Suzy is an Accredited Land Consultant and has consistently been one of the top producing land and farm agents since 2003 in the Aiken Market.A leading sales agent multiple times, she is most proud of winning Best Customer Service agent for Aiken’s Meybohm office the past 2 out of 3 years. Kathryn is licensed in both SC and GA and has achieved Presidents Club status in the company. Together they will ensure you find the perfect property in Aiken!
LIVE OAK DRIVE $299,000
3 bedrooms/2.5 baths brick and cedar shake home on Two Notch Rd. close to Bruce’s Field and the Horse District clay roads. Renovated kitchen with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. Floors are mostly hardwood, and the living room has a gas fireplace and built ins. Large mudroom/laundry includes washer/dryer, half bath and accesses the backyard. Property currently is two living areas with one being a 1 BR/1 BA cathedral ceiling efficiency with kitchenette, bedroom, small living room, bathroom with new tiled walk-in shower, and separate entrance and courtyard.
LOT 62 MEADOW CREEK $53,900
Wonderful lot in equestrian subdivision with an extensive trail system and across from an event training facility. Watch beautiful sunsets from this level lot with pines and some hardwoods. The property lines are clearly marked and perc test for septic sytem has been ordered. Shared community trails and dirt roads for hacking. This lot is beautiful with a low $360 HOA annual fee.
West Haven Farm 119 Lam Lane in Tod’s Hill
At West Haven Farm you will find a beautiful Hunt box style home with attached 3-Stall Barn on 8.77 acres, perimeter fenced with lush grass for grazing. The home offers an open floor plan with 16-foot ceilings and is cleverly designed for comfortable casual living, yet perfect for entertaining guests. Enjoy cathedral ceilings, woodburning fireplace with stone hearth & gas starter, gourmet kitchen with gas range and island bar seating for four, wet bar with additional seating, and outdoor living spaces. Relax outside on the screened-in porch that has a pass-through from the bar for cocktail service for you and your guests. Horse amenities include matted stalls, wash rack, three nice size pastures for turn out, and climate-controlled tack/feed room. Saddle up your horses and go for a ride on miles of scenic trails along lakes and through the rolling terrain of Tod’s Hill. Invest in your future now by enjoying West Haven Farm as a seasonal or full-time property with plenty of room for you to later build a main residence on the knoll overlooking the farm. Come discover West Haven Farm's magnificent views, sunsets and superb location, close to downtown Aiken, the trails of Hitchcock Woods and the show grounds at Bruce's Field and Highfields. You will appreciate the proximity to polo, eventing training venues + the short haul to Stable View Equestrian. This property is a truly unique equestrian's dream and a rare gem!
Built in 1922, Thistle Cottage presents an elegant home with exquisite gardens, privately sited behind a brick wall in Aiken’s coveted historic district, just 2 blocks from The Willcox and the Horse District. You will appreciate original architectural elements such as Hitchcock ceilings, heart pine floors, transoms and restored windows with diamond panes. You can work and play at Thistle Cottage in the detached studio. The garden will delight, and you can enjoy quiet evenings on the covered porch and patio entertaining friends.
2 BR + 2 Ba Home | 2836 SF | 0.33 Acres Detached Studio/Office & Expansive Garden Offered For $1,050,000
Aiken
3+ Acres | 33 Stall Main Barn | 9 Stall Barn 2 Br/Bath Renovated Cottage
exceptional 25 acres, Lot 7 has spectacular hardwoods & perimeters buffered with mature pines for the real & rare privacy not found in more dense equestrian HOAs. Chime Bell Chase has just 20 lots, a new competition quality hunter ring, separate dressage arena, and impressive hunt course. Would you rather just hack? The Community's trail network is extensive and mostly shaded, an added bonus in the warm summer months!. Lot 7 Carillon Court is a truly singular parcel in a community providing a riding experience you will not find in any other equestrian community! 25+ Acres | Superb Amenities | Trail Network Offered for $750,000
Cissie Sullivan Tracey Turner
Just across from Bruce’s Field with direct access to the
Training Track, Byerley Stables is a premier facility in a premium location in Aiken’s Horse District. This property has rental income history and further potential from Grooms Quarters' rental and stall rentals during the season and Horse Shows at Bruce's Field. At Byerley Stables, you will find flexibility and versatility, at a property that can work for you!
Photography by Shannon Brinkman
Aiken Horse The
Welcometo the August-September issue of The Aiken Horse. In a way, this is like our “back to school issue.” The Aiken equestrian season has traditionally focused on the colder months – the school season – with June, July and August off for summer vacation. Years ago, summer vacations for kids, and downtime for Aiken’s equestrians seemed longer. Now, school in Aiken starts in early August, and equestrian events here are year-round. Activities will only intensify as we head into fall, and we are getting ready for a very busy season.
The August-September issue begins a new year for us at the Aiken Horse, too. We do six issues a year, and August-September is the start of each cycle. When I went to change the “volume” number on our masthead, I was somewhat surprised to see that we are now on Volume 20, meaning that we are starting our 20th year of publication. I remember our first organizational meeting about starting a horse newspaper in Aiken in August 2005. A group of us got together in a shed on my farm to talk about it, and then we were off and running. That shed became the Aiken Horse office, our first issue was out on October 1, and now, 120 issues later, here we are.
I am a little surprised that we have been doing this for so long. Looking back, in some ways Aiken has changed a lot since that August afternoon when we
decided to launch this paper, but in other ways, it has not. It has certainly grown. But is gratifying is to see how much the Aiken horse world has grown with it, and contributed to that growth. Unlike many other places, Aiken still has horses at its heart. We might have to fight to keep it that way, and we hope that The Aiken Horse can show how important horses are to this area by providing a place to showcase our vibrant equestrian culture. After all, horses are one of the main things that make Aiken, Aiken.
We hope you enjoy this issue. We didn’t make it to the Olympics ourselves, but our correspondent, Sally Spickard did, and we kept up with the action on the livestream provided by NBC Peacock – it was almost like being there. You will find all our Olympic coverage in the first section, including a story about Boyd Martin and Fedarman B, owned by the Annie Goodwin Syndicate, along with pictures from the incomparable Shannon Brinkman.
Section Two includes a story about a new veterinary school that will open in the South Carolina upstate in 2026, an overview of the Aiken fall calendar, and a story about the photographer Gordon Munro and his adventurous life. In Section Three, you will meet Lee Lee, another of the wonderful Horses of Great Oak, as well as the filmmaker Wayne Ewing, whose film, Polo Es Mi Vida, will play at the Equus Film Festival at Aiken Equine Rescue this fall. Of course, we also have pictures from some of Aiken’s equestrian events: Dressage at the Aiken Horse Park, Combined Training at The Vista Schooling and Event Center, jumping at the Stable View In & Out series.
Once again, please let us know of you have an idea for a story, or if you know something we should know. We want to be your horse newspaper.
Pam Gleason Editor & Publisher
AIKEN, SOUTH CAROLINA
Revitalizing Aiken’s Historic Heart: The Future of Hotel Aiken
The historic Hotel Aiken is now on the market for sale as a historic redevelopment opportunity
For over a century, the Hotel Aiken has stood as a cornerstone of downtown Aiken, weaving its legacy into the fabric of the beloved equestrian town. This iconic establishment, anchoring the commercial heart of Laurens and Richland Streets, is now at the threshold of a new era that promises to blend Aiken’s rich heritage with its vibrant future.
In an ambitious move to ensure the city’s evolving needs are met, the City of Aiken has enlisted Colliers’ expertise to facilitate the sale of Hotel Aiken and the adjoining parcels. Spearheading this project are Tommy Tapp, CPM, and Alia Bostaji, CHA from Colliers | South Carolina, alongside Mark Owens from Colliers’ U.S. Hospitality Practice Group. Their mission is clear: to find a developer who will honor Aiken’s history while ushering in modern amenities that serve the community’s growing demands.
“The City's goal is to revitalize a vital part of its historic downtown area to address increasing housing and hospitality demands while preserving Aiken's local identity. The availability of the Hotel Aiken and neighboring parcels offers an exciting opportunity for developers to contribute to Aiken's ongoing growth and prosperity, and we look forward to determining the best possible future for this important corner of Aiken’s vibrant downtown.”
Teddy Milner, City of Aiken Mayor
The offering includes a redevelopment opportunity for a ±28,406-square-foot historical hotel site and ±34,313 square feet of additional retail space on ±1.36 acres. These properties, located between Newberry Street and Laurens Street, are a stone’s throw from USC Aiken and within walking distance of Aiken’s top dining, shopping and entertainment spots. Furthermore, the proximity to the Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters Tournament, adds an annual influx of tourism potential.
Listing agents on behalf of
The City purchased the Hotel Aiken and adjacent parcels in 2021. The purchase embodied a strategic vision to restore unused historical sites, enhance their appeal to a burgeoning population and increase tourism. This project is not merely about preserving buildings but about rejuvenating the spirit of Aiken’s downtown for generations to come.
As Aiken continues to grow and prosper, the legacy of the Hotel Aiken stands poised for a renaissance. This pivotal corner of the downtown, long a witness to the ebb and flow of Aiken’s history, now looks forward to a future of renewed vitality and charm.
Join us as we watch this beloved landmark step into a new chapter, promising to enrich the community while preserving the essence of what makes Aiken a truly special place to live, work and visit.
Riding for Annie
Boyd Martin at the Paris Olympics
By Sally Spickard, photography by Shanon Brinkman
The striking Fedarman B, his face awash in white, would turn any horse enthusiast’s head. A look into the horse’s eye reveals a depth of intelligence and, if anthropomorphizing a horse is an acceptable practice, perhaps a trace of wisdom and the knowledge that the weight he carries is not just that of one rider. It’s that of a family forever marked by tragedy and of a legacy that lives on, both at the highest levels of sport and also in the notion that a dream can survive, even beyond its original dreamer.
Annie Goodwin was just 32 when she had a tragic accident while cross country schooling at Stable View in Aiken in 2021. A young professional who had aspirations of competing at the CCI5* and championship levels of eventing, Goodwin lost her life that day. Her dreams might have gone with her, too, but instead, they were picked up by those left behind who honor her legacy today.
Among those left behind was Fedarman B, a horse she’d selected for herself and imported when he was just 3 years old. He showed talent, with his expressive movement and natural ability for jumping, which comes in part from his breeding line that features several 1.60 meter jumpers such as Carpaccio, Caretino, and Cassini I.
The Olympic eventing rider Boyd Martin was in France preparing for his third Olympic appearance, representing the United States in Tokyo, when he got the phone call that Goodwin had passed away. He had coached her intermittently throughout her career before she set up her own business in Aiken as a producer of horses and a professional competitor.
“I think one of the painful parts was she basically worked for riders in Aiken and had bought a farm and set up her own business and made Aiken her home base,” Martin reflected. “She was a couple years into it and had started getting great supporters and clients and boarders in Aiken. Her business plan was evolving and doing well.”
When he returned from Tokyo, Martin received a phone call from Annie’s father, Putter Goodwin. While most of her young horses had been moved on to other riders or sold, one remained: Fedarman B. He had shown promise at the Advanced and CCI4* level of eventing with Goodwin, and Putter inquired about Martin’s willingness to take the gelding on.
“Initially we thought we’d see if we could get him fit and strong, and we thought we could potentially sell him as a show jumper if he wasn’t to be a top event horse,” Martin said. And in the early going, forming a partnership with “Bruno” certainly wasn’t easy. “We sort of had a six month period where we were figuring out if he could be a horse for me. My first couple of events with Bruno weren’t that successful, and I was really of two minds as to whether he even liked me as a rider.”
It would be an event in Aiken where Martin and Fedarman B began to gel in earnest. The annual Grand-Prix Eventing Showcase at Bruce’s Field offers a hybrid, condensed format competition with strong prize money and great spectator appeal. For Martin, the showcase was an opportunity not just to compete, but also to show the horse in front of his original fan base, most of which was based in Aiken. Annie had taken Bruno to the showcase in 2021, and Martin brought him back in March 2022.
“Bruce’s Field was really a turning point for us,” Martin said. “I sort of took him there just because all of Annie’s friends and followers and her team were down there, and to be honest I hadn’t met Tina and Putter [Goodwin] in person since the tragedy. That was sort of one of those events where I felt it suited the horse, and for some reason that weekend everything just went unbelievable. Right from that moment on, I knew
this was a big-time horse.” After that event, which Martin won, the Annie Goodwin Syndicate was formed as Bruno’s owner, and Martin set about making goals for the horse.
One goal was the 2024 Paris Olympics, for which Martin had a handful of horses qualified. Two rose to the top of his list, and this summer he was named to the U.S. eventing team with Fedarman B as his primary horse and Yankee Creek Ranch LLC’s Commando 3 as his direct reserve.
“Funny enough, I felt like [Commando 3] was about on par with Bruno, and I wasn’t sure which horse the selectors were going to go with,” he said. “I think they’re both legendary horses and I think at the end of the day, I had made a point to do Luhmühlen and Pau (CCI5*s) with Bruno with the thought that I wanted him to be ready for this twisty, turning track in Paris. [Commando 3] was sort of six to twelve months behind, so I just focused on four-stars with him.”
In Paris, Martin finished 10th individually and seventh as a part of the U.S. team. Two costly mistakes in his dressage test (with the right-to-left flying change that’s plagued Martin and Fedarman B throughout their partnership) prevented him from finishing higher as an individual.
