Horse & Style Magazine Dec/Jan 2014/15

BEHIND THE SEAMS: STICK AND BALL

A Conversation with Zara Phillips Full Circle Fashion Style Rider: Spencer Smith $10.00 . www.horseandstylemag.com

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12 Days of Christmas

Starting December 13 th , Horse & Style will be gifting one of these fantastic equestrian items each day to a different Facebook fan.

Visit www.facebook.com/horseandstylemag for your chance to win.

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1. The Black & Tan MacLean Reversible Belt by MacKenzie MacLean 2. Concavalli Lavalier Silver Necklace by Galleria Morusso 3. Loto Breeches by Sarm Hippique 4. A One-Year Subscription to BarnManager.com 5. Horse Cookies by Charleigh’s Cookies 6. The Cool Shirt in Black/Cashmere by Equi In Style 7. Silk Equestrian Scarf by L. Lavone 8. Custom Messenger Bag by Equuleus Designs 9. Girls Original Blue Breeches and Thumbs Up Schooling Shirt by Annie’s Equestrienne Apparel 10. Pony Tail Products Grooming Assortment 11.

Stable & Sea Candle Trio 12. Berry Bag by Oughton Limited

Many thank yous to all of our generous partners who participated in the H&S 12 Days of Christmas! december/january ·

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28 28 A CONVERSATION WITH ZARA PHILLIPS

Her royal ties may make her one of the most sought-after riders in the United Kingdom, but in so many ways, Zara Phillips is just as grounded as the next equestrian

42 RIDER SPOTLIGHT: LESLIE NELSON

Leslie Nelson has lived a big life, but as far as she’s concerned, she’s far from done yet. Meet this 66-year-old amateur jumper rider currently competing in the 1.20m open jumpers

46 HORSE & STYLE’S MOST INTRIGUING EQUESTRIANS OF 2014

The hunter/jumper world is full of characters and high achievers, but these five equestrians stood out as the most intriguing equestrians of 2014

53 FULL CIRCLE FASHION

Equestrian fashion is so steeped in tradition that it’s only natural the clothing doesn’t stray too far from its origins. H&S examines the old-meets-new changes in equestrian apparel

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59 THE CALIFORNIA WAY

In late October, hunters and jumpers flock to the California coast to gather on hallowed ground at the Del Mar International Horse Show

64 AN EVOLUTION IN PINQUE

How the Hermés atelier’s search for perfection outfitted the US Equestrian Team in pure elegance

72 HORSE CORNER: PATRICK HENRY

The Makers Mark Secretariat Center in Lexington, KY was searching for a Thoroughbred ambassador when Patrick Henry came along to fill the role

77 WHAT MAKES YOU STRONGER

An ALS diagnosis didn’t keep Pat Bennett away from her horse or her life at Windy Hill Equestrian in Palo Alto, CA. Find out how riding has kept her stronger and happier in the face of a frightening disease

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11 | FROM THE PUBLISHER

contents

Full Circle Life

12 | 10 THINGS

© 2014-15 HORSE&STYLE MAGAZINE

Juan Pablo Gnecco PUBLISHER & EDITOR IN CHIEF

14 | PROFESSIONAL POP QUIZ

Sarah Appel

sarah@horseandstylemag.com

15 | BETWEEN THE LINES

EDITOR

20 | STYLE RIDER

Erin Gilmore

Spencer Smith

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

22 | OUT & ABOUT

Ryan Anne Polli

Del Mar International Horse Show

24 | NEW PRODUCT ALERT

ADVERTISING & SALES

Elizabeth Davoll

The EIS Warm Shirt

advertising@horseandstylemag.com

The Washington International Horse Show

COPYEDITOR

Laura Danowski

34 | BEHIND THE SEAMS Stick & Ball

38 | TREND REPORT

The Equestrian’s Desk

57 | OUT & ABOUT

CONTRIBUTORS

Erin Gilmore, Esther Hahn, Katie Shoultz, Alexa Pessoa, Dr. Carrie Wicks, Terri Roberson, Meghan Blackburn, PJ McGinnis, Hannah Neil, Emily Riden,

The Throwback Edition

67 | NATIONAL HORSE SHOW

ASSOCIATE CONTRIBUTOR

Cara Walinsky

The ASPCA Maclay

70 | LIFE OF PESSOA

A Rivalry Gone Rogue

74 | STYLE PROFILES Toasty Threads

81 | VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

Brown Beauty Equestrian

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Shannon Brinkman, Emily Riden, Rebecca Walton, Erin Gilmore, Dominic James, Ashlee Elizabeth Photography, Jim Dratfield, Piper Klemm, Catherine Flowers, Bethany Unwin, Cathal Phelan INTERN

86 | BARN ENVY

Hannah Neil

Lucky Jack Farm

90 | OUT & ABOUT

The National Horse Show

93 | OUT & ABOUT

National Sunshine Series

ON THE COVER: Bertram Allen and Molly Malone compete in the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Photo ©Shannon Brinkman

95 | ASK DR. CARRIE 96 | PREVIEW

Holiday Guide to Equestrian Style

98 | BIT OF BLISS

Allison Kroff and James Girolamo

Horse & Style Magazine is an equestrian lifestyle publication that is published bi-monthly and available at participating tack shops nationwide for $10, and while supplies last at large training centers and hunter jumper horse shows. The written and visual contents of this magazine are protected by copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher is legally prohibited.

Copyright © 2014-15 Horse & Style Magazine LLC. TM

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www.horseandstylemag.com ·

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contributors

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Erin Gilmore

Esther Hahn

Katie Shoultz

Alexa Pessoa

Erin Gilmore is a freelance writer and equestrian journalist based in Wellington, Florida. She has worked in equestrian media since 2002, and is a frequent contributor to regional and national equestrian magazines.

