December-January 2021-2022 by Aiken Horse Productions

Volume 17 • Number 3 •

December-January 2021-2022

The Aiken Horse

December-January 2021-2022

SuzyHaslup_TAH_Sept2019.qxp_Layout 1 9/18/21 11:31 AM Page 1

AIKEN HORSE DISTRICT $1.95 MILLION

KATHRYN SIDERS MICHELE HIGGINS Licensed Assistant

Licensed Assistant

An Accredited Land Consultant, Suzy achieved the title of Leading Sales Agent in 2013, 2015, 2016 & 2020. Her achievements include Meybohm “Best of the Best” & President’s Club, as well as 2018, 2019 & 2020 RLI APEX award for top producing land real estate agents.

FOX HOLLOW LOTS

Fox Hollow is a premier gated residential equestrian community situated perfectly for those wanting to be close to both Augusta, GA and Aiken, SC. Fox Hollow covers just under 800 acres including a trail over beautiful Johnson Lake, irrigated show rings, mirrored irrigated 20 x 60 dressage ring, cross country course and over 30 miles of fabulous trails. Available now: Lot 19/12.45 A/$168,075

BRIDLE CREEK

$649,000

FOXHOUND RUN

Exeptional offering in the Horse District of Aiken with direct access to the Aiken Training Track, the clay roads and Bruce’s Field show facility. Property consists of three parcels totaling 8.24 acres, two barns (43 stalls), bunkhouse, metal breaking pen, 6 stall covered Eurociser, and six paddocks on the north and south side of Audubon Drive. Brick house built in 1968 has a two car attached garage, four bedrooms, two and one-half baths, hardwood floors, fireplace and cathedral ceilings. Property offered in its entirety but buyers could divide. Easy hack into Hitchcock Woods.

$539,000

One level brick home in Woodside Reserve built by Abney Caldwell with 3 BRs, each with bath and walk-in closet, fireplace, hardwood and tile floors, granite countertops, chef’s kitchen with top of the line appliances and large laundry room. New climate controlled sunroom/porch designed for entertaining w/tile floor overlooks the golf course and newly fenced back yard.

WOOD’S END LOTS

HORSE FARM

$825,000

Recently built Mitch Johnson hardiplank house with barn, pool and new state of the art lighted pickleball court on 11 A farm in Bluffwood East. 3 stall center aisle barn w/storage above, climate controlled tack room with full bath, W/D hookups and workshop, run in sheds, automatic waterers and gorgeous board fenced pastures. Miles of trails for riding off the property.

SWALLOW DIP

$599,000

UNDER CONTRACT!

UNDER CONTRACT! Buyers can customize this 2,270 sf. light filled open floor plan modern hardiplank farmhouse with 3 BR/3 BA, 2 car garage and opt. bonus on over 6 A in popular Bridle Creek Equestrian. Contiguous lot available to add for a total of 11.85 A. Split bedroom plan, study, fireplace, pantry, walk-in closets in every BR, hi-speed internet & outdoor barbeque porch. Great trails, 2 arenas w/silica sand & fiber & new activity building.

Priced at $275,000 and $320,000, these lots provide an exceptional opportunity to own a farm bordering the 2200-acre Hitchcock Woods offering 70 miles of riding trails open to the public year round. Lots are cleared and ready for home and barn, paved cul-de-sac, underground utilities with city services and no HOA. Possible owner financing and lots may be combined. Direct access to trails of the Woods.

Winter Colony home on large lot on Chesterfield St. near the Willcox Inn & Hitchcock Woods. One level living with 3 BR suites/3 BA, heart pine floors, coffered ceilings, living room, library/den, formal DR w/original cabinets, kitchen w/custom cabinets, stainless steel appliances. Viking range, pantry & butler pantry. Screened porch overlooking backyard & pool with 1 bath pool or guest house.

www.AikenHorseRealty.com (803) 215-0153 • suzy.haslup@gmail.com December-January 2021-2022

The Aiken Horse

December-January 2021-2022

The Aiken Horse

sold ENDLESS TRAILS PRESERVE – TRENTON, SC 16 stAll bArn on 216.92 Acres; 11 miles of trAils on ProPerty 3 br, 3 bA one-level custom home on 3 Acres, Pond & woodlAnds

407 vAnn roAd | $897,000

32+ ACRES IN TODS HILL EQUESTRIAN

miles of community riding trAils & rolling PAsture. minutes to stAbleview, An eAsy hAul to show, trAining & foXhunting venues gorgeous home & bArn sites with stunning wAter & PAstorAl views. lots Are not subJect to develoPer building timelines

sold

THE PINE HOUSE C. 1868 ON 8. 27 ACRES

SINGULAR PROPERTY in HORSE DISTRICT

5995 edgefield roAd | $580,000

1354 Audubon drive se | $2.1 million

8.27 Acres of level lAnd, close to stAble view, 5 br, 4 bAth historic home; 2 br, 2 bAth guest house. ideAl As residence or b&b – no restrictions

HOBBY FARM IN 302 HORSE COUNTRY

11.5 Acres w/good bArn site & roAd frontAge; Access to trAining venues PrivAtely sited 4 br, 2 bAth home with room for eXPAnsion on 2nd level; oPen Kitchen / living sPAce

8.64 Acres Across from bruce’s field, 8-stAll center-Aisle bArn renovAted historic home, guest cottAge & heAted gunite Pool

SUNSET COTTAGE, CIRCA 1910

nAtionAl historic register of historic PlAces. willis irvin tudor revivAl design with stone & stucco clAdding in front And cedAr shAKe siding At bAcK 3 br, 4bA, wAlKing distAnce to downtown AiKen & AiKen golf club !

557 highlAnd PArK | $595,000

reeves street | $485,550

837 flowing well roAd | $385,000

OAK GROVE – LEWIS LANE ASSOCIATION

SERENE WATERFRONT LIVING IN WEXFORD MILL

RARE DOWNTOWN MIXED USE PROPERTY

303 weXford mill drive | $449,000

151 lAurens street | now $895,000

11.34 Acres with Access to lewis lAne AssociAtion trAils, bAnKs mill corridor & 302 equestriAn venues ideAl for horses with A lovely home site within A grove of live oAKs

PArcel 4 lewis lAne | $215,000

MARYLAND COTTAGE , CIRCA 1929

close to boArding stAbles in AiKen’s horse district; bruce’s field & the AiKen trAining trAcK, eAsy Access to 302 horse country clAssic & inviting floor PlAn with 5 bedrooms, 4 1/2 bAths, gorgeous terrAce & sPAcious bAcKyArd

1022 south boundAry Avenue | $990,000

lAKefront living AwAits! 4 bedroom, 3 bAth home with PrivAte docK, eXPAnsive decK And the most AmAzing views! minutes to Polo & eventing venues, trAining / boArding bArns

MIDTOWN HOME CLOSE TO BRUCE’S FIELD

wAlKing distAnce to Polo At whitney field & A golf cArt ride to PAlmetto golf, fermAtA & green boundAry clubs & bruce’s field. 3 br home + office, 2 bAths, cozy living room & fAbulous greAt room. PrivAte bAcKyArd with in-ground Pool & PlAy/entertAining sPAce

bArrington fArms

trAil Access Just 6 PArcels AvAilAble rAnging from 5.5+ Ac. for $67,146 to 13+ Ac. for $157,000

weXford mill wAterfront

302 horse country .69 Acre | $65,000 1.68 Acres | $84,000 - under contrAct

Cissie Sullivan

826 oleAnder drive | $475,000

Land for Sale lewis lAne AssociAtion

trAil Access nonnie’s lot - 11.02 Ac. | $193,000 henry’s trAnquil retreAt - 8.23 Ac. | $157,000 high flAt fArm - 11.01 Ac. | $209,000 Pond meAdow - 13.68 Ac. | $250,000

2178 sf commerciAl retAil sPAce with residentiAl living quArters Above. good rentAl Possibility. ideAlly suited for live/worK, 1031 eXchAnge & seAsonAl investor

133+ ACRES WITH PONDS & HAY FIELDS

gorgeous, irrigAted tifton 85 bermudA hAy fields And 2 lArge Ponds. fenced frontAge enhAnced by PlAnted PAlms. ideAl for AgriculturAl Pursuits or dreAm big & creAte your PArAdise!

moores roAd in edgefield, sc | $750,000

weXford lAnding - AviAtion lots 10.36 Acres offered for $49,000

grAylyn lAKes 2 Acres | $82,000

woodside - gAted community country club Amenities residentiAl building lot on golf course 201 hemlocK drive | $39,000

Tracey Turner

803-998-0198 | SullivanTurnerTeam.com 6

The Aiken Horse

December-January 2021-2022

CIELO DORATO – 25 MOORES ROAD 142+ ACRE EQUESTRIAN COMPOUND IN EDGEFIELD, SC

Superbly deSigned for quality of life & diverSe activitieS Such aS horSe breeding & training, cattle breeding, premium hay production & more. property featureS 3 cuStom homeS each 3br/2ba for owner, gueStS & farm manager - all with gorgeouS viewS. owner’S home haS additional 1500 Sf entertainment / hoSpitality area with 1br/1ba gueSt apartment, ideal for partieS, gameS & gatheringS. approximately 125 acreS iS graded, terraced & Sprigged in tifton 85 bermuda graSS & irrigated for ultimate forage production. pond SupportS irrigation & a freShwater Swimming pond iS deSigned for recreation. 9-Stall Stable w/automated watererS & feeding StationS; hay Storage, water tower, well, dog bath & expanSive equipment Shed. road frontage iS enhanced by planted palmS. perimeter fencing iS combination of priefert & no-climb. land iS bounded on the north by log creek with approximately 15 acreS of woodlandS & wildlife havenS. additional 133+/- acreS available. Singular opportunity!

offered for

$1,600,000

BLUE SKIES 4.5+ ACRES IN HORSE DISTRICT

SWEET AMBROSIA FARM 65+ acreS for the Sporting life

STUNNING CUSTOM RENOVATIONS STEPS TO HORSE DISTRICT

5+ br, 7 1⁄2 bathS renovated & impeccably maintained hiStoric home with elevator. expanSive viewS acroSS bruce’S field, gueSt apartment, fitneSS room & 3-bay garage. home featureS a wide veranda, hardwood floorS, high ceilingS and an expanSive great room with full bar. level land ideal for equeStrian amenitieS.

lovely property includeS a main reSidence, barn w/apt & a gueSt cottage overlooking the pond.renovated main reSidence w/ Spectacular open floor plan & a true chef’S kitchen. 7-8 Stall barn, kennelS, & riding arena. Superb opportunity! 4br, 3 bath 3,360 Sf reSidence, 1+br barn apt, 1+br pond cottage

cuStom-renovated home & garden in one of aiken’S coveted neighborhoodS. venetian plaSter mantel, pecky cypreSS paneled ceiling & Sculptural lighting along with ceruSed knotty oak cabinetS & honed granite counterS. light-filled StaircaSe leadS up to a 3-room owner’S Suite; 2 gueSt bedroomS, coffee bar & laundry.

928 two notch road Se | $2,500,000

1480 wire road | $1,695,000

325 homeStead lane | $1,097,000

Cissie Sullivan

Tracey Turner

803-998-0198 | SullivanTurnerTeam.com December-January 2021-2022

The Aiken Horse

SECTION 10 16 20 24 28

Maryland Five Star Split Rock FEI Grand Prix Amy Scott Art News & Notes T.I.P. Championships

Section One

Santiago Lambre (Brazil) winning the Split Rock Jumping Tour $100,000 1.50m Grand Prix CSI3* aboard Comtess 202, Bruce’s Field in the Aiken Horse Park. Photography by Pam Gleason

SECTION 38 40 42 48 54 58

Daybreak Farm Ask the Judge Secret Lives: Firefly Windsor trace Dr. Caston Ashley Haffey

Section Two

Esther Wright, known to all as Boots, coming through the water at the Windsor Trace CDE. Photography by Gary Knoll

SECTION

Section Three

Tommy Biddle competing in the Polo America arena in Aiken, 2008.

68 71 72 74 78 82 84 85 90

Tommy Biddle The Last Diving Horse Hocus pocus Jasmine Fall Polo Calendar Directory Classifieds Index of Advertisers

Photography by Gary Knoll

The Aiken Horse

December-January 2021-2022

Aiken

The

Horse

Aiken’s Horse Publication P.O. Box 332 • Montmorenci, SC 29839-0332 • 803.643.9960 • TheAikenHorse.com • TheAikenHorse@gmail.com Time Dated Material • Periodicals • Volume 17 • Number 3

t’s December, the end of another long and interesting year in the Aiken horse world. Looking back, 2021 had plenty of challenges. When 2021 started, we were still greatly affected by COVID-19 restrictions. At the beginning of the year, vaccines were available only to older people and large gatherings were more or less off the table. Aiken’s traditional equestrian rites of spring were canceled: we had no Aiken Trials, Aiken Steeplechase, Aiken Horse Show in the Woods, or Pacers and Polo. Many other shows and events went on, but generally with masking and other requirements and limitations. For instance, Grand Prix Eventing came to Bruce’s Field at The Aiken Horse Park, but it was closed to spectators; horse owners and stakeholders watched the action from separate private cabanas. We still had horse shows and polo matches and horse trials throughout the rest of the year, but the atmosphere around them was definitely more subdued than usual. The pandemic is not, of course, over, and things could still get worse before they get better. But the horse world, at least here in Aiken, feels like it is almost back to normal. Equestrian activity is booming, with more and better competitions arriving all the time, additional investment in our equestrian infrastructure, and new participants bringing their energies to Aiken traditions. Over the summer and fall, the Aiken Horse Park added additional stabling; Aiken Polo Club’s historic Whitney Field was resurfaced and seeded with improved grass; the new Aiken Steeplechase track was completed and will be ready for its first races in March. Although the pandemic put a damper on the first part of the year, things are looking up now, with farms changing hands, innovative equestrian businesses opening up, and a definite forwardmoving energy in the air. 2021-2022 December-January

This fall, we attended a wide array of different equestrian events, and you will find pictures and stories about many of them in this issue. Our cover and our first section center spread features images from the Split Rock Jumping Tour $100,000 FEI Grand Prix CSI3*. This was the featured event of a five-day show that brought in top riders of many different nationalities to compete on Bruce’s Field’s world class arenas. It was the second year that Split Rock came to Aiken, bringing international competition to our area and demonstrating that Aiken is gaining prominence and prestige in the hunter/jumper world. In early November, we went to the Windsor Trace Combined Driving Event, which was the American Driving Society North American Championship for Intermediate and Preliminary Combined Driving. After a spate of unusually warm and sunny weather, this event happened to fall on a cold and windy weekend, but it was an impressive outing nonetheless. You will find pictures of the event in our second section center spread. Our second section also has profiles of some new members of the Aiken equestrian community, and, of course, Secret Lives of Horses that features a retired horse living in Aiken. This November, the Museum of Polo announced that Tommy Biddle, an Aiken native, will be inducted into the Polo Hall of Fame. Tommy, only the fourth 10-goal arena player in the history of the United States Polo Association, joins august company, including such famous 10-goal Aiken legends as Tommy Hitchcock. His picture graces the cover of our third section, which opens with a story about his career. The third section center spread has a selection of images from the Aiken fall polo season at the area’s three active clubs: Aiken, New Bridge, and Wagener Polo Clubs. We hope you enjoy this issue! As ever, if you hear of something we should be covering in our pages, please drop us an email. We want to be your horse newspaper!

The Aiken Horse EDITOR & PUBLISHER Pam Gleason

ART DIRECTOR Gary Knoll

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jean Berko Gleason

LAYOUT & DESIGN Gary Knoll

PHOTOGRAPHERS Pam Gleason Gary Knoll

ADVERTISING

803.643.9960 theaikenhorse@gmail.com

Going Out Of Town? Don’t miss future issues of The Aiken Horse. We will send you a one year subscription (6 issues) for $24.00, or $36 for First Class. Send check or CC # & your mailing address: P.O. Box 332, Montmorenci, SC 29839 Or sign up on the web at TheAikenHorse.com

Aiken

The

Horse

Aiken’s Horse Publication

Pam Gleason Editor & Publisher

The Aiken Horse Policies: The opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publishers, editors, or the policies of The Aiken Horse, LLC. The Aiken Horse is owned by The Aiken Horse, LLC.

The Aiken Horse

On Cue is on Her Game Boyd Martin Wins Maryland 5*

Story and Photography by Amber Heintzberger

hroughout her career, the British-bred Selle Francais mare On Cue has been knocking at the door of international acclaim, but has often been overshadowed by her illustrious stable mate Tsetserleg TSF. Both horses are in the stable of Boyd Martin, the Pan Am gold-medalist and Olympic veteran who splits his time between Cochranville, Pennsylvania and Aiken. This fall at the inaugural Maryland Five Star at Fair Hill in Elkton, Maryland, On Cue wrote herself firmly into the history books when she and Boyd claimed victory over an impressive field. It was a close competition: the pair was third after dressage, behind the world’s number one ranked event rider Oliver Townend (GBR) and world number two ranked Tim Price (NZL). All three combinations went clear on cross country, but on the final day, On Cue blazed around show jumping clear and in the time, while Price had two rails down and Townend knocked one. This left Cue and Martin in first place by just a tenth of a penalty point. “On Cue was absolutely sensational all throughout the competition,” said Martin. “She started out Friday brilliant in the dressage and third place on a score of 25. The cross country was a real challenging course, a new cross country course that sorted the men from the boys, so to speak, and On Cue jumped out of her skin and delivered a clear and under the time round in sensational fashion. To top off the weekend she came out in the show jumping and tried her heart out. We got a bit lucky – she bumped and rattled a few rails and they stayed up, and we were just inside the time. I honestly thought we’d finish third and it was a pleasant surprise to win the event.” Commenting on the fitness factor in Maryland he said, “The cross country course was a lot of undulating country, some big long hills, and the real class horses made it look easy, but it was a definite test of endurance. She came out on Sunday morning with a spring in her stride

The Aiken Horse

and jumped a good round.”

