridge, but there are more scintillating ways to combine your horsey passion with your need to, ahem, rehydrate. A great bar isn’t just a dispenser of boozy beverages. It’s an experience to be savored in and of itself, like that fancy bottle of bubbly you save for special occasions both large (“Hey, I made the Olympic team!”) and small (“Hey, I didn’t fall off in my lesson this week!”)

We went on a search for one-of-a-kind watering holes that welcome horse people with open arms and a well-stocked bar. Here are five picks that will have you raising a glass to the good life.

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KEENELAND RACETRACK Lexington, Ky. If Kentucky is the Thoroughbred capital of the world, Keeneland is its crown jewel. From sunrise morning workouts to boutique race meets in April and October, a visit to the track should be a staple of every equestrian bucket list— champagne bucket list, that is.

“What better way to enjoy the sport of kings than with a drink in hand!” said Christa Marrillia, Keeneland’s chief marketing officer. “Our fans enjoy a range of cocktails from Bloody Marys to our own craft beer.”

Keeneland boasts multiple bars— Brats and Brew, Clocker’s Corner, Mezzanine Bar and Sports Bar—as well as kiosks throughout to ensure that racing fans never go thirsty,

PHOTO COURTESY OF SUHMER’S SALOON

SUHMER’S SALOON & EATERY Eagle, Wisc.

whether they’re getting a sneak peek at the paddock or cheering from the rail.

Bourbon and Kentucky horse racing also go hand-inhand; in fact Keeneland sponsors include Buffalo Trace, distilled in Franklin County, Ky., and Maker’s Mark, distilled in Loretto, Ky. Pro tip: While you’re in the area, the Kentucky Bourbon Trail is definitely worth “hiking.”

In the spring the track runs a Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile, during which a bourbon cocktail is all but mandatory.

Top drink pick: The Keeneland Breeze, a refreshing spring beverage made with top-shelf Maker’s Mark 46.

We wrangled the recipe in case you want to give it a try at home: 1.5 oz. Maker’s Mark 1 oz. orange liqueur Top with ginger ale Orange garnish Enjoy!

Learn more: keeneland.com

How many bars have their own parking lot…for horses?

Suhmer’s Saloon & Eatery has 21 stalls available for “safe horse parking” and a steady stream of trail riders stopping in for refreshment from the nearby 3,000-acre Kettle Moraine State Forest.

“People can ride right from the forest into the parking lot then come in for drinks and eats,” said Jan Suhm, whose family has been operating the business for the past decade.

In addition to 10 beers on tap and 39 more available by the bottle, the Saloon is known for its hearty, homemade cooking—crowd favorites include chicken dumplings and prime rib mushroom brie soup.

The stalls are a luxury upgrade from the hitching posts that stood outside Suhmer’s for more than a century. The saloon’s story goes all the way to 1863, when it was built as a hotel.

“It was a stagecoach stop at one point,” Suhm said. When the railway came through, there were up to 18 passenger trains passing through a day.

“We’re 20 feet from the train that goes right by the horses, but they don’t seem to mind,” Suhm added.

Hit by Prohibition, it closed in 1926 but bounced back in the ’30s when the repeal brought back beer and liquor. Louis Sasso bought the condemned corner hotel for $900 in 1933 and rebuilt another hotel adjacent to it.

The hotels, four rooms apiece with a rathskeller bar, dining room and pool room, were legendary for both hospitality and rabble rousing. Stories include Abraham Lincoln sitting on the fireplace mantel back in 1863, and it was a frequent stop for the Milwaukee Braves. The Saloon still has its four original hotel rooms, and on occasion riders passing through will opt to stay overnight.

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FEED ROOM A sense of history and its rustic character remain intact; they still use the old dumbwaiter to send food down from the second-floor kitchen.

The Suhms operate a boarding stable in addition to the Saloon. They’re members of the 4-H board and host monthly meetings of the Southern Kettle Moraine Horse Trail Association at the Saloon.

“This is definitely a horsey area,” Suhm said, “and horse people are welcome here.”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SUHMER’S SALOON

Top drink pick: You can’t beat an ice-cold brew at the end of a long trail ride. Suhmer’s has several on tap, so take your pick!

We suggest going with a Wisconsin craft beer—when in Wisconsin, right? Try the New Glarus Spotted Cow (New Glarus, Wisc.), a caskconditioned Farmhouse ale that is fun, fruity and satisfying. If you like a beer with hops, check out the Potosi Snake Hollow IPA (Potosi, Wisc.), with its bold citrus hop character, notes of grapefruit and clean, bitter finish.