A lifelong horseperson, she worked in a variety of disciplines, from hunter/jumpers to polo.

Esther Hahn is a writer living in San Francisco, California. She graduated from Yale University and traveled the world as a surf journalist before landing in Northern California.

But long before surfing came her interest in horses. She is currently an associate editor at Racked SF and blogs about her personal journey with surfing, style, and horses at Sea Dog Ranch.

Katie Shoultz is a freelance writer and photographer based in Lexington, Kentucky. The business savvy writer is also the founder of Isidore Farm, in beautiful Kentucky.

Katie is involved with several equine organizations and is active in the industry she most enjoys writing about.

Alexa Pessoa is an American rider from Connecticut who married Olympic Gold Medalist and three time FEI Rolex World Cup Finals Champion Rodrigo Pessoa in 2009.

Her column for H&S charts her life as a mother to their daughter Sophia, as a rider, and as a wife to one of the world’s most high profile show jumpers.

Carrie Wicks, Ph.D.

Terri Roberson, Psy.D. Meghan Blackburn

Dr. Carrie Wicks divides her time between her private sport psychology consulting and family therapy practice, traveling with athletes, and writing. She recently completed her doctorate in psychology while researching the mental practices of equestrian athletes. Dr. Carrie’s passions include horses, yoga, mountain biking, skiing, and time in nature with animals.

A licensed clinical psychologist, Terri Roberson combines her passion for horses with her clinical work in equine-assisted psychotherapy.

She currently sits on the board of Giant Steps Therapeutic Equestrian Center. Spending over 25 years on the horse show circuit has given her an eye for equestrian style and provides constant inspiration for her frequent contributions to H&S.

Meghan Blackburn grew up in Lexington, Ky. She's lived in New York, Europe, Washington, DC, but she always managed to keep horses in her life. When she's not at the barn, she likes to speak Italian, take photos, travel or shop for vintage clothing (preferably at the same time).

PJ McGinnis is a freelance writer and avid equestrian who balances his time between riding, school, and work. Upon graduating early from Franklin & Marshall College, he will moved to Wellington, FL for the winter to train with Louise Serio before heading to law school in the fall of 2015. Although he is now pursuing a career in business and law, PJ always finds time to fulfill his lifelong equestrian passion.

Hannah Neil

Emily Riden

Bethany Unwin

Dr. Piper Klemm

Hannah Neil is a senior at the University of California at Davis.

She divides her time between the equestrian world and studying politics. After riding and showing as a junior, she refocused her attention towards the business side of the equestrian industry. Hannah also interns at Sonoma Horse Park in Sonoma, CA during their show season.

Based in Wellington, Florida, Emily Riden is a public relations account executive for Phelps Media Group.

She hails from Pennsylvania where she grew up riding and competing.

Emily graduated from Penn State University with degrees in public relations and equine science, and she now represents some of the equestrian industry's prominent brands, riders and events.

· december/january

Bethany Unwin is a all genre photographer based in Southern California. She divides her time between both of her passions, equestrian sports and photography while at times being able to combine the two. During her free time Bethany enjoys freelancing as a concert and event photographer throughout Los Angeles and San Diego County.

PJ McGinnis

Piper Klemm is a freelance writer and photographer. She is the CEO of Piper Klemm Ph.D. LLC based in Canton, New York, which owns six hunter ponies that compete all over the United States. She has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.

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FROMthepublisher

Full Circle Life In the fall of 2013, I helped to start an Interscholastic Equestrian Association high-school-level equestrian team. I was part of a similar, IHSA equestrian team when I attended Pace University from 20002004. The IEA is a very special program that gives middle and high school riders the opportunity to compete on a regional and national level both as individuals and as a team.

As a co-coach with Stephanie Simmonds, I was prepared for the office work, scheduling, sending in entries, etc. But it was a welcome surprise to be drawn into the new friendships, ringside bonding and genuine team spirit that developed among the riders on our IEA team. It’s easy to forget where we all started in our riding careers, but watching one of our riders’ faces light up when she wins a 5th place ribbon reminds me of where I came from, and helps me give back to a community that was instrumental in my own early riding career.

Coming full circle is defined in a myriad of ways, and when this issue’s theme began to take shape, I was reminded of the many ways that we as riders, and our equestrian world in general, come full circle in life and industry.

Where would our equestrian trends of today be without the original riding styles that were paved with tradition? In this issue we examined trends from back in the day that have carried over, or resurfaced into today’s current riding apparel trends (page 53). While the prestige of the US team pinque coat is timeless, an infusion of style by recent USET team apparel sponsor Hermès has spun new life into this essential, prestigious item (page 64).

in the hunter/jumper equestrian world in 2014 to name Horse & Style’s Most Intriguing Equestrians of 2014 (page 46).

By the scope of his achievements in 2014 alone, this issue’s cover subject is leagues ahead of other riders both his same age and not.

Bertram Allen has yet to step foot on American soil but, mark our words, that day is coming, and before long this young Irish rider will be standing atop a podium, be it in the USA or within his stomping grounds in Europe.

I can’t go without mentioning the exclusive, rare interview that H&S secured with Zara Phillips over the summer. A notoriously private and hardworking royal, Phillips graciously took the time to speak with H&S to make for a fantastic and revealing article by contributor Esther Hahn (pg 29).

As usual, this issue looks at every angle of the equestrian industry as it applies to our world of show jumping. As you come full circle with your own riding pursuits, consider the story of Leslie Nelson (page 42), who is chasing her own goals and planning for a long future in the sport. Or, the story of Pat Bennett, a rider who hasn’t let a frightening diagnosis get between her and her riding (page 77).

Everyone has his or her own definition of coming full circle. I see the effects when I stand on the sidelines at an IEA show, cheering on our students and guiding them towards better greatness in riding. Where does your definition of full circle come in?