Olympic Almost

Boyd Martin was a member of the U.S. Eventing Team that competed at the Tokyo Olympics this past summer. He was originally selected with the syndicated gelding Luke 140 after the pair won the CCI4*-L at Jersey Fresh. Tsetserleg TSF, owned by Christine Turner, her husband Thomas and daughter Tommie, was his first reserve horse, and On Cue, whom Martin owns in partnership with the Turner family, was his second reserve. Tsetserleg was also Martin’s partner at the 2015 World Equestrian Games in Tryon and the pair claimed team and individual gold medals at the 2018 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. In April, On Cue placed fourth overall at the 2021 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event, and as the top American combination, won the 2021 Land Rover/ USEF CCI5*-L National Championship presented by MARS Equestrian. Over the summer, when Luke 140 sustained a minor injury in the lead-up to the Olympics, Martin opted to withdraw him from the competition. Instead, he took Tsetserleg and On Cue to Aachen, Germany for the mandatory quarantine period and team training camp. He ultimately selected Tsetserleg to go to Japan, while On Cue stayed behind in Germany. After the Olympics, he could have kept the mare in Europe to compete on the Nations Cup Team at the CHIO Aachen in September. But Chris Turner said that she really wanted to see the horse compete on American soil. “I wanted to show America how good she is,” said Turner. “I’m glad we didn’t leave her over there. It’s good to have an American win.” Martin last won a five-star in Australia in 2003, riding True Blue Toozac. “He’s been so close on so many occasions,” said Turner. “It’s such a tough sport. Boyd always says, ‘When the stars align’, and it’s true, everything has to line up just perfect. Some of it’s luck, some of it’s skill, and some of it is just things working out.”

December-January 2021-2022

She noted, “It’s very nice to share this with my daughter Tommie. My husband wanted to be there too, but he had surgery, and was home recovering. He doesn’t make it to many events and it would have been really special to have him there, too.” With three distinctive phases to prepare for, eventing really does take a village, and supportive owners are just the beginning. Martin said, “We’ve been working very hard with On Cue and so many people have contributed to her training. Over the past year, show jumping coach Peter Wylde, chef d’equipe Erik Duvander and my wife Silva, who coaches me in dressage, have put a lot into her. All the thousands of hours of training all paid off.”

Aiken Connections

Boyd and Silva are seasonal Aiken residents, and have spent the past few winters based at Stable View. Eric Bull, who built the cross country course at the Maryland Five-Star, also worked with Boyd to design and build a cross country schooling course at Stable View which is open year-round. “Our main home base is in Cochranville, Pennsylvania, but we do winters at Stable View and both the farm and the Aiken area have become a second home for our horses and our team,” said Boyd. “For me, it’s the ideal place to train the horses and get them ready for the season. Aiken’s just perfect with the little shows, the jumping at Bruce’s Field, and the horse trials at Stable View which is a great way to get the horses started at the beginning of the year.” Stable View’s owner Barry Olliff commented, “Stable View is very proud to be a part of Boyd’s training program. It’s great to see him reach the pinnacle of success in winning another five-star, with just a little of that having been achieved from his six stays at Stable View. Boyd has the respect of all of us here as he puts in the hours and has shown huge perseverance. He will be an ongoing role model for many young US eventers in the years to come.”

Offspring

On Cue is not just a hard-hitting competitor: she is also a mother, and has had three foals, all born to surrogate mothers through embryo

December-January 2021-2022

transfer. The oldest of these foals, 5-year-old On Cue Too, was sired by Christine Turner’s Trakehner stallion Rusticus and competed in the Beginner Novice horse trials at Waredaca (MD) the weekend after On Cue’s big five-star win. “We’ve got two of her offspring by Mystic Replica, an American Thoroughbred stallion owned by Mary Hazzard,” said Boyd. “The 5-year-old, On Cue Too, has the same attributes as Cue. At the moment Chris and I are partners with all of them and if they’re anything like Cue we’ll be pushing on with them.” “I sent the 5-year-old to Boyd to start last year,” said Christine Turner. “We teach them manners and how to deal with people here at our farm in Texas, but I don’t want to break them myself. All three were embryo transfers. On Cue Too – they call her Cuecumber – looks exactly like Cue, and she’s a little bit spooky, just like Cue. It’s going to take some time, but she’s got it.” Turner said, “It’s so much fun, when you’re bringing these horses up. Any time you win something small you feel like you’re moving up. At the top level, everyone’s waiting for your horse to make a mistake. It’s hard to take the pressure at the top. I think the young ones are going to be some good horses; I know they are. I sent Boyd five young horses last September and I have two more here in Texas, a 1- and 2-year-old. I’ve taken care of them, I know nothing’s gone wrong with them, and that’s a good feeling. Trakehners don’t mature as fast as Thoroughbreds, but they stay sound. It’s a matter of taking the time, and some riders don’t want to do that, but if you do it right I feel like it’s a good thing. What a great journey I’ve been on with Boyd for five years now.” Boyd Martin said likewise, “Chris and her family have been wonderful supporters. They’ve owned a bunch of horses for Silva and I and you couldn’t hope for better people. They’re there with high fives and hugs when you’re victorious but they’re also there when things are rough and it’s really great to have people like that behind you when things aren’t going well.” Meanwhile, he said, “At the moment On Cue is having a nice, fourweek rest out in the field to eat grass and get fat and hairy and I think we’ll get her back into work towards the end of the year, and we’ll get

The Aiken Horse

CELL: (803) 522-3648

WWW. SHARERDALE.COM SHARERDALETEAM@GMAIL.COM office: (803) 761- 0678

- SOLD - UNDER CONTRACT

The Aiken Horse

December-January 2021-2022

CELL: (803) 522-3648

WWW. SHARERDALE.COM SHARERDALETEAM@GMAIL.COM Office: (803) 761-0678

$535,000 -PRIME Location - 2 Stall barn, 2 paddocks, tack room - 3192 sq ft, 4 bed/3 bath - Bonus Room

$295,000 Gatewood Community 3 bedroom/2 bath/Bonus Room 2638 Square Feet LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!

$2,250,000 6,327 Sq Ft / 4 bed 3.5 bathroom Luxurious Master Suite. In-Law / Guest House 5 stalls/ Arena / Large Turnouts / 20 Acres

$442,000 4 bedrooms / 2.5 bath 1950 Square Feet 1 ACRE WITH 2 STALL BARN DIRECT TRAIL ACCESS!!

HAPPY

- $1,450,000 - 4,880 Sq. Ft. Built in 2009 - 4 bedroom, 5.5 bathroom, elevator - 16 Acres, 4 stall barn - Guest apartment above barn -3rd story zen viewing tower - Salt water pool

$269,500 Aiken Estates 3 bedroom / 2 bath 2430 Square Feet OVERSIZED Sunroom

Holidays! December-January 2021-2022

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December-January 2021-2022

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Split Rock Jumping Tour $100,000 1.50m Grand Prix CSI3* at Bruce’s Field

Photography by Pam Gleason & Gary Knoll

Now Available

Offered through New Bridge Realty

Contact Raza Kazmi, 888-4NB-POLO, info@newbridgepolo.com Gorgeous Home

Ready for Move In

SOLD

857 Lauren Circle: $525,000 Gorgeous home on a spacious 1+ acre lot. Built in 2020. Three bedrooms, 2.5 baths with oversized two car garage. High ceilings, on demand hot water, and a whole house generator.

This One Won’t Last Long! Last of It’s Kind in Phase 1 Paloma Lane: $260,000 11.28 acres perimeter fenced parcel is the last of it’s kind located in Phase 1. Hardwood shade trees dot the property with well established grass perfect for paddocks. Close proximity to all club amenities, including the practice field.

Amazing Views!

Exceptional Parcel on Polo Fields 4 & 5

SOLD

UNDER CONTRACT

About New Bridge (visit newbridgepolo.com or call 1-888-4NB-POLO) New Bridge is an 860-acre gated equestrian community nestled among rolling pasture lands on New Bridge Road just 15 minutes from downtown Aiken, South Carolina. Born from the excitement, intensity and tradition of polo, New Bridge is the home of New Bridge Polo & Country Club and of Aiken Youth Polo. It embraces equestrians of all disciplines as well as those who simply love the outdoors.

Residents enjoy an array of equestrian amenities including five meticulously groomed Lauren Circle: $229,000 polo fields, stick and ball areas, an exercise track, There’s no doubt this is the prettiest polo arena, riding trails, all-weather GGT dressage lot in Phase 3. Five acres, perimeter and jumping arenas, miles of groomed roads made fenced with unobstructed views of for riding and The Stables, our full-care, premier Polo Fields 4 & 5. This parcel sits 24-stall boarding facility. high and dry and offers maximum usability. All grass and mature trees. A swimming pool with lounge area, a clay tennis court, and an Argentinian colonial-style Clubhouse with restaurant/bar (open spring and fall), balcony, porch, and outdoor spaces Ideal Location round out the perfect setting for everyone Ready for Your Dream Home from families to empty nesters, casual riders Lauren Circle Lot 3E: $64,000 to competitive athletes, and those simply Situated adjacent to lovely homes, seeking solace from a busy world. this 1+ acre lot is cleared, perimeter fenced, and ready for your dream Now booking home! weddings and special events at the New Bridge Clubhouse!

#newbridgepolo / #newbridgelife / newbridgepolo.com

Congratulations LBL!

Winners of the Copa de Plata 8 Goal, USPA National President’s Cup 8 Goal, and the USPA Association Cup 8 Goal

The Aiken Horse

Call Katie at (803) 341-8800 for availability and rates.

December-January 2021-2022

Exclusive Clothing, Gifts and Sporting Art

Casual Luxury In the Heart of Downtown 126 Laurens Street SW Aiken, SC 29801

803.642.9772 equinedivineonline.com

December-January 2021-2022

The Aiken Horse

Following Her Passion Amy Scott Equestrian Art By Nancy Johnson

“I’ve loved art since before I can remember,” Amy Scott says. “I was the kid who doodled on everything, and almost all of my doodles were horses.” Born in Ohio, Amy moved to Aiken in 2019. Growing up she rode every chance she got. “When I was too little to mount on my own, I would climb the ladder to the hay loft and leap on bareback. Fortunately, I had a forgiving mare that took very good care of me,” she reminisces. She was 11 when her love of art and horses really focused into what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Amy says she spent hours looking at how things were shaped, and practiced “making my hands create what my eyes could see.” She obsessed over the curves in a muzzle, or the angles of the hooves, and credits grooming and handling horses as one of her most valuable lessons in creating realistic art. “There is no better way to learn conformation, muscle structure and that connection between form and function,” she says. Like most aspiring young artists, Amy started with pencil and learned the effects of shading. Soon she got a book on the subject and ventured into pen and ink. “This was my first foray into another medium, which really set off my love of working in multiple media,” she says. Amy taught herself stippling, an unusual technique in which the entire piece of artwork is created in tiny dots with no lines at all. “Not many people do it because it is ridiculously time consuming,” she notes, adding, “But I adore it and it became one of the first things that people started noticing was different and incredibly detailed with my work.” Amy continued her exploration of other media with pastels. Working traditionally on paper didn’t feel quite right to her, but then she made a huge discovery – velour. “Suddenly it was just like magic! The fuzzy, velvety paper could capture every detail and I became obsessed with color and figuring out how to make art glow from within.” At the time Amy was honing her artistic skills, there was somewhat of a stigma attached to any art medium that wasn’t oil painting, so she learned oils. She admits to initial frustration in that oils take a long time to dry, and her prior work was much more instant. Yet, for Amy, oils also opened up the world of working large. However, “Even with oils, I still use the tiniest paint brushes I can find. I am addicted to details, no matter what the media.” The vast majority of Amy’s techniques and methods are self-taught, although she does hold a bachelor’s degree in fine art. She says the most important thing she got from school “was actually learning discipline when it comes to creating. To be a professional you can’t depend on inspiration alone. You have to be prepared to work all day, every day, and in my case also all night every night.” After college, Amy started her professional career as a fine artist: it was 2008, right in the middle of a recession. The timing taught her some very valuable lessons. “The artists that survived that time were the ones willing and able to adapt, and I’ve tried to always keep that in mind,” Amy says. In 2017, this led her to learn the process of carving wax as part of the process of casting and creating fine jewelry. “In equestrian jewelry, I kept seeing the same kinds of designs over and over,” she recalls. “I wanted to combine jewelry creation with my love of art and create pieces that would be wearable fine art. Literally wearing sculpture!” Amy quickly realized she had hit on something. “People love to express their interests and passions, especially with horses, in simple everyday ways, and it just started growing into something truly

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exciting.” Amy’s pieces don’t just depict a horse. They are dressage horses, field hunters, polo ponies, and on and on. Each piece is realistic and finely detailed. Amy enjoys working in a variety of media and takes all types of fine art commission work. “I find switching between [media] keeps me sharp, focused, and always pushing to improve,” she says. However, her jewelry is her current focus, even though she admits that if it weren’t for her perseverance through some early setbacks, her venture into jewelry design might have ended before it began. She was incredibly excited about her first few designs, only to have them all destroyed in the casting process. “At the time it felt like a devastating loss of months of work,” she says, “But I was too excited by the possibilities to let that stop me. So, I kept practicing and carving and creating and looking for a new caster and my next pieces turned out beautifully. It is such a feeling of wonder and awe to see these little wax sculptures transform into gorgeous shiny fine art jewelry that someone can wear.” Amy puts countless hours into the creation of each piece. She begins by sketching out her design. Next, using sharp hand tools and files, she carves and sculpts the design into a block of hard jeweler’s wax, creating a three-dimensional work of art. The carving process can take weeks or even months to get every detail the way that she wants. When the wax carving is complete, it is cast into one solid piece of sterling silver. The cast piece is cleaned up and polished. “I then agonize over every detail again to make sure that it is an heirloom quality piece that will last for generations. Certain pieces I will then selectively oxidize to further accentuate their details. Finally, I seal the piece using a protective wax coating to help prevent tarnish and to protect the silver from fingerprints, etc.” When Amy relocated to Aiken, it was just a few months before the pandemic hit. “Moving to Aiken had been on my radar for a long time. Anyone who loves horses, dreams of living in a place like this! So, when an opportunity opened up, I jumped at it.” Amy currently sells her jewelry exclusively online through her website, amycscott.com. In addition, a gallery of her fine art can be viewed at amycharissascott.com. Contact her to discuss any fine art commission, including jewelry. “Commissions in jewelry are something I’m really wanting people to think about, as few people are aware that they could have a portrait of their own horse in the form of sculpted jewelry. Even our beloved companions that are no longer with us can be depicted in jewelry form and offer just a little comfort as we still carry them with us.”

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l u xu r i ou s acco m m o dat i o n s • awa r d -w i n n i n g r e s tau r a n t l o b by ba r • i n t i m at e s pa 100 COLLETON AVENUE SW | AIKEN, SC | 803.648.1898 | THEWILLCOX.COM

December-January 2021-2022

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News and Notes By Pam Gleason

Aiken Bred Champions

Aiken is definitely on the map these days when it comes to the Quarter Horse halter world. This is 100% due to the presence of Pait Show Horses, owned and operated by the multi-world champion halter

Scorz with Trent Searles, Jeffrey Pait, Jim & Deanna Searles, Chris Thompson

trainer Jeffrey Pait. Not only are Jeffrey and his clients winning titles around the country, the Pait facility on Aiken’s Southside is also home to a breeding operation that has produced multiple world class horses in recent years. The coming-5-year-old gelding Scorz is one good example. Scorz (by My Intention out of Pick Me A Cowboy) was born at the Pait’s farm on January 7, 2017 and was profiled as one of the first horses in The Aiken Horse’s “Foals of Aiken” feature. ( June-July 2017) Scorz, who was bred by Jeffrey’s client Gerri Leigh Pratt, started showing as a weanling, placing well in multiple shows, but just missing the top titles until this year. In October, he went to the American Quarter Horse Congress in Columbus, Ohio where he and his owner, Trent Searles from Scottsdale, Arizona won Congress Champion Youth Aged Geldings and Grand Champion Youth Geldings. Trent, 18, graduates from the Youth division this year. Another Aiken bred and trained horse, Ascendance, is also bringing home the trophies. Ascendance, also bred by Gerri Leigh Pratt, has the same dam as Scorz and was also born at the Pait’s farm. The 2-year-old stallion, owned by Gus and Kathleen Holliday, won Amateur Grand Champion Stallions at the Quarter Horse Congress in October. Then, in November, Ascendance went to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for the American Quarter Horse Association World Show. There, Jeffrey Pait showed him to the Open 2-Year-Old World Championship. Pait Show Horses breeds just a few foals a year, and has a small group of owners and show horses that live in Aiken and travel regularly to all the big shows on the Quarter Horse circuit. It may be a small program, but it is certainly a successful one, proving that Aiken is an ideal place for horses of all breeds and disciplines.