There’s also the Tyranena Rocky’s Revenge (Lake Mills, Wisc.), an American brown ale aged in bourbon barrels for a rich, aromatic experience.

Learn more: suhmerssaloon.com

14 HANDS WINERY TASTING ROOM Prosser, Wash.

14 Hands is one of our favorite wines— and not just because it has a horse on the label (although that doesn’t hurt)!

The winery is nestled in the folds of Horse Heaven Hills, a region that was

CHRISTIE’S CARRIAGE HOUSE PUB Victoria, British Columbia

Horse-drawn carriages were once a cornerstone of everyday life, and that tradition remains the guest of honor at Christie’s Carriage House Pub. The pub, originally owned by Eldridge Christie and his wife, was built in 1894. “[Eldridge] was a carriage maker, 110 MAY/JUNE 2017

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once home to hundreds of free-roaming Mustangs and is now Washington State’s largest grape-growing region.

Every day the Mustangs would migrate down from the hills to drink

assembling them on premise,” said Mike Gavas, who has been working behind Christie’s bar since 1988. “One of the carriages sits on display just outside the entrance to the pub.”

The restored five-seater 1905 Rockaway Coupe is one of few hard

PHOTOS COURTESY OF 14 HANDS WINERY PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHRISTIE’S CARRIAGE HOUSE PUB

from the Columbia River and feast on the rich grasses along the riverbank, then retreat into the hills to cool off at night.

Their unbridled tenaciousness is alive in 14 Hands wines, borne of determined grapevines that thrive in the hills’ loamy sand and gravel soils.

A trip to the 14 Hands Winery Tasting Room is a must for horse-loving wine aficionados.

“The ambiance of the 14 Hands Tasting Room absolutely reflects the spirit of the wine,” said 14 Hands spokesperson Renae Kochel. “It is a

top carriages in British Columbia; most carriages built in Victoria at the turn of the century were soft top. The most famous of Eldridge’s carriages, the Lady Dufferin, was built in 1910 and is on display at the Red Coach Inn in 100 Mile House, British Columbia.

The building is entering its 30th year as Christie’s Carriage House Pub under the ownership of Brock Carbery and Gord Hahn, who are likely to greet guests at the door.

“Christie’s Pub is the epitome of cozy charm and ambience, with its dark wood, perfect lighting, comfortable bar area and warm and inviting table seating sections and booths,” Gavas said. “Patrons really don’t like to leave.”

A diverse pub-grub menu features a Canada-meets-England flair: think fish and chips (Pacific line-caught halibut fillets in beer batter with coleslaw and tartar), steak and mushroom pot pie (Guinness-marinated steak chunks, seasonal veggies and mushrooms in a rich

mixture of new modern finishes with a rustic touch and a fantastic tribute to the region’s homesteading, grape-growing and winemaking traditions.”

From big, bright reds to crisp, fruit-forward whites, there’s something for everyone to enjoy in the space’s distinctive setting. The winery also features an expanded collection of reserve wines and seasonal offerings that cannot be found in stores.

The tasting room features indoor and outdoor seating areas, a tasting bar and a working barrel room for Reserve wine tastings. There’s an exhibition of reclaimed wood, sourced from barns throughout the region, displayed with the stories of the families who built them, as well as a horse motif throughout.

Complimentary wine tastings are available daily. 14 Hands also offers a packed calendar of events ranging from culinary adventures to seasonal wine release parties.

Top drink pick: Like a schoolmaster that’s as good-looking as it is stoic, 14 Hands Merlot is a wine you can take anywhere without fear that it’s going to embarrass you in front of all your friends. From horse shows to barn parties, it might not win the hack—we’ll leave that to some swanky bottle of vintage Bordeaux that seems too sacred to actually uncork—but it’s a dependable daily table wine guaranteed to give you a lovely, steady, stylish trip around the course.

The 14 Hands Merlot is a classic made more expressive by aromas of dark, sexy fruits: blackberries, plums and black cherries. It’s soft and plush, with some cozy mocha undertones and a touch of leather and spice on the nose, and the tannins are firm but not overbearing. Leather, tannins—sounds right up an equestrian’s sensory palate, indeed!

Learn more: 14hands.com

beef gravy topped with a puff pastry) and, of course, poutine. It’s all made fresh daily in-house, starring a variety of meats fresh from the rooftop smoker.