Until Next Time,

Just to keep the back in the day fun rolling, in this issue H&S sourced candid photos to feature in a throwback edition of our popular Out & About pages (page 57).

In a way, the full circle theme continues to this month’s cover story.

The H&S team greatly enjoyed probing the equestrian world to select and discover the five individuals that we found to be most intriguing

Above: H&S Publisher – and IEA team coach – Sarah Appel with a few members of the 2014 North Peak Equestrian IEA Team.

december/january ·

11

10things 10 things you might not know about...

Juan Pablo

Gnecco

Rider Juan Pablo Gnecco, of Mountain View, CA, is recognized among West Coasters for his broad smile and quiet demeanor. The technology entrepreneur who has successfully built and sold three companies (the most recent to Samsung, where he currently works) turned to show jumping a bit late in life. Quickly, he realized that he wanted to reach the highest levels of the sport, not only in jumping at the grand prix level, but one day, hopefully, representing his native Colombia in international competition.

Slowly but surely, he is getting there. Strong grand prix finishes earned him top-ten ranking on both the FEI Western League World Cup list, and among the top Colombian riders in the world in 2014. Find out more about this popular, hardworking rider who, as one of the only grand prix competitors who also holds a full-time job outside of horses, is a success in many fields.

1.

He was born in the United States, but grew up in Bogota, Colombia. He holds dual citizenship to both countries.

2.

The 1996 Atlanta Olympics inspired him to move to the USA with his family to live the American dream.

3.

His biggest goal is to one day earn a spot on the Colombian Equestrian Team.

4.

He is the founder of Colombianitos, a non-profit organization that helps at-risk kids in nine Colombian cities stay off the streets by getting involved with soccer.

5.

He bought his grand prix horse, New York, sight unseen in April 2014, through the highly publicized Eurocommerce liquidation auction.

6.

Speaking of auctions, Juan Pablo, his brother, and his nephew were the team that organized the first VDL Auctions in the United States, in Ocala, FL in 2011, and Wellington in 2012.

7.

He and his wife, Elvia Cecila Gnecco, have been married for 27 years.

8.

He dropped out of college to become a photographer.

9.

It wasn’t until he was 38-years-old that he began riding horses seriously.

10. The farmer’s market near his home in Mountain View is one of his favorite places.

Photo ©Erin Gilmore

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· december/january

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NARG Rider's Grant Edition

The North American Riders Group exists to improve the quality of show jumping in North America. Its annual Rider's Grant, awarded each February, enables an emerging rider an opportunity to achieve levels of performance they otherwise may not have been able to attain. This month, H&S quizzed the three previous NARG Rider's Grant recipients.

THIS MONTH’S QUESTION: How did the NARG Rider's Grant steer you toward career opportunities that you might otherwise have missed out on?

Every issue, a new question will be answered by hunter/jumper professionals.

Have a question you want answered? Send it to sarah@horseandstylemag.com

“I am thankful to have had the opportunity to receive the NARG Rider's Grant. It gave me the chance to take a huge step forward with the training I needed to further my career. The grant allowed me to train and compete in Europe under the tutelage of Paul and Emile Hendrix. Since returning home from Europe I have used funds from the grant to help with opening up my own business, Johnstone Stables.”

Sarah Johnstone, Johnstone Stables, Caledon, Ontario, Canada 2012 NARG Rider's Grant Recipient "The NARG grant was an enormous help to my 2013 season! The best example of the pivotal role that the grant played, was with my grand prix horse Spitfire. I had been riding Spitfire for several years, but was lacking the funds to finish the buy out that would allow me to continue to show the horse in the coming years. I had a budget for the coming season, and knew that it was going to be very difficult to come-up with more money. It was right at that time that I found out I was going to be the recipient of the 2013 grant. With the grant funds to help with the costs of showing, I was now free to invest more money into Spitfire. We went on to have one of our best seasons together, that included winning six major events! I am tremendously grateful to have been one of the past recipients of the grant, and I would like to say another thank you to both NARG for the Rider's Grant, and to the Southern family for sponsoring the grant!"

Brian Morton, Equimark Inc, Langley, BC, Canada 2013 NARG Rider's Grant Recipient “Because I received the NARG Rider's Grant, I was able to train with Anne Kursinski throughout the 2014 WEF season. Anne is an amazing rider and trainer. After training with her I have more confidence -- I hear her teaching me every time I ride. It was a privilege to be in her training video (which should be coming out soon). Anne played a crucial part in the training and development of my young sale horse, which I recently sold. The Rider's Grant also gave me the ability to attend more weeks at WEF than my original budget would have provided.

Receiving the grant allowed me to meet people in this business that I otherwise would have been reluctant to introduce myself to. Since receiving the grant, I have been offered several professional riding positions and am currently a professional rider for Katie Kappler. I am looking forward to a successful winter season.”

Anita Mont, Dare to Dream Farm, LLC/Katie Kappler, LLC, Mukwonago, WI 2014 NARG Rider's Grant Recipient

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As the story progresses, Sara meets an endearing love interest, struggles with her controlling father, and to say anything else would be giving too much away. If you’re a reader who looks for complex character development and a storyline that rollicks along to a unique beat, Finding Sara is for you. The equine element is a running theme throughout the book, but it in no way takes center stage. However, that’s not a bad thing. With a mystery, the exploration of the challenges of mental illness and a developing relationship to follow, Finding Sara is an engaging novel that will be hard to put down.

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STYLErider

by P.J. McGinnis

Spencer

Smith After becoming the first male to win the Pessoa/US Hunter Seat Medal Finals in 12 years, Spencer Smith marched into the Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park a few weeks later for the 2014 ASPCA Maclay Finals and did not fail to impress, finishing in the top five. After being awarded the Wilson Dennehy Equitation Trophy for best results overall from both equitation finals, Smith remained poised and humble as the crowd cheered.