Changes at the USEF

At the end of November, as the current contracts ran out for the directors of the various disciplines at the United States Equestrian Federation, the association announced some sweeping (and in some

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cases surprising) changes. The performance directors of two disciplines will not have their contracts renewed. Debbie McDonald, who shepherded the United States Dressage Team to team silver at the Tokyo Olympics, is out. So is Erik Duvander, who has been the performance director of the U.S. Eventing team since 2017. Jenni Autry, who has been eventing’s managing director since 2019, is also moving on. The Dressage team’s silver medal in Tokyo represents team USA’s best Olympic finish in that sport since 1948. Given that success, it might be surprising to hear that McDonald is not being rehired. In fact, according to various sources, the USEF was in contract negotiations with McDonald as recently as the middle of November. Although the reason for McDonald’s departure were not detailed explicitly by the USEF, it is likely because of abuse allegations that have been leveled at her husband, Bob McDonald. Bob was issued a lifetime ban from the USEF in 2020 after two women filed SafeSport reports against him for abuse allegedly perpetrated against them in the 1970s when they were teenagers. Bob appealed the ban and won: SafeSport issued an administrative closure of the case because the two women were, at the time, unwilling to appear at arbitration hearings. However, this November, the women filed a civil lawsuit against Bob McDonald, as well as against Debbie, who, they claimed, failed to warn them about her husband or protect them from him. It is entirely possible that the SafeSport case will also be reopened, and that it will be expanded to include Debbie, so it is understandable that USEF will look elsewhere for a director of dressage. Erik Duvander’s departure, however, appears to be a complete surprise. Duvander took over the eventing team in 2017 after the resignation of David O’Connor, who had been the chef d’equipe since 2011. David O’Connor’s resignation followed disappointing results at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and came at a time when there was a general feeling that the High Performance Eventing program was in disarray. Erik Duvander has been very actively managing the program for the past five years, and, although the team did not medal at the most recent World Equestrian Games or at the Tokyo Olympics, their performances were an improvement over previous outings. What’s more, most people who follow eventing, and the athletes themselves, appear to believe that the program is going the right direction and that the team is on an upward trajectory. There have, in fact, been signs that U.S. Eventing is becoming more competitive on the world stage. For instance, this fall, Will Coleman won the 4-star in Aachen, Germany, the first American to triumph in that contest. And in October, Boyd Martin won the inaugural Maryland Five Star, becoming the first American to win an event at that level since Phillip Dutton won Rolex Kentucky in 2008. After the surprise announcement, many High Performance riders, including the Olympic team members Phillip Dutton and Boyd Martin, posted statements of support for their former coach on social media. “I was saddened to hear that Erik Duvander’s contract will not be renewed,” wrote Boyd Martin on Facebook. “I have greatly appreciated what Erik has done for me over the last five years since coming on board as the American coach. I believe he has changed my career through his coaching and mentoring and I owe a lot of my successes to him.” Phillip Dutton wrote that he was “sad” and “disappointed” by the news. “U.S. eventing looks to have a bright future with some really promising performances this year from a variety of different riders, and Erik certainly played a leading role in this,” he continued. “I’ve been fortunate to work with some incredible horsemen and horsewomen in my career, and I would put Erik at the top of this list.” USEF did not provide any explanations for its actions, but said that “The program structure and plans for the future will be forthcoming.”

December-January 2021-2022

Top of the Charts: Hope Arellano

Hope Arellano has been pretty much omnipresent on Aiken’s polo fields in recent years. In fact, it is generally harder to find a tournament that she is not playing in than one that she is. And you can almost always find her at the trophy table, too: there is no doubt that she is Aiken’s

most successful female professional player. Just 18 this year, she has won women’s tournaments as well as mixed tournaments, and, at 13, was the youngest player ever to be on the winning team of the historic USPA Copper Cup 12-goal. Hope is already one of the few American women to hold a 2-goal handicap in mixed polo. Next year, her rating in women’s polo will be raised to 8, making her America’s highest rated female player. There are higher rated players in the United States Polo Association Blue Book – Nina Clarkin, for instance, is rated 10 goals. But Nina, who has played in the Aiken Ladies Invitational in the past, is from England. Hope had another highly successful season in Aiken this fall, with her most impressive performance in the finals of the New Bridge Women’s Challenge in October. In a winning MVP tour de force, she scored 10 of her team’s 11 goals, each one executed with such smooth confidence she may as well have been the only person on the field. Hope generally splits her time between Aiken and Florida, but this fall sees her in Argentina. She is the only American competing in the Argentine Women’s Open, where, at press time, her La Irenita team had already won their first two games against lower rated teams in an impressive fashion. In their first match of the tournament, they won 172, with Hope scoring six goals.

USA Wins Townsend Cup at New Bridge

On October 10, Team USA won the Townsend Cup Polo Challenge at the New Bridge Polo Arena. Established in 1923, the Townsend Cup is an international arena match played between England the United States every other year. The complementary tournament, the Bryan Morrison Cup, was established in 2008 and is played in England on alternate years. Team USA consisted of Pelon Escapite (8 goals), Geronimo Obregon

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(7 goals) and Winston Painter (2 goals.) Pelon, who is based in Aiken, was also a member of the winning 2019 Townsend Cup team and has been honing his arena polo skills over the past few years by playing for the professional arena league Gladiator Polo, which has matches in Florida and Tryon, N.C. Geronimo Obregon, who was raised in Colorado and is a former member of Team USPA, is a young professional who has also played with Gladiator Polo. Winston Painter, 17, is an active Team USPA member. Winston, who has come to Aiken to play in various youth tournaments and has often stayed on for more playing opportunities, won the National Youth Tournament Series Championship and the Open Interscholastics this year, and he was named Interscholastic Male Player of the Year. Team Great Britain consisted of Aiken’s own Julian Daniels (6 goals), who was born and raised in England, and the brothers Eden (6 goals) and Robin Ormerod (5 goals) from Salisbury, Wiltshire. The Ormerod brothers have been playing mostly outdoors lately, but they got their start playing arena polo at the Druid Lodge Polo Club. The game, which began just after sunset at 7 p.m., was most notable for the extreme speed of the play. Instead of throw-ins, the team that scored took immediate possession of the ball and drove it toward the opposite goal. This made for nonstop action that delighted the crowd of spectators gathered to watch under the lights. Pelon put Team USA on the board first with a thrilling 2-pointer, but the U.S. lead was short-lived as both Ormerod brothers scored for England immediately afterward, one of them with a 2-pointer. However, Geronimo Obregon managed three goals for the USA before the first chukker ended, to put his team up, 5-3. Although England continued to battle back, the U.S. team retained their lead, ending the second chukker up 10-8 and the third chukker 15-14. Geronimo Obregon gave the U.S. a little breathing room with two back-to-back goals at the start of the fourth and final chukker, while Winston Painter added one to the U.S. tally. Eden Ormerod managed to score once for England, but

the clock ran out with the U.S. ahead 18-15. Pelon Escapite, who scored eight goals, was named the MVP. Samurai, a grey gelding played by Eden Ormerod in the first and third chukkers, was deemed the Best Playing Pony. Samurai is owned by Liv Stringer, a local polo professional. The Townsend Cup has been contested nine times, and the home team has won eight of them. Next year’s England versus America arena challenge, the Bryan Morrison Trophy will take place in England. (Morrison was a professional in the music industry best known as the publisher of the Bee Gees and George Michael. He was also a polo player.) The home team advantage is generally quite a big one: on the other side of the pond, team USA has only beaten England once.

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WINTER 2022 EVENTS AT STABLE VIEW

JANUARY 5 || Schooling Hunter/Jumper 12 || Schooling Dressage 15 || Winter Combined Test 22-23 || USEF/USEA "Aiken Opener" Horse Trials

FEBRUARY 2 || Schooling Hunter/Jumper 12-13 || USEF/USDF "I LOVE Dressage" 19-20 || Eventing Academy Schooling Horse Trials

MARCH 5-6 || USEF/USDF "Southern Comfort" Dressage 12 || Eventing Academy Horse Trials 18-20 || USEF/USHJA $50,000 A-Rated H/J Winter Classic * APRIL 1-3 || Spring FEI CCI-S 2/3/4* & $60,000 USEF/USEA Horse Trials 9-10 || USEF/USDF "Spring Fever" Dressage 14-17 || USEF/USHJA $50,000 A-Rated H/J Spring Classic * 23 || Spring Hunter Pace 30-May 1 || Eventing Academy Schooling Horse Trials * Dates pending USEF approval

FEATURING 15 Miles of Trails • 4 Rider’s Lounges • 261 stalls • 61 paddocks 22 Professionally Decorated Accommodations 4 Outdoor Arenas and 1 Covered Arena featuring Attwood Equestrian Surfaces

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Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program Championship Show at Stable View

December-January 2021-2022

The Aiken Horse Photography by Gary Knoll & Pam Gleason

Happy Holidays!

IT PAYS TO SHOP AT AIKEN SADDLERY! STOP IN AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR GREAT DEALS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON! 1044 East Pine Log Road, Aiken, SC 29803 | www.aikensaddlery.com | 803 649 6583 30

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December-January 2021-2022

Thank You!

To our wonderful Customers and Friends! Jeff Badgley Columbia, SC Mac & Lib Barnes Santee, SC Millie Corder Gainesville, GA Steve & Carol Day Savannah, GA Wayne & Carol Elder Fallbrook, CA Dale & Patty Frick Wellington, FL Ina Ginsberg Aiken, SC Charlie & Leasa Haselden Pinehurst, NC Gus & Kayleen Holliday Mexico, NY Dr. Gary Magdesian Loomis, CA Dr. Ben Mitchell Aiken, SC Kyle Parker Orrum, NC Gerri Leigh Pratt Winston-Salem, NC Trent Searles Scottsdale, AZ

Looking forward to 2022

December-January 2021-2022

Design by ©GretchenHashHefner

Jeffrey Pait 973.862.7654

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AIKEN HORSE Bridle Creek 101921.qxp_Layout 1 10/19/21 1:19 PM Page 2

developed with lots of imagination and plenty of Horse sense.

BRIDLE CREEK EQUESTR I AN COMMUN I T Y

From the developer of Three Runs Plantation comes another wonderful equestrian neighborhood in Aiken, South Carolina. Bridle Creek meanders across 600 wooded acres, featuring ve-acre lots and larger. Amenities include a dressage arena, jump arena, X-Country Schooling area and an activity center with meeting, social and tness space. All this plus miles of scenic trails. Phase One is already sold out, with more to come. Inquire today by calling 1-888-297-8881 or email info@bridlecreekaiken.com 600 Acres • Miles of groomed and marked trails • Jump arena • Dressage arena • X-Country schooling area Activity/Fitness Center • Homesites from 5+ acres • From the developer of Three Runs Plantation HOMESITES INDIVIDUALLY PRICED • DEVELOPER FINANCING AVAILABLE • BRIDLECREEKAIKEN.COM Marketed by The Carolina Real Estate Company, Aiken, SC. Plans and prices subject to change without notice. This does not constitute an offer in any state where prohibited by law. No time requirement to begin construction.

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Daybreak Farm Ask the Judge Secret Lives: Firefly Windsor trace Dr. Caston Ashley Haffey

2022 STABLE VIEW CALENDAR

* Dates pending USEF approval

JANUARY

JULY

5 || Schooling Hunter/Jumper 12 || Schooling Dressage 15 || Winter Combined Test 22-23 || USEF/USEA "Aiken Opener" Horse Trials

9-10 || Eventing Academy Schooling Horse Trials 16-17 || USEF/USDF "Only In America" Dressage

FEBRUARY 2 || Schooling Hunter/Jumper 12-13 || USEF/USDF "I LOVE Dressage" 19-20 || Eventing Academy Schooling Horse Trials

MARCH 5-6 || USEF/USDF "Southern Comfort" Dressage 12 || Eventing Academy Horse Trials 18-20 || USEF/USHJA $50,000 A-Rated H/J Winter Classic *

APRIL

AUGUST 4-7 || USEF/USHJA $50,000 A-Rated H/J Fall Classic I * 13-14 || Eventing Academy Schooling Horse Trials 17-18 || USEF/USDF "Too Hot To Trot I" Dressage 19-21 || USEF/USDF "Too Hot To Trot II" Dressage

SEPTEMBER 14 || Schooling Dressage 15 || USEF/USDF "Fall Frenzy" Dressage 22-25 || "Oktoberfest" FEI CCI-S 2/3/4* & USEF/USEA Horse Trials 29-Oct 2 || USEF/USHJA $50,000 A-Rated H/J Fall Classic II Finale * (plus $100,000 Challenge Series)

1-3 || Spring FEI CCI-S 2/3/4* & $60,000 USEF/USEA Horse Trials 9-10 || USEF/USDF "Spring Fever" Dressage 14-17 || USEF/USHJA $50,000 A-Rated H/J Spring Classic * 23 || Spring Hunter Pace 30-May 1 || Eventing Academy Schooling Horse Trials

OCTOBER

MAY

NOVEMBER

4 || Schooling Hunter/Jumper 11 || Schooling Dressage 14-15 || USEF/USEA Summer Horse Trials 21-22 || Eventing Academy Schooling Horse Trials

JUNE 2-5 || USEF/USHJA $50,000 A-Rated H/J Summer Classic I * 18-19 || USEF/USDF "Summer Solstice" Dressage 24-26 || USEF/USEA Mid-Summer Horse Trials & Area III Championships 30-July 3 || USEF/USHJA $50,000 A-Rated H/J Summer Classic II *

5 || Schooling Hunter/Jumper 7-9 || T.I.P Championships 12 || Schooling Dressage 15-16 || Eventing Academy Schooling Horse Trials 2 || Schooling Hunter/Jumper 5 || Fall Hunter Pace 9 || Schooling Dressage 19-20 || Eventing Academy Schooling Horse Trials

DECEMBER 7 || Schooling Hunter/Jumper 10-11 || USEF/USDF "Winter Wonderland" Dressage 17-18 || Eventing Academy Schooling Horse Trials

117 Stable Dr, Aiken SC 34

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December-January 2021-2022

(803) 761-0678 December-January 2021-2022

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December-January 2021-2022

DARRELL AND MELISSA VAUGHN AIKEN, SC AND WELLINGTON, FL

VAUGHN.EQ@GM AIL .COM W W W.VAUGHNEQUES TRIAN.COM 603.785.04 35 @VaughnEquestrian

December-January 2021-2022

@vaughn.eq

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Triumph Over Tragedy Daybreak Farm Rebuilds

By Nancy Johnson, Photography by Gary Knoll

t’s every horseperson’s worst nightmare – a barn fire. Now, almost five months after the barn at her Daybreak Farm on Sizemore Road in Aiken burned to the ground, Stephanie von Bidder is thankful for the incredible support system that arose from such a horrible experience. “I don’t want to remember the date,” Stephanie begins, “It was near the end of June, around 6:30 in the evening. I had gotten home from a horse show earlier in the day and was at a friend’s house a few miles down the road.” They were getting ready to have dinner when Stephanie’s immediate neighbor, Bubba Forrester, called. “My neighbor, Darren Haeusler, is a farrier and was working on a horse in Bubba’s barn when they heard an explosion,” she says. Darren, Bubba and Ria Burton (who was with Darren) ran to Stephanie’s barn, which is adjacent to Bubba’s, to find it already engulfed in flames. They immediately checked to be sure all 14 horses had already been turned out for the night. They had. “I was there in less than five minutes,” said Stephanie, “Only to see this barn that has been my home for 15 years being destroyed. It seemed like an eternity waiting for the fire company.” Stephanie started Daybreak Farm with just a four-stall barn on ten acres. “I added on to the original barn in stages, eventually creating a center aisle barn with 12 stalls,” Stephanie explains. Separately, there is an additional two-stall barn, which survived the fire, as did a small hay barn. “It was like a little village,” she says wistfully. There, Stephanie ran her hunter/jumper teaching and training stable, earning a small but devoted following in the Aiken horse world. People tend to think of barn fires as being electrical; but Stephanie says that the one at Daybreak Farm most definitely was not. “I am absolutely fanatical about fire safety in the barn,” she says. “I had all outdoor rated fans with sealed motors, ground fault switches, etc. When the horses went out, everything in the barn – like fans, washer, dryer – was turned off.” It didn’t take the fire marshal long to determine the cause. The farm’s RTV was parked, as it often was, beside the barn. Most likely, some hay or dust sat on the motor of that rough terrain vehicle and began to smolder. When the burning material hit the gas tank, it exploded. “The weather was exceptionally dry,” Stephanie recalls. “And as the barn was stained cedar wood, it acted as an accelerant and the fire jumped from one section to another within minutes. “Losing a barn is obviously traumatic,” Stephanie says, “But I soon realized how very blessed I am. Not a single animal – horse, dog, or cat— was lost, nor were any humans hurt. And the immediate help I received from people like Daniel [Geitner], Ria, and Hunt Tosh, who moved horses around, was just incredible.” Laurie Mills and Suzy Mattingly took on the task of notifying all of Stephanie’s customers, who then came to help with their horses well. In less than 24 hours, three of her neighbors had offered Stephanie stalls for her horses. She decided the best option was Kirk Henckels and Fernanda Kellogg’s Fox Frolic Farm. The farm is nearby and Fernanda and Kirk are seasonal residents and would not be needing the barn until December. Word of the tragedy spread quickly throughout the Aiken horse community. “Pace Kneece of Aiken County Farm Supply sent over a truck filled with buckets, bedding, hay; everything we needed to set up stalls,” Stephanie says. The Classic Company horse show outfit donated 100 bales of hay from the horse show that had just finished. By 9:00 a.m. the next morning, all the horses were settled in Fernanda Kellog’s barn at Fox Frolic Farm. “It was just amazing to me how many local professionals, along with

