Vol. 2 No. 5
May 28, 2014
Team Work Makes the Dream Work for Stepping Stone Farm by Lindsay Yandon In 1974 Sandy Kelly settled on a piece of land 20 minutes east of Albany in Postenkill, New York with a handful of school horses, ten stalls and a dream. From those roots Stepping Stone Farm has grown to 70 stalls, an indoor arena and a familiar presence at A-circuit shows spanning the East Coast. “I was a trainer at Woodland Stables when they decided to close up their business,” said Kelly. “They gave me all their horses and sent me on my merry way. From there, the business expanded quickly grew and grew.” Kelly admits she still looks around the barn she built from the ground up and it renders her speechless. “Sometimes it’s overwhelming, but we are a team – that’s how we get it all done.” It’s a team pieced and held together with family and friends. When Amy Momrow, now a grand prix rider, was nine years old, she and her older sister entered the farm’s lesson program. Kelly and son Monty trained Momrow throughout her junior career and after a brief break while a student at Sienna College, turned to riding professionally in 1999 and joined the team at Stepping Stone as a trainer. “We work together every second each day and that’s how we make it all happen,” said Momrow, who can be spotted scheduling the day in the barn, coaching at the shows and competing herself. Two years ago, Stepping Stone experienced growing pains in the best sense of the phrase –
Riders to Watch: Page 3 Mckayla Langmeier
Week I
Cornetto Royal Finds a Home in the Hunter Ring by Lindsay Yandon Heather Caristo-Williams first saw Cornetto Royal, a striking gray Westphalian stallion, four years ago schooling at a horse show in Belgium and immediately recognized potential in the young horse. While not intentionally shopping for a stallion CaristoWilliams tried him anyway, and the decision is paying off in full.
Francesca Eremeeva and Owen in the $10,000 Marshall & Sterling Insurance TuffRider/Equine Couture Child/Adult Jumper Classic before crossing the timers a single one-hundredth off the lead. ©ESI Photography
they grew too big for their facility. “We were on the road most of the year – six months in Florida and six months in Saugerties – but still didn’t have a facility that would hold us,” Kelly said. “Saugerties became our home for almost a year while we added a barn to our farm. The facility now houses our entire string.”
“We saw hundreds of horses that day, but he stood out,” she said. “I got on him, took a deep breath, dropped the reins and when he did the same, knew I wanted him.” After an early career as a jumper, Cornetto Royal’s first experience in the hunter ring was last year competing in the Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final qualifiers as a seven-year-old gelding. continued on Page 9
With room to grow Kelly recently dedicated part of her lesson program to the Albany County community, designed to give children, junior and adult riders at any level the opportunity to learn, ride and compete. “There’s a serious lack of opportunity for riding and showing in our area. We want to give people from the ground up a place to come.” With a variety of clients competing in divisions from crossrails to grand prix, continued on Page 4
Heather Caristo-Williams gives Cornetto Royal a pat of approval after producing the winning round in the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix. Photo by HITS Staff