The son of trainers Ken and Emily Smith, Spencer is based in Wellington, FL, and exudes a sense of confidence and professionalism whenever he enters the show ring. He knows what he likes, he knows what he wants, and he knows what it takes to get there. With a strong team at Ashland Farms behind him and with a growing list of accolades to his name, this 17-year-old is sure to be one to watch in the years to come.

Horse & Style: What is your head-to-toe riding outfit?

Spencer Smith: When I am showing, I usually wear a very classic outfit. For example, at the [2014 USEF/Pessoa] Medal Seat Final, I wore a Samshield helmet, a dark navy coat, tan Pikeur breeches, Parlanti tall boots, a Cartier belt, and I almost always wear a Hermès tie.

H&S: Describe your riding (apparel) style: SS: I just got into wearing grey or dark blue breeches when riding at home because they don’t show dirt as easy and I think they look nice. I wear a lot of Ralph Lauren polo shirts, especially the golfing material kind, because it’s a lot cooler to ride in down here in Florida. I usually wear tall boots to ride because I’m not really a half chaps kind of guy. And I always tuck my shirt in and wear a belt.

H&S: Do you wear anything for good luck?

SS: Recently at the Medal Seat Final, Don Stewart gave me his lucky tie. So that was a good luck charm. But I don’t get to use that in all of the classes.

At my first major equitation final, the Platinum Performance/ USEF Show Jumping Talent Search, I wore a Cartier Roadster watch, but that didn’t go very well. So I changed to a silver Rolex for the Medal Seat Final. That worked out much better, so I’m going to keep wearing that!

H&S: Do you have any rituals or special routines that you do to prepare before a big class?

SS: Even if it’s not a major equitation final or grand prix class, I always polish my boots. I think it is a good time to focus and not think about anything else.

20

· december/january

H&S: What are your favorite equestrian brands?

SS: I got into Equiline this past summer, they have a classic look and I like to stick to one company so that everything matches. I also think Parlanti boots are beautiful, even off-the-rack boots look like a custom pair.

Samshield helmets fit me really nicely and I think they look quite nice.

For my horses, they all go in Devoucoux saddles. I have a great relationship with Devoucoux, the saddles look nice and fit the horses great. My horses also wear Equifit boots and saddle pads. Equifit is great because they customize everything for us in black and green, our Ashland Farms’ colors.

H&S: How would you describe your non-horse show style?

SS: When I’m in Florida, I will typically wear dark jeans with driving shoes or loafers, a tucked in polo shirt or a long-sleeved shirt (untucked) with the sleeves rolled up, or something like that. I wear a lot of shirts by a company called Vicomte A, they are sometimes at the major shows and they have great stuff.

H&S: What an accomplishment, winning the 2014 USEF/Pessoa Medal Seat Final. Instead of asking you how it felt, perhaps you can comment on the difference between first and second?

SS: I think that second is maybe a little disappointing, but you know, if you watched the final round of the class again, the second place rider could have ended up on top, because maybe she could have rode it a little differently or something. Even if you could do the class over again a couple times, I don’t necessarily think the winner would win every single time. I do think the riding was very consistent and so close together that if I had come in second, I wouldn’t be beating myself up too much, but I would be a little disappointed, of course.

2015 Flintridge Spring Classic April 16-19

H&S: If you weren’t a rider, what would your dream profession be?

SS: I really like to ride, but if I can’t do that I guess I would probably end-up going into real estate.

I also like style and have a lot of interest in watches and things like that, so I’m not sure… it would be nice to have a big clothing company or something like that.

H&S: Who has been the most influential in your riding career?

SS: Wow. I don’t want to say one person because I have so many great trainers who have helped me in equitation and also in the jumpers. But one person for sure is my father. He’s been the one that has trained me since I was a young kid and still trains me to this day. So if I had to pick one person, I would have to say it’s him.

The other influential trainers in my life are Geoff Teal, Donald Stewart, and Markus Beerbaum, he’s helped me in the jumpers and influenced me quite a bit. As well as Daniel Deusser, I have been riding with him a bit these past two summers and he’s been very good to me.

H&S: What is the one thing you never go in the ring without?

SS: I try to never go in the ring without a show coat. Unless it’s a really, really small schooling

94th Annual Flintridge Horse Show April 23-26

Flintridge Autumn Classic September 24-27

La Cañada Flintridge, CA

class, I like to always wear a show coat because it looks nice.

Above: Spencer Smith winning the Pessoa/US Hunter Seat Medal Final at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, October 11th, 2014. Photo ©Al Cook - alcookphoto.com Left: Spencer Smith on the eve of competing at the ASPCA Maclay Championships at The National Horse Show. Photo ©Emily Riden for Phelps Sports

photo ©Bret St Clair Photography

OUT&about

DEL MAR INTERNATIONAL HORSE SHOW – DEL MAR, CA

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1. Mandy Porter is stylish and friendly! 2. “Mom, I just won my first grand prix!” Hannah Heidegger after winning the $25,000 GGT Series Grand Prix Final 3. Will Simpson burns a hole through the camera lens with his Blue Steel gaze 4. Donna Chopp and Jesse Holycross 5. Team Green is represented

by Toni McIntosh 6. Course Designer Bernardo Cabral makes sure that heights and poles are just so 7. Rich Fellers signs autographs for fans 8. Stoically accepting their award: Hannah Loly and Quaya Plaisir 9. Thanks for reading, Nayel Nassar! 10. Lane Clarke silently devises his strategy for tackling a tricky double 11. Billy Ray Cyrus graciously sang the National Anthem 12. The annual Zombie Flash Mob took over in the Del Mar Arena Photos ©Erin Gilmore