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my customers and family, helped me with donations of barn supplies and financial assistance,” Stephanie recounts. One of her customers, Marnie Munger, enlisted her husband, Peter Matheson, to build tack trunks to replace all those lost. Another customer, Janet Beling, donated fire-safe fans for each horse while her veterinarian husband, Hugh Behling, replaced all the destroyed medical supplies. “I felt bad that I had to turn some people down because I just don’t have a place to store everything they offered,” said Stephanie. Stephanie credits her longtime farm manager, Bobby Beckwith, and horse managers Tyler Graham and Sydney Eller with keeping everything on track and as close to normal as possible at the farm. “I have an amazing team,” she says. With their support and encouragement, as well as that of her customers, Daybreak Farm was back at a horse show within weeks. Knowing that she wasn’t one to ask for help, Tyler and Linda Donovan set up a GoFund Me page for Stephanie. While Stephanie’s commercial insurance policy was up to date, she found that dealing with insurance is very complicated. “I was fortunate to have several friends in the insurance business. Shawna Dietrich helped me to read and understand my policy,” she says. The barn was declared a 100% loss, but the process still took months. “With the help of Beth Voorhees, a longtime customer and friend, I spent weeks compiling a list of everything I lost. The final document was a 20-page spreadsheet – right down to every outlet in the barn,” she says. Stephanie was disheartened to learn that despite having a good insurance policy in place, many things are not covered. In her case, one such item was the site preparation to rebuild. Clint Bertalan, who had recently restored the riding arena at Daybreak Farm, generously volunteered his time and expertise to build the pad for the new barn. Hiring a builder for the new barn was another challenge. “All the builders are so busy and behind schedule. And there is the increased cost of materials,” Stephanie says. She selected the local builder BJ Kemp to construct the new barn and expects to start as soon as they receive permits, hopefully in a few weeks. “It’s the same number of stalls and about the same size, but just a little bit better layout. “It seemed like we had lots of time to build before winter, but now it looks like I probably won’t have a barn until June,” Stephanie says. Since Fernanda Kellog’s farm is fully occupied in the winter, plans have been made to rent a temporary barn that will be delivered to Daybreak Farm soon. “I want to keep everyone in the community up to date as to what is going on here because so many still want to help. Plus, it has been five months and people often ask me about the new barn, not realizing that it isn’t even started yet!” Once building commences, Stephanie says the entire process will be documented on social media. She is also planning a clinic in the spring and an open house once the barn is completed. Meanwhile, Daybreak Farm’s schooling facilities, including a large GGT arena with inviting jumps and a turf jumping field featuring derby type fences, are available for use at a nominal charge. (See video of the facilities at https://youtu.be/T0uX8flhFVk) “My barn was not just a barn; I put my heart and soul into it,” says Stephanie. “But when it was gone, I just wanted the remains out of here; seeing and smelling it was awful. Now that the pad is prepped, I can see the blank canvas – which is huge to me. I don’t want to think of it as a tragedy anymore; I want it to be a new adventure.” To help with Stephanie von Bidder’s rebuilding at Daybreak Farm, see the Go Fund Me page, https://gofund.me/454b2bac. Any donation is much appreciated.

December-January 2021-2022

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Ask the Judge

Questions about Dressage With Amy McElroy

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.

Dear Amy

I will be wintering in Aiken this year with my two horses and I am planning to be competing at a few recognized events and dressage shows. Would you please provide an update on any new dressage rules and changes for the 2022 competition year?

Getting Ready Dear Ready,

How lucky that you will get to spend the winter in our wonderful horsey town. This competition year does have many changes in both the event and dressage divisions. I would be happy to share the most important changes that go into effect as of December 1, 2021. First, let’s take a look at eventing dressage divisions changes. If you haven’t already heard, this is the year the eventing tests change. As of December 1, 2021, competitions will only be using the new, 2022 tests. These tests stay in effect for the next four years (through 2025.) All the new tests can be found online on the USEA website as well on various other sites. The biggest change on all the event dressage tests is a reduction in the collective marks. There will no longer be the standard four collective marks: Gaits, Impulsion, Submission, and Rider. Instead the new format calls for a single collective mark. This collective mark is valid for all the new tests from Starter (a new category) through Advanced level. The new singular collective mark is referred to as Harmony of Athlete and Horse. That means your final mark is based on the directive of “a confident partnership created by adhering to the scales of training.” This collective will have a coefficient of two, meaning that it counts double. Since it is a reflection of your whole ride, your number should be similar to numbers you have earned in your test. For example, if most of your movements earn you a 5 or a 6, you would not likely see an 8 for your collective; it would more likely be in the 6 range. This singular collective mark was actually introduced in 2020, but at that time was only adopted in the FEI tests. The Starter division, new for 2022, has just one test. Beginner Novice, Novice, and Training will once again have two different tests, Test A and Test B. The Modified division has become so popular over the last four years that they have added a third test to that division: now there are Modified A, B, and C tests. The Preliminary and Intermediate divisions have also added a third, C test. Another change: Preliminary B will use a small arena (20 x 40) rather than a large arena (20 x 60) as in previous tests, with the Preliminary C test designed for a full-sized arena. The movements in the new tests are similar to those in the old ones, but they will occur in different places and the geometry of the tests is different. If you are planning to compete, it is always advisable to review the current rules in the USEF rulebook under the Eventing Division. I hope you will get to try out some of these new tests. I am looking forward to seeing how they ride. On to the Dressage division. Dressage tests themselves will not be changing until December 1, 2022. (Both eventing and straight dressage

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divisions have new tests every four years, but they are on a slightly different schedule.) The greatest changes you will see in the rulebook are under “DR120” the dress code rules. The new, less restrictive, dress code rules apply to all levels and classes at all USEF/USDF shows, including the Regional Championships. According to the USEF 2022 rulebook, protective headgear is always mandatory, but you may have your helmet color match your coat. Contrast coloring, accents, and crystal decoration are also allowed on your helmet. As in the past, a short riding jacket or a cutaway coat (a modified tailcoat) with short tails is allowed at any level. But the rules on color have been changed. Whereas in the past, jackets or coats were required to be “of conservative color,” now any single color jacket (Fourth Level and below), or tailcoat (above Fourth level) is allowed, and may have subtle pin striping, checks, or tweeds. Tasteful and discrete accents and decorations are acceptable, but striped and multi-colored jackets or coats are still not permitted. Shirts and stock ties can be any color, but if worn without a jacket, your shirt should not have a bold pattern, and you may not wear a stock tie if you are not wearing a coat. In the past, breeches were required to be white or light, but now they may also be dark and may even have contrast piping. However, bright colors or patterns are still illegal. When it comes to riding boots, in any tests below Fourth level you may wear tall boots or paddock/jodhpur boots with half chaps of a matching color (these used to be allowed only up to First Level.) Tall English-style boots are required above Fourth level. Field boots are also permitted. Boots of coordinating color with or without accents are also permitted. Although the new rules give you more choices, they are not actually relaxed. In fact, in some way they are stricter because now you will be eliminated for dress code violations. This used to be at the discretion of the judge, but as of 2022, it is mandatory. So, if you have any question about whether your attire is permitted, be sure to check with the technical delegate of the show before your ride. It is always up to the rider to know and understand the current rules. But the new regulations are still exciting. So many colors to choose from, and so many opportunities to show off your individual taste and style! Expect to see fewer white shirts, white ties, and white pants with black boots, black coats, and black helmets. It’s 2022: Time to express yourself ! It’s going to be an exciting competition year with all the new event tests and the new, fun dressage attire. Enjoy your winter and I hope to see you come down my centerline.

December-January 2021-2022

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Secret Lives of Horses Firefly: Enjoying Life at Last

By Nancy Johnson, Photography by Gary Knoll

“K

nowing even just part of what this horse went through, I was determined to give her the ‘happily ever after’ that she deserved,” says Eileen Wilkinson, the owner of Firefly, also known as Can’t Stop the Fire. At 24, the bright chestnut Thoroughbred mare is now living a life of leisure in Aiken County, but that wasn’t the case for most of her life. Bred to race, Firefly was sold as a yearling at the 1998 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Sale for $60,000. In 1999, she began her racing career as a 2-year-old. After numerous starts in Virginia, Florida, New Jersey, Kentucky, and Ohio, she finally broke her maiden in 2000 running at Fairmount Park in Illinois. Although she finished in the money in two of her three races in 2001, that was the end of her racing career. In her 12 lifetime starts, Can’t Stop the Fire earned an unremarkable $8,712. The next phase of her life lasted much longer than her racing career. A daughter of Cozzene, a popular Eclipse Champion stallion, she became a broodmare. Can’t Stop the Fire’s first foal, Colossal Fire, was born in 2003. Firefly went on to have a total of nine foals during the next 10 years. Several of her babies had successful racing careers; most notably Save the Park, a 2011 daughter of Divine Park, who finished her career with lifetime earnings of $139,378. “Her story is a bit ugly from there,” Eileen says, adding, “Not that popping out an average of one baby per year over 10 years was pretty.” The mare, 16 at the time, ended up at an auction where she was purchased by a woman from upstate New York, who bought her to be used in a lesson program. After about four years of that, Eileen entered the picture. Eileen was visiting her sister, who lives in Vermont. Her sister said that she knew of a quiet, older horse who needed a good home. Thinking this horse might suit her husband, Eileen agreed to go take a look. “As soon as the owner put her on a lunge line, I could tell she was just a little spitfire of a mare,” Eileen remembers. “I was looking for a real quiet husband horse, so I told the woman I was sorry, but she just wasn’t a good fit.” But Eileen thought she might be able to find someone to take the mare, so she asked the owner to call her the following week with some more information. A week went by, and Eileen hadn’t heard from the owner. “So, I called to ask if she had found a home for the mare.” She was told that no home had been found, but since the owner had new horses coming in, she wouldn’t have room for the horse and would either send her to auction or have her euthanized. “I hung up the phone and burst into tears,” Eileen says. Minutes later,

she arranged to have Can’t Stop the Fire picked up and shipped from Vermont to her farm in Redding, Connecticut. When the mare arrived at Over the Moon Farm on December 16, 2017, the first thing Eileen did was to modify her name. “They called her Fire, and I really think it’s a bad idea to call out that word anywhere around a barn, hence I renamed her Firefly,” she explains. Shortly after Firefly had settled in with her new barn mates Jack and Mocha, Eileen had plans to rendezvous with some friends in a state park near her property. “A friend was going to ride one of my horses, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to just hand walk Firefly along,” she says. They were trudging through about 16 inches of snow when they came upon some people who were out riding. “We chatted a bit and then off they went, which somewhat upset Firefly,” Eileen explains. “Then, just as the two friends we intended to meet were approaching, a woman came by with three dogs on retractable leashes.” Between the horses, the dogs, and the noise from the leashes, it was just too much excitement, and Firefly reared. Instead of letting go, Eileen tried to hold on. The mare came down on Eileen, giving her a concussion and a fractured back. “I can’t blame her for the incident as it was a perfect storm situation, and I should have let go,” says Eileen. Because of her injuries, Eileen never got a chance to ride Firefly before she moved her whole operation from Connecticut to Aiken in December 2018. Firefly, along with Jack and Mocha, was first stabled at Dancing Horses Equestrian Center in Williston. There, the trainer Jocelyn Deschene worked with Firefly for a couple of months before she and Eileen agreed it would be best to fully retire her. “She was just done,” Eileen says. A hind end issue, likely due to having so many foals, made her uncomfortable in work. “I just felt it wasn’t fair to push her and I firmly believe she deserves a nice retirement.” Then, all three of Eileen’s horses moved to the downtown horse district so she could ride often in Hitchcock Woods. “Firefly seemed a bit listless there as she didn’t have a large paddock and her exercise was limited,” Eileen says. After searching to find a perfect situation, Eileen settled on a private farm where Firefly now shares a 34-acre field and run-in shed with her new best friend, Just Joe. One would never guess that this very handsome chestnut gelding is pushing 35. “From the moment they met, Firefly and Joe were best buddies!” Eileen notes. “I am so happy that she has lots of room to move about and can just enjoy being a horse.”

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The Eventing Veterinarian

PEVS Welcomes Dr. Stephanie Caston By Pam Gleason

n early 2022, Performance Equine Vets on Charleston Highway in Aiken will be welcoming a Board Certified Veterinary Surgeon to its full-time staff. Dr. Stephanie Caston comes to the area from Ames, Iowa where she works an associate professor of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at Iowa State University. In addition to teaching courses on equine surgery, she has also been deeply involved in research and has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals on a variety of topics. Her involvement with horses is definitely not limited to the classroom, clinic or the laboratory, however. She is also an event rider with her own breeding and training program and she has competed up to the one-star level. Have you seen her out on the event course? You might remember it, because she typically rides horses with appaloosa coloring: highly unusual in the sport. Dr. Caston says that she has been coming to Aiken to event for about six winters, and had been thinking about moving here. This year, the right opportunity arose with Performance Equine Vets, and so she started shopping for a farm, found one that suited her in the 302 equestrian corridor, purchased it, and started moving in the fall. She plans to be in Aiken full time after Christmas and will start her job with PEVS in early January. Stephanie was raised in rural Texas near the Louisiana border where she grew up riding horses in an unstructured setting, going on trail rides and doing some barrel racing on whatever horses she could find. After finishing college in Louisiana, she went to Texas A&M University in College Station, TX for vet school and then moved on to Iowa to pursue board certification in equine surgery. In Iowa, she was exposed to eventing for the first time. “I became friends with people who evented,” she said. “And I thought ‘That looks like fun!’ I had never ridden English before or anything, but I gave it a try, loved it, and have been in it full force ever since.” Balancing a busy veterinary surgical and teaching practice with an eventing career sounds like it might be difficult, but Dr. Caston says that it is all about priorities and scheduling, and that there is actually quite a lot of synergy between her two passions. “Everybody needs their time away from work. So you just prioritize it,” she said. “It’s pretty easy to make it happen if you schedule it in. Being a competitor also gives me a certain perspective in veterinary work, especially in performance and lameness areas, which are a big part of any veterinary caseload. I have also met a lot of really wonderful friends and clients through showing, and through foxhunting, which I also do. It’s a good way to keep my finger on the pulse of the equine community; a good way to marry my interests with my profession.” Dr. Caston was introduced to Aiken through her good friend from Iowa, the professional event rider Meaghan Marinovich Burdick whose family owns a farm east of town as well as a home in the city on South Boundary Avenue. “There are no competitions in Iowa between November and May because it is just too cold and icy. So I started coming down for a week or two, and then it was two or three weeks, and then I sent a horse to stay with Meaghan and came back and forth. I fell in love with Aiken and got very quickly indoctrinated into the whole horse way of life here.” Now that she will be here full time, Dr. Caston is looking forward to being part of the community, both as a competitor and as a vet. She says that she does all kinds of equine medicine, but, like many people in surgical specialties, she does enjoy cases where she can make an immediate difference. “I like doing arthroscopic surgery for OCD [osteochondritis dessicans], airway surgery and soft tissue surgery,” she said. “There is

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some degree of instant gratification that you get when you do an OCD surgery and afterwards the ‘rads’ [radiographs] are nice and clean. It’s very satisfying to be able to go in and ‘fix’ things. But I also like complex things that take a bit of art to get right: colics and airways are always different. I’m just always pretty happy to be working on a horse.” Dr. Caston says that she expects to be able to help bring some more new techniques and technologies to PEVS and she hopes that the consistent presence of a board certified surgeon in the area will be beneficial to the entire equestrian community. As far as eventing goes, Stephanie sold most of her young horses because she did not want to have to move an entire stable across the country. She is bringing two horses: The Flying Iris, who is a Percheron Appaloosa cross, and Wapsz Garbanzo Beanz, a coming-5year old Trakehner-Appaloosa cross. Iris, a bay with a white blanket, last competed in September, placing second in the FEI one star at

Chattahoochee Hills in Georgia. She is, as Stephanie says, a “working mom,” who is currently in foal to a leopard Appaloosa Knabstrupper stallion named Pyx who stands in Canada. Why is Stephanie so attracted to spotted horses? “Some of it is probably sentimental because the first horse I ever barrel raced with was an old appy,” she said. “There are so many jokes people tell about how tough Appaloosas can be, and believe me I’ve heard them all. But that’s part of what I like about them. They are tough, but that can be good for eventing. It’s like having a good mare. If you’re smart about it and you work with them, they can be very loyal partners and use that toughness for you.”