“I felt like I did about as good as I could have done,” Martin said once he returned home from Paris. “Looking back on it, the biggest disaster of our performance was those two changes. Other than that, he was foot-perfect. Just about as good as he could go. I obviously would have loved to finish higher than 10th, but I don’t know that I could have gotten much better other than those mistakes. I felt like we delivered. I’d say it was very tough; as a team, in some ways we were very close to a medal and in other ways, we were miles away.”
In the lead-up to the games, Annie Goodwin’s story proliferated across both equestrian and mainstream media, the concept of Martin riding in her honor seizing the hearts of fans both old and new. Did he feel a twinge of guilt, or sadness, leading up to one of the biggest competitions of his life that also demanded his focus?
“At the beginning, it was a bit of an awkward feeling of just me racing around on Annie’s horse and winning all these classes,” Martin reflected. “I just actually felt a bit awkward for Annie’s parents, who were watching him go . . . they were nothing but supportive, but I’m sure deep down there would’ve been that thought that it should’ve been their daughter. She’d done all the work and picked the horse out and produced him. And then after that first win at Grand-Prix Eventing, I just felt like there were so many people cheering for Bruno and what he represented. I began to feel like it was a living memorial.”
In Paris, Martin admitted, “I think there were more people cheering ‘Go Bruno!’ instead of ‘Go Boyd!’ and it’s an experience I’ll remember my whole life.”
“It sort of changed my life as well,” he continued. “I’ve become very close friends with Annie’s dear friends and her family. I think this horse has brought me way closer. They still come and visit and feed him carrots. We had a group message in Paris where I was checking in with them and sending them pictures.”
As for Fedarman B’s future, Martin says the horse will get a wellearned vacation before he begins work again, potentially aiming for a second run at Les Etoiles de Pau in France in October or, failing that, targeting CCI4* competition to close out the year.
“He’s just been an incredible partner for me,” Martin said. “And I’ve been so grateful and honored to ride him and to show Annie what she always knew he could do. I truly felt like she was up there cheering us on the whole way around.”
News & Notes
By Pam Gleason
Doing it Right
The citizens of Aiken spoke, and the city listened. The historic Hotel Aiken, located on the corner of Richland Avenue and Laurens Street downtown, will be restored rather than demolished. That is, it will be if the City of Aiken, which currently owns the hotel, is able to find someone willing to take on the project. To that end, the city has hired the Columbia, S.C. branch of the real estate firm Colliers International to market the property to prospective developers.
Hotel Aiken was built in the late 1800s by Henry Hahn, a businessman with deep ties to the City of Aiken. According to an
1899 article in the Aiken Journal and Review (precursor to the Aiken Standard) Hahn came to Aiken in 1856 as a “refugee from yellow fever in Charleston.” His friends had to persuade him to stay: Aiken at the time was not very developed, and he was “disgusted with the appearance of the place.” Fortunately, instead of going back to Charleston, he decided to improve Aiken, and he was an industrious man. Starting out with just $10 in his pocket, he rose to be one of the wealthiest men around. “Hotel Aiken, which is the largest building in the city, is a monument to his pluck and enterprise,” continued the Journal. “He has ever labored for the upbuilding and advancement of Aiken, and never hesitated to back his judgment with his money,” Hahn also owned and operated a grocery store that was said to have the “Finest food in the South.”
At some point, the hotel was renamed the Commercial Hotel, and during the Winter Colony era in the first decades of the 20th century, it catered primarily to visitors from the Northern states who came to Aiken for the weather, the society, and the sport. In 1929, Leonard Holley purchased the hotel, and it remained in the Holley family until 2001. During this time, it went by several names – the Holley House, the Holley Inn and the Holley. In 2001, it was purchased by the Shah family, and became Hotel Aiken once again. It had a central location, a bar and sometimes a restaurant. For decades, it was a focal point for Aiken’s equestrian population. During the early years of the 2000s, the bar at Hotel Aiken was known as the last stop for any polo person’s evening entertainment. You may have dined at any other restaurant in town, or been to an asado or a private dinner, but “sooner or later, everyone ends up at Hotel Aiken.”
By 2015, the building had fallen into disrepair. It closed for renovations, and then never reopened. The City of Aiken Municipal Development Commission purchased the property along with a number of other buildings downtown, and then embarked on a multi-year campaign to try to develop it. This led to the disastrous Project Pascalis proposal, which would have razed the hotel and taken an entire city block in order to construct a massive modern hotel, parking garage and conference center. The plan led to public outcry, lawsuits and years of arguing. Eventually the development commission was disbanded and the City of Aiken took possession of the properties.
The new plan is to find a developer that cares about historic properties. In the best case scenario, someone will come in and restore the hotel to its former glory. It is also possible that a developer might want to make retail stores or condos. The guiding principle, however, is that anyone who purchases the property needs to have respect for the historic nature of Aiken, and will not attempt to replace the hotel with something out of character and out of place.
While there are those that think the preservationists are standing in the way of progress, there are others who say that historic structures have a charm that cannot be recreated. They point especially to The Willcox, another historic Aiken hotel that fell into decay in the 1980s. The Willcox was slated to be torn down in 1985, but public outcry (and the actions of a few determined citizens) saved it. Today, the gracious inn is not just a successful business. It is also a tourist attraction in its own right and an iconic symbol of Aiken culture. History matters.
On the March: Armyworms
Have your lawns and pastures suddenly turned brown, even though we have had plenty of rain? You might have armyworms. Armyworms are actually caterpillars of the Miller moth (Spodoptera frugiperda) which is small and light grey or brown. The caterpillars have voracious appetites and their favorite food is bermudagrass, with Bahia grass a close second. They got their name because of their tendency to show up like a vast army, eating their way across the landscape and leaving a path of destruction in their wake.
We always have some armyworms in the Aiken area, but you may not have noticed them. In most years, hay farmers, and other people who rely on grass to make a living, tend to be more aware of them than the rest of us. Every so often, however, the conditions are right to spawn a great multitudes of them, usually in August or early September. This year is a bad year for armyworms: we haven’t had so many in the Aiken area since the summer of 2010.
How can you tell if you have armyworms? If you have brown, bare or scalped-looking areas of your pasture or lawn, you can go out and look for them – they are most likely to be on the edges of the damaged area where the grass is still green. They are usually about an inch to an inch and a half long and light green with a brown strip on their sides. It is best to look for them in the morning, when they are often foraging. If you don’t see any, it might be because they are burrowed underground or in the thatch. You can scare them out by pouring about a gallon of soapy water on the ground. If there are any hiding there, they are likely to come crawling up within a few minutes.
Whether or not to treat for them depends on how many there are and how much damage they might do. Depending on who you ask, the threshold for treating them ranges from two to five armyworms per square foot. Various pesticides, including organic options, can be effective. Obviously, if you are treating your pasture, choosing a nontoxic pesticide is vital, and it is better for pollinators and birds, which are highly susceptible to many different chemicals.
Alternatively, you could allow the caterpillars to do their thing and hope the grass will grow back. If you have a newly established pasture, the caterpillars could actually ruin it. But if your grass is well established, it is likely to green up again in a few weeks after the armyworms are gone, since the caterpillars just eat the blades of grass and don’t damage the roots.
Remembering Dione Appleton
Aiken’s horse community was sorry to hear of the passing of Dione Appleton this summer at the age of 93. Dione spent half the year in Quebec and half the year in Aiken where she was an enthusiastic and devoted member of the equestrian community. In her earlier years, Dione was an avid foxhunter, but eventually became most strongly identified with Aiken’s driving community. She was well known for her kindness, her love of animals and her impeccable style.
Dione is survived by her nieces and nephews, Jill Stainforth, Sophie Benello, Piers Stainforth and Richard Robinson. Donations can be made to FOTAS Aiken, Aiken Equine Rescue, or Canadian Dogs for the Blind.
In
Out Jumper Series at Stable View Photography by Gary Knoll
Team USA, Olympics 2024
Triumphs, Disappointments and Horse Welfare
By Pam Gleason, Photography by Shannon Brinkman
Expectations were high for the equestrian events at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The venue was spectacular: the 17th century Palace of Versailles, created by King Louis IV of France. Dressage and showjumping arenas were set up with the palace as a backdrop, and the cross country course ran through the extensive palace hunting grounds. It would be hard to imagine a more beautiful setting. At the same time, horse sport was facing an existential challenge. The rise of social media and the ubiquity of cell phone cameras has led to increased scrutiny of everything. Shortly before the games began, the British Olympic dressage champion Charlotte Dujardin abruptly withdrew from the team after video surfaced showing her whipping a horse in the legs during a lesson she gave several years ago. The outrage was international: Dujardin rose to fame with a gold-medal performance at the 2012 games in London when she was 27. She was one of the first Olympic riders to wear a safety helmet rather than a top hat, accelerating a trend that would ultimately lead to helmets for all. People thought of her as one of the “good guys.” To say they were disappointed would be an understatement.
It was not the kind of attention that horsemen welcomed, especially since Olympic organizers have frequently threatened to drop equestrian events, citing the difficulty and expense of holding them. One event is already gone: the showjumping in the Modern Pentathlon will be replaced by an obstacle course at the 2028 games in Los Angeles. This change was spurred by public outcry after a German rider and her coach were seen abusing a horse at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. In this atmosphere, horse welfare and preserving the social license to operate was a main concern.
Eventing
Eventing was the first event on the schedule, and the U.S. had some last minute changes. The original team was Boyd Martin with Fedarman B (Bruno), Caroline Pamukcu with HSH Blake and Will Coleman with Off the Record. At the training camp, Coleman replaced Off the Record with his direct reserve horse, Diablo. But then, Diablo starting brewing a hoof abscess, and so Will pulled out of the competition. The traveling reserve, Liz Halliday, took his place with Nutcracker, normally called Cooley Nutcracker but renamed for the games due to sponsorship conflicts.
On dressage day. Liz Halliday and Nutcracker had the best score of the team (28.0) putting them within the top 20. Caroline Pamukcu and Boyd Martin earned scores of 30.4 and 30.5 respectively and sat in 25th and 26th place. This put Team USA sixth going into cross country. It was not an ideal position, but they were still in contention.
Unfortunately, cross country did not improve the team’s standing. A few days of rain had made the course slippery in places, inducing the riders to go slower than they might have. Both Martin and Halliday jumped clean with just a few time penalties. However, the pathfinder, Caroline Pamukcu, had trouble at fence 16abcd (a complex involving ditches, drops and arrowheads) incurring 20 penalty points and time penalties. Although the top of the leaderboard was also shuffled, with Germany falling from second to 14th after Christoph Wahler was eliminated for parting company with his horse, the U.S. also slipped. The team ended the day in eighth place, almost 35 points behind the top three. These were Great Britain, France and Japan respectively.
A podium finish for the team was almost certainly out of the question, but individual medals were not. Martin finished cross country in 17th place, Halliday in 22nd. The format of this year’s games called for a first round of showjumping to determine team medals. Afterward, the top 25 riders returned for a second round to earn individual medals.
The first round was deceptively challenging – Japan was the only team
Liz Halliday on Nutcracker
not to drop a rail. The top three teams after cross country kept their positions on the podium, with Great Britain gold, France silver and Japan bronze. On the U.S. team, Martin jumped clean and within the time, while Halliday accrued time penalties, but kept all the rails in their cups. Pamukcu had a rail and time penalties. This meant that the U.S. finished the competition in seventh place.
Both Martin and Halliday qualified for the individual final. Halliday and Nutcracker took down a rail on the first fence and accrued 1.2 time penalties, giving them a total of 40 penalty points and 19th place. Boyd and Bruno were foot-perfect, making the course look easy with a flawless double clear. They finished tenth on 32.1, having added 1.60 cross-country time faults to their dressage score of 30.5.
Although the US team and all the riders finished off the podium, very little would have had to go differently for a different result –slightly better dressage scores could have meant individual medals; if all three riders had gone clean on cross country, they would have landed team bronze, and so on. Most horsemen would agree that making it to the Olympics, competing and completing would mean that you had succeeded. But striving to be the best means hoping you might come home with a medal, and the U.S. team has not done that in eventing since they won team bronze at the Athens Olympics in 2004.
Individual medals went to Germany’s Michael Jung (gold), Australia’s Chris Burton (silver) and Great Britain’s Laura Collett (bronze.)
Dressage
Coming off their silver medal finish at the Tokyo Olympics, everyone had high hopes for the U.S. dressage team. Alas, things would not go well for them at all. In fact, the team was eliminated from the competition on its very first ride. In the past, equestrian teams were
allowed four members, with the scores of the top three finishers counting in the standings. Now, there are just three members, no drop score, and no room for error. This means that if one rider is eliminated, the team goes down too.
The first rider for the U.S., Marcus Orlob on Jane, was performing a beautiful test with scores in the mid-70s, when the bell was rung to stop the ride. Before going out to compete, Jane, who is relatively new to this level of competition, spooked and spun. She must have nicked her ankle when she did this, because there was a tiny spot of blood on her bright white hind sock. FEI rules state that any horse with fresh blood on any part of its body must be excused, and so she was. Just like that, everyone’s hopes were dashed. Although she was eliminated, Jane was not actually injured in any significant way. They brought her to the barn, washed her legs, and she was fine.
The remaining team members, Adrienne Lyle with Helix and Steffan Peters with Suppenkasper, had the chance to compete for individual medals if they could score high enough to qualify for the final round. Neither of them did, although Adrienne Lyle had a beautiful test. Suppenkasper had a very uncharacteristic performance: It was so far below his usual level, it sparked its own social media storm.