And then, of course, there are the beers.

“The Pub has also been dubbed ‘the original taphouse’ of Vancouver Isle and the lower mainland,” Gavas said.

“In 1989 we decided to be bold and expand the draft line from four Molson’s products to 40 taps from different cottage breweries from Victoria and the rest of B.C. This was unheard of at the time but very well-received.”

Today the bulk of Christie’s drafts hail from the greater Victoria area.

“But it should be noted that Christie’s Pub was the first mega multi-tap watering hole in B.C.,” Gavas said.

eyes and spinning the drink menu wheel, so to speak, you’ve just got to follow your heart.

Surrounded by Christie’s turn-ofthe-century charm, our heart craves a proper English-style ale brewed just a hop, skip and jump away in British Columbia. Piper’s Pale Ale from Vancouver Island Brewing fits the bill; it’s complex and biscuity, the sort of beer that makes you feel like donning jodhpurs and a jaunty cap.

Russell Brewing Company’s Blood Alley Bitter is another Anglophileinspired brew. Named after a notorious cobblestone laneway in Vancouver’s Gastown district, its rich, roasted malts hail from the United Kingdom but meet their match in floral U.S. varieties.

Don’t be surprised if, by the bottom of a pint or two, you find yourself saying “horse box” instead of trailer and “yard” instead of barn.

Learn more: christiespub. squarespace.com

Top drink pick: From lagers and IPAs to stouts and seasons, Christie’s dizzying array of draft beers is borderline overwhelming—in the best sense! Short of closing your

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF SALAMANDER RESORT

FEED ROOM

GOLD CUP AT SALAMANDER RESORT Middleburg, Va. Like a show horse pampered to the nines and stuffed silly with treats, sometimes we all deserve a little luxury. Salamander Resort’s Gold Cup wine bar is the perfect place to indulge in an equestrian setting.

In addition to sumptuous accommodations for the two-legged variety, Salamander Resort offers myriad options for discovering the Virginia countryside on horseback.

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Head out on a trail ride on one of the resort’s horses or bring your own, as overnight boarding is available.

“Gold Cup is the perfect place to relax after a day of riding,” said Ashli Kimenker, Salamander’s director of marketing. “We offer a comfortable, casual and personalized experience paired with a menu that pulls ingredients, for both food and beverage, from our culinary garden, which you pass on your ride.”

Virginia is enjoying a growing reputation as a producer of quality wines, and Gold Cup is an ideal venue for experiencing and educating oneself about wines produced in the region.

In addition to complimentary tastings every Sunday from 2-4 p.m., Gold Cup features a different local winery each month and hosts a wine dinner pairing executive chef Ryan Arensdorf ’s fine cuisine with that winery’s offerings.

Pair a Virginia wine flight delivered in a horseshoe carrier with a daily cheese and charcuterie board or, if you’ve really worked up an appetite, spring for a hearty

entree like shrimp and grits (Byrd Mill grits, Tasso ham, pan gravy, charred scallion and tomato) or skirt steak frites (10 oz. certified Angus Beef, Asian marinade and Yukon Gold french fries).

Just don’t focus so much on your food that you forget to check out the views!

“Our windows overlook the Grand Lawn with surrounding trails, so guests can see the daily trail rides going out,” Kimenker said.

Top drink pick: Between Gold Cup’s hand-picked selection of fine wines, Virginia craft beers and creative cocktails, it’s hard to know which direction to turn.

Because the equestrian life is so sweet, we’re going to go out on a limb and recommend the ChocolateCaramel Martini, a decadent libation made with Stoli Vanilla Vodka and Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur, Butterscotch Schnapps and Bailey’s Irish Cream. Cheers!

Learn more: salamanderresort.com/ dining/wine-bar-and-billiard-room

EQUINE APPROVED

VACATIONS

FOUND HERE.

Sarasota County is home to Fox Lea Farm, a nationally recognized horse show facility located in Venice, Florida. Hosting more than 40 competitions annually, Fox Lea Farm presents horse shows from Grass Roots to Grand Prix, including our NEW Venice Equestrian Tour Winter Circuit. The world class sporting venue attracts competitors from all over the world and is just minutes from some of the best beaches in the country.

Go to VisitSarasotaHorseShows.com =8 ,1.,4 8>= =1. 8>=<=*7-270 <18@ <,1.->5. *7- Ķ7- out why Sarasota and surrounding area is the best spot for a delightful equine adventure.