December-January 2021-2022

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December-January 2021-2022

A Passion for Dressage

Ashley Haffey of Lane Cove Dressage Story and Photography by Pam Gleason

shley Haffey says she has horses in her blood. This September, she moved her teaching and training business, Lane Cove Dressage, from Mooresville, N.C. to Aiken, bringing a small group of personal, sales and training horses along with her. Lane Cove is now based on a peaceful farm in the 302 corridor east of Aiken, with a 15-stall barn, a riding arena and ample turnout. Ashley plans to immerse herself in Aiken’s horse world, learn as much as she can from the different professionals in the area, and establish her business here, selling horses, training, and teaching. Teaching is her particular passion, whether her students are children or adults; young horses learning the basics, or more established horses developing expertise in dressage. Additionally, she is a studying to become a dressage judge and is taking every opportunity she can gain the experience to complete her certification. Ashley says she comes from a long line of Irish horsemen, including uncles and grandfathers who are horse traders dealing in western and draft horses. She grew up on dairy farms in upstate New York, and started riding as a small child, although she says that did not always go well. In fact her very first memory of riding is of falling off when she was about 4 and injuring her scalp. “I was small enough that they could put me in the kitchen sink, and I remember just yelling my head off while they poured water on my head. I fell off a few more times after that, and then my mom finally got me riding lessons,” she says. “I loved horses; I just wanted to ride.” Ashley joined the local Pony Club and participated in various equestrian activities, including riding with the Limestone Creek Hunt in Cazenovia, NY. When she was 12, she went to Lendon Gray’s Youth Dressage Festival in Saugerties, NY. The Youth Dressage Festival is the flagship event of Dressage4Kids, a nonprofit organization whose goal is to encourage the next generation of dressage riders by providing “educational and competitive opportunities for youth riders and the adults that support them.” More than just a horse show, the annual YDF includes three-part division championships that include a written test, an individual dressage test and an equitation ride. Ashley’s participation in the festival ignited a passion for dressage that became her calling. “Dressage is so addicting,” she says. “It’s addicting because it makes you think; it takes so much concentration. When you do it correctly, it just feels good, and to see the process – to have a horse that learns something new and improves – it’s very rewarding.” Ashley went to Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where she studied biology. After college, she took Master’s level classes in education and taught on a Navajo reservation before returning to work full time in the equestrian world. Realizing that she needed to be closer to top riders, trainers and competitive opportunities, she moved from upstate New York to North Carolina, where she established Lane Cove Dressage. (The business is named after the Lane Cove hiking trail in Isle Royale National Park in Michigan where she worked for a summer during college.) After about four years in North Carolina, she decided to relocate to Aiken, where the riding and educational opportunities are even greater.

December-January 2021-2022

“Aiken was always on my radar,” she says, and she has been happy with her move so far. Not only has she been riding and training, she has also been able to further her judging aspirations by scribing at local shows, and she has met many new people in the horse world. She currently has a few horses in training for other people as well as horses for sale, and a few horses that she can use for lessons, although mostly she coaches people on their own horses. Ashley says she loves starting young horses, and her goal is to continue her education in dressage so that she is not just riding the upper levels but is making horses to compete in the FEI. A lifelong student, she is currently working with the rider and trainer Carol Bishop, who comes down regularly to coach a few private students. Ashley also takes lessons with other trainers, and is always eager to gain new knowledge and different perspectives on the sport. Although she enjoys showing, her main ambitions are as a teacher, trainer and judge rather than as a competitor. “I have friends whose goal is to ride in the Olympics: they are that motivated,” she says. “I’m motivated, but not for that. I’m motivated to be a teacher and a trainer, to become a judge. We all have different roles and different skill sets.” As much as she is drawn to training horses, Ashley also loves teaching, and she has a reputation for being good with children, who she says are

easier to teach than adults. But she enjoys teaching adults just as much. “I’m a feeling learner: I’m very kinesthetic and once I have the feeling of a particular movement I can recreate it on any horse and just lock it into my memory,” she says. “Being able express those feelings into the right words to other people is a challenge, but that’s what I love about it.” She also enjoys helping people with horses that are giving them trouble for one reason or another. “I don’t like to call them problem horses,” she says. “A lot of times, there’s just a communication problem, and once you fix that, the problem goes away. What’s best is seeing students be happy with their rides, and I love to watch them grow with their horses. That’s really gratifying to me.” Ashley Haffey is currently accepting horses in training or on consignment and welcoming new students. She also organizes regular clinics with Carol Bishop. For more information, visit lanecovedressage.com or text 607-7431309.

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Inside

Tommy Biddle The Last Diving Horse Hocus pocus Jasmine Fall Polo Calendar Directory Classifieds Index of Advertisers

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Tommy Biddle to Hall of Fame Honor for Aiken Native

By Pam Gleason, Photography by Pam Gleason & Gary Knoll

his coming February, Tommy Biddle will be inducted into the Museum of Polo Hall of Fame in Lake Worth Florida. The Hall of Fame, established in 1988, was created to honor “the heroes of the sport, each year inducting icons of the past and eligible living heroes of polo into the ranks of the great.” Tommy, a third generation player, grew up in Aiken and learned to play at Aiken Polo Club, which his father Tom Biddle ran for many years. At the height of his career, he held an 8-goal rating on the grass, and became the fourth player ever to become a 10-goaler in the arena. Tommy joins a long list of Hall of Fame players with Aiken connections, including the recent living inductees Julio Arellano (2021), Adam Snow (2014), and Owen Rinehart (2009). Tommy says that he is honored and humbled to be selected for the Hall of Fame. “It’s awesome to be thought of along with the other people who are included,” he said. He is quick to credit his successful career to good luck, genetics, and to the help and assistance of myriad other people, especially his parents, Tom and Linda Biddle. “My dad gets the bulk of the credit, because he’s the one who really pushed me and made sure I had the horses and got to play. But my mom has been a saint having to deal with our family and all the stuff that we do . . . she put up with so much. Growing up, my parents never had a real vacation. Any time they ever went anywhere for a vacation, it was a polo trip.” Tommy was definitely raised to be a polo player, as was his younger brother Bradley. He says that his dad had him on a horse before he could walk, and as soon as he could get around under his own power he was always riding a stick horse with a foot mallet in his hand. By the time he was 5, he was managing a horse on his own, and when he was about 8 he started to stick and ball. Aiken at that time was not the tournament center that it is now, but it was the winter practice club for some illustrious players from an earlier era, such as Pete Bostwick (8 goals), Norty Knox (8 goals) and Lewis Smith (9 goals), all three also members of the Polo Hall of Fame. “It was really neat, because I would be stick-and-balling and Lewis Smith would be there coaching Norty Knox, and he would talk to me. When I started playing easy chukkers at about 12, I got to play with Norty Knox and with Mr. Bostwick. So I was really lucky because I got to see a whole spectrum of polo.” In the early 1980s, polo was making a comeback in Aiken after almost dying out in the 1970s, and a group of players headed by Tom Biddle worked assiduously to introduce new players to the sport, including

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other local horsemen, as well as their own sons. They created a junior team that consisted of Tommy, Tiger Kneece, Devane Batchelor and David Widener, which was christened the “Young Aiken” team. (This name was a nod to the famous “Old Aiken” team from the 1920s, that was made up of students and recent graduates of Aiken Prep.)

The Young Aiken team played on Sundays against teams composed of adults, and for about three years, Tommy says they never lost a match. “Dad would make the teams we played against harder and harder, but they still couldn’t beat us,” said Tommy. At the same time, he was

December-January 2021-2022

playing tournament and practice polo with and against adults, and when he was 15 and 1 goal, his father sent him to Gilbertsville, New York to play with Rick and Charlie Bostwick at their Village Farms club for the summer. There he met Rick Sears, a polo professional who would become his friend and mentor. He also had the chance to play medium and high goal polo and was on a team that made it to the finals of the

Coca Cola, La Lechuza, Cold Comfort, Isla Carol and Outback, and he won prestigious high-goal tournaments such as the U.S. Open, the U.S Handicap and the Monty Waterbury Cup. Playing in the arena, he won the U.S. Arena Open Championship and represented the United States in the Townsend Cup, an international match against England, winning that trophy four times. Additionally, he traveled to England to play in the Morrison Cup, which is the British counterpart of the Townsend Cup, and was on the only U.S. Team ever to win the match. “Being able to represent the U.S. in international play is the thing that I am happiest about,” he said. “When we won the Morrison Cup in England that was the first time the U.S. had beaten the English on their home turf. That was a really big deal for me.” As a player, Tommy has always been known for his strength and his extremely powerful hitting. “I have been very fortunate that I can hit the ball 150 yards,” he said, recognizing that this ability sets him apart from the vast majority of players. But Tommy’s worth to a team is equally dependent on his extraordinary quickness: he has been known as the rare player who is big and strong while also being quick and agile. He says that this did not always come naturally to him. In fact he had to work at it. “I was always tall and I was a bigger bodied than most. Growing up. I saw other big guys playing, guys like Joe Barry, Dale Smicklas

Tommy gets a shot past John Gobin, Aiken Polo Club 12-goal

20-goal East Coast Open Handicap at Myopia Polo Club in Hamilton, Massachusetts. That year would be the first of Tommy’s summers “on the road,” and he says that he has traveled for polo every summer since, usually to New York and Massachusetts. The next summer, at 16, he returned North, playing on George Haas’s Windswept team with his father and Rick Sears. The team won every match they entered to capture the USPA Copper Cup, the USPA Chairman’s Cup and the Village Farms Silver Cup. By this time Tommy had been raised to 3 goals. He we went up to 4 the following year, and then to 5 when he was 18 and a high school senior. Tommy went to South Aiken High, where he also played basketball and was a quarterback on the football team. A 6’3” natural athlete, he was being recruited for college football and says he would have had to make a tough decision about whether to go with football or polo, but he had hurt his knee, making polo the easy choice. At 18 Tommy turned pro. He enrolled at Florida Adam Snow attempts a hook, USPA Monty Waterbury Cup 20 Goal, New Bridge Polo Club. Atlantic University in Boca Raton so that he could continue his playing career, and he arranged his class schedule so that and Alex Garrahan, and all of these big guys played Back. They were he could study seriously during the autumn semester, but had a lighter all great players and I admired them. But I wanted to be one of those class load in the winter at the height of the Florida polo season. When guys that plays other positions, not just Back. I wanted to be quick. he was 20, he played in his first arena match when he substituted for Bill So I watched videos of all the Argentine players, and shortened up my Walton, a 9-goal arena player, in the finals of a professional arena league stirrups so that I could get out of the saddle more and I worked at it to in Texas. The team was playing against a team featuring Joe Henderson, get myself quicker.” who was 9 goals on his way to 10. Tommy’s team lost, but it was a great Tommy also says that his polo was greatly improved by listening to experience and gave him a taste for playing in the arena. other players and learning as much as he could from them. “That’s what Over the next few years, Tommy became one of the most soughtI tell the young players nowadays: you should be like a sponge. Nobody after professional players in the country, attaining an 8-goal rating by knows it all. You have to take what you can learn from other people, and the age of 23. He played on many top professional teams, including put it into your own program.” Tommy says that he learned the most

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from his father, and then from Rick Sears and the Bostwicks, and many other professionals he met along the way. Still playing regularly, Tommy says that he will continue to swing the mallet for as long as he can, and as long as people still want to play with him. He has also taken up umpiring, and has enjoyed coaching teams for important tournaments, which is a relatively new opportunity for polo professionals. One team he coached, BTA/The Villages, won the U.S. Women’s Open in 2021. “I have been very willing to help out any way I can, I always want to be involved with polo,” he said. Tommy describes himself as lucky to have been able to make a living in polo and to have a career doing what he loves that has taken him around the world, introduced him to so many interesting people and brought him so many good friends. And yet his life has also been marked by tragedy. He was very close to his daughter Lauren, a talented up-and-coming young player who had often played with him in tournaments, including at Aiken Polo Club where the pair won the

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8-goal USPA Congressional Cup in 2012. Lauren went to New Zealand to play polo in 2018 when she was 22, and there she lost her life in a non-polo related accident. “Playing with Lauren, I could finally understand how my dad felt playing with me and Bradley,” Tommy said. “I never realized it until I started playing with Lauren, but the joy of playing with your kid is amazing. She was tough as nails and could ride anything that had hair on it. I keep her on my shoulder, and I know she’s looking down and she’s happier than anybody about me being in the Hall of Fame. Lauren would be so happy right now. That’s one of the things that has kept me going.” The Hall of Fame induction ceremony is scheduled for Friday, February 18, 2022 and will include both 2021 and 2022 honorees. Details, including time and place, will be announced at a later date pending current COVID safety precautions. For more information, visit polomuseum.com.

December-January 2021-2022

The Last Diving Horse in America A book by Cynthia Branigan By Mary Jane Howell

he cover of The Last Diving Horse in America: Rescuing Gamal and Other Animals is a show-stopper: it depicts a horse and rider diving from a high platform into a tank of water at Atlantic City’s Steel Pier. There is also a smaller photo of the author, Cynthia Branigan, with Gamal, who, as the title suggests, was the last of the diving horses. How these two came into each other’s lives and the lessons learned from their relationship is at the heart of the story, but there is so much more. Within the book’s pages we learn about “Doc” Carver, the showman behind the diving horse act, as well as the brave horses and riders who plunged from that 60-foot height. Looming large throughout the story is Cleveland Amory, who was a noted author, critic and television personality, but above all was a titan in the world of animal rights and activism. The Fund for Animals, which he started in 1967, had as its original focus the protection of animals from hunters and laboratory experiments, but it grew to include rescuing burros from the Grand Canyon and horses from dubious livestock auctions. Cynthia Branigan was 11 when she saw her first diving horse in Atlantic City and the act made a lasting impression upon her. Seeing the horse run up the carpeted ramp, where his rider waited for him, was exciting enough, but when the woman leapt onto his back, with nothing but a small harness to grip, and the pair launched seemingly into the night sky, well, what would a young girl think? “It was a terrifying sight, and an unforgettable one,” wrote Cynthia. “The dive took but a few seconds; but to me, the searing image of the horse’s body, pointing like a perfect arrow at his target below, seemed to run in slow motion.” When the diving horse act came to an end in 1978 after Resorts International purchased the Steel Pier, the three remaining diving horses were faced with a questionable future. Atlantic City had changed immensely over the decades from when the piers hosted big bands and carnival acts, and the Steel Pier was home to the diving horses each summer. Animal rights activists voiced their concern that the diving horses were abused; the crowds were thinning; and without fanfare, the act was shuttered. In order to write the book, Cynthia spent a great deal of time researching the history of the diving horses, which included tracking down their trainer, Bill Ditty, who was retired and living in Florida. “I admit the whole process of diving a horse is sketchy at best,” said Cynthia, “but the horses who did it actually liked it. The training was a long and thorough process and Bill Ditty used positive reinforcement every step of the way. He actually started with what amounted to a puddle and slowly worked his way up.” The women who rode the diving horses were also a breed unto themselves: beautiful, courageous and with more than a dash of show business flair. Sonora Carver was perhaps the most famous of the “diving girls.” Her autobiography A Girl and Five Brave Horses became the basis for the Walt Disney movie released in 1991, Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken. Sonora actually rode blind for many years, unbeknownst to the audience, after damaging her eyes in a dive. The history of the diving horse act is just one part of the book, however. Equally fascinating is how Cleveland Amory changed the landscape of animal protection and in the process, gave Cynthia Branigan a purpose in her life that was perhaps always there, though it just needed fine-tuning. “I write in the book that under Cleveland’s influence the cause for

animal rights became more assertive,” she explained. “As he put it, his goal was ‘to put cleats on the little old ladies in tennis shoes.’” The Fund for the Animals eventually included a 1400-acre animal sanctuary called Black Beauty Ranch in Murchison, Texas, which was created as a home for mustangs and wild burros rounded up in the Grand Canyon. Today the sanctuary houses nearly 800 domestic and exotic animals. Back in the 1970s, Cynthia volunteered for The Fund for Animals for four years, which mostly entailed picketing outside of fur stores, giving interviews, and chauffeuring Cleveland to and from speaking engagements in the Philadelphia area. When asked to join the fund as a paid employee and work out of the New York office, Cynthia leapt at the opportunity. She was 25 and as she writes, “I couldn’t imagine how life could get any better than this.” Her world collided with Gamal’s through a unique set of circumstances: Cleveland was booked on the luxury ocean liner, the QE2, to give a set of lectures and generally entertain and educate the guests. Cynthia was put in charge of the Fund for the Animals for the two weeks he would be on the ship. Part of her duties included answering hundreds of calls, but one phone call stood out – it was from a woman alerting the fund to the fact that the last diving horse from the famous Atlantic City act was being put up for auction. That horse was Gamal, who was about 20 years old at the time. There would be no book without Gamal’s story – so we know that Cynthia Branigan had a check, outbid everyone else at the Indian Mills, New Jersey, auction, and a new chapter of her life began. Over the next nine years she and Gamal developed a close relationship: Some of the tenderest parts of the book are the passages that deal with the pair’s growing rapport, experiences that those of us who love our horses can deeply appreciate and understand. She only rode him once, but that was not the basis of their relationship. A growing trust and companionship allowed them to both blossom. “I do think that my relationship with Gamal gave me confidence that I didn’t have before,” Cynthia said. “And that confidence was important when Cleveland put me in charge of finding homes for all the donkeys that had been saved from the Grand Canyon. The ranch in Texas could not hold all of the animals (6,000 burros and then 4,000 mustangs) so I had to find an adoption center large enough – R-D-R Farm in New Jersey fit the bill perfectly. Cleveland would send 40 burros at a time from Texas and when they got adopted, he would send 40 more.” Cynthia also had a stint overseeing the operations at Black Beauty Ranch – a job that was supposed to last a few weeks ended up being many more. Her descriptions of the chimpanzees (rescued from a lab where they had been part of a language study), the llamas, burros, goats, and horses make for quite a tale. In the end, Cynthia moved on from the Fund for Animals, but she used her skills to found Make Peace with Animals, which focuses on the adoption of racing greyhounds. Since 1988 her group has found homes for 5,500 greyhounds, a number that has slowed to a trickle these days, with only three greyhound racing tracks still in existence. The Last Diving Horse in America is Cynthia Branigan’s third book. Her first two are about greyhounds: Adopting the Racing Greyhound, and The Reign of the Greyhound: A Popular History of the Oldest Family of Dogs. Cynthia says she wrote The Last Diving Horse in America to honor Gamal. “I am not going to live forever,” she said, “and I want his memory kept alive. I do not want him to be forgotten – and this book is the best way to make sure that never happens.”