In addition to the United States team members, Aiken had an additional dressage rider to cheer for. Julio Mendoza, who lives and trains in the Tryon, North Carolina area and competes in Aiken, was there was his horse Jewels Goldstrike. Representing his native Ecuador, Julio a had a solid test, with just a few little mistakes to finish on a score of 70.839 with his beloved Goldie.
Germany won team gold, Denmark silver and Great Britain bronze. Individual medals went to Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (gold) and Isabel Werth (silver) with Great Britain’s Charlotte Fry, bronze.
Julio Mendoza Loor on Jewels Goldstrike
Jumping
Jumping was the final equestrian event, and the last chance for the United States to medal. Fortunately, it is also the nation’s strongest discipline. Like the eventing team, the jumping team had some last minute adjustments. The original group was McLain Ward with Ilex, Laura Kraut with Baloutinue and Kent Farrington with Greya. However, at the last minute, Karl Cook with Caracole de la Roque stepped in to take Farrington’s place after Greya developed an allergy.
This was Cook’s first Olympic outing, and he really shone. He was the only one on the team to deliver three perfect clear rounds. In the team qualifier, Laura Kraut also went clear, while McLain Ward had four faults and some time penalties. In the team final, Kraut started off with an unlucky rail. With Cook’s clear round, Ward, riding in anchor position, needed to keep the rails up to guarantee his country a spot on the podium. He did, and the United States took home the silver behind Great Britain. France won the bronze.
Both Karl Cook and Laura Kraut qualified for the individual finals, Cook with a double clear and Kraut with a fast four-fault round. McLain Ward dropped the very last fence in the individual qualifier, and his time was not fast enough to put him into the top 30 who would jump for the medals.
The individual final was an intense test of athleticism, with multiple jumps of maximum height and width and some tricky combinations. Laura Kraut had four faults, and Karl Cook had eight. Only three riders went clear, advancing to a jump-off for the medals. A single rider, Germany’s Christian Kukuk riding Checker 47 was clear in the jumpoff, besting Steve Guerdat of Switzerland and Maikel van der Vleuten
A Triumph of Design Olympic Showjumping Course
When Michel Vaillancourt watched the Olympics, his mind was on the course. A professional designer, who set the track for the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto, he lives in Aiken with his wife, the realtor Deirdre Vaillancourt, and watched the jumping via livestream. He was impressed.
“It was awesome,” he said. “Fantastic. After it was over, everyone else was congratulating the riders. I went on social media to congratulate the course design team. They deserved a medal.”
The lead designer for the showjumping courses was the Frenchman Gregory Bodo, assisted by Santiago Varela Ullastres from Spain – the pair have worked together at multiple international competitions in the past. They are known for creating imaginative courses that provide a difficult test for horses and riders, without compromising safety. The goal is a course that is jumpable, with a time-limit that is achievable, but only for a horse and rider pair that is careful and meticulous and does not make any mistakes.
of the Netherlands. With Kukuk’s win, Germany made a clean sweep of the individual gold medals.
Competing in the Olympics must always be exhilarating. For those hoping to see U.S. horses and riders start reclaiming their spots on the team and individual podiums, the 2024 games must also have been disappointing. As riders, coaches and organizers look forward to 2028, however, they can take heart. The 2028 games will be in Los Angeles. Before the 2012 Olympics in London, Great Britain was in a similar medal slump. However, they won five medals when competing on their home turf, and have been doing well every since. Perhaps the same thing can happen for the United States.
The showjumping individual final at the Paris Olympics epitomized this kind of course. It was composed of 15 named fences, including a
triple and two doubles, for a total of 19 jumping efforts. Thirty riders qualified in a preliminary round, including 20 who jumped clear and inside the time, and 10 with four faults. But the individual final proved so difficult that two of the riders parted company with their horses (Germany’s Henrik von Eckermann and Mexico’s Andres Azcarraga) and only three went clear. In the three-way jumpoff, only one, Christian Kukuk from Germany on the horse Checker 47, kept all the rails up.
“The course was relentless; it just kept coming,” said Michel Vaillancourt. “There was no break and all the jumps were connected. Even if there was a broken line, there was an actual number of strides you had to count between the two jumps.”
Another point of difficulty was the sheer number of jumping efforts, including fences at maximum height and width. The designers added to these factors by incorporating rails with pastel colors, which are harder for horses to see, as well as narrow planks, that are easy to knock down.
“If you look at those planks up close, they weigh nothing. They’re very narrow, not like the
old planks we used to use that were about a foot deep,” said Vaillancourt. “These are about three inches deep, so you can’t afford to touch them. They’ll come down as soon as you flirt with them.”
According to Vaillancourt, a major challenge for the design team is the dramatic improvement of horses and riders at the top levels. Creating a course for a competition with three prizes, in which there are exactly three clear rounds, shows that the designers rose to that challenge with exceptional skill. But it was also something of a fluke that it turned out that way.
“It’s unbelievable to think that we can build courses at the absolute maximum height and end up having to use technical fences such as those planks to make the job even harder,” he said. “This is where the sport has come to: the riders are so good, and the horses are so good.
“When you look at the Olympic Games, some people may have been a little bit surprised by the outcome, but any one of those riders is capable of winning the whole thing,” he continued. “On any given day, if you were to do those Olympic Games all over again next week, you would have a totally different set of results.”
Karl Cook on Caracole de la Roque
Second Chapter for True Aiken
Beginning Again in a New Space
By Mary Jane Howell
Sarah Dodge, the owner of the retail store True Aiken, is a believer in silver linings. Not long after she opened her store on Hayne Avenue in Aiken this year, a fire broke out in the office next door and the ensuing smoke damage forced her to close down. If this had not happened, she would not have set up shop in her new location at 146 Laurens Street. True Aiken’s new home is larger, its storefront windows beckoning shoppers with displays of Aiken-themed T-shirts next to glassware and upscale Harris Tweed bags.
“Having to close our original store after only being open a few months was heartbreaking,” said Sarah, “But we are excited to be on Laurens Street with so much more foot traffic, and we have a much larger space.”
me to do something else. I just felt an overwhelming need to fill this part of my life that had been consumed with riding and training with something different.”
And it was on their porch one evening, kicking back with a beer, that she and Jason started playing around with the idea for an Aiken-themed store.
“The ‘Aiken is a drinking town with a horse problem’ saying was already on shirts, but once we got thinking and talking, I knew there were so many possibilities,” said Sarah. “On one of our visits we had wanted to buy specific Aiken gifts to take back to friends, and we just couldn’t find many things. I knew the store we had in mind would fill a niche.”
Sarah, her husband Jason Hays, and their son Ryder moved to the Aiken area from Castle Rock, Colorado, in 2019. They had friends in the area and had made two visits, falling in love with Aiken a little more each time. “We were horse people, so it made perfect sense,” she said with a laugh. The family bought a small farm in Windsor, where Sarah established her dressage training business and her husband continued to work as a farrier. Sadly, two years after they made the move, Sarah’s prize dressage horse was severely injured in a paddock accident and had to be euthanized.
“It was devastating for me because he was such a special horse. He had been difficult, but after many years, we were nearing our first Grand Prix,” Sarah explained. “His loss made me realize that it was time for
Sarah fell in love with the creative side of the business, spending countless hours researching Aiken’s Winter Colony both for design possibilities and for the décor in the new True Aiken space. Shirts and glasses that sport the street signs at the corner of Easy Street and Whiskey Road have been very popular, as has the branding of the 803 area code on various items.
The store also stocks a wide assortment of bags, flasks, duffels, and small satchels from a Scottish company called Islander. The line is unique in its use of the iconic Harris Tweed (the only fabric in the world protected by its own Act of Parliament.)
The famous Royal Stewart plaid is wellrepresented on flasks and backpacks, and a variety of items are in more modern colors, such as pink, blue and fuschia. A Scottish highlander may never have been seen battling in a pink tweed kilt, but it does look quite fetching when incorporated in a small leather purse.
“We try and have something for everyone here, whether it is apparel or a cute dishtowel,” explained Sarah. “The houseware line is growing, and the colorful creature cups [finish your tea or coffee and spot an owl or fox in the bottom of the cup] really do stop people in their tracks.”
While decorating the new space, Sarah shopped local and was thrilled with finds at the Aiken SPCA Thrift Store in the Mitchell Shopping Center and antique shops in Columbia and Augusta. She found interesting pieces of furniture, and items she used as decoration, such as a collection of old tennis rackets that are now displayed on one of the walls.
According to Sarah, the feedback for True Aiken’s new space has been nothing but positive. “We are so excited to be here and are really looking forward to the fall when all the scarecrows line the street and then the holidays. We will be stocking even more giftable items as well as several new T-shirt designs.”
True Aiken is open from 10:30 until 5:30 Monday through Saturday, with longer hours on Thursday evenings to accommodate the Amp the Alley crowd. Find them on the web or follow them on Facebook, too.
AIKEN OUTREACH
"All Means All"
MAKING A DIFFERENCE ONE STUDENT AT A TIME
Our mission is to provide Aiken County high school students who cannot otherwise afford certain additional academic expenses – such as sports equipment, school trips, graduation, or prom expenses – with the necessary funding.
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Fall 2024 Make Plans for a Busy Season
By Pam Gleason
It’s August, and that means fall is on the way. What’s happening in Aiken this season? A lot!
Polo
Some of Aiken’s polo players have been playing at summer clubs in the West, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Those players will be trickling back into town in September and early October for Aiken’s fall tournaments. Meanwhile, players whose horses have been taking the summer off here in Aiken are getting them ready again so that they can hit the fields with a fast, fit string in just a few short weeks.
The practice polo season begins after Labor Day at Aiken’s active clubs, although some players have been practicing here all summer. Tournaments commence by the second or third week of September. Aiken Polo Club has two four goals, two six goals and two women’s tournaments. Wagener Polo has two six goals and two four goals, and New Bridge has three eight goals and the USPA Women’s East Coast Open.
Aiken is becoming a hotbed of women’s polo, with additional women’s tournaments and matches at La Bourgogne Club de Polo in Wagener. O. Cepeda Polo in Blackville, owned and run by Omar
evening games are also a tradition at New Bridge, and are a great way to end a busy week. La Bourgogne’s featured games are on Saturdays so they don’t conflict with the other clubs. La Bourgogne has upped its game for the fall: the club has purchased a 40 X 30 Jumbotron, and matches there will be the first in Aiken to use that technology. Check the clubs’ websites for tournament, exhibition and practice schedules or to find lessons. Call the hotlines for daily match schedules. (Aiken Polo: 803-643-3611, aikenpolo.org; La Bourgogne: labourgogneclubdepolo.com; New Bridge: 803-644-7706, newbridgepoloclub.com; O. Cepeda Farms: OCfarms.weebly.com; Overbrook: pololessons.net; Wagener: 803-566-8610, wagenerpolo. com.)
Special Events
Aiken will be the site of a number of charity events with an equestrian theme this fall. First up is the Equus Film Festival and Mustang Summit at Aiken Equine Rescue (AER), 532 Glenwood Drive on Aiken’s Southside. The festival runs September 1922, with four days of programming that will include equestrian films, literary events and a series of panel discussions and demos with local and national mustang experts. Proceeds from the event will benefit AER, which is one of the most successful and respected horse rescues in the Southeast.
and Maria Cepeda, has recently become a USPA member club and is planning two women’s tournaments in the fall, along with practices and pro-ams. All of this opportunity is likely to attract top female talent from around the country, especially for the Women’s East Coast Open which takes place October 7-20. The finals on Saturday, October 20, will run in conjunction with the fourth annual Ponies and Pearls fundraiser at New Bridge, a benefit for Brooke USA, an organization that promotes equine welfare worldwide.
Other polo highlights include benefits and fundraisers at La Bourgogne, as well as the Townsend Cup, an international arena match that pits Great Britain against the U.S. The date for this has not been finalized, but it is expected to take place at the New Bridge Polo arena later in the fall.
If you don’t play polo but want to watch, Sunday is the traditional day for games with spectators and announcers, but during the season, you can often find a match any day but Monday. Aiken Polo Club generally has double header games every Sunday at 2 p.m. and 3:30, and then you can drive over to New Bridge for their 5 o’clock featured game. Friday
The following month, on October 17, AER will hold its annual Mane & Shell Oyster Roast and Low Country Boil fundraiser from 5-9 pm. This is one of Aiken’s most eagerly anticipated gatherings: Where else can you find all-you-can eat oysters and know that your ticket price is supporting horses in need? Visit aikenequinerescue.org for more information and to buy your tickets.
Two weeks later, on November 2, the “Great Cowboy Horsemanship Show and Cookout” comes to Great Oak Equine Assisted Programs at 1123 Edgefield Highway in Aiken. A family-friendly afternoon event, it will include horsemanship exhibitions with a western theme, such as demonstrations by the reining champion Chuck Swain, and performances by the Grass Roots Vaulters from Fort Mill, South Carolina. The nationally-known rodeo performer Kyle Lamon will even be there with his trick dog. Some of Great Oak’s students will also show off their skills in working equitation. Proceeds will support Great Oak, which provides a variety of equestrian experiences for individuals with disabilities. Learn more and purchase tickets at greatoakeap.org.
Looking forward to the annual Best of the West auction of high-end western-trained horses? You are out of luck this year. After holding the sale at the Aiken Training Track in 2021, 2022 and 2023, the organizers have moved on. Instead of coming to Aiken, they are taking the sale to Hamilton Farm in Gladstone, New Jersey, the home of the United States Equestrian Team, on September 28. Although the horses and the excitement won’t be here in Aiken, you can always follow along, or bid remotely since these sales are livestreamed. Alternatively, just wait for the spring, since the Southern Belle Classic Premier horse sale, with many of the same consignors, returns to Stable View, March 21-22 (southernbelleclassic.com)
Horse Shows
Horse shows are a year-round phenomenon in Aiken, but the action definitely picks up in the fall.