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ŽŶŐƌĂƚƵůĂƟŽŶƐ ƚŽ ĞĞnjŝĞ DĂĚĚĞŶ͕ ĨŽƌ ŚĞƌ ĂŵĂnjŝŶŐ ϯƌĚ ƉůĂĐĞ ĂŶĚ ĨŽƌ ďƌŝŶŐŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ďƌŽŶnjĞ ŵĞĚĂů ƚŽ ƚŚĞ h^ ƚĞĂŵ͕ ĂŶĚ ŽƌƚĞƐ ͚ ͕͛ ďĞƐƚ ƉĞƌĨŽƌŵŝŶŐ ŚŽƌƐĞ Ăƚ ƚŚĞ tŽƌůĚ ƋƵĞƐƚƌŝĂŶ dĞĂŵ͘

sŽůƚĂŝƌĞ ĞƐŝŐŶ͘ĐŽŵ

NEWproductalert

Heat is Cool with the EIS Warm Shirt A framed photograph that hangs in the offices of Equ In Style, near Orlando, FL says it all. Nine-year-old Jackie Eckert proudly stands next to her pony, wearing a shirt she sewed herself. Fastforward some 30 years later, and not only is Eckert still a rider; she’s transformed her lifelong passion for sewing into a career that serves the horse industry.

If you’ve ridden a horse under the open sun during the last three years, it’s more than likely that you’ve taken to wearing long-sleeved, protective shirts. The days of the polo shirt are fading into the past as riders become more aware of the damage that prolonged exposure to the sun can wreak.

But when Eckert founded EIS in 2011, the notion of wearing a long sleeve shirt in hot weather was still a hard sell.

“The (EIS sun shirt) material was a golf shirt when I first discovered it, and I thought it would be great to bring out in the equestrian world,” Eckert remembers. “But it’s kind of hard to get someone into a long sleeve shirt in Florida.”

However, once she was able to talk a few early adopters into it, the EIS long sleeve took off like wildfire. Offered in ten bright colors and made of high-tech moisture wicking material with embedded SPF and UPV protection, along with mesh underarms, EIS shirts protect from the sun, keep riders cool, and solve that age-old problem of the farmer’s tan.

Eckert’s cool shirts are made in the USA, and within three years of going into business, they were picked up and carried in over 135 retail locations nationwide.

“It was quite a bit different than anything else that was out there,” Eckert says. “We’re a small company in a big market, but all of our production is local or near-local, and that gives me room to play with whatever ideas I come up with.”

T H E WA R M S H I R T Once you know how to stay cool, what’s the natural next step?

Getting (and staying) warm, of course. Eckert wanted to introduce a new piece of apparel that would close the gap between October and February, when temperatures drop and riders reach for their layers.

Several years ago, Eckert discovered a high tech material that warms the body by five degrees when worn. But, with the Cool Shirts taking up EIS’ limited resources, she decided to wait to until the time was right to develop the EIS Warm Shirt. After three years in business, that time became the fall of 2014.

The Warm Shirt was made for riders who have to deal with cold weather and don’t want to struggle with bulk. It’s an ideal first layer,

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adding base warmth that can be layered with a lightweight jacket or sweater. Eckert worked to find the right material that would be lightweight enough to appeal to riders who spend most of their day performing physical work outdoors. Even when it’s cold, sun protection is still critical. With that in mind, the EIS Warm Shirt offers UPF 50+ protection along with its mega heat technology.

“The shirt works off your body heat – when you need warmth, it creates it with your body heat – and wicks away any moisture to keep you warm,” Eckert details. “The mega heat that is embedded into the material is what makes it such a great high tech piece of apparel.”

Eckert laughs when she thinks of the little girl who loved to sew.

She’s turned her love for needle and thread into a reality that her nine-year-old self could have only dreamed. What’s more, Eckert has never stopped riding herself, and spends her winters competing in Wellington. She’s excited about a new prospect that she’ll be bringing south for the winter with trainers Wendy and Ezeuiel Peralta. She’s her own best customer, and constantly test-wears her own products to ensure they meet her standards.

Much like she introduced the EIS Cool Shirt back in 2011, Eckert is looking forward to spreading the word about the EIS Warm Shirt this winter. Whether the need is to stay cool or warm, she loves filling the gap with apparel that fits each season.

OUT&about

THE WASHINGTON INTERNATIONAL HORSE SHOW - WASHINGTON, DC

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1. Meagan Nusz and Vesuvius pay homage to Dr. Seuss 2. Grace Boston with Molly Bloom 3. Caroline Passarelli and Little Black Pearl accept WIHS accolades with trainer Robin Greenwood 4. McLain Ward and Kent Farrington enjoy their role as celebrity judges 5. Kama Godek receives ecstatic congratulations after her effort in the President's Cup 6. BIG excitement from the Shetland Pony Races! 7. Linda Evans and Kim Ferro watch Dreamland win the Large Pony Handy Hunter 8. Elizabeth Woods and trainer Emily Elek 9. Stride one, stride two... Candice King walks the line 10. Anne Hoch and Cindy Woods enjoy the show 11. Lillie Keenan: Pink Power Ranger!

Photos 漏Dr. Piper Klemm

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Zara and Trev tackle the difficult cross country course at the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. The pair finished the competition with an individual 11th place, a big jump from sitting in 53rd after the dressage phase. 路 dece dece cem mber mb er/j /jan nuaryy

feature

by Esther Hahn

a conversation with

Zara

Phillips

The

everyday

life of a modern-day royal

It’s early in the morning in Los Angeles when I wake for a phone interview with Zara Phillips. We’ve planned the call for 4 pm her time and 8 am mine, but I take a seat next to my landline a good hour ahead of schedule. I want to be alert and caffeinated for the one (and very likely, only) time I will speak with the Queen of England’s granddaughter.