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The Aiken Horse 71

The Aiken Horse

December-January 2021-2022

All Heart

The Comeback of Hocus Pocus

By Pam Gleason, Photography by Gary Knoll

hen the Thoroughbred mare Hocus Pocus trotted down the centerline of the dressage arena at the Thoroughbred Incentive Program Championship Show at Stable View this October, she had the look of a winner. Her black coat gleamed in the sunshine and she carried herself calmly with flowing gaits and a confident manner. Competing at First Level, she seemed so professional that you would never have known that this was just her second show. She won her class and her division, coming home with the T.I.P. First Level championship. “When they added up the points and I saw that we had won the championship, I cried,” said Merideth Leonard, her owner and rider. “It was just so amazing to me that Hocus had come so far.” The Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred Incentive Program was created to encourage the repurposing of retired racehorses. Any registered Thoroughbred is eligible to earn points in different disciplines for year end awards. The championship show, which came to Aiken this year, is open to any horse that has gone to a T.I.P. sanctioned show during the season. While many horses overcame obstacles to get to the championships, Hocus Pocus had an especially arduous journey. She had been a racehorse, and then a polo pony. And then she was in a terrible trailer accident that killed her owner and three of her stablemates, leaving her with broken bones, damaged eyes and an unsteady gait. “She should have died,” said Merideth. “She should never have been able to be a performance horse again. Not only that, she should have never wanted to get on a trailer ever again. But she has so much heart, she just puts it all out of her mind.” Hocus Pocus, registered name Home on Heels, was foaled in Louisiana in February, 2007. She is a granddaughter of Gone West who was an influential sire known for his dark coat and excellent conformation. On her dam’s side, she is descended from Southern Halo, who spent most of his stud career in Argentina where he was a top sire of racehorses, and, not coincidentally, of polo ponies as well. If her racing owners had high hopes for her, they were disappointed. Hocus raced four times in 2009 between May and September and never got closer than sixth, never earning even a dollar. She soon ended up at an auction where she was purchased by the polo pony trainers Joe and Kelly Neave. They started her for polo and when she was playing as a green horse, they offered her for sale. That was when Merideth first met her. Merideth grew up in the Chicago area where she was originally a dressage rider, but had transitioned to working in polo. In 2011, she was working as a polo groom for the Aiken player Barb Uskup, when Barb took the beautiful black mare on trial for a week at her Meadow Hill Farm. “I remember that I rode her out with the sets,” Merideth said. “When I asked her to canter, I just started giggling. She felt so much like a dressage horse.” Barb decided not to buy Hocus, and so she went back to the Neaves and was later purchased by the up-and-coming young professional Will Tankard, who was based in Aiken. “She had only played low goal polo when we got her, so she was transitioned slowly into Will’s string,” said Samira Waernlund, who was Will’s partner. In a few years, she was playing 16 goal polo in Florida and Kentucky. “She was very fast and she could run. She wasn’t Will’s best horse, but she was steady and solid and you could always rely on her to get a play done.” Merideth, who was good friends with Will and Samira, often helped them out, sometimes rode Hocusm and always commented on how she would make a good dressage horse. Samira agreed. “She played polo because that is what she was trained to do, but I always thought she was meant for something a little bit more artistic.” In the summer of 2015, Will was playing in Kentucky. He had been hired to play at the Darlington Polo Club in Pennsylvania, and from there was scheduled to travel to Massachusetts. Will was driving his truck and

trailer through Ohio while Samira followed along in her car when Will suffered a devastating and fatal crash. There were ten horses in the trailer. Three of them died, while the remaining seven were severely injured, Hocus Pocus among them. In the aftermath of the accident, the surviving horses were cared for in Ohio until they were well enough to be transported back to Aiken. Then they went to live at Meadow Hill Farm where Cissie Snow, Will’s mother, was the manager. Samira and Cissie devoted themselves to caring for and rehabilitating the injured horses. “Hocus wasn’t the worst off, but she was bad,” said Samira. She needed to have surgery at the University of Georgia to repair a broken splint bone. (They performed the operation for free.) She also had a cracked sacrum and injuries to her hips and head, as well as damage to her eyes that affected her sight. With these kinds of injuries, it seemed unlikely that she would ever play polo again. Merideth had been helping to care for Will’s horses, and Samira and Cissie knew that she had a connection to the mare. It seemed as though the two belonged together. “How could we not give her the horse?” asked Cissie. Merideth took her, knowing that her injuries might mean that she could never be ridden again. But she wanted to try to rehabilitate her. Free in the paddock, Hocus didn’t look exactly lame, but she was not right and she did not seem rideable. Merideth enlisted the help of the veterinarian Keelin Redmond who came out for regular chiropractic adjustments. Then Merideth started ponying her and riding her at a walk. It took months to do more than that. “When I first started trotting her, she felt like drunken sailor, like a 2-year-old that has never been ridden. She couldn’t hold a lead at the canter,” she said. Progress was slow, and often followed by regression. Merideth sometimes wondered if she was doing the right thing. “When I first started trying to rehab her, I was doing it for the grieving memory of my friend,” she said. “But I sometimes wondered if it was fair to her. She couldn’t talk to me; she couldn’t tell me. I got dejected thinking about it. It weighed on me.” But then, about 15 months after the accident, Hocus seemed to turn a corner. She started to feel stronger and a spring returned to her step. Merideth began to school her more seriously in dressage. Eventually, she took her to a few clinics, and then enlisted the help of her friend, the local professional Pippa Moon, who helped smooth out some training issues. When the New Vocations All Thoroughbred Show came to Highfields in September, 2021 Merideth entered on a whim. It was Hocus Pocus’s first time in front of a judge and the first time Merideth had shown in over a decade. But they scored well, won their class, and ended up the dressage champion. “Someone told me that we were qualified to go in the T.I.P. Championships the next month, so I decided to do that, too,” said Merideth. She explained that she had never shown Hocus before that mostly for logistical reasons. “But I’m also a perfectionist,” she said. “And for a long time, I think I was just really protective of her.” “I love her,” she continued. “She’s just a joy to ride, and she loves what she’s doing. She’s so light and sensitive and smart. You teach her something and she just does it; she doesn’t forget. There are two things that stand out to me when I think about her. One is how versatile Thoroughbreds can be. The other is how much heart she has. If she didn’t have the huge heart that she has, she would never have done any of this for me. It makes me cry all the time when I think of it.” Samira and Cissie are thrilled to see Hocus succeed in a new career. “If you had seen her after the accident, you would never have thought she could have done anything again,” said Cissie. “It’s amazing. To me, she has come full circle. My memories of her are of Will playing her. She was always the most gorgeous mare on the field, and she’s back to that. To have her come from where she was to the way she is today is a miracle.”

December-January 2021-2022

The Aiken Horse 73

A Tribute to Jasmine

An all-around superstar, 1998-2022 By Theresa King, Photo by Elizabeth Hedley

y beloved, once-in-a-lifetime mare Jasmine passed away unexpectedly in my arms on the morning of Friday, September 17, 2022. She was 23 and the most versatile horse I have ever owned. Her long journey with me meant more than I can ever describe. This is her story. I purchased Jasmine in September 2006 at the Aiken Polo Pony Sale. She was an 8-year-old, consigned by the Memphis-based polo professional Alfredo Guerreno. I am a complete pushover for a chestnut, so as soon as she entered the ring I was immediately intrigued. The catalog read, “#66 Moneda, ready for 20-goal polo,” and I thought, Great! Me too! After winning her in the auction, I went to see her at her stall and instantly fell in love. Only then did I start to investigate the envelope I was given at the checkout. Her Coggins test listed the previous owner’s name and phone number so I decided to give him a call to find out what bit she played in. After a brief conversation, I was told she went in a coscojero, one of the most severe bits I knew of. This was not a great first sign. I brought her home and after letting her settle into my big turnout pasture for a few days I decided to take my new horse for a spin. I got on and immediately discovered that walking was not an option. Jasmine preferred jogging at a sideways angle with an occasional prop forward, always preceded by a head shake. It was obvious she was going to be a handful. Stick and balling was nearly impossible, and she was, in fact, quite strong. I decided maybe it was best to turn her out for a while. Some months later, my friend Jack Whittemore, an avid fox hunter and polo player, encouraged me to try the hunt. I didn’t have a proper fox hunter, but we decided that one of the horses in my polo string would do the trick. In his infinite wisdom, Jack decided he would stop by and give me his expert advice on which one to try. We went to my field, and he pointed at my new chestnut mare, now named Jasmine “That one,” he said. “She looks the part.” And so Jasmine became a foxhunter. She was still hot and liked to run, but she could jump, and the drag in those days went pretty fast, so she was in her element. In 2010, Jasmine and I were awarded our colors with Aiken Hounds, in only our third year hunting first flight. I distinctly remember Katherine Gunter, the Huntsman at the time, watching Jasmine soar from drag-line to drag-line and dancing at every check. “You’re going to have to will that horse to me because no one else will ride her,” she declared. Jazzy, as I affectionately called her, was not a fan of the checks: she wanted to go, no time to stand around, and walking was simply not her thing. While I was unfazed by her frisky behavior, we often elicited curious stares and gasps of disbelief. When she would become particularly impatient, she would shake her head and that was the sign that a little rear was next. But she hunted first flight all across South Carolina and Georgia with Aiken Hounds, Belle Meade, Middleton Place, Whiskey Road and Low Country. She made the sport such a joy for me. She would jump anything and was always on point, ears forward, auburn mane flowing. I also rode her in the Performance Trials at Belle Meade and we entered our first Hunter Pace that year as well. Honestly, I didn’t really know what that was, but everyone said it was fun, so I loaded up my partner in crime, headed to Chime Belle Station and awaited instructions. And you know what? We won optimal time! We rode in many other Hunter Paces and we quickly learned to enter the fastest time category as a sure bet. When speed was important, Jasmine would never disappoint. In the summer of 2010, I decided to enter one of Mike and Marilyn Sharp’s wonderful schooling shows at Belvoir Farm in Williston. After calling Mike to discuss the details of the event, Jazzy and I loaded up

The Aiken Horse

and went to try out the jumpers. Jazzy took to the show ring seamlessly and we racked up all blue ribbons on our first day and pretty much all blue each subsequent outing. We even won an end-of-the-year award. I will never forget the day that the trainer J.F. Gagne noticed I had turned the wrong way in the ring. He shouted out “wrong way!” and I was able to stop Jasmine on a dime, spin her around to finish the course and still maintain the fastest time to win the class. She was a polo pony after all, and stopping and turning was her true forte. One of a kind, Jasmine’s versatility and willingness never ceased to amaze. In 2011 we ran in the Polo Pony Race during the Aiken Trials, coming in a respectable fourth. According to many, we almost ran over a snake that was crossing the track—so focused on our task, we failed to even notice. It must have been about spring of 2011 when I slowly started her back into polo. We eased into it with some stick and ball at Winthrop Field. This time around we were much more in tune. Five years after originally buying her, I was accustomed to her quirks and she to mine. Ultimately, I loved taking her there to stick and ball. I started to play her that fall and she quickly became one of my favorites. Don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t always easy, but we had a bond and her fidgety personality never bothered me. In those days, I kept her mane long because we fox hunted during the winter months. New players from out of town always thought she was a green horse on the polo field. They would let me hit the ball on her at first as a courtesy, then quickly realize she was a made horse and all bets were off. I remember the player Karen Reese saying to me after one of our particularly successful but challenging chukkers, “I’m not sure how you get so much done on that horse but you do!” That really made me smile with pride. Jazzy and I played polo from Aiken, South Carolina, to Houston, Texas, to Saratoga, New York, and many places in between. One of my favorite and funniest polo memories with her was winning the Congressional Cup 8 Goal at Aiken Polo Club. There was a penalty shot on the horse trailer side of the field and I was lined up by the goal post. She was determined to be done for the day and go back to the trailer, so in typical Jazzy style she danced and pranced around like a lunatic. Thank goodness my team scored the penalty because I would have been no help at all – I was so concentrated on trying to keep her from vacating the polo field. In 2013, Adonna Sheaffer invited us to try roping. She had the cattle and chutes set up at her Big Tree Farm in Salley, South Carolina. Jazzy had never seen a rope, but she wasn’t afraid of the mallet so I figured it wouldn’t be a problem. In true Jazzy fashion, she loved it. I didn’t throw the rope at a cow that first day but she went in the gate and tracked them like a pro. Riding Jasmine was not like riding any other horse I have ever had or probably will ever have again. She was monumentally brave and my true partner. She trusted me and I trusted her. Riding this horse was freedom: Freedom from any worry or care in the world. Riding this horse made me feel invincible. Jazzy’s departure has definitely taken a piece of me with her. I will always miss the distinctive high-pitched whinny that greeted me every day. She gave me an especially long whinny when she saw me the morning she passed. I am so grateful that we crossed paths and that the universe gave me the opportunity to be her person. Jazzy was laid to rest at her home, Ligara Farm in Aiken, and a garden in her honor will grace the spot and bloom with sweet smelling Confederate Jasmine every year. Theresa King is a polo player and horsewoman who lives on her Ligara Farm in Aiken.

December-January 2021-2022

The Aiken Horse 75

The Aiken Horse

December-January 2021-2022

a 501c3 non-proﬁt organization

Your Camden Showgrounds

Since 2009

I-20 Exit 101

288 STALLS WITH RUBBER MATS, 3 EXHIBIT RINGS WITH STATE OF THE ART FOOTING, 2 COVERED ARENAS, FANS, CATTLE PENS, GENEROUS SPACE FOR LUNGEING AND SCHOOLING, AND VENDOR AREA

THANK YOU For Your Support of our “Make a Mark on the Park” Campaign! The Stall Plaques Look Amazing! We love to see our visitors showcased across the property! We still have stalls available. Makes a Great Gift! NAME A STALL We will provide the name plaque to honor your horse.

Reach out to us via PM on www.facebook.com/SCEquinePark for details. We also have options like NAME A BARN, NAME A RING & MORE!

Thanks for moving the Park forward. We look forward to seeing you ringside!

Jan 5 Jan19 Feb 2 Feb 11-12 Feb 16 Feb 18-20 Feb 25-27

Winter Wednesdays Schooling Series Winter Wednesdays Schooling Series Winter Wednesdays Schooling Series SC Quarter Horse Association Special Event Winter Wednesdays Schooling Series Extreme Trail Course Clinic South Carolina Horsemen’s Council

Please contact the Show Manager with questions about their event.