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CHARITY SPOTLIGHT Horses In The Hood participants, residents of Los Angeles’ innercity neighborhoods, have sometimes never been in contact with horses before attending camp sessions at Mill Creek Equestrian Center in Topanga, Calif.

A Closer Look At: Horses In The Hood This nonprofit organization introduces inner-city Los Angeles residents to horses through weeklong camps that teach riding, horsemanship and life skills at no cost to participants.

By MEGAN BRINCKS Photos Courtesy of HORSES IN THE HOOD

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ost equestrians can’t imagine life without their equine partners. But in Los Angeles’ inner city, an area facing gang activity, drug problems and economic depression, horses are a foreign concept and an outof-reach luxury.

Horses In The Hood (HHLA) offers people, mostly at-risk youth, from LA neighborhoods like Watts and the nearby city of Compton a week at Mill Creek Equestrian Center in Topanga, Calif., to learn about horses and riding—earning a new skill and self-confidence at the same time.

Working directly with other nonprofit

M

Horses In The Hood participants learn about all aspects of riding, from grooming and tacking up to sometimes cantering and jumping small crossrails, during five-day summer camps.

groups in Los Angeles, 501(c)3 Horses In The Hood provides a five-day camp free of cost. Participants borrow helmets and paddock boots for safety, and transportation is available if needed.

They learn the basics of good horsemanship—starting with grooming and handling horses on the ground, and progressing to walking, trotting, ground poles, small crossrails and sometimes even cantering during the five days. On the last day, campers demonstrate what they’ve learned for their families and friends, and HHLA provides a picnic lunch.

Show Jumping Hall Of Fame inductee Kathy Kusner founded Horses In The Hood after witnessing the inequalities minority populations were facing in the show world throughout her career. She grew up in Virginia before the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, and many of the grooms working on the horse show circuit were black.

“When we stopped to eat, I took their orders and went in because they couldn’t go in,” Kusner said. “I thought, ‘This is terrible. These are humans.’ ” Kusner competed at the 1964 (Japan), 1968 (Mexico) and 1972 (Germany) Olympic Games in additional to multiple Pan American Games. In 1968, Kusner

became the first licensed female jockey in the United States after mounting a legal challenge against the rules of the time, and she continues to campaign for human rights.

When Kusner settled in the Los Angeles area, she immediately saw a need to bring a literal breath of fresh air to some of the worst areas of the city. Making a beeline, as she said, to Compton and city neighborhoods like Watts, she started exploring options to help minority groups in Los Angeles, starting HHLA in 1999.

“I’m limited in what I can do, but it would be with horses because that’s what I know the most,” she said.

Kusner’s idea to start a nonprofit riding program soon evolved into sending students to Mill Creek in Topanga during the summer months when children weren’t in school. HHLA and Mill Creek first partnered in the spring of 2003, and the relationship remains strong today.

A Breath Of Fresh Air For Everyone Targeting the toughest places in Los Angeles, Kusner networks with other nonprofit organizations to gather groups of 10-12 students for camps. The organizations often cater to individuals and families living on

very low incomes, and they sometimes involve minority groups.

The Watts Towers Arts Center Campus has partnered with HHLA for four summers now, sending 10 students from its summer program per year, and education coordinator Rogelio Acevedo said most students who attend haven’t touched a horse before. Many don’t even have pets at home.

“We’re here in South LA, where we have a lot of concrete and asphalt and not a lot of trees—it’s a dense city—so when we get the opportunity to take the students out and up to the Santa Monica area, it’s a great experience for them and for the staff, as well,” he said.

“They’re able to experience riding and learn to ride, and more importantly they get to try something new and overcome their fears—a lot are afraid of the horses on their first days. But by the end of the week, they’re riding, so it’s a pretty amazing accomplishment for them.”

Acevedo noted that some students enjoy the experience so much they look for additional opportunities with horses or other animals after the camp ends.

“Some come away wanting a horse, wanting to train horses, or wanting to look into becoming a vet,” he said.

“One student in particular, her family came to us and participated in our arts program, and we took her to the Horses In The Hood camp. She was just blown away by the experience and riding, and the whole week of being in nature and around the horses.

“She took it upon herself to look and see what else was available throughout the year,” Acevedo continued. “She found

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CHARITY SPOTLIGHT Through Horses In The Hood, groups of at-risk youth from inner-city Los Angeles travel to Mill Creek Equestrian Center in Topanga, Calif., for free five-day camps to learn about horses and riding.

out about a program offered through the LA Police Department where they take children up to the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, and she’s participated in those rides as well. She’s become a pretty amazing rider. Her parents told me they’ve seen a transformation in her; she’s kind of come out of her shell. Before she was more introverted, and now she’s assertive—developing leadership skills.”