I’ve already researched Zara to the best of the Internet’s capabilities. I know that she’s the only daughter from Princess Anne’s first marriage to Captain Mark Phillips. The former couple met through their joint pursuits in the three-day eventing discipline. Captain Phillips is a four-time champion at the Badminton Horse Trials and won Team Gold and Silver at the 1972 and 1988 Olympics, respectively. Zara’s mother also enjoyed a successful career in the same sport, winning Individual Gold at the 1971 European Eventing Championship aboard her homebred Doublet. She also rode on the British team at the ‘76 Olympic Games. In the midst of all the competitions and training for the demanding discipline, the princess and the captain (then only a lieutenant) married on a Wednesday in 1973.

There are a lot more lows than there are highs so that makes you appreciate those highs more when it all happens at the right time.

On their wedding day, the Queen most likely offered Phillips a peerage, but he declined. Therefore, Zara’s older brother Peter (born in 1977) and she (born in 1981) do not have royal titles — nor do they receive incomes from the Crown. But that has little bearing on Zara’s affirmed status as riding royalty (if not from her mother’s royal lineage, then from her parents’ riding achievements). It is a reason that Zara must find sponsorships and endorsements to support her riding.

T H E R O A D TO L A N D R O V E R Unsurprisingly, brands line-up to partner with Zara. At age 21, she secured her first major sponsorship with Cantor Index, a spread betting firm, thus marking the first time a member of the Royal Family accepted a commercial deal, according to UK publication Daily Mail. Critics quickly decried the deal, claiming she banked on her family ties rather than her riding talents to secure the funds. But Zara let her riding do the talking, winning Individual and Team Gold medals at the 2005 European Eventing Championship and Individual Gold and Team Silver medals at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games.

Zara and her top mount High Kingdom, known as Trev in the stables. december/january ·

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JUST A COUNTRY GIRL AND HER HORSES Right on cue, only a moment after the appointed time, the phone rings. I pick-up, and the press contact quickly transfers the receiver to Zara. Suddenly, I’m trading pleasantries with the Olympic rider.

Her voice is warm and real, if not a little hard to understand between her British accent and the quickness with which she talks. I can also tell that she’s a little impatient to get the interview moving.

There’s probably a baby tucked-away somewhere on the estate who needs her (she insists in other interviews that she’s a full-time mom without a nanny).

So we dive right into the questions.

“Why did you choose to pursue three-day eventing?” I ask, hoping she’ll fill me in on her riding background.

“It comes from my parents and growing up with horses, around horses,” she replies. “I don’t really think I went through the thought process of, ‘I'm going to event.’ I decided to try to see if I was any good at it. (It was more of a decision to) see if I could be successful at it, consistent at it.”

To learn a little more about how she did find success in the sport, I ask her to name her greatest teachers in the discipline. She’s quick to name her parents, who were her earliest riding teachers. But then she gives more detail into the training relationship that she shares with her father.

“I still train with my dad, but he's been away a lot in America,” she explains. “I always go through the cross country course with my dad; he's got a good brain riding cross country. He tells me the quickest lines and the best way to jump something. He'll say, ‘There are a few options here, and you've got to think about the best route for your horse.’”

I press-on for any other trainers that made an impression on her. But the only other name Zara offers is Carl Hester. “He made dressage more fun for me,” she says.

After setbacks and missed Olympics due to her horse’s injuries, she helped clinch Team Silver for Great Britain at the 2012 London Olympic Games. At the 2014 WEG , she tackled a challenging cross country course — a mere seven months after giving birth to her first child — to finish an individual 11th (her team won silver).

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The horses keep me realistic about life. And the family lifestyle fits in really well with the sport. There are lots of kids on the circuit.

These are the results that landed Zara a partnership as a Land Rover ambassador with the luxury SUV and vehicle brand, and the latter is the reason I’m about to get on the phone with the former. Land Rover are long time sponsors of equestrian sport in the United States and around the world. Anyone who's ever seen the Land Rover test drive obstacle course at major international competitions immediately recognizes the popular vehicle as tough, and yet sleek enough, to match an equestrian's lifestyle. Land Rover slotted the call into a photo shoot and day spent at Zara’s stables at her family’s Gatcombe Park in the countryside of England. The luxury car brand tells me that Zara rarely takes interviews away from competitions (especially internationally) and that she’s happy to talk about “the challenge of combining motherhood with the life of an international equestrian.”

HER HORSE OF A LIFETIME

Above: Zara and her black Lab Corley demonstrate the utility of the Land Rover's trunk space at Gatcombe Park.

“It’s the end of an era,” she said at the ceremony, the Daily Mail reported. “He was the horse of a lifetime for me. We grew-up together, we went through the levels together, and it all just seemed to go our way.”

· december/january

Zara’s longtime mount Toytown, a big chestnut gelding with lots of chrome, started as her Young Riders mount that she brought along from Beginner Novice through to her gold medal horse at the ‘05 European Championships. He’s also the horse that she qualified for the two Olympics prior to London. But his injuries forced Zara to retire him, with tears streaming down her face, in 2011.

“I don’t think I am ever going to find another horse quite like him, but hopefully others that will be good enough to go to the same level as he did.”

She doesn’t go into the same kind of depth with me on the phone, but perhaps that’s because she assumes I already know the story. So when I ask about the biggest challenges competition-wise that she’s had to overcome, she replies: “Every championship, there's been a different challenge. Europeans was my first senior appearance (on Toytown). The Worlds was on the back of that. My Olympics horse (High Kingdom) was less experienced in his four-star or higher level career. I knew he was very capable of doing well, and every time I had taken him out, he had gotten better and he's still improving. It was only his rider that messed it up (in the show jumping round at the 2012 Olympics with a rail down).”

For those unfamiliar with her London mount, he’s a 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse, bay gelding, that goes by the barn name Trev. Zara also brought him along from the Beginner Novice division beginning in 2007. He had big shoes to fill after her mare Tsunami II died from a cross-country accident at a three-star event in 2008. But we don’t talk about that. Instead we move onto her training routine (keeping in one piece) and her cross training (swimming and biking and jogging the hills on her estate with the baby in the stroller).