For Booking Information 803-420-0407 info@scequinepark.com

Dates Subject to Change

443 Cleveland School Rd Camden SC 29020

scequinepark.com

Camden SC I-20 Exit 101

December-January 2021-2022

The Aiken Horse 77

Fall polo at Aiken, New Bridge and Wagener Polo Clubs

Photography by Pam Gleason

The Aiken Horse

December-January 2021-2022

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Aiken Area Calendar of Events DECEMBER 2021

Forever Home for the Holidays, SPCA Albrecht Center 199 Willow Run Road, Aiken, SC letlovelive.org 1 Schooling Jumpers. Stable View, LLC 117 Stable Drive, Aiken. 484.356.3173, info@stableviewfarm.com, stableviewfarm.com 2-5 SCHJA Finale. Carolina Equine Park (SCEP), 443 Cleveland School Road, Camden, SC. Emma Fogler 803-422-5969, execsecschja@ gmail.com, scequinepark.com 2-12 December Classic I & II Bruce’s Field at the Aiken Horse Park, 931 Powderhouse Road SE, Aiken. 803.830.7077, aikenhorsepark.org, equusevents.com 3-5 GQHA Georgia Classic, Perry, GA 765-714-4324 – www. AnEquineProduction.com 3 Philanthropy Friday to benefit the SPCA, Cork & Cap 146 Laurens St NW, Aiken, SC letlovelive.org 4 Brick Store Stables IEA Show, Georgia Int. Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway, Conyers, GA. 770.860.4190, georgiahorsepark.com 4 Working Equitation Schooling Show, The Horsemanship Academy, 590 Implement Rd. Aiken, Julie Robins, 1(803)220-1768 4 Holiday Horse Show, Great Oaks Therapeutic Riding Center, 1123 Edgefield Hwy. Aiken, 803-226-0056 info@greatoakeap.org 4 SCDCTA Schooling Dressage and CT, Middleton Place Equestrian Center, 4280 Ashley River Rd, Charleston, SC 29414 Amber Lee 803-260-5970 aelee28@gmail.com 4-5 USEF/USEA Horse Trials/Schooling, Sporting Days Farm, 3549 Charleston Hwy. Aiken, SC Cindy Wood (410) 726 8926 cindy@ firefoxfarm.com SportingDaysFarm.com 4-5 Sedgefield at The Park Winter Classic NCHJA “C” H/J Show. Carolina Horse Park, 2814 Montrose Road, Raeford, NC. 910.875.2074, carolinahorsepark.com 4-5 Southeastern Schooling Show Championships. Bouckaert Farm, 9445 Browns Lake Road, Chattahoochee Hills, GA 770.892.2117, info@chatthillseventing.com, chatthillseventing.com 4-5 Dream Big Equestrian Holiday Classic IEA Show, Georgia Int. Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway, Conyers, GA. 770.860.4190, georgiahorsepark.com 4-5 Trotting Round the Tree 2021 T. Ed Garrison Livestock Arena, 1101 West Queen Street, Pendleton, SC. horseshowing.com 5 Seven Springs Classic IEA Show, Georgia Int. Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway, Conyers, GA. 770.860.4190, georgiahorsepark.com 5 Poker Trail Ride, Fence Equestrian Center, Tryon, NC 828-8599021 info@fence.org fence.org 6 “Empty the Shelters” Holiday Hope, SPCA Albrecht Center 199 Willow Run Road, Aiken, SC letlovelive.org 10-11 RSNC BSC Arena Waynesboro GA Johnny Lovett #706-5512190 or Cliff Chancey #706-840-3971 https://www.rsnc.us/ Calendars/2021/Waynesboro%20Dec%202021.JPG 11 Schooling Horse Trials, Jumping Branch Farm 179 Fox Pond Road, Aiken 240-460-1094 timshaw628@gmail.com 11 IEA Hunt Seat Show, Region 1, Zone 4. Georgia Int. Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway, Conyers, GA. 770.860.4190, georgiahorsepark.com 11 Camden Equine Circuit Year-end Banquet CamdenEquineCircuit1@gmail.com or Candi Cocks 803-432-2703 camdenequinecircuit.com Radway Event Year End Awards & Show 4627 Whiskey Road, 11 Aiken. radwayeventing.com 11 Aiken Driving Club Christmas Drive Three Wishes Farm, Windsor,SC aikendrivingclub.com 11 Dressage, Show Jumping and CT at Le Bonheur 1699 Berry Bennett Rd, Chatsworth, GA Anna Bosworth 423-653-1236 abosworth88@ gmail.com lebonheurequestrian.com 11 SCDCTA Schooling Horse Trials, Jumping Branch Farm, 179 Fox Pond Rd, Aiken. Amber Lee: aelee28@gmail.com 1-31

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11-12 USEF/USDF SCDCTA Dressage. Stable View, LLC 117 Stable Drive, Aiken. 484.356.3173, info@stableviewfarm.com, stableviewfarm.com 11-12 Five Star Hunters Holiday Classic IEA Show. Georgia Int. Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway, Conyers, GA. 770.860.4190, georgiahorsepark.com 11-12 PSJ Series C. Highfields Event Center, 147 Warehouse Road, Aiken. 803.649.3505, psjshows.com 11 Schooling Dressage Tests of choice. Full Gallop Farm, 3828 Wagener Rd, Aiken. Lara Anderson: 803. 215.6590, fullgallopfarm@ yahoo.com, fullgallopfarm.com 12 Buck Off Cancer ride for Jess, Jingle Bells Recognized Horse Trials, Full Gallop Farm, 3828 Wagener Rd, Aiken. Lara Anderson: 803. 215.6590, fullgallopfarm@yahoo.com, fullgallopfarm.com 12 Show Jumping Schooling Show Le Bonheur Equestrian 1699 Berry Bennett Rd, Chatsworth, GA 706-847-8737 Lebonheurequestrian@ gmail.com 15 Winter Wednesdays. Carolina Equine Park (SCEP), 443 Cleveland School Road, Camden, SC. Matt Christison, 1 803.420.0407, mmathis443@gmail.com, scequinepark.com 18 Hoofbeats and Christmas Carols Parade, 2pm, Downtown Aiken, Trish Leslie 706–951–2349 18-19 SCDCTA Schooling HT/CT/Dressage. Stable View, LLC 117 Stable Drive, Aiken. 484.356.3173, info@stableviewfarm.com, stableviewfarm.com 30 Champagne Trail Ride. 10am Whiskey Road Foxhounds, whiskeyroadfoxhounds.com

JANUARY 2022

Schooling Hunter/Jumper. Stable View, LLC 117 Stable Drive, Aiken. 484.356.3173, info@stableviewfarm.com, stableviewfarm. com 5 Winter Wednesdays Schooling Series. Carolina Equine Park (SCEP), 443 Cleveland School Road, Camden, SC. Matt Christison, 1 803.420.0407, mmathis443@gmail.com, scequinepark.com 6 Apple Tree Farm South, Schooling CT/Dressage, 1530 Oak Ridge Club Rd Windsor, SC Allison apltrefarm@aol.com (603)345-0382 appletreefarm.org 10-11 RSNC Georgia State Championships, BSC Arena, Waynesboro GA Johnny Lovett #706-551-2190 or Cliff Chancey #706-840-3971 7-9 Aiken Winter Classic National Highfields Event Center, 147 Warehouse Road, Aiken. 803.649.3505, psjshows.com 12 Schooling Dressage, Stable View, LLC 117 Stable Drive, Aiken. 484.356.3173, info@stableviewfarm.com, stableviewfarm.com 13 Apple Tree Farm South, Schooling CT/Dressage, 1530 Oak Ridge Club Rd Windsor, SC Allison apltrefarm@aol.com (603)3450382 appletreefarm.org 14-16 Aiken Winter Classic USEF National Highfields Event Center, 147 Warehouse Road, Aiken. 803.649.3505, psjshows.com 15 Winter Combined Test, Stable View, LLC 117 Stable Drive, Aiken. 484.356.3173, info@stableviewfarm.com, stableviewfarm.com 15 Pipe Opener I CT Carolina Horse Park, 2814 Montrose Road, Raeford, NC. 910.875.2074, carolinahorsepark.com Sarah Crevar Thomas secretary@carolinahorsepark.com 15 Camden Equine Circuit Toopler Branch Show 1035 Lee Lane Lugoff, SC Rebecca Hudson 803-699-2282 email-Tooplerbranch@ hotmail.com 15 NCHA 42nd Augusta Weekend at Perry, GA augustafuturity.com 16-22 NCHA 2022 Augusta Futurity & Classic Challenge at Perry, GA augustafuturity.com 16 Schooling HT, Combined Tests, Schooling Jump rounds, Dressage tests of choice. Full Gallop Farm, 3828 Wagener Rd, Aiken. Lara Anderson: 803. 215.6590, fullgallopfarm@yahoo.com, fullgallopfarm.com 19 Winter Wednesdays Schooling Series. Carolina Equine Park (SCEP), 443 Cleveland School Road, Camden, SC. Matt Christison, 1 803.420.0407, mmathis443@gmail.com, scequinepark.com 5

December-January 2021-2022

20-23 Aiken Winter Premier, USEF “A” Bruce’s Field at the Aiken Horse Park, 931 Powderhouse Road SE, Aiken. 803.830.7077, aikenhorsepark.org, equusevents.com 22-23 USEF/USEA “Aiken Opener” Horse Trials, Stable View, LLC 117 Stable Drive, Aiken. 484.356.3173, info@stableviewfarm.com, stableviewfarm.com 23 ADC Driving Derby #1, Highfield’s Event Center, 198 Gaston Rd., Aiken, SC 29801 Peggy Dils, 803-295-6785 dilsaiken@gmail.com aikendrivingclub. com americandrivingsociety.org 21-22 Apple Tree Farm South & The VISTA Schooling CT/Dressage, 1530 Oak Ridge Club Rd Windsor, SC Allison apltrefarm@aol.com (603)345-0382 appletreefarm.org 27 Apple Tree Farm South, Schooling CT/Dressage, 1530 Oak Ridge Club Rd Windsor, SC Allison apltrefarm@aol.com (603)3450382 appletreefarm.org 28-30 PSJ Series C. Highfields Event Center, 147 Warehouse Road, Aiken. 803.649.3505, psjshows.com 28-30 Southeastern Regionals, GA National Fairgrounds, Perry GA Cinch RSNC # 970-897-2901 29 SCDCTA 2021 Year End Awards Banquet & Silent Auction Middleton Place Lake House Middleton Pl, Charleston, SC middletonplace.org 29 GDCTA Awards Gala, Atlanta Marriott, Alpharetta, GA https:// www.facebook.com/events/atlanta-marriott-alpharetta/gdctaawards-gala/1001945323710071/ 29 Radway Eventing Pony Club Show 4627 Whiskey Road, Aiken. radwayeventing.com 29 H.J. Fox 2021 Awards Banquet, The Engine Room, Monroe, GA hjfoxclassics.com 29 Schooling Dressage Tests of choice. Full Gallop Farm, 3828 Wagener Rd, Aiken. Lara Anderson: 803. 215.6590, fullgallopfarm@ yahoo.com, fullgallopfarm.com 29-30 Kolton Schmidt & Cesar de la Cruz Roping Clinic: heading & heeling. Crown B Ranch, 1245 Coleman Bridge Road, Wagener SC. 520-603-9296 or email crownbranchllc@gmail.com. 30 Recognized Horse Trials. Full Gallop Farm, 3828 Wagener Rd, Aiken. Lara Anderson: 803. 215.6590, fullgallopfarm@yahoo.com, fullgallopfarm.com 30 IEA Zone 4 Region 3 and 11 Finals, Georgia Int. Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway, Conyers, GA. 770.860.4190, georgiahorsepark.com

FEBRUARY 2022 2

2-8 3 3 3-6 5 5 5-6 6 8

Schooling Hunter/Jumper. Stable View, LLC 117 Stable Drive, Aiken. 484.356.3173, info@stableviewfarm.com, stableviewfarm. com WRFH Hunt Week, Whiskey Road Foxhounds, whiskeyroadfoxhounds.com Winter Wednesdays. Carolina Equine Park (SCEP), 443 Cleveland School Road, Camden, SC. 803.486.4938, scequinepark.com Apple Tree Farm South, Schooling CT/Dressage, 1530 Oak Ridge Club Rd Windsor, SC Allison apltrefarm@aol.com (603)3450382 appletreefarm.org Aiken Winter Encore, USEF “A” Bruce’s Field at the Aiken Horse Park, 931 Powderhouse Road SE, Aiken. 803.830.7077, aikenhorsepark.org, equusevents.com Camden Equine Circuit Springdale Show at Pine Tree Stables 1265 Sanders Creek Rd. Camden, SC 803-243-4417 springdale47@gmail. com Highfields Just for Fun Show Highfields Event Center, 147 Warehouse Road, Aiken. 803.649.3505, psjshows.com USEF/USEA Horse Trials/Schooling, Sporting Days Farm, 3549 Charleston Hwy. Aiken, SC Cindy Wood (410) 726 8926 cindy@ firefoxfarm.com SportingDaysFarm.com ADC Driving Derby #2, Highfield’s Event Center, 198 Gaston Rd., Aiken, SC 29801. Peggy Dils, 803-295-6785 dilsaiken@gmail.com aikendrivingclub.com americandrivingsociety.org Schooling Dressage Tests of choice. Full Gallop Farm, 3828 Wagener Rd, Aiken. Lara Anderson: 803. 215.6590, fullgallopfarm@yahoo. com, fullgallopfarm.com

Recognized Horse Trials. Full Gallop Farm, 3828 Wagener Rd, Aiken. Lara Anderson: 803. 215.6590, fullgallopfarm@yahoo.com, fullgallopfarm.com 10-11 Apple Tree Farm South & Sporting Days Farm, Schooling CT/Dressage, 1530 Oak Ridge Club Rd Windsor, SC Allison apltrefarm@aol.com (603)345-0382 appletreefarm. org sportingdaysfarm.com 11-12 SCQHA (South Carolina Quarter Horse Association) Special Event. Carolina Equine Park (SCEP), 443 Cleveland School Road, Camden, SC. Ericka Thomas, 803-295-2781, scquarterhorse@gmail.com, scequinepark.com 11-13 USEF National Highfields Event Center, 147 Warehouse Road, Aiken. 803.649.3505, psjshows.com 11-13 Pine Top Horse Trials 1432 Augusta Hwy, Thomson, GA 30824 pinetopeventing@gmail.com 12 Radway Eventing Pony Club Show 4627 Whiskey Road, Aiken. radwayeventing.com 12 Schooling Series Kick Off - Valentines Classic. Poplar Place Farm, 8191 Highway 27, Hamilton, GA. 706.681.8748, poplarplacefarm. com 16 Winter Wednesdays Schooling Series. Carolina Equine Park (SCEP), 443 Cleveland School Road, Camden, SC. Matt Christison, 803.420.0407, mmathis443@gmail.com, scequinepark.com 16 Schooling HT, Combined Tests, Schooling Jump rounds, Dressage tests of choice Full Gallop Farm, 3828 Wagener Rd, Aiken. Lara Anderson: 803.215.6590, fullgallopfarm@yahoo.com, fullgallopfarm.com 17 Apple Tree Farm South, Schooling CT/Dressage, 1530 Oak Ridge Club Rd Windsor, SC Allison apltrefarm@aol.com (603)3450382 appletreefarm.org 18-19 RSNC BSC Arena Waynesboro GA Johnny Lovett 706-551-2190 or Cliff Chancey 706-840-3971 18-20 Extreme Trail Course Clinic. Carolina Equine Park (SCEP), 443 Cleveland School Road, Camden, SC. Laura Thomas, 803-315-9977, scequinepark.com 18-20 USEF National Highfields Event Center, 147 Warehouse Road, Aiken. 803.649.3505, psjshows.com 19 Atlanta Youth Dressage Challenge Dressage & CT Schooling Show, Georgia Int. Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway, Conyers, GA. 770.860.4190, Liz Molloy 770-634-4089 missliz@taramiaridingschool.com georgiahorsepark.com 19 USEA Recognized Horse Trials, Jumping Branch Farm 179 Fox Pond Road, Aiken 240-460-1094 timshaw628@gmail.com 19 Pipe Opener II CT Carolina Horse Park, 2814 Montrose Road, Raeford, NC. 910.875.2074, carolinahorsepark.com Sarah Crevar Thomas secretary@carolinahorsepark.com 19-20 Dressage at Bruce’s Field at the Aiken Horse Park, 931 Powderhouse Road SE, Aiken. 803.830.7077, aikenhorsepark.org 20 IEA Region Finals-Regions 1 and 6, Georgia Int. Horse Park, 1996 Centennial Olympic Parkway, Conyers, GA. 770.860.4190, georgiahorsepark.com 21 President’s Day Hunter Pace Whiskey Road Foxhounds, whiskeyroadfoxhounds.com 22 Schooling Dressage Tests of choice. Full Gallop Farm, 3828 Wagener Rd, Aiken. Lara Anderson: 803. 215.6590, fullgallopfarm@ yahoo.com, 24-25 Apple Tree Farm South & Jumping Branch Farm, Schooling CT/Dressage, 1530 Oak Ridge Club Rd Windsor, SC Allison apltrefarm@aol.com (603)345-0382 appletreefarm.org jbfarm.com 25-27 South Carolina Horsemen’s Council. Carolina Equine Park (SCEP), 443 Cleveland School Road, Camden, SC, scequinepark.com 25-27 PSJ Series C Highfields Event Center, 147 Warehouse Road, Aiken. 803.649.3505, psjshows.com 26 Camden Equine Circuit Springdale at Country Springs 803-4667134 countrysprings01@gmail.com 26-27 Low Country Classic I & II SCDCTA/USEF/USDF Dressage Show, Mullet Hall Equestrian Center, Johns Island SC, scdcta.com/calendar 27-28 ADC Driving Derby #3, Highfields Event Center, 198 Gaston Rd., Aiken, SC 29801 Peggy Dils, 803-295-6785 dilsaiken@gmail.com aikendrivingclub.com americandrivingsociety.org 9

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The Aiken Horse 83

Directory of Services ANIMAL CARE/HOUSESITTING Away Days Farm Services: Lifelong horseman with race track, polo and show facility experience available for farm sitting, all-animal care, fence mending and farm and landscape maintenance with your equipment. Jon Ruedisueli (603)322-3019, captjon@hotmail.com BLANKET CLEANING & REPAIR Aiken Horse Blanket Couture. Creative coolers; your colors. Creative equine-ware. Tack covers/carry bags Saddle pad enhancements. Blanket wash/waterproof . Blanket repair. AikenHorseBlanket.com. Elisa Denaburg. 803-640-3211 BOARDING/TURNOUT/TRAINING/SALES Chime Ridge Stables. 803-508-3760 Heart Horse Stables has roomy individual pasture boarding with 12 x 12 run-in shelters. Owners on site. Just over the Aiken line in Windsor. Arena, round pen, trails. $350/mo 704-288-7385 www.Sporting Days Farm.com. 3549 Charleston Hwy, Aiken, SC 29801 - 5.5 miles from Aiken By-Pass. 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 that it offers in 2021. sdaikenht@ aol.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 highquality 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 & Norfolk 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 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 Southern Ridge Excavation. Drainage, grading, small clearing, pad prep, utility ditching, pond mowing. Third generation family operated; Licensed & insured. Member Aiken Chamber of Commerce. Call Alex Koegel. 803-522-5752. southernridgex@ gmail.com. DENTISTRY MidAtlantic Equine Dentistry: Mike Cissell DVM, MS, DACVS-LA: Excellence in equine oral health. midatlanticequinedentistry.com; maed.aiken@gmail.com. (928) 458-4529. HAY Hoss Luva Hay! Exceptional quality Coastal Bermuda. Real fertilizer and lime to Clemson specs, not chicken litter. Never rained on.