Bruce’s Field at the Aiken Horse Park is hosting three weeks of A-rated Equus Events Aiken Summerfest hunter/jumper shows in
August, followed by two weeks of the Premier-rated Aiken Fall Festival in September. Then comes two weeks of “October at Bruce’s Field,” a show that traditionally has a Halloween theme and is billed as “The most fun you will ever have at a horse show.” November brings the Split Rock Aiken CSI2*, attracting an international crowd of showjumpers, which often includes some of the same riders you might have seen at the Olympics this summer. The Aiken Horse Park will also be the site of an Aiken County Pony Club rally in September and the Southern Strings Music Festival in October.
The crew from Progressive Show Jumping is back from running the historic Blowing Rock Horse Show in North Carolina and has two shows a month all fall, including monthly, low key “Just for Fun” shows as well as their USEF C series PSJ shows and the Southeast Regional Championships in October.
The hunter-jumpers have also been patronizing the USHJA In-andOut series at Stable View this summer, and there are two of these shows left, September 20-22 and November 2-4. The series offers generous prize money along with surprisingly reasonable fees, making it possible to put show miles on a horse without breaking the bank. Stable View also has monthly Hunter/Jumper Institute schooling events, as well as recognized dressage shows in August and September, and schooling dressage shows in September, October and November. Additionally, the Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.) Championships will be returning to Stable View the first week of October. Anyone with a registered Thoroughbred is eligible, as long as they have qualified by showing somewhere that T.I.P. points are offered before August 31 of this year. Horses and riders will be coming to the show from up and down the Eastern seaboard and it is pretty exciting to have this championship here in Aiken. If you are interested in participating, make sure to declare your horse by Sunday, September 15. (Visit tjctip.com for more information and the necessary forms.)
Eventing
One highlight of the fall season is Stable View’s Oktoberfest $60,000 FEI CCI-S 2-4 star and USEF/USEA Horse Trials from September 27-29. Other interesting happenings include a Young Event Horse and New Event Horse qualifier at The Vista Schooling and Event Center on September 11. The YEH and NEH events, which generally include Aiken-born-and-raised young horses shown in hand, provide a great
opportunity for people with green horses to get them to a competition, and for spectators to see tomorrow’s champions. The Vista also has derbies, combined tests and hunter paces. There are regular recognized and unrecognized competitions of every sort at Full Gallop and Sporting Days on Routes 302 and 78 respectively, and Jumping Branch will hold a derby cross on October 5. The popular Eventing Academy Schooling Horse Trials take place at Stable View in August, October and November. These include schooling days on Friday and Saturday, followed by a schooling event on Sunday over the same courses, giving newer horses and riders their best chance of putting in a good performance.
Steeplechase, Driving & More
Aiken’s fall schedule also includes driving, with the annual Windsor Trace CDE and CT held over Halloween weekend (October 31-November 3) as well as the annual Audubon Drive at the Silver Bluff Audubon Sanctuary on October 27. Do you want to enjoy the trails at the Audubon Sanctuary on horseback? Join the group, 40-something Cowgirls, who are organizing a ride and lunch there on November 2. Aiken’s foxhunters are already hitting the trails and walking hounds to get ready for cub hunting, which starts in September, and the formal hunting season kicks off in November.
Finally, the Aiken Steeplechase will hold its fall meet on Saturday, November 23. The National Steeplechase Association was so favorably impressed with Aiken’s new facility on Richland Avenue that last year
they rearranged their fall calendar to make Aiken’s meet the final one of the season. Since this will be the last chance for trainers, owners, horses and jockeys to earn points for year-end championships, expect to see some top horses and fierce competition. The fall meet is usually a more local and horse-oriented affair than the spring meet, and includes shops, entertainment, refreshments and activities for young people. Tickets are on sale now – go to aikensteeplechase.com for more information or to secure your spot.
Consult our full schedule in Section Three for more. As ever, if you are considering attending any of these events as a competitor or a spectator, be sure to call or visit the relevant website first to ensure that dates and times have not changed and to find out any other important information before you leave the house. It’s going to be a great fall.
“I LOVE Dressage”
Dressage Collection 1-2
“Southern Comfort” Dressage
Eventing Academy X-Country Schooling Day
Academy Horse Schooling Horse Trials
Stable View Hunter Jumper In & Out Series
4-6 Stable View $60,000 FEI CCI-S 2/3/4* & USEF/USEA Horse Trials (T, M, P, I, A)
Hunter/Jumper Institute
USEF/USDF “Spring Fever” Dressage
UKC All Breed Dog Show – Aiken Showcase Dog Show
3-4 USEF/USEA Stable View Local Charities Horse Trials and USEA Intercollegiate and Interscholastic
South Carolina is home to millions of domestic animals, from cats and dogs to chickens to horses. Yet the Palmetto State hasn’t been home to a veterinary school. For South Carolinians, the closest veterinary colleges have been in Raleigh, North Carolina and Athens, Georgia.
In 2026, this will change. In fall of that year, Clemson University will open its College of Veterinary Medicine, the first ever vet school in the state of South Carolina. Not only will this new vet school provide more options for South Carolina residents who want to pursue a DVM degree closer to home, it will help alleviate a dire shortage of veterinarians being experienced in South Carolina and throughout the country.
“As a South Carolina native, I did not have an in-state veterinary
school option,” said Nicki Wise, DVM, Ph.D., DACVIM (LA), associate dean of Academic Affairs at Clemson University College of Veterinary Medicine, and an equine veterinarian. “We know that this discourages many South Carolina residents from considering a career in veterinary medicine, and therefore reduces the number of veterinarians that choose to live and practice in the state.”
According to an independent feasibility study published on the Clemson College of Veterinary Medicine website, 33 percent of South Carolina counties have fewer than five veterinarians. The study also found that 48 percent of the state’s counties have fewer than 10 veterinarians. In 2022, close to 200 South Carolina students were activity enrolled at 13 veterinary colleges outside of the state.
Dr. Wise adds that not enough seats across the country are available to accommodate all the qualified candidates who want to become veterinarians. According to the same feasibility study, the qualified pool of vet school candidates who were not admitted to a veterinary program was estimated to be anywhere from 500 to 1,000.
Once the school receives accreditation, the Clemson College of Veterinary Medicine will contribute to the economy of South Carolina while also keeping talent within the state, according to Dr. Wise. The vet school campus will occupy 87 acres adjacent to the Clemson Experimental Forest, and will be Clemson University’s first professional school. In its first year of operation, the school hopes to accommodate 320 students, who will graduate in 2030.
The Clemson CVM program will focus on providing graduates with
the knowledge and skills necessary to be a successful and confident veterinarian immediately upon graduation, according to Dr. Wise.
“The curriculum will expose students to all aspects of veterinary medicine, but will emphasize the importance of large animal and rural animal health,” she said. “The strong agricultural programs already in place at Clemson University give us access to a wealth of resources not available at other colleges.”
Clemson University is a land-grant educational institution, and is already home to Colleges of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences; Architecture, Art and Construction; Arts and Humanities; Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences; and Science.
The planning for the veterinary school program includes five new teaching buildings, one of which is being designed specifically for equine teaching. Called the Equine Center, it will be located across the street from the College of Veterinary Medicine campus.
“That facility will be built on the Clemson Equine Farm property, and will be a teaching building,” said Stacia Harris, director of Marketing and Communications for the College of Veterinary Medicine at Clemson University.
All the vet school buildings will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology and tools to provide students with everything they need for immersive, clinically focused learning, according to Dr. Wise.
“Construction of these spaces also includes a focus on student wellness and community building, which is a cornerstone of our program,” she said.
“Clinical training in the final year will be a partially distributive model, meaning that our students will be actively working and learning from practitioners in the state of South Carolina. The training our students will receive in the first three years will make them an asset to these affiliate practices, and further solidify Clemson’s commitment to being a community partner in all areas of the state.”
South Carolina horse owners also stand to benefit from the addition of a veterinary school in the state.
“The Clemson College of Veterinary Medicine will have an ambulatory service that will provide equine care to the upstate of South Carolina and nearby regions,” said Dr. Wise. “Our experienced faculty and staff will offer both basic and advanced equine services while training the next generation of equine veterinarians for the area.”
Services to be provided as part of the ambulatory service are currently being developed and will be made available to the public once the veterinary staff is in place. Learn more at https://www.clemson.edu/ veterinary-medicine/index.html
Nicki Wise, DVM
Artist rendition of the new campus
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Park Place Polo II, Aiken,
Dressage in the Summer, Aiken Horse Park
Photography by Gary Knoll
Ask the Judge Questions about Dressage
With Amy McElroy
Dear Amy,
My friend and I are adult amateur dressage riders. I ride at First level and my friend at Third level. We both are planning to ride a musical freestyle this fall. We were also interested in the dressage seat equitation classes. We were wondering if you could share any information and advice about things to know when competing in musical freestyle classes. We were also wondering if you could share some insight on what to expect when riding in an equitation class. In the past we have only competed in traditional dressage classes.
Seeking Variety
Dear Seeking
What fun that you are trying some new competition classes. They can be very rewarding! I would be happy to share some insight on how to make the most of the experience. Here are some tips and the regulations for riding these classes in 2024.
Let’s first start with the freestyle tests. Unlike traditional dressage classes, you cannot just sign up for a freestyle. A horse and rider combination must have competed at the highest test of that level or above and earned one minimum score to be eligible. This means you and your horse need to have competed at First Level Test Three (or any test at a higher level) and scored at least one 63%. Your friend and her horse need to have competed at Third Level Test Three (or above that level) and scored at least one 63%. For your information, all USDF freestyle tests (Training through Fourth level) require horse and rider pairs to have scored a minimum of 63%. These scores must be earned at a competition held prior to the freestyle class you plan to enter.
Your music must be presented to the show before the competition starts. Do check your prize list to see what format the show needs for the music. Sound checks are required before your ride. This is an important opportunity to make sure your music plays and to set the volume so you and the judge can hear the music clearly and comfortably.
It is important not to exceed the maximum time limit. You will be timed from your first halt to your final halt. Entry music is not timed. First level and Third level have no minimum time required, but there is a maximum 5-minute time limit for both levels.
Each level has compulsory movements, and it is important to make note of the minimum meters required for certain movements. For
Amy McElroy is an FEI competitor, and a USEF S judge. She is qualified to officiate at any USEF recognized national show at all dressage levels. She rides, trains and teaches at Fair Lane Farm in Aiken and judges between 15 and 20 dressage and eventing shows each year. In her popular Ask the Judge column, she answers readers’ questions about dressage.
Do you have a question for Amy? Send her an email at McElroyDRM@aol.com, or visit her website: www.amymcelroy.com.
example, in First level, you are required to show medium and free walk for at least 20 continuous meters. At First level there is a trot and canter lengthening, and they must be shown at least one time on a straight line. Beyond the compulsory elements, there are also “additionally allowed” movements. If you leave out a required movement, you will receive a 0 for that box on the scoring sheet. You may be creative after you have shown the required elements, but be mindful not to perform any moves, including transitions, above the level at which you are showing. These are known as “forbidden” moves, and will take points off your score
Freestyle tests have two scoring categories. The technical execution (compulsory elements) and artistic impression (collective marks). The same judge scores these two sections and the scores will be combined for a final percentage.
When it comes to music, I suggest sticking with one genre: show tunes, television theme songs, classical music, 1970s music and so on. Find something that suits you and matches your horse’s gaits. Don’t choose music with too many lyrics, and have different music for each of your gaits. Recognizable music always goes over well. Many good musical rides I have judged have had such memorable music, I cannot get it out of my mind for days and sometimes months!
Try to be creative and entertaining from the start. Be clever, but make the ride easy to follow with a balanced use of the arena. Highlight the elements in which you and your horse excel and try to make the pattern of your ride more difficult than the highest test of the level you’re showing. Keep in mind it is not necessary to ride the full five minutes, although you want your judge to wish the ride would not end.
Now, let’s investigate dressage equitation classes. These are offered to juniors, young riders, adult amateurs, and open riders. This is a group class; all riders present themselves in the arena together. A class may have one rider or up to 25 riders.
In this class, you will all be asked to show your horse in the medium walk, working trot and canter both ways of the arena. Be prepared to sit the trot if asked. Some shows may offer an “opportunity” equitation class. In these classes, riders will only be asked to walk and trot.
Equitation classes evaluate your position, seat and specifically the correct use and effect of aids required for Training and First level. You may enter this class even if you normally ride at a higher level, but you must ride your horse in a snaffle bit. You may wear spurs and carry a whip. The judge is only looking at the rider, not the horse, unless there is a question of his soundness – a lame horse will be excused. All riders will earn a final mark as a percentage, which is usually similar to, or possibly a little higher than, what you would see in “rider position” on a standard test. For example, you might get a 78% as a final score. Usually, the judge will give verbal comments to the riders individually at the
Enjoy competing in these newer classes for both of you. In your freestyle, remember you are at liberty to ride your test artistically: you are free to ride movements, patterns, and gaits however you choose. Let the music highlight the harmony you share with your horse. An equitation class can be fun and instructive: Take the advice your judge offers at the end of the class. The better your equitation, the more effective you can be. Good luck!