Everyone Benefits Although HHLA was originally conceived to help the black community and now sees a large number of Latino participants, Kusner emphasized that it’s open to anyone.

“We have a complete mix of races,” she said. “It’s for everybody, as the world should be.”

HHLA uses donations to buy helmets and paddock boots for the participants.

Although HHLA pays Mill Creek for the use of lesson horses and trainers, the barn also utilizes its own students as volunteers.

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Riders in the Mill Creek lesson program often volunteer at the day camps, helping new students learn the ins and outs of handling horses, tacking, grooming and riding.

“You’re getting so much instruction and so much help from these kids who are volunteers,” Kusner said. “I think it’s just great for them to get to know each other.”

HHLA doesn’t host fundraising events. They send one annual newsletter asking for donations, and the money they get from that single outreach keeps the organization afloat. Kusner emphasized the importance of the people who donate, whether in small or large amounts. She recounted a letter and donation she recently received from someone she knew when she was 18 and working at a racing stable in Maryland.

“It’s the people who make it work,” Kusner said. “A lot of them were friends of mine when I was on the horse show circuit or the racetrack, or this or that. They know about this from that connection that we

had. Some of them are people I taught.

I can’t get over it, these fantastic people.”

Thanks to these donations, HHLA can send as many kids to camp as Mill Creek has time for during the summer.

“The limiting factor is how many weeks [the children] are out of school,” said Kusner.

The organization has one paid staff member, and the rest of the time is volunteer hours from the board members, Kusner included.

Ultimately, Horses In The Hood is about exposing young people to the world of horses and bringing them joy in a new way. As of the end of its summer programs in 2016, the organization had hosted 1,057 riders at 105 camps.

“We’ve been really fortunate, and we’re so excited about the partnership with Horses In The Hood,” said Acevedo.

“The instructors are so patient and encouraging. We had the experience where a young man went, and he didn’t ride the whole week. The whole time he was so afraid, and all he could do was sit on a horse for a minute, and as soon as the horse would move, he was frightened and would get off. They worked with him all week. On the very last day, he rode. It was a major breakthrough, and his mom was so grateful he could accomplish that.”

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LEARN MORE: Visit the Horses In The

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GET IN TOUCH: Email hhla@

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GET INVOLVED: Horses In The Hood accepts donations at P.O. Box 573249, Tarzana, CA 91357-3249, or via its website.

You can also sponsor individual campers with donations and buy Horses In The Hood merchandise on the website.

Hood website at horsesinthehood.org. horsesinthehood.org or call (323) 564-7669.

The Florida Horse Park

Educate - Inspire - Excel

The 500-acre Florida Horse Park in Ocala-Marion County provides a beautiful, world-class setting for equestrian events throughout the year. With a 79,500-square-foot all-weather arena, seven regulation dressage arenas, over 100 obstacles and stabling, the park is quickly becoming a hub for the state’s equine activities. From beginners to Olympians, the Florida Horse Park has something for everyone. Its expanding array of educational programs provides clinics for horse owners and caretakers and inspires new generations of horse enthusiasts. Experience the Florida Horse Park during your next visit to the Sunshine State.

11008 South Highway 475

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Ocala, Florida 34480

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www.FLHorsePark.com

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(352) 307-6699

BEST OF WEB & PRINT

What’s Hot On The Web X Horsepeople At 15 And At 30 Blogger Alice Peirce has a hilarious take on life with horses, and she examined how the situation looks vastly different depending on your age!

PHOTOS COURTESY ALICE PEIRCE

“At 15 your parents buy all your tack. (Amateurs) At 30 you’re still using the tack your parents bought you, but it’s held together with scrap leather, duct tape and disappointment. Your paddock boots have a tear where the leather meets the sole resembling a gaping mouth when walking.

You know what your boots’ mouth is saying? ‘Kill us.’ You ignore their plea, and shut them up with some duct tape. Good as new.”