KEEPING IT REAL In the big picture, she’s really just another equestrian trying to balance the horses with her home life, while riding at an elite level.

In a sense, it’s comforting to hear her say, “There are a lot more lows than there are highs so that makes you appreciate those highs more when it all happens at the right time.”

That comment strikes a chord with me. It’s similar to what my trainer always says — the highs are so high because the lows are so low.

“The horses keep me realistic about life,” Zara continues. “And the family lifestyle fits in really well with the sport. There are lots of kids on the circuit.”

It sounds like Zara's daughter, Mia, whom she welcomed with husband Mike Tidball, will grow up at competitions much like Zara did with her parents. She probably understands the experience of unwanted tabloid attention better than any other rider, as the paparazzi have hounded her on pretty much every course she’s ever ridden. But speaking with her is a clear indication of just how grounded she is from her life with horses. Her barn life is cause for her casual style, often opting for track pants and a hoodie when she’s not in riding gear.

After that, we say our goodbyes. I detect a sense of relief in her farewell, perhaps because the interview stayed on course without much deviation from the approved questions. After I hang up, I reflect for a moment that she sounds like just another trainer’s daughter. She built her horses from the ground up and now travels to competitions with husband and daughter in tow, hoping to once again qualify for the Olympic Games. She isn’t in the sport for the glory; she already has enough unwanted attention for her name alone.

“We're in the country so it's pretty casual style unless you're going out,” she explains. “Over here, having a good jacket is important because you always get wet. I’m always in boots, helmet and jacket.

It’s just making sure that it's comfortable and that you can do your best in the equipment. I like the Musto jackets because they’re made of fantastic, technical fabric. I like a good pair of boots like the Ariat Grasmere boots that you can lace-up and ride in and that I can also wear to walk the cross country course.”

I sit in wonder for another moment of the magic that is horses. They humanize even the most blue-blooded individual. Only through this medium could I connect with someone like Zara. I don’t know what it’s like to grow-up royal, but I do know the feeling of shattered dreams from a horse developing lameness issues. I like to believe that Zara is the type of barn friend that’s dependable, the kind that stays-up with you while your horse is colicing or offers a shoulder to cry on after a disappointing outing. And even if I’m wrong, that’s my fairytale version of this modern day royal equestrian.

To end our conversation, I ask about her developing relationship with Land Rover. It’s the perfect partnership, she says, because the cars work seamlessly with the country lifestyle. “We're out in the country so much on the road and off the road,” she explains. “We have to carry around dogs, kids, wellies, and the cars are fantastic for that.”

Above: Fast and clear in her cross country round, just months after giving birth to her daughter, Zara proved many critics wrong with her strong appearance at WEG and her contribution to the British team's silver medal.

december/january ·

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BEHINDtheseams

by Meghan Blackburn

Stick Ball &

Like so many little girls we know (or were), Elizabeth Goodwin Welborn’s walls were plastered with photos of horses. She spent plenty of her free time daydreaming about them, but growing up, she didn’t have the chance to be an active equestrian.

also founded Stick & Ball, appropriately named for her love of polo, which technically had begun about 14 years ago when she started getting involved socially with a polo club in Petaluma.

“I am an animal lover, but always felt horses possess a special kind of magic,” said Welborn. “But it wasn’t until the summer I spent in Scotland with family when I was 11-years-old that I was able to learn how to ride properly. I spent a summer there learning to jump and riding bareback along the shores of the North Sea.”

“I wanted to create a brand to help to tell the story of the polo that we as players love and adore. For most of us, it is a lifestyle that incorporates so much tradition, crosses borders throughout the world, and takes inspiration from so many places,” she said.

After that summer, however, Welborn wasn’t able to keep horses in her life regularly. That is, until the fall of 2011, when she started playing polo in Northern California. About that same time, Welborn

This page, from top: Welborn actively plays polo in the Northern California area; Belts by Stick & Ball feature geometric patterns and textiles of the Inca and Mayan people; Welborn works in partnership with Federico de Alzaga to produce unique and bold jewelry for Stick & Ball

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Travels throughout college and afterwards to Central and Latin America kindled a love for polo culture, which is prominent across all Stick & Ball designs.

A S H A R E D PA S S I O N She makes it her ongoing goal to design special and unique pieces that help to narrate that story.

“It’s about the friends that we meet from different cultures and walks of life, all of us sharing time with each other’s families and friends, sharing food and music together field side and our sharing our passion for the most amazing team sport.”

...a brand that expresses the softer side of a sport most people equate with intensity, top-dollar sponsorships and fancily clad tailgaters.

The result is a brand that expresses the softer side of a sport most people equate with intensity, top-dollar sponsorships and fancily clad tailgaters.

“In most clubs, the ‘big hat’ component that most people associate the sport with is rare,” Welborn said, referring to the large hats women are sometimes seen wearing while spectating a polo match. “The regular field-side attire at most polo clubs is casual and fun; a mix of boots, jeans, tunics, ponchos; a bit of Western and Latin American influence. It is this culture and style that inspired me to start the company.”

Woven and knitted ponchos are the signature items of the Stick & Ball line.

During her trips to Central and South America, Welborn gained great admiration for the geometric patterns and textiles of the Inca and Mayan people, and as creative director, she has incorporated that look, combined with an Argentine polo twist and a dash of Northern Californian bohemia into her designs.

W I N - W I N R E L AT I O N S H I P S Stick & Ball chose small, family-owned companies in the Andes Mountains to produce the hand-knitted ponchos, which are a blend of alpaca and wool.

Welborn ensures that the artisans who make their woven ponchos from 100 percent baby alpaca, or 100 percent cotton, are also paid well for their work.