Secret Lives of Horses
Gizmo: As Young as You Feel
By Mary Jane Howell
When you first meet Gizmo you think that someone surely got his age wrong: this handsome chestnut pony cannot be 33 years old! Standing a bit over 10.2 hands high, he is about the same size as his best friend, Honey the donkey. A former show pony who taught countless children how to ride and jump, Gizmo is leading the good life as a retiree at Carol Thogode’s farm in Salley, South Carolina, just outside of Aiken.
Gizmo spent most of his life with his first owner, Sandra Lobel, who operated Ravenswood Farm in Bedminster, New Jersey. Although Sandra participated in shows up and down the East Coast, Gizmo
ride.” Gizmo was obviously covering all the educational bases.
Carol had been coming to Aiken from her home in Lafayette, New Jersey, for 15 years to show, but waited until her three sons graduated from high school before moving to Aiken permanently four years ago. Her husband still runs a dental practice in the Garden State, but Carol is eager for him to retire “so I can have my family all together again!”
Carol’s farm is quite large and she has 16 horses on the property –most are her own, with some belonging to her friend Sara McCormick. And although the horses have stalls and lovely paddocks, Gizmo and Honey have the run of the property. On hot summer days they can be found in the barn aisle, standing side by side in front of a big fan. Often times their friend Josie, a potbellied pig, will crash out next to them.
stayed at the barn – a true Jersey boy. When Sandra passed away from cancer in 2022, her longtime friend Carol Thogode adopted many of her horses and one very special pony.
“Gizmo was the perfect children’s hunter,” remembered Carol. “He was such a good jumper. The sad part was that because of his size the riders outgrew him so quickly.”
Gizmo was a regular at both the Sussex County Horse Show and the prestigious Garden State Horse Show, enjoying every minute of being in the ring. Gizmo’s last show was in 2009 at the Duncraven Equestrian Center in Titusville, New Jersey.
“He easily cleared the 2’3” jumps and had a blast doing it, but he was nearly 20 at that point so it was time for him to retire,” Carol said.
Both as a school horse and a show pony, Gizmo made sure those young first riders had a good time. Carol recalls that he loved being the pony that children learned on, although he did not tolerate foolish or inattentive behavior.
“Gizmo could sense when his rider lost concentration, and he might be going around the ring in such a nice slow trot, but he could turn pretty quick and the child would fall off,” she explained. “It certainly wasn’t a long way to the ground and falling off is a part of learning to
Although Gizmo and Honey usually stay close to the barn, there was one day that they decided to have an adventure of their own. Eudora Farms, which offers unique wildlife drive-through safaris, is just down the road. With 300 different animals – from camels to giraffes, ostriches to tortoises – the farm was just too alluring for the dynamic duo. So, down the driveway they went, turned right when they got to the road and eventually found their way down one of Eudora Farm’s long drives.
“I hadn’t realized they were missing until a friend messaged me that she had seen them at Eudora, visiting with one of the ponies,” laughed Carol. “So, I hitched up the trailer and drove over to get them. Gizmo happily walked right on, but Honey was having none of it. One of the guys from Eudora had to pick her up and carry her up the ramp!”
When they got back to the barn, Carol told Gizmo and Honey they were on “time out” for two weeks, no freedom for them.
“Since then, they have stayed particularly close to the barn,” she said. “Of course it has been very hot and they are really fond of the big fan. I think Gizmo looks a bit like the model Fabio when we have the fan on high – it blows back his mane and forelock.” Although the pony won’t be appearing on the cover of any romance novels, he is pretty cute all the same.
One of the big reasons for Gizmo looking so wonderful at 33 is his carefully planned diet. He gets a high-quality sweet feed, the high-fat supplement Amplify and hydration hay.
“I also have his teeth checked regularly and they are in good shape for his age,” Carol explained. “When horses and ponies get older it is so important to keep a good eye on their weight – if they drop too much it is very difficult to build them back up. Gizmo is right where I want him at this stage.”
Carol works as a TSA agent at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport, taking the early shift so she can be home in the afternoon to spend time with the horses. “This farm is a lot of work, but I love it,” she said. “To have been able to help my friend Sandra in this way – by giving Gizmo and Honey a happy forever home – means the world to me.”
Secret Lives of Horses is sponsored by Triple Crown Nutrition: Providing nutrition beyond compare.
Life Behind the Camera
With Gordon Munro
By Mary Jane Howell
Gordon Munro remembers the day he was photographing Grace Jones for Interview Magazine. The model was set to pose with several Harry Winston diamonds, which were accompanied to the studio by armed guards. Gordon had his camera ready for the closeup shots and then took the diamonds and placed them in the model’s mouth. Shootin her fierce Bond Girl expression, and the diamonds glittering between her teeth, it only took the photographer a few shots to get that iconic image. The guards, however, were apoplectic and on the verge of drawing their guns.
These days Gordon lives a much calmer life in Aiken along with his wife Aileen and their Miniature Schnauzer, Chester. His life has been a testament to the fact that a dream can come true with hard work, enthusiasm, talent and a bit of luck – being in the right place at the right time certainly didn’t hurt.
When he was a young boy growing up in Surrey, England, Gordon never imagined a scenario where he would be surrounded by models and movie stars. His father was a builder, and he assumed he would take up that trade as well. Although he enjoyed photography and working in the darkroom, it never seemed a solid career choice. Then, in 1960, Princess Margaret married the photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones. Their wedding photos were on the covers of nearly every magazine –Tatler, Life, Look, to name a few – and the photos were glamorous.
“I remember that I was absolutely smitten with Armstrong-Jones’ work – his portraits and fashion shoots were just incredible,” said Gordon. “I guess I was a groupie. And then, when he married Princess Margaret, their photos were everywhere, and I started to buy all those magazines and study every photo. I began thinking that perhaps being a professional photographer was not just a dream, but something I could really do and make a living.”
Gordon was sent to London on a job for a company that dealt with window seals. Perhaps not exciting in itself, but the property with the windows was Vogue House, the home of Conde Nast Publications, creators of magazines such as Vogue, House & Garden, GQ and Tatler. Gordon hoped to meet one of Vogue’s premier fashion photographers, Brian Duffy. One day at a coffee shop near Vogue House, Gordon struck up a conversation with the scruffy man sitting next to him.
“I started talking about photography and my dream of working in the fashion industry and the guy next to me in this beat-up leather jacket was Brian Duffy,” Gordon recalled. “This was the guy who helped define the look of London fashion in the 1960s. I could hardly believe it!”
Duffy told Gordon to come up with a list of the photographers he admired – and then he highlighted two names on the list that would be worth knowing: Michael Boys and Barry Lategan – the latter was the man who discovered the English model and actress Twiggy and was also behind many of the British Vogue covers. But he also gave Gordon a word of advice: “All of our heroes are in New York City. That is where you need to go.”
Gordon arrived in New York in 1964. He was 24 and he hit the ground running.
“I was staying at the YMCA on 34th Street. This was way before cell phones and the internet. I simply asked for the huge phone book and started looking up the numbers and addresses of the studios of the three photographers I most admired – the trio of Horst, Penn and Avedon,” said Gordon.
Within a few days he had an appointment with Horst, but his big break came not long after when he went to Irving Penn’s studio, looking for a job as an apprentice. Irving Penn is often called one of the greatest photographers of the 20th century and was known for his fine art and fashion photography. The first day, Gordon waited for an
hour, portfolio in hand. He was told to return the next day. He did, and landed the job of studio manager with a six-month probationary period.
For three years Gordon worked for Penn and was also able to take freelance assignments. Most of the fashion shoots took place in the New York studio, but there were also long stretches of time spent in Europe.
“Shooting the Paris collections was wonderful,” recalled Gordon, “but this was before digital cameras and Penn wanted to see the photos as quickly as possible. There was a darkroom in the Vogue office building, so I would run there with the film and then back with the color photos, criss-crossing Paris for him. It was what we call ‘total immersion.’”
Because of his close relationship with Penn, Gordon knew everyone at Vogue and the wider circle of Penn’s friends. These connections were very helpful when he stepped out on his own and started his own studio. Although at first hard-pressed to talk about what he would call the highlights of his career, it didn’t take long for Gordon to waltz down memory lane.
“Helen Gurley Brown was the editor of Cosmopolitan and in the 1970s, she was fed up with the centerfolds in Playboy etc. She believed that women should be able to look at a (nearly) nude male if they wanted, so to that end she chose Burt Reynolds for the first Cosmo centerfold,” explained Gordon. Gordon shot the famous image of Reynolds lounging naked on a bearskin rug.
That April 1972 issue sold 1.5 million copies and the dye was cast. Burt was followed by Jim Brown in 1973, John Davidson in 1975 and then Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1977. The Austrian bodybuilder had just won his sixth consecutive Mr. Olympia title and had been featured in the ground-breaking documentary Pumping Iron. It was his moment – and Gordon was called into the Cosmo studio to shoot the centerfold.
“Usually, the editorial staff could care less when a photoshoot was going on, but in this instance, most of the editors came out of their offices. Arnold walked out of his dressing room with nothing but a smile. He was so confident and at ease. He was the sweetest giant I have ever met,” laughed Gordon.
Then there were the assignments from Peter Rogers, the New York advertising legend who dined at ‘21’ every week and was great friends with Joan Crawford and Claudette Colbert. His lucrative accounts included Vidal Sassoon (“If you don’t look good, we don’t look good”), Blackglama Fur (“What becomes a legend most”), Bulgari, and Bottega Veneta, to name a few. Designer Bill Blass was also one of his clients,
and Gordon was hired to do a fashion shoot with a model standing in one of the city’s phone booths.
“It was all just too funny,” recalled Gordon. “Peter gave me the assignment – Blass was there, Mr. Kenneth was there for the hair styling, and I just was focused on the model. Little did I know that there was a huge crowd forming behind me, watching what was really a small theatrical performance. It was great.”
Another Peter Rogers assignment was more serious and dealt with the AIDS crisis. Elizabeth Taylor and Dr. Mathilde Krim were co-founders of amfAR, the foundation set up to combat AIDS and HIV through research and education. Rogers had designed the ad campaign that included both fashion and entertainment industry heavyweights. Gordon was hired to take the group portraits that would act as a kickoff to the campaign.
“The Javits Center had just been built, so I had this huge space to work in,” Gordon recalled. “Elizabeth Taylor had written letters to her friends; Calvin Klein wrote letters to people within the fashion industry. I think we expected about 40 people to show up… and 144 came through the door. I did six portrait sittings – dividing everyone up into smaller groups. And Ryan White, the young man from Indiana who was 13 when he was diagnosed with AIDS after a blood transfusion, was included in every group portrait.”
From that first event, amfAR has gone on to raise more than $900 million for AIDS research and HIV prevention.
As the years flew by, many of Gordon’s colleagues began to retire. “Vidal decided he had had enough and sold his company to Proctor & Gamble and Peter Rogers, who had become such a good friend, closed his agency and restored a beautiful home in New Orleans. I adored New York City but when the people I was closest to started to retire, I realized I was headed in that direction as well.”
Gordon’s whole world was not photography, however. Somehow, he managed to ride and own a horse or two. In the early 1980s he had a horse in training with John Winnett, who was in Southern Pines at the time. Gordon flew down every weekend and then spent two weeks there at Christmas. He became great friends with Winnett’s stable manager, Aileen Ryan. The friendship turned into something more, and in June 1984, the pair married. They bought a farm in Gladstone, New Jersey and had several horses. Their daughter Lizzie was born in in 1986 (she is now a photographer and a writer). He also started working with film production, shooting television commercials for Avon, various
Broadway shows, and one for Crest in 1990 with Lena Horne. After 12 years in New Jersey though, Aileen wanted to move South. The family settled in Cary, North Carolina, with Gordon flying to New York each week for his work. Eventually the commuting stopped, and he started a small studio in his new hometown.
Gordon and Aileen happened upon a cute French café in downtown Cary one morning while they were searching for a perfect latte. La Farm Bakery, owned by Lionel and Missy Vatinet, had such a variety of gorgeous breads and muffins that Gordon wanted to pull out his camera then and there. What he did instead was return to the bakery with a still life of exotic fruits he had shot a few years earlier.
“I explained to Lionel that I would love to create a still life of all his gorgeous bread,” Gordon said. “What we actually dreamed up were still lifes of not only bread accompanied by baskets of wheat but of pies, lattes… just about everything the bakery offered. The photos were printed and placed over the huge windows. It was stunning.”
When Lionel wanted to write a cookbook on baking, he asked Gordon to do all the photography. The book that came out of that partnership was “A Passion for Bread.”
Gordon and Aileen had discovered Aiken when they came to watch horse shows, especially some of the driving competitions. Their trips became more frequent as they fell in love with the town, and they made the move in 2017. The appeal of the supportive driving community in Windsor was another plus, as Aileen has fully embraced combined driving with her mare Bonita (barn name Bonnie).
Gordon has continued his photography, and his portraits are unique in the Aiken area because of the backgrounds he chooses.
“Back in the early 1970s, a New York artist named Charles Broderson really elevated the canvas backdrop – he was a beautiful painter and what he could do with canvas was breathtaking. It changed the game (way before Photoshop). Whether it was a pack of hounds, a beloved horse and his owner, or a model in front of the pyramids, we didn’t have to go on location.”
With the decades he has spent behind a camera, Gordon Munro has seen fashion go from miniskirts to grunge, Dior couture to Ralph Lauren. He became pals with Tony Armstrong-Jones, whose photographs opened up a whole new world when he was a boy in England. He worked for and became friends with his heroes and dared to follow his dream. Who could ask for more?