The Aiken Horse

Square and round bales. Competitively priced. Also: Alfalfa mix & Canadian Timothy. Can deliver state-wide. Fully enclosed truck. Satisfaction guaranteed. Jim McClain. 803.247.4803. Moorefield Farms. Premium Ohio Hay. Now in Aiken! Regularly scheduled reliable delivery direct from our farm to you. Large or small quantities, no middleman. Consistent quality. Alfalfa, timothy, orchard and mixes. Quality guaranteed. MoorefieldHayFarms.com. 330-201-1700. 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 706-830-2600 or 803-827-0864. email garymcelmurray@glmconstruction.net 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 Hutson-Etherredge Company. Insuring Aiken farms since 1876. Your hometown independent insurance agency can customize your equine property coverage by choosing the best company to fit your needs. We are a full service insurance agency. Call Sandi Vogus for a quote! 803-649-5141 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 803-220-1768. 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 Fine Homes and Land. Specializing in selling or renting homes, farms, land & barns for short or long term leases. 29 years experience in helping people find the property of their dreams, even if it takes building it! Call Barbara Lawrence, 803-439-0778 for honest & realistic answers to your real estate questions. 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, Meybohm. “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 Tracey Kenworthy Turner, Meybohm. Specializing in marketing & selling Aiken’s horse country properties for 15+ years. southernhorsefarms.com. 803-215-4734. TACK & TACK CLEANING/REPAIR The Saddle Doctor. Saddlery and harness repair. 544 Two Notch Rd. HollyMacSpencer@aol.com. 803.642.5166.

December-January 2021-2022

Classifieds Stray Cat Outreach has a Barn Cat Placement Program and we are looking for cat lovers who have a barn or other secure outdoor structure and are interested in adopting cats not suitable for life inside a house. Cat temperaments range from feral to friendly. This program is designed to find homes for cats that have traditionally been deemed unadoptable through our adoption efforts. As a no-kill group we want to work with you to ensure one of their nine lives! For information please contact straycatoutreach@gmail.com or call 864 602 1549

Accomplished Morgan Driving Pair. Mare is 14 years old, black, 15.1 hh. Gelding is 10 years old, black, 15.2 hh. Team is Amish started and have been driving pleasure and competitively for 8 years. They come with- Kunley Funline carriage (pole & singles shafts) and complete harness for pair. (931)993-7841 for more information

9 yr old appendix mare 14.2 hds this super cute mare has been ridden on trails and has played some polo. She is fearless but not for a beginner. Is goey but not necessarily strong. Could be a good barrel prospect or finish for polo . Very sound no vices. Good with other horses and people. For more info 803-295-8687

BOARDING/TURNOUT/ TRAINING Chime Ridge Stables. Partial self care, adult friendly atmosphere. Chime Ridge Stables, South Aiken. 803-508-3760 phone or text. FARM SERVICES Southern Ridge Excavation. Drainage, grading, small clearing, pad prep, utility ditching, pond mowing. Third generation family operated; Licensed & insured. Member Aiken Chamber of Commerce. Call Alex Koegel. 803522-5752. southernridgex@gmail. com. 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

Blue Ribbon Trailer Wash Trucks, boats, barns, decks, patios, houses & more. “For a winning shine every time.” Call Pete 561-313-2339

and a variety of rocks. Roll-off containers and manure removal available. (803) 663-3715. Certified DBE. WOSB. www. glwdtrucking.com HAY 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 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 706-830-2600 or 803-8270864. email garymcelmurray@ glmconstruction.net Moorefield Farms. Premium Ohio Hay. Now in Aiken! Regularly scheduled reliable delivery direct from our farm to

you. Large or small quantities, no middleman. Consistent quality. Alfalfa, timothy, orchard and mixes. Quality guaranteed. MoorefieldHayFarms.com. 330201-1700. HORSES/PETS & SERVICES Away Days Farm Services: Lifelong horseman w/ race track, polo and show facility experience available for farm sitting, all-animal care, fence mending and farm and landscape maintenance with your equipment. Jon Ruedisueli (603)322-3019, captjon@hotmail. com Trinity Farms Terriers: Irish Russell Terriers & Norfolk Terriers. Old World, Healthy 100 year old. Bloodlines w/ proven calmer dispositions. Health & Dispositions guaranteed. Preservation breeders for 48 years. Donna Fitzpatrick 803-648-3137 easyjacks.com, trinityfarmskennel. com

RENTALS/HOME SHARES 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. 803-6482804. Cozy, cute carriage house for rent on Hitchcock Woods on iconic equestrian estate. 1BR/1BA. Sleeps 4. $125/night. European style barn with soaring ceilings. 3 stalls available (self care) $20/night per horse. 5 min to downtown Aiken and close to all horse venues. Perfect for female solo travelers. Monthly discounts avail. www.StayAiken.com

Advertising in The Aiken Horse DIRECTORY LISTING ADS: $25 per issue CLASSIFIED ADS are $25 for the first 30 words & 40 cents for every word or $90 for the year (6 issues.) thereafter. Add $5 for blind classified. BUSINESS CARDS: $70 per issue or $290 for the year (6 issues.) PHOTO CLASSIFIEDS for horses: $35; Limit 30 words & one picture DISPLAY ADS are available in a range of PHOTO CLASSIFIEDS for real estate, etc. sizes. For a detailed rate sheet and $45; Limit 60 words & one picture. publication schedule, visit our website: BOXED CLASSIFIEDS: add $5 to your total TheAikenHorse.com

MAILING ADDRESS: The Aiken Horse, P.O. Box 332, Montmorenci, SC 29839 EMAIL: theAikenHorse@gmail.com We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express.

December-January 2021-2022

Pay online: TheAikenHorse.com or call us: 803.643.9960

Advertise in the February-March issue! Deadline January 21, 2022 Publication date February 4, 2022

The Aiken Horse 85

Aiken Vacation Rentals Thanks for a great ﬁrst year! Our cozy furnished downtown pet-friendly rentals are fully booked for the 2021 - 2022 winter season! Now accepting bookings beginning April 2022. On Facebook @AikenVacationRentals AirBnB SUPERHOST KendraDeKay@gmail.com (803) 443-4755

Laura O’Connor Equestrian Ventures

Rider ~ Trainer ~ Coach

• USEF Licensed ‘R’ Judge • National Snaffle Bit Association Judge • Experienced Clinician • International US Rep. in Showjumping • Jumpers, Equitation & Hunters

Mobile: 561-252-4992

Web: Locequestrianventures.com Email: Locequestrian@gmail.com

The Aiken Horse

December-January 2021-2022

The Aiken Horse 87

The Aiken Horse

December-January 2021-2022

Outﬁtting Southeastern Farriers for Over 30 years

GREAT SERVICE AND QUALITY FARRIER SUPPLIES ARE OUR PRIORITY

Aiken, SC

803.685.5101

Columbus, NC 828.894.0280

www.monettafarrier.com

DocScott’s Equine Top Dress Hydrate • Recover • Energize Nitric Oxide Boost Samples available at

Aiken Saddlery

1044 East Pine Log Rd, Aiken

803-649-6583

docscottselectrolytes.com December-January 2021-2022

The Aiken Horse 89

Index of Advertisers Advertiser

Page

Section

Advertiser

Page

Section

Advertiser

Page

Section

Aiken County Farm Supply

Equine Rescue of Aiken

Oak Manor Saddlery

Aiken Fine Homes and Land

Estrella Equine

Pait Show Horses

Aiken Horse Park Foundation

FITS Equestrian

Performance Equine Vets

Aiken Horsemanship Academy

FOTAS Aiken

Progressive Show Jumping, Inc

Aiken Luxury Rentals

G L Williams and Daughter

Redman Int. Horse Transport

Aiken Polo Club

Gary Knoll Photography

Retired Racehorse Project

Aiken Saddlery, Inc.

Greystone Properties

Shane Doyle

Aiken Tack Exchange

Greystone Properties

South Carolina Equine Park

American National Insurance

Highfields

Southern Equine Service

Amy Scott Art

Hitchcock Woods Foundation

SPCA Albrecht Center

Annie Goodwin

Home to Home

Sporting Days Farm

Auto Tech

Jill Diaz Polo

Stable View, LLC

Balanced Sport Horse

Jumping Branch Farm

Stable View, LLC

Banixx

Keller Williams Stinson

Standlee

Barnware

Kingdom Nutrition

Biddle Realty

Landvest Inc

Supreme Top Form

Birdnest Inn

Lightning Protection Systems

TB Retirement Foundation

Bridle Creek

LOC Equestrian

Teddi Ismond

Carol Gillis, DVM

Mark Lexton

The Kneaded Edge

Carolina Company RE

Meybohm RE (Sullivan/Turner)

The Kneaded Edge

CHAPS

Meybohm RE Haslup

The Tack Room

Clint Bertalan Farms LLC

Meybohm RE Vaillancourt

The Willcox

Coldwell Banker (Buckingham)

Meybohm Realtors (Denehy)

Tryon Equine Law

DFG Stables

Moorefield Farm

Vaughn Equestrian

Epona

New Bridge Polo Club

Equine Divine

NibbleNet

The Aiken Horse

December-January 2021-2022

Ulcer’s Aid is set apart from other products because Ulcer’s Aid is created by NATURE! More than 300 Herbs, Grasses and Wild Flowers make up the foundation of Ulcer’s Aid. All things your horse would find in the wild.

● ULCERS ● POOR EATING ● COLIC ● LOOKS POORLY ● POOR MUSCLE DEVELOPMENT ● NERVOUS ● TYING UP SYNDROME ● BREATHING ISSUES (mucous) ● BLEEDING ● THUMPS ● LOW RED BLOOD CELLS ● INFLAMMATORY ISSUES ● ARTHRITIC CONDITIONS ● FRACTURES ● OCD LESIONS ● CHIPS ● BUCKED SHINS ● SPLINTS

December-January 2021-2022

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A I K E N, S O U T H C A R O L I N A

HOMES | HORSES | HISTORY | HOSPITALITY

C ome

Home to Greener Pastures

www.CarolinaCompany.com | 803.648.8660

Historic Horse District COURTNEY CONGER 803.645.3308 . $1,425,000

MIKE HOSANG 803.270.6358

Buckland Barn, an historic training facility in Aiken’s downtown Horse District, has spacious 2,787 square foot main residence, combining 2 original cottages with central great room. Cottage is delightfully renovated with wood floors, granite counter tops and all appliances. Two converted race barns have 15 expanded stalls, board fenced paddocks, grooms’ loft apartment, dressage arena with mirror. Easy access on sandy clay roads to downtown dining and shopping, equestrian venues and Hitchcock Woods, Aiken’s 2,200 acre riding reserve with over 60 miles of sandy trails.

Equestrian lots now available in popular south side horse country — build a home for you and your horses in this friendly community! The 21 lots offered in Section One range from 5.34 acres to 13.83 acres. Community amenities include arena and miles of perimeter riding trails. Wooded lots offered at just $16,000 per acre, cleared lots are $18,000 per acre.

River Oaks Farm

COURTNEY CONGER 803.645.3308 | RANDY WOLCOTT 803.507.1142 . $815,000

Custom wrought iron gates open to welcome visitors to 113 acres of fields and woods on the Edisto River. This beautifully maintained traditional home offers 3 fully finished floors. Main level includes formal living & dining rooms, den with fireplace, custom kitchen with granite, breakfast bay and all stainless appliances and spacious master suite. On the 2nd floor are 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths and sitting area. The 3rd floor has paneled media room & 2 bedrooms. Covered deck overlooks stocked pond, fenced pastures, lighted riding ring, 8-stall Barnmaster center aisle stable with tack room.

The Smith Farm . $450,000

COURTNEY CONGER 803.645.3308

Bridle Creek

TOM MURRAY 626.644.3008 . $499,000

From the developer of Three Runs Plantation, Bridle Creek meanders across 600 wooded acres of Aiken’s horse country, featuring equestrian homesites of 5 acres or more. Community amenities include dressage & jump arenas, cross-country schooling, and NEW activity center with fitness equipment and kitchen. Financing available!

Burtons Ferry Farm RANDY WOLCOTT 803.507.1142 . $385,000

Mini-farm on 8.8 acres of beautiful pasture in Allendale County has renovated brick farmhouse with many upgrades. The 3-bedroom, 2bath home has updated kitchen, large living room with fireplace, spacious owner’s suite with new bath. Grassland oasis with antique barn, new fencing, 2 large pastures, 2 paddocks, round pen, dog yard, vegetable garden, above ground pool, fire pit with grill.

Randy Wolcott

Peaceful lakeside living with your own dock on 18 acre semi-private lake. Comfortable home offers exquisite views, custom porcelain plank floors, fireplace, built ins, updated kitchen with granite counters, spacious owners suite, 2 guest bedrooms, and separate living space with microwave, fridge and bath above garage with separate entrance. Irrigation system, separate storage building.

Equestrian Corridor

. $450,000

Exceptional renovated historic farmhouse situated on 5.55 acres in Aiken County has all the amenities for 2-legged AND 4-legged family! Historic home has 5 bedrooms, 3 full baths, spacious living areas, 4 woodburning fireplaces, front porch, and deck for entertaining which overlooks in ground pool and stables. For horses, there are 6 pastures, 7-stall barn with tack room, separate hay storage building & workshop.

Courtney Conger

Paddocks Bend

JACK ROTH 803.341.8787 . Starting at $19,500 per acre

RANDY WOLCOTT 803.507.1142

Here’s nearly 79 acres (78.93 acres) of absolutely beautiful fields of grass, shaded with large mature oaks and pine trees. The farm cabin, nestled in a shady grove surrounded by many ornamental plants and trees, has 2 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and soaring ceilings with fireplace in open living area. There is a large 12-acre hay field which could be converted to use as a polo practice field.

Two lovely level parcels available in equestrian community. Both lots are cleared, stumped, and planted in grass, and are perimeter fenced in non-climb wire with board on top. Community riding area with dressage and cross country course, with miles of riding trails. Timshel Tract with 12.49 acres is $132,000 and Pottery Mill Parcel with 10.38 acres is offered at $113,000.

Unique huntbox has 4700 square feet under one roof. There are multiple storage and utility spaces as well as 2 separate bedrooms, each with bath. The barn area offers 2 stalls, turn out, run in shed and 2 large pastures. The 2-car tandem garage has ceilings, plus single garage. Back patio area could be converted to a enclosed porch or whatever additional space might be needed. The main living area has vaulted ceilings in an open plan with gas fireplace. There are marble and granite counter tops. Set in phase 6 of Aiken's premier equestrian community, this property is close to the 30 miles of groomed trails and a short ride to the south complex arenas.

Heritage Farm

RANDY WOLCOTT 803.507.1142

Timshel Gardens

Three Runs Plantation TOM MURRAY 626.644.3008 . $675,000

The Paddocks

MIKE HOSANG 803.270.6358 . $616,220

A rare opportunity in the heart of Aiken’s east side equestrian corridor offering approximately 29 acres of fully established lush pasture, plus over 3 wooded acres for a wonderful home and barn site with a breathtaking lake view. Price includes a new gated entrance from Wagener Road to be installed by the seller.

Three Runs Plantation

Fox Hollow on the Lake

BARB GOULD USKUP 803.295.3199

Gorgeous level lot in Aiken’s premier equestrian community! Easy access to all amenities, with 5.53 acres to build your dream home or farm. Amenities include clubhouse, pool & cabana, picnic area, activity center with fitness room, 2 equestrian complexes each with mirrored dressage arena and jump arena, cross country schooling complex with natural jumps, and over 30 miles of trails. Natural gas and high speed Internet available. Offered at $199,000.

Jack Roth

MIKE HOSANG 803.270.6358

One of Aiken's premier equestrian communities, Fox Hollow on the Lake is private, gated and conveniently located between Aiken and Augusta. Fox Hollow offers wonderful equestrian amenities including community riding/walking trails, dressage arena, jumping arena and cross-country course. Great opportunity to build and enjoy privacy, lifestyle and convenience. Lot 59 has 7.66 acres and is offered at $111,070 | $14,500 per acre Lot 64 has 17.16 acres and is offered at $231,660 | $13,500 per acre

Tom Murray

Thomas Bossard

Mike Hosang

Alex Tyrteos

Brian Cavanaugh

Lee Hedlund

803.645.3308

803.507.1142 803.341.8787 626.644.3008 803.640.2845 803.270.6358

Barb Gould Uskup

Donnita Harmon Jane Page Thompson

803.295.3199

803.508.1936 803.215.8232 203.249.3071 803.624.6072 803.221.6831

Office: 803.648.8660 | www.CarolinaCompany.com