MIDDLEBURG PHOTO

PHOTO COURTESY AMELIE KOVAC

You can read the article at coth.com/article/horsepeople-at-15-and-at-30 and also read Alice’s first, equally funny piece for COTH at coth.com/article/a-grooms-life

X The Unruly 3-Year-Old Pumpkin Changed

Amelie Kovac’s Life When French-Croatian rider Amelie Kovac got the lastminute call to ride in a symposium with Charlotte Dujardin, she gave Pumpkin a clip job and a bath and shipped him over. Little did she know that the dressage superstar would fall in love with the quirky chestnut and offer to buy him on the spot.

It wasn’t the first time serendipity struck Kovac—she bought Pumpkin off a hunch, and her belief in the sometimes unruly and headstrong young horse paid off in a big way.

She also made bold moves with her own life, moving to the United States, selling a horse of a lifetime and starting over.

Read more about Kovac: coth.com/article/the-unruly-3-yearold-pumpkin-changed-emilie-kovacs-life

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X First Field Without A Bridle? No Problem.

After a trailering accident that left her off-the-track Thoroughbred Youmightbearedneck with a broken jaw, COTH blogger Michelle Craig experimented to find a bitting solution that worked. She usually rides him with no bridle at all, but foxhunting first flight with the Piedmont Fox Hounds meant she wanted a bit more control.

Craig thought outside the box for a solution and had the time of her life.

“He’s made it pretty clear he was just waiting for me to figure out this unique bitting thing, and I felt comfortable because I rode in our trusty old neck rope that I know I can steer and stop in (we have also hunted in this alone), but being able to have a bit he likes means we can do so much more,” she writes: coth.com/article/firstfield-without-a-bridle-no-problem

Don’t Miss In The Magazine

BILL SITZMAN PHOTO

JAIME HICKS LVT PHOTO

ALISON THAYER PHOTO

X Do You Depo?

If you’ve been using Depo-Provera or Regu-Mate to quiet your horse—mare, gelding or stallion—you’ll want to pay attention to the discussion unfolding before the U.S Equestrian Federation about the use of these medications at competitions. In Sara Lieser’s article “USEF To Examine Rules On Depo-Provera And Regu-Mate” (Feb. 27, p. 56), she explores how some trainers swear by their effectiveness, but veterinarians are concerned that the drugs weren’t intended or labeled for use in horses, are being used too frequently, and could be affecting your animal in unintended ways—not to mention that they violate the spirit of the USEF medication rules.

“We’re not giving it for therapeutic reasons.

We’re not giving it necessarily to keep mares out of heat,” says Dr. Mark Baus. “We are specifically giving it to affect their behavior.”

X The High Cost Of X Omaha’s Biggest Cheerleader It’s always more fun when your team wins, but a U.S. victory in the Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Final wasn’t the only reason competitors and spectators were raving about the event in Omaha, Neb. In our World Cup Preview issue (March 20), we got to know Lisa Roskens, the impetus and visionary behind international-level horse sport in Nebraska.

“When people say, ‘Why Omaha?’ I always say, ‘Why not?’ ” she says. “I love this sport; I love this town. I didn’t know why we weren’t doing it here.”

KIMBERLY LOUSHIN PHOTO

Hunter Hair We’ve become so accustomed to the “hunter hair” look, but new research shows it’s not the safest way to keep your locks looking tidy while showing.

In our annual Horse Show Issue (March 27) USHJA president Mary Babick begs readers to pay attention to the science that shows the helmet should be sitting against the skull to work its best.

“So, what is more important?” she asks. “Tradition or safety? Obviously, the answer is safety. The journey to the new reality may not be an easy or smooth ride, but I challenge you to: ‘Let down your hair.’ ”

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PARTING WAYS

Spread Your Wings Photo By LIZ CALLAR With reins still in hand, jockey Gerard Galligan took flight off Larry Levy’s Handy Cap during the Rokeby Challenge Bowl timber race at the Piedmont Fox Hounds Point-toPoint in Upperville, Va., March 25. Horse and rider were uninjured, and Kinross Farm’s Old Timer (McLane Hendriks, leading) went on to win.

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TM

COVERAGE

You’re Covered

With Powerful Nutrition & Preventive Medicine eQCO Colic Coverage™ Provides Up to $10,000 for Colic Surgery Reimbursement Research shows preventive veterinary care—including proper nutrition, deworming, dental care and vaccinations—can improve a horse’s long-term wellness and influence the rate of serious medical conditions such as colic. eQCO Colic Coverage™ combines veterinary wellness services with the right nutrition for a healthier horse.

To learn more, visit PlatinumPerformance.com/EQCOCoverage, or call 800-553-2400 to enroll. © 2017 EQCO, INC.