Visit gordonmunro.com
Sept
Polo Es Mi Vida
Wayne Ewing’s Documentary Autobiography
By Pam Gleason
Wayne Ewing has been fascinated with horses since childhood. An award-winning documentary filmmaker, he has lived in Aiken since 2021, and his polo team, Wayne Ewing Films, has been playing in tournaments at Aiken, Wagener and O.C. Farms Polo Clubs every season. This September, the first installment of his documentary, Polo es Mi Vida (Polo is my Life), will be featured in the upcoming Equus Film Festival and Mustang Summit that will take place at Aiken Equine Rescue on Glenwood Road.
As Wayne explains it, the title for the film comes from the journalist Hunter S. Thompson. Thompson is best known for his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1972) and is considered the father of the socalled gonzo style of journalism, in which the writer injects his own personality, beliefs and opinions into his stories. Wayne Ewing lived
During the time that he was working with Hunter Thompson, playing polo was both his passion and an emotional outlet: “But for the horses, I would have gone crazy,” he said in his film
The film, Polo Es Mi Vida, is the filmmaker’s autobiography, loosely framed by his experience trying to train two essentially wild and unhandled horses to play polo. It was the early 2010s, and he had heard of a man called Britton Smith, who supposedly bred and raised polo ponies that were so good they shipped them back to Argentina to play the high goal. Wayne was intrigued, and eventually tracked down Smith, who had started a polo breeding operation on his Colorado ranch. It was not an especially well-planned operation: Smith had acquired a number of retired polo mares, turned them out with his quarter horse stallion, and ended up with a whole herd of foals. He did not, however, have a plan to train them, with the result that they were essentially wild horses roaming free on thousands of acres.
next door to Hunter Thompson’s Owl Farm in Colorado in the 1980s and 1990s, and the two men became friends. Wayne eventually made a documentary about him (Breakfast with Hunter, 2003), and helped him edit his novel, the Rum Diary.
Although Thompson himself did not play polo, and in fact was afraid of horses, he had been involved in the polo community, and had started a novel called Polo is My Life, parts of which were published in Rolling Stone Magazine. Wayne Ewing, who attended Culver Military School for a time, had learned to ride in his youth but came to polo later in life.
“I doubt any of them were ever shipped back to Argentina,” said Wayne, who nonetheless bought two horses and brought them home.
“It was a bit of a quixotic quest,” he admits. “And I didn’t do it with the idea of filming it. But I thought it might be interesting to document. So I started just first with my cell phone and then used more elaborate equipment. And then, I got this idea that I could do something more than just the story of me trying to turn these wild horses into polo ponies. I could use that as a thread to make this cinematic autobiography, because, you know, so much of all the work we do of horses is metaphorical for everything else in life.”
Wayne enlisted help to get the two horses, Charlie and Sugar, going under saddle – something he realized that he had to do after Charlie bucked him off so violently he broke both his hands. “I was on my 17th ride,” he said. “What I didn’t do – but I should have – was set up a camera to film the whole process. Then I would have seen how many times I came off. If I had to witness it on film I never would have continued, probably.”
The first installment of the film includes clips that show some of the horses’ training, interspersed with scenes from other documentaries, including several that he did for Bill Moyers Journal (PBS) in the 1970s and 1980s. There are scenes from his film Cowboys (1975) and his political documentary If Elected (1973 – see footage of Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter on the campaign trail) as well as Playing With Magic (2013) a film that he made about equine assisted therapy during the time he was waiting for his broken hands to heal.
Polo Es Mi Vida premiered at the Aspen Film Festival in 2019, and since that time, Wayne says he has finished the series, totaling 11 episodes. The first episode, which will be screened at the Equus Film Festival, is also available on the website WayneEwingFilms.com, and Wayne says that he hope to have the whole series picked up by an online streaming service in the future.
And what about the horses Charlie and Sugar? Wayne did manage to get them playing, but they were never very good and now they are retired. Although he did not fully realize his goal of playing polo with a string of horses that he trained from the ground up, he did learn from the experience, and he is still addicted to the sport of polo.
“I guess I’m an adrenaline junkie,” he said. “But I love that synchronicity that happens when you really have a great relationship with a horse out on the field – it truly is like playing with magic. When it works, it’s like lifelong dream, one where you can imagine being one with a horse.”
Above: Wayne Ewing playing at Aiken Polo Club, Photo by Richard Schmon
Pony Power
Aiken Riders Have it
By Nancy Johnson
While many were relaxing at Fourth of July picnics this summer, two Aiken mother-daughter teams embarked on a 12-hour drive to the World Equestrian Center in Wilmington, Ohio with their mounts in tow. Brigitte Pelrine and her daughter Sierra, and Sarah Shade and her daughter Emma made this trek to compete in the National Dressage Pony Cup (NDPC).
According to their website, “The National Dressage Pony Cup showcases the exceptional talent, training, and commitment of ponies and small horses, their owners, breeders, trainers, and riders in the art and sport of dressage. Through the leadership and vision of Jenny Carol,
ago, I saw a Pony Cup competition while showing in the regular show. It has been in my head ever since. Then, when Brigitte brought it up, all the stars aligned for the four of us to go.”
There are no qualifying requirements for competitors and there are classes for every level of rider and pony, as well as for small horses (under 16 hands) and an open USDF-rated division offering Prix St. Georges and freestyle classes.
Sierra and her Welsh/Paint pony, Rhinestone Cowboy, entered the junior dressage equitation class and two Intro dressage tests, while Emma and her Welsh crossbred, The Contessa (Connie), entered the junior dressage equitation class and two Training level dressage tests. Both pony and rider teams did very well; Sierra placed second and sixth in her two dressage tests and wound up reserve champion in the junior division. Emma was fourth in both of her tests and finished fifth overall in the juniors.
the NDPC has become the ultimate and unparalleled opportunity for ponies and small horses to showcase their beauty, athleticism, and talents.”
“I had heard about Pony Cup several years ago,” Brigitte explains. “It sounded like something I’d like to do at some point. Then, more recently, I met a woman who went on about it being the most fun show she had ever been to, so I began to look at it more seriously.”
She explains that her daughter Sierra’s main interest is eventing, so she and her pony have primarily been competing at Stable View in the Starter division. “They’ve done quite well, and the pony has really taken to jumping. But if she wants to move up, she needs to focus on dressage.” Sierra, 11, and Emma Shade, 10, are best friends and active Aiken Pony Club members, so Brigitte asked Sarah Shade if they were interested in going. “As Sarah and Emma previously lived and competed in Kentucky, I thought she may have been to Pony Cup or at least known more about it,” she says.
Sarah chimes in, “When I was teaching in Kentucky, quite a few years
Although Brigitte and Sarah both showed in the small horse division, their mounts were quite different in age and experience. Brigitte’s horse Chance, a 22-year-old Arabian/Canadian cross has had lots of previous experience but has been semiretired and hadn’t competed at a recognized show in nine years. Brigitte showed in a dressage equitation class and Second Level Test Two on the first day. Unfortunately, Chance had an injury that prevented them from showing the following day. Despite missing the second day, Brigitte and Chance were high score half-Arabian at the show.
Sarah’s horse, Proven Testimony (Misty) is a 4-year-old homebred Connemara/Thoroughbred and the Pony Cup was literally her first horse show. She competed in the Small Horse Open Training Level Test Two and Three. “She just took it all in stride,” says Sarah. “I was thrilled with her as she put in really solid tests and each ride was in a different ring.”
All four agreed that the NDPC was well worth the trip. “It was a great
Brigitte Pelrine on Chance
experience, and they really go all out,” Brigitte says, adding, “There were nine arenas, and it is considered the largest dressage show in North America.” Sarah adds, “The arenas and footing are fantastic and the common areas with shops are wonderful. I especially liked the ride-through Starbucks. It’s definitely a hit!”
“Every night they had something going on. The Fourth of July was a barbeque, the next night a pizza party, and the last night was the final banquet,” Brigitte says. “And you get raffle tickets in your exhibitor’s packet for really big-ticket items.”
The girls were especially impressed with the prizes. “The ribbons
are huge,” says Emma. “And even if you don’t place, you can still get a ribbon from the ribbon wall, and honestly some of them are the prettiest ones of all.” Sierra says she will always remember participating in the victory lap in the main arena for her reserve championship.
Brigitte and Sarah both had high praise for Jenny Carol, founder and president of the NDPC, who puts on the show with the help of her whole family. “This is their baby,” explains Sarah. “They are all so enthusiastic and supportive.” Brigitte adds, “The work that Jenny and her family put into the Pony Cup is unbelievable. Jenny heads up administration, while her husband is king of hospitality and their daughter, Claire, runs an awesome merchandise store.”
All four riders are already making plans to return to Ohio to compete in the 2025 National Dressage Pony Cup. Sierra encourages pony riders
of all ages to try it.
“You shouldn’t be afraid to go, even if you haven’t shown at rated dressage shows. This was my first rated dressage show; in fact, it was my first dressage show.” Sarah credits Emma’s experience at Pony Cup for her excellent performance at the National Pony Club Dressage Rally just a few weeks later. “Gaining mileage in that kind of environment was great for Emma,” she says. Emma is already making plans for next year’s show, “I want to ride the Training Level Tests Two and Three again, but I also want to try a musical freestyle and maybe a First Level Test,” she says.
Learn more about the National Pony Dressage Cup at dressageponycup.com
Emma Shade on Connie
Sarah Shade on Misty
Sierra Pelrine on Cowboy
Directory of Services
BOARDING/TURNOUT/TRAINING/SALES
Chime Ridge Stables. 803-508-3760
Katie Erpel Dressage offers training of young horses to FEI, boarding, sales, and lessons with USDF Bronze and Silver Medalist Katie Erpel at her quaint, boutique style facility conveniently located off of Charleston Highway on the Windsor/Williston line. Haul-in lessons are welcome to her newly renovated GGT arena or travel to your farm is available as well. www.katieerpeldressage.com (305) 778 5336
Sporting Days Farm. 3549 Charleston Hwy, Aiken, SC 29801. 5.5 miles from Aiken byoass. Offers year round, seasonal or short term board as well as dry stalls. 150 acres with trails and practice areas. USEF/USEA Horse Trials in the winter, schooling shows. Visit our website to see all we offer in 2023. www. sportingdaysfarm.com
The Stable On The Woods: Elite boarding & training facility and home to trainers Darrell and Melissa Vaughn. With access to Hitchcock Woods, our barn sits on 70 acres and boasts a full size dressage arena with mirrors, show jumping arena and high-quality grass pastures making this the ideal place for you and your horse. Training program to meet your needs, whether your discipline is Dressage, Eventing, Hunters, Jumpers or Foxhunting. thestableonthewoods.com 603.785.0435
Vaughn Equestrian: offering training, sales, and boarding. Professionalism is the guiding principle of owners Darrell and Melissa Vaughn in shaping every component of Vaughn Equestrian. Dressage, Jumpers, Eventing & Young Horses. training and sales. vaughnequestrian.com (603) 785-0435
COMPANION ANIMALS
Trinity Farms Terriers: Irish Russell Terriers. Old World, Healthy 100 year old Bloodlines with proven calmer dispositions. Health & Dispositions guaranteed. Preservation breeders for 48 years. Donna Fitzpatrick 803-648-3137 easyjacks.com, trinityfarmskennel.com
CONSTRUCTION & GRADING & FARM SERVICES
G. L. Williams & Daughter. Serving the CSRA for over 54 years. Specializing in hauling, grading, clearing, property maintenance, and excavation. We provide everything from several types of fill dirt, top soil, compost, mortar sands, crushed asphalt/concrete, to screenings and a variety of rocks. Roll-off containers and manure removal available. (803) 663-3715. Certified DBE. WOSB. www.glwdtrucking.com
FARRIER SERVICES
Alyte Touch Equine Massage & Farrier Services: Revitalize your horse’s stride with farrier care and soothing equine massages. Enhance their performance with Alyte Touch. Accepting new clients! Schedule an appointment today: 607-223-9011 or on facebook.com/alytetouch
HAY
Round and Square Bales. Oakwood Farms: 3593 Silver Bluff Road, Aiken SC 29803. $60 per bale round hay bales. $70 per bale round bales kept inside. Square bales at $7.00 per bale. Will deliver for a small fee. Please call 803-645-8960
LB Performance Hay. From Farm to Stable. Local and imported hay; large or small quantities. Hay delivery and unloading. Lou Berizzi: 803-640-5484.
Hoss Luva Hay. Exceptional quality local Coastal Bermuda Hay, Alfalfa mix and Canadian Timothy. Competitively priced. Will deliver state-wide. Satisfaction Guaranteed. Jim McClain: 803.247.4803
INSURANCE
Betsy Minton, Sterling Thompson Equine, 803-617-8353. Now writing homeowners insurance for private residences. No horses required but certainly welcomed. Access to top-notch underwriters offering customized, affordable coverage. Still delivering excellent competitive insurance options for your horses and farms. betsyminton@sterlingthompson.com. Sterling Thompson Equine: 800 942 4258
INSTRUCTION/LESSONS
Amy McElroy. USDF Gold Medalist and USEF S judge. Instruction and training at all levels. Visit amymcelroy.com or call 803.640-4207.
Aiken Horsemanship Academy. Your naturally inspired adult learning resource! Offering Clinics, Courses, Starting young horses, Evaluations, and Lessons. JulieRobins.com 803-2201768.
Jodi Hemry Eventing. Three-Star Eventer offering professional training, sales, boarding, instruction, horse shows, located in the heart of Aiken. 803-640-6691 JodiHemryEventing@gmail.com JodiHemryEventing.com
REAL ESTATE/ RENTALS
Aiken Luxury Rentals. Fully furnished cottages; walk to downtown. Perfect for temporary assignments, or housing while you build. Work-from-home ready; high speed internet. Antique finishes & modern convenience. info@aikenluxuryrentals.com. aikenluxuryrentals.com. 803-648-2804.
Aiken Vacation Rentals. Comfortable, clean furnished homes. Downtown, Pet Friendly, Fast WiFi. info@aikenvacationrentals. com Call/Text (803) 216-5414 Locally owned small business. AirBnB Superhost.
Carolina Real Estate Company. Fine homes, estates and horse properties in Aiken, South Carolina. Let us welcome you home to AIKEN, Home of Horses, History & Hospitality! carolinahorseproperties.com. (803) 648-8660
Sharer Dale, Keller Williams Realty Aiken Partners. “Where town meets country.” sharerdale@gmail.com. 803.522.3648
Suzy Haslup, Meybohm. “Your Aiken Horse Real Estate Specialist.” Buying or selling in the most celebrated equine community in the South. ww.aikenhorserealty.com; 803-215-0153
Sullivan-Turner Team, Meybohm. Specializing in marketing & selling Aiken’s horse country properties. southernhorsefarms. com. 803-215-4734.
Whisper Farm: Lodging for riders & horses. Every bedroom has stall & paddock! Close to foxhunting, eventing & polo in the 302 equestrian corridor east of Aiken. 410-924-1790. thewhisperfarm.com.
SADDLES/SADDLE FITTING
Melodie McGowan Saddle Fitting. Servicing all makes and models of English saddles. New and used saddles also available. 585-6135000; melodie@mysaddle.com.
Classifieds
BOARDING/TURNOUT/ TRAINING
Dry stalls and full care available at Sporting Days Farm 150 acres with practice areas. Great for green horses. 803-226-2024 text preferred.
Chime Ridge Stables 803.508.3760
FARM SERVICES
G. L. Williams & Daughter. Serving the CSRA for over 54 years. Hauling, grading, clearing, property maintenance, excavation. Several types of fill dirt, top soil, compost, mortar sands, crushed asphalt/concrete, to screenings and a variety of rocks. Roll-off containers & manure removal 803) 663-3715. Certified DBE. WOSB. www.glwdtrucking.com
Perfect Friesian X mare, 9 yrs, 16.2 hands. Does everything, brave over fences, great manners, loves trails, great in ring, traffic safe, easy ride, forward and forgiving. Located in Windsor.
$25,000.00 Alison@eeint.com 978-808-9966
Blue Heeler Puppies! Three females and two males! Available now! Blackville, SC 561-762-4506
LB Performance Hay. From Farm to Stable. Local and imported hay; large or small quantities. Hay delivery and unloading. Lou Berizzi: 803-640-5484. Round and Square Bales. Oakwood Farms: 3593 Silver Bluff Road, Aiken SC 29803. $60 per bale round hay bales. $70 per bale round bales kept inside. Square bales at $7.00 per bale. Will deliver for a small fee. Please call 803-645-8960.
HELP WANTED
Horse and Farm Care at Sporting Days Farm. Close to Aiken on Hwy 78. Beautiful facility; horse accommodations negotiable. Please text: 803 226 2024
HORSES & PETS
Trinity Farms Terriers: Irish Russell Terriers. Old World, Healthy 100 year old. Bloodlines w/ proven calmer dispositions. Health & dispositions guaranteed. Preservation breeders for 48 years. trinityfarmskennel.com; easyjacks.com. Donna Fitzpatrick 803-648-3137.
Advertising
Registered 9-y-o Hanoverian looking for his next person. Danziano is a special horse that enjoys pampering, dressage, jumping & trail rides. 16.3 hands, excellent ground manners, pushbutton walk trot and canter, elementary lateral work & started over fences. Amateur-friendly hunter, jumper, pleasure, trail type horse.. Find his videos at www.haffeydressage.com. Text 607-743-1309
LAND FOR SALE
AIKEN LAND FOR SALE
Just Off 302 Corridor. Close to Polo, Hunting, Eventing. 20 direct minutes into town LOTS UP TO 40 acres. 410-9241790 thewhisperfarm.com. Brokers protected RENTALS/HOME SHARES
Aiken Luxury Rentals. Fully furnished cottages; walk to downtown. High speed internet. Antique finishes & modern convenience. 803-648-2804. info@aikenluxuryrentals.com. aikenluxuryrentals.com.
GOV Broodmare
Bergamon x Rampal, 16.3 H exceptional broodmare. Easy breeder and in foal to Dracula D’Avalon for a May 2025 foal. 5* home ONLY.
$10,000.00
alison@eeint.com 978-808-9966
Big, Bold and Beautiful!! F1 Drum yearling filly. This blood bay filly is what dreams are made of! Will mature 17+ and has outstanding proven bloodlines, out of the ONLY Danish Shire in the US. Balanced, 3 good gaits, make her yours today. Located in Windsor, SC Nationwide shipping available $18,000.00 Alison@eeint.com 978-808-9966
Aiken Vacation Rentals. Comfortable, clean furnished homes. Downtown, Pet Friendly, Fast WiFi. info@ aikenvacationrentals.com Call/ Text (803) 216-5414 AirBnB Superhost.
Equestrian Vacation Rentals: Bring your horses & your friends and enjoy riding on miles of wooded trails and dirt roads on beautiful Mill Race Farm. Two charming cottages to choose from, stables and pastures for your horses. This tranquil setting is only 10 minutes from downtown Aiken. CottagesMillRace@gmail. com / (803)634-0177.
Whisper Farm: Lodging for riders and their horses. Every bedroom comes with a stall & paddock! Close to foxhunting, eventing & polo in the 302 Equestrian corridor east of Aiken. 410-924-1790. thewhisperfarm.com.
in The Aiken Horse
DIRECTORY LISTING ADS: $30 per issue or $100 for the year (6 issues.) BUSINESS CARDS: $75 per issue or $300 for the year (6 issues.)
DISPLAY ADS are available in a range of sizes. For a detailed rate sheet and publication schedule, visit our website: TheAikenHorse.com
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Advertise in the October-November 2024 issue! Deadline September 19, 2024
Subscribe: $36 per year. Check out on our website or send your check to Subscriptions, 705 Flowing Well Road. Wagener, SC 29164
Horses of Great Oak
Lee Lee: In Your Pocket
By Pam Gleason
Lee Lee is a horse that loves people. Registered with the American Quarter Horse Association as SPF Little Man Lee, Lee Lee is a 2016 chestnut gelding with a quiet and calm demeanor. He came to Aiken’s Great Oak Equine Assisted Programs in January 2023, and since that time he has endeared himself to the staff and students because of his sweet personality.
“He is in your pocket,” said Deborah McWhirter, the manager of equine services at Great Oak. “Sometimes literally if you have a treat in your pocket,” she added with a laugh.
Great Oak Equine Assisted Programs provides equestrian activities to promote the emotional, physical and spiritual health of individuals with disabilities. Many of these people are children, and Lee Lee’s small size (he is just under 15 hands) makes him a favorite with younger people. Just 8 years old and exceptionally well trained, he does best with those who are physically confident as well as with more experienced or ambitious riders.
“He’s a good horse, because he has all three gaits, walk, trot and canter, but he is sensitive, and he can be quick, so we are selective about who we put on him,” said Deborah. Great Oak’s horses usually give about six lessons a week, and then once a week a member of the staff rides them to keep them tuned up. “He’s great to ride, and he can do everything. On the ground, he is very affectionate. You can hug him, touch him all over – ears, face, everywhere – and he just loves the attention.”
Lee Lee was born and raised on a ranch in Monroe City, Missouri. When he was about 3 years old, Duane Yoder of Buckeye Acre Farm in
weeks or months and then give him time off. “We’ll just turn him out, let him be a horse and not do a thing with him. And then when we get him back in, the horse will tell us what type of horse he is, and he’s got to be good and quiet before we even take him through our program.”
Duane said that Lee Lee never put a foot wrong. “He was one that I remember that we could just turn out. We could go out in the field anytime we wanted to, and saddle him up and go, and we knew that he was the type that would excel. We put him through our program and he graduated with flying colors.”
Lee Lee came to Aiken for the Best of the West horse sale at the Aiken Training Track in 2021. It was the first time that the sale was held in Aiken, and, as one of the first big equestrian events held in the city at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, it attracted a lot of attention.
Patsy Denton was one of Aiken’s horse people who was very intrigued. Patsy had always had big warmblood dressage horses, but she says that she was getting older and was not riding much anymore. She wanted to buy a nice small horse that she could ride more casually out on the trails, and so she went to the sale preview.
Patsy admits that the first thing that probably attracted her to the horse was his name.
“In the auction catalog, he was listed as Lot 45, SPF Little Man Lee,” she said. “Well, my middle name is Lee. I have a daughter whose name is Lee. So I thought, that’s pretty good; that makes a family connection.”
When she went to look at him in the flesh, she was impressed
“He was small, cute, calm and talented,” she said. “And he had all these little kids climbing all over him. He was perfect for me.”
Millersburg, Ohio bought him as a sales prospect. Buckeye Acre Farm is a family business that prides itself on producing highly-trained, safe and friendly horses and has consistently had sales-toppers at high-end auctions such as the Best of the West and the Southern Belle Classic held in Aiken. Buckeye horses can usually do tricks, such as bowing and lying down, and they have solid training under saddle that includes side passes and various western maneuvers.
“He was always just a level-headed horse that always wanted to be with you,” said Duane. “He would give you what he could; he wouldn’t give you more than you asked, and he was always willing. He wasn’t too big, but he had a gentle heart to him, like he wanted to be your partner. He was what we call a true gentleman of a horse.”
Duane Yoder said that when they get horses into their program, they are usually green broke. They generally ride a new horse for a couple of
Patsy bought the horse and brought him back to Black Forest Equestrian Center on Banks Mill Road in Aiken, where her 17-hand dressage horse, Max, was living, thinking she would start doing some trail riding. Unfortunately, however, it turned out that she just didn’t end up riding him as much as she had hoped.
“I didn’t ride him enough, and he needed a job,” she said. “He needed more loving, and to be with people and to have more attention than I could give him, so I started thinking about what I could do with him.” When she heard about Great Oak, she thought it might be the perfect solution.
“He’s friendly; he’s sweet and he’s a nice size, plus he was already used to little kids,” she said. Great Oak accepted him into their program after taking him for a trial period, and now he has a forever home there. “It was very sad to see him go. But he needed a job. He needed to be loved every day.”
Patsy says that she likes to visit Lee Lee, and that she supports Great Oak as much as she can, appreciating what they do for people, as well as the excellent home they have provided for her special horse.
“I’m very happy and proud of how well he’s doing, and that all the young little children love him,” she said. “I hope people go to Great Oak and see what wonderful things they do, for all levels of people, all ages. I hope they can go there and see what the horses can do for people. It’s amazing.
“You know, as an old horse person, I think that you have to be very respectful of whatever animal you own,” she continued. “If you can’t provide what they need, you have to find a way to make sure they get it. And I think Lee Lee has what he needs now. Lee Lee was well loved by me, and that’s why I had to send him on, because I knew it was what he needed. I am so happy knowing other people can now love him as much as I did, or even more so.”
Great Oak Equine Assisted Programs is a 501c3 charitable institution. Sponsor a horse, donate or volunteer: www.greatoakeap.org; Follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Greatoakeap
Lee Lee before Best of the West, 2021
The Vista Schooling and Event Center
Photography by Gary Knoll
Aiken Area Calendar of Events
August
1-4 2024 New Direction Hunter Jumper, Bouckaert Equestrian. 9445 Browns Lake Rd, Fairburn, GA. 770.892.2117. equestrian@BouckaertFarm.com; BouckaertFarm.com
3 Rolling Hills Saddle Club (H,J,W,B) Info Line 770-338-0143 Wills Park Equestrian Center 11915 Wills Road Alpharetta, Georgia 30009 678-297-6120
3 SPCA Saddle Up for Adoptions @ Aiken Saddlery. 1090 E Pine Log Rd, Aiken. 803.648.6863, letlovelive.org
11 Hunter Pace Bouckaert Equestrian. 9445 Browns Lake Rd, Fairburn, GA. 770.892.2117. equestrian@BouckaertFarm.com; BouckaertFarm.com
11-18 NCHA Peach State Futurity World Tour, Perry, GA Judy Boozer: 864-876-6272 nchacutting.com
14-15 USEF/USDF Too Hot To Trot Dressage. Stable View. 117 Stable Drive, Aiken 29801. 484-356-3173. info@ stableviewfarm; stableviewfarm.com.
15-18 Aiken Summer Fest II. Bruce’s Field, 931 Powderhouse Rd SE, Aiken. Equus Events, J. P. Godard. equusevents.com. equusevents@aol.com, 803-646-6961
16-17 USEF/USDF Too Hot To Trot II Dressage. Stable View. 117 Stable Drive, Aiken 29801. 484-356-3173. info@ stableviewfarm; stableviewfarm.com. 16-18 NCHJA “C” H/J Show. Carolina Horse Park. 2814 Montrose Rd, Raeford. 910.875.2074, info@carolinahorsepark.com. carolinahorsepark.com
16-18 Hunting Country Schooling. FENCE 3381 Hunting Country Rd, Tryon. Suzanne & Mark Feagan, 828-817-0549, fence.org
17 August Dressage Tests of Choice. Full Gallop Farm, 3828 Wagener Rd, Aiken. Lara Anderson: 803.215.6590, fullgallopfarm@gmail.com.
17 Highfields Just for Fun Show. PSJ Shows. Highfields Event Center, 147 Warehouse Road, Aiken. 803.649.3505, psjshows. com
17 Volunteer Training Great Oak Equine Assisted Programs 1123 Edgefield Hwy, Aiken, SC greatoakeap.org
17 Gala of the Royal Horses. SC Equine Park. South Carolina Equine Park (SCEP), 443 Cleveland School Road, Camden, galaoftheroyalhorses.com.
17 Atlanta Youth Dressage Challenge. Georgia Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway NE, Conyers. 770.860.4190, georgiahorsepark.com. missliz@taramiaridingschool.com; www.taramiaridingschool.com
17-18 Newton County Saddle Club Open Horse Show. Georgia Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway NE, Conyers. 770.860.4190, georgiahorsepark.com. Kathy Johnson: 678873-3019.newtoncountysaddleclub.com
18 August Horse Trials. Full Gallop Farm, 3828 Wagener Rd, Aiken. Lara Anderson: 803.215.6590, fullgallopfarm@gmail.
20 Tuesday Night Schooling. FENCE 3381 Hunting Country Rd, Tryon. 828.859.9021, fence.org
21 V ista Fun Drive. The Vista Schooling and Event Center. 859 Old Tory Trail, Aiken 29801. aikendrivingclub.org.
22-25 Aiken Summer Fest III. Bruce’s Field, 931 Powderhouse Rd SE, Aiken. Equus Events, J. P. Godard. equusevents.com. equusevents@aol.com, 803-646-6961
7 Sporting Days Farm Schooling Show. Sporting Days Farm,3549 Charleston Highway, Aiken 29801. Sportingdaysfarm.com; Text Joannah Hall Glass 803-2262024.
7 Atlanta Youth Dressage Challenge. Georgia Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway NE, Conyers. 770.860.4190, georgiahorsepark.com. missliz@taramiaridingschool.com; www.taramiaridingschool.com
11-15 Aiken Fall Festival I, Bruce’s Field, 931 Powderhouse Rd SE, Aiken. Equus Events, J. P. Godard. equusevents.com. equusevents@aol.com, 803-646-6961
12-15 The Fork at Tryon International. 25 International Blvd., Mill Spring, NC 28756. tryon.com; 828-863-1000.
13-28 USPA Constitution Cup 6 Goal. Wagener Polo Club. wagenerpolo.com. Bill Raab: 561-719-3318.
13-29 Alan Lyle Corey Memorial 4 Goal. Aiken Polo Club, Mead Avenue, Aiken. Tiger Kneece, Manager: 803-646-3301; aikenpolo.org. Hotline: 803-643-3611.
13-15 Tryon Fall Dressage 1 & 2. Tryon International. 25 International Blvd., Mill Spring, NC 28756. tryon.com; 828863-1000. Show manager: Monica Fitzgerald: 954-647-7940. mon1206@aol.com.
14 Highfields Just for Fun Show. PSJ Shows. Highfields Event Center, 147 Warehouse Road, Aiken. 803.649.35
14 G DCTA Fall Classic Schooling Dressage, Show Jumping and 3 phase. Poplar Place Farm. 457 Kingsboro Road, Hamilton, GA 31811. poplarplacefarm.com. show@poplarplacefarm. com. 706-681-8748
14 Sunset Polo 20 Goal Jazz Event. La Bourgogne Club de Polo, 1150 Coleman Bridge Rd., Wagener, SC. labourgognepoloclub@gmail.com. Facebook: La Bourgogne Club de Polo.
20 USHJA Hunter Jumper In & Out Series Fall I. Stable View. 117 Stable Drive, Aiken 29801. 484-356-3173. info@ stableviewfarm; stableviewfarm.com.
20-22 Tryon, Fall I, H/J. Tryon International. 25 International Blvd., Mill Spring, NC 28756. tryon.com; 828-863-1000.
20-23 Aiken Fall Festival. Highfields Event Center. 118 Gaston Street NE, Aiken 29801. psjshows.com, psjshows87@gmail.com. 803649-3505
20-Oct 6 USPA Association Cup 8 Goal. New Bridge Polo & Country Club. 862 New Bridge Rd, Aiken. Haley Bryan Manager: 803215-3577. Hotline: 803-644-7706. newbridgepolo.com.
21 Derby & Show Jumping. The Vista Schooling & Event Center. schoolthevista.com; 803-262-5263 vistaschooling@gmail.com.
21-22 Coup Charles Combier Polo Match. La Bourgogne Club de Polo, 1150 Coleman Bridge Rd., Wagener, SC. labourgognepoloclub@gmail.com Facebook: La Bourgogne Club de Polo LLC
22 Full Gallop Farm September Schooling HT II. Full Gallop Farm, 3828 Wagener, Rd., Aiken, 29805. fullgallopfarm.com. Lara Anderson, fullgallopfarm@gmail.com. 803-215-6590.
23-29 Women’s 8-goal Polo Tournament. O. Cepeda Polo Club. 3054 Gardenia Road, Blackville, SC. ocfarm.weebly.com. Omar & Maria Cepeda. 561-762-4506.
25-29 Tryon Fall 2. Tryon International. 25 International Blvd., Mill Spring, NC 28756. tryon.com; 828-863-1000.
27 Derby Clinic with Danny Robertshaw and Ron Danta. SC Equine Park. South Carolina Equine Park (SCEP), 443 Cleveland School Road, Camden. scequinepark.org.
28-29 Newton County Saddle Club Open Horse Show. Georgia Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway NE, Conyers. 770.860.4190, georgiahorsepark.com. Kathy Johnson: 678873-3019. www.newtoncountysaddleclub.com
28 Atlanta Youth Dressage Challenge. Georgia Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway NE, Conyers. 770.860.4190, georgiahorsepark.com. missliz@taramiaridingschool.com; www.taramiaridingschool.com
28-29 AFM Give Me Wings Polo Match. La Bourgogne Club de Polo, 1150 Coleman Bridge Rd., Wagener, SC. labourgognepoloclub@gmail.com Facebook: La Bourgogne Club de Polo LLC
28-29 Camden Fall Classic. SC Equine Park. South Carolina Equine Park (SCEP), 443 Cleveland School Road, Camden. scequinepark.org. Janet Black: threesprings@windstream.net
5-6 Palmetto Paint Horse Club. South Carolina Equine Park (SCEP), 443 Cleveland School Road, Camden. Lindsay McKnight: 843-995-2476 hardeelanefarms@gmail.com
5-6 G DCTA Atlanta Fall National Dressage Show. Georgia Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway NE, Conyers. 770.860.4190, georgiahorsepark.com. Caren Caverly: (770) 713-4025, ccaverly@comcast.net
6 Women’s Fall Challenge 4-8 Goal Final. Aiken Polo Club. Tiger Kneece, 803-646-3301; Hotline: 803-643-3611.
6 USPA Association Cup 8 Goal Final. New Bridge Polo & Country Club. 862 New Bridge Rd, Aiken. Haley Bryan Manager: 803-215-3577. Hotline: 803-644-7706. newbridgepolo.com.
7-20 USPA Women’s East Coast Open 14-18 Goal. New Bridge Polo & Country Club. 862 New Bridge Rd, Aiken. Manager: Haley Bryan 803-215-3577. Hotline: 803-644-7706. newbridgepolo. com.
9-13 Equus Tryon Fall 4. Tryon International. 25 International Blvd., Mill Spring, NC 28756. Equus Events, J. P. Godard. equusevents.com. equusevents@aol.com, 803-646-6961
9-27 USPA Northrup Knox Cup 8 Goal. New Bridge Polo & Country Club. 862 New Bridge Rd, Aiken. Haley Bryan Manager: 803-215-3577. Hotline: 803-644-7706. newbridgepolo.com.
11-13 Carolinas CHA Sunshine Circuit Finals. C Equine Park. South Carolina Equine Park (SCEP), 443 Cleveland School Road, Camden. scequinepark.org. Nicholas Johnson. 919-625-1677. nic@performanceglassinc.com
11-26 Kim Snider 4 Goal. Wagener Polo Club. wagenerpolo.com. Bill Raab: 561-719-3318.
12 Chukkers for Charity. La Bourgogne Club de Polo, 1150 Coleman Bridge Rd., Wagener, SC. labourgognepoloclub@ gmail.com Facebook: La Bourgogne Club de Polo LLC
12 Southern Series Mounted Games. Georgia Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway NE, Conyers. 770.860.4190, georgiahorsepark.com.
12-13 Newton County Saddle Club Open Horse Show. Georgia Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway NE, Conyers. 770.860.4190, georgiahorsepark.com. Kathy Johnson: 678873-3019. www.newtoncountysaddleclub.com
12-13 USEF/USEA Horse Trials. Poplar Place Farm. 457 Kingsboro Road, Hamilton, GA 31811. poplarplacefarm.com. show@ poplarplacefarm.com. 706-681-8748
12-13 Dream Big Equestrian IEA Horse Show. Georgia Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway NE, Conyers. 770.860.4190, georgiahorsepark.com.
19 Highfields Just for Fun Show. PSJ Shows. Highfields Event Center, 147 Warehouse Road, Aiken. 803.649.3505, psjshows. com
19 La Bourgogne Womens Invitational, Presented by A is for Advertising. La Bourgogne Club de Polo, 1150 Coleman Bridge Rd., Wagener, SC. labourgognepoloclub@gmail.com Facebook: La Bourgogne Club de Polo LLC
19 Spooktacular Classic. GDCTA Schooling Dressage, Jumping, 3-phase. Poplar Place Farm. 457 Kingsboro Road, Hamilton, GA 31811. poplarplacefarm.com. show@poplarplacefarm.com. 706-681-8748
19-20 SCDCTA Oktoberfest Schooling Show. South Carolina Equine Park, 443 Cleveland School Rd, Camden, SC 29020. scdcta.com. scdcta.webmaster@gmail.com
20 USPA Women’s East Coast Open 14-18 Goal Final & Ponies & Pearls Fundraiser. New Bridge Polo & Country Club. 862 New Bridge Rd, Aiken. Haley Bryan Manager: 803-215-3577. Hotline: 803-644-7706. newbridgepolo.com.
20 Full Gallop Farm October Schooling HT II. Full Gallop Farm, 3828 Wagener, Rd., Aiken, 29805. fullgallopfarm.com. Lara Anderson, fullgallopfarm@gmail.com. 803-215-6590.
20-27 Women’s Fall Challenge 8-12 Goal. Aiken Polo Club, Tiger Kneece: 803-646-3301; aikenpolo.org. Hotline: 803-643-3611.
21 2024 Playing Fore the Pets Golf Tournament. The Reserve Club At Woodside, 3000 The Reserve Club Dr. fotasaiken.org.
23-27 Women’s 6-goal Polo Tournament. O. Cepeda Polo Club. 3054 Gardenia Road, Blackville, SC. ocfarm.weebly.com. Omar & Maria Cepeda. 561-762-4506.
23-27 Tryon Fall 6. Tryon International. 25 International Blvd., Mill Spring, NC 28756. tryon.com; 828-863-1000.
24-27 October at Bruce’s Field, 931 Powderhouse Rd SE, Aiken. Equus Events, J. P. Godard. equusevents.com. equusevents@aol. com, 803-646-6961
24-25 Bouckaert Equestrian Eventing Horse Trials 4 at Bouckaert Farm. 9445 Browns Lake Rd, Fairburn, GA. 770.892.2117 equestrian@BouckaertFarm.com; BouckaertFarm.com
25-Nov 9 Eloy Escapite Memorial 6 Goal; USPA Masters Cup $2,500 orize money. Wagener Polo Club. wagenerpolo.com. Bill Raab: 561-719-3318.
26-27 SCQHA Spooktacular. South Carolina Equine Park (SCEP), 443 Cleveland School Road, Camden, Nichole Veasey 803-2405785, scquarterhorse@gmail.com scequinepark.com
25-27 SCDCTA Oktoberfest Schooling Show & Schooling Show Championship. South Carolina Equine Park, 443 Cleveland School Rd, Camden, SC 29020. Carol Freiligh. treasurer@ scdcta.com. 843-857-6229
25-27 Tryon Fall Dressage 3. Tryon International. 25 International Blvd., Mill Spring, NC 28756. tryon.com; 828-863-1000. Show manager: Monica Fitzgerald: 954-647-7940.mon1206@ aol.com.
25-Nov 3 Copa de Plata 8 Goal. New Bridge Polo & Country Club. 862 New Bridge Rd, Aiken. Haley Bryan Manager: 803-2153577. Hotline: 803-644-7706. newbridgepolo.com.
25 Aiken Driving Club Annual Meeting. Gaston Livery Stable. aikendrivingclub.org.
26 Sporting Days Farm Schooling Show. Sporting Days Farm,3549 Charleston Highway, Aiken 29801. Sportingdaysfarm.com; Text Joannah Hall Glass 803-226-2024.
26 The Mane Event benefitting USC Aiken. La Bourgogne Club de Polo, 1150 Coleman Bridge Rd., Wagener, SC. labourgognepoloclub@gmail.com Facebook: La Bourgogne Club de Polo LLC
27 Hunter Pace. The Vista Schooling & Event Center. schoolthevista.com; 803-262-5263, vistaschooling@gmail.com.