“Another one of my goals is to produce pieces that are high quality and long lasting in a socially sustainable way. Knowing my designs are uniquely crafted and also profit the families and communities of the artisans is a great feeling,” Welborn explained. “It also allows me to produce a variety of intricate designs hand-selected, top quality fibers.

“A great deal of craftsmanship and thought goes into each piece.”

But Stick & Ball is not just comprised of beautiful ponchos. The company also offers hand-sewn alpaca blankets, hand-sewn leather belts, horse and geometric embroidered socks, silk-screened T-shirts, and Welborn works with friend Federico de Alzaga for jewelry.

“He also pulls from the Andes for his own jewelry designs. I carry some of his pieces and he works with me to produce my own designs,” she said. “I have two designs original to Stick & Ball - the Caballos Besando (‘Horses Kissing’), a necklace I designed after a wooden horse I made for my children to learn how to swing a polo mallet off of; and the Frentera Cuff. Frentera is Spanish for brow band.”

In addition to running a business, traveling, acting as creative director for a very fashionable line of clothing and accessories, Welborn also helps to manage the Cerro Pampa Polo Club, and she works with the United States Polo Association to grow membership and enthusiasm for the sport. She’s also a mother of two, Camille and John Hearst, and happily reports they’ve been actively riding “since they could sit up!” She’s sharing her love of polo and culture with them both. This year, they started to learn how to “stick and ball.”

Right: Woven and knitted ponchos are the signature items of the Stick & Ball line Photos ©Dominic James

december/january ·

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The

Equestrian's Desk

In today's tech-driven world of tweets, snaps and likes, it’s refreshing to receive a piece of tangible correspondence in the mail. A simple thank-you card or note from your favorite savvy equestrian leaves a long and lasting impression. Arrange your desk with an equestrian's touch, and enjoy those pen and paper moments even more!

1. Customizable Vintage Thoroughbred Horse Mouse Pads, Zazzle, $14 2. Pop-Art Note Cards, Deux Chevaux, $28 3. Equestrian iPad Cover, Tucker Tweed, $79 4. Glass Paperweight, Felix Doolittle, $35 5. Leather Pen & Pencil Holder, Wedgwood Equestria, $100 6. Brass Horse Head Letter Opener, Jonathan Adler, $98 7. Brass Twin Stirrup Letter Holder, Horse & Hound Gallery, $98 8. Hunter Jumper Horse Bookends, Equine by Lauren Radvansky, $175

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Warmest Wishes Holiday Season!

Taylor, Harris Insurance Services, Ltd. WORLDWIDE

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Proud sponsor of the Taylor Harris Insurance Services National Children’s Medal

Camille Shelton and Karlson Winners of the CPHA Child/Adult Medal Finals!

Thank you to the Bonan and Widger Families for sharing “Perfect Pete” with us!

Michelle Morsey and Laredo

Claire Archer and Rimpoche

Aiming for new heights in 2015!

A team for the future.

Thanks to Micheal Rosenberg and Kristy Miller for sharing Laredo with us!

Thank you to Megan Garcia for helping create this partnership!

Grace Peek and Conchito Charging towards greatness

Bettina Giglio and Somebody Nicole and Currie

Another excellent import from Georgy Maskrey-Segesman and Whitethorne Sport Horses!

Winning Round 2 of the 2014 Horse & Hound Finals and successfully graduating to the 3’6” ring.

Thanks to Limabean LLC for sharing “Buddy” with us!

Thank you to all of the wonderful clients and friends who make Round Meadow Farm such a success year after year.

I am happy to be surrounded by such a great group of people who make every day feel less like work and more like time with family.

-Nicole Bloom

www.RoundMeadowFarm.com Atherton, CA

mobile: 650.533.9191

Nicole Bloom, Currie Geffken, Zoe McCarthy - Trainers phot pho h os by y Tim A Archerr, A Allden den Corr Co igan g , LLaurie She helton lton,, Erin Erin Gilmo Gilm re, r Sher he i Scott, Scott, Ann A ie Bennett tt and d Gail G More Morey

stable: 650.325.0196

I know that my window is small, but I have to embrace this and jump in. My life has been a risk, and I accept it and go with my heart.

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RIDERspotlight

by Esther Hahn

Leslie

Nelson The jumper ring works as an equalizer. All that matters is that the jumps stay up and the time stays down. So when 66-year-old rider Leslie Nelson steps into the 1.20m arena – whether at Thermal, Spruce Meadows, or the Longines LA Masters – she’s not focused on her age. She’s in there to commit to the task at hand – and most importantly, per her trainer’s instructions, to ride her flatwork.

And it’s working. Clear, fast rounds at the international level have crowds forming to watch her ride. It may be her age that draws them in, but it’s her skill and strength that make her memorable.

Born in Pebble Beach, California, Nelson began riding in three-day eventing. By age six, she already felt the desire to jump higher. It’s a mentality that Nelson thinks is in her DNA, and it served her well, eventually landing her on the American three-day team at the Pan American Games. But by 1972, Leslie needed a change and moved to Sun Valley Idaho to ski (as a stuntwoman appearing in Warren Miller films) and to ride horses. There she trained with Bob and Debbie McDonald at River Grove Farm in the hunters, showing at Spruce Meadows in 1987. A bad ski accident during this time prompted Leslie to take up mountain biking. Not one to treat the endeavor lightly, she went full tilt, even clinching the women's title of VetExpert World Champion in 1998. But the underlying motive for pursuing stunt work and mountain biking sponsorships and titles was to fuel and to supplement her riding habit. “Everything else that I did, I did to support the horses,” Leslie explains.

When Leslie met and married her husband in 2000, she returned to the Bay Area. She worked for various trainers, doing whatever she could from grooming to painting jumps, once again in order to afford her equestrian pursuits. But her major breakthrough wasn’t until 2013. Family circumstances allowed the finances for her to show full time, and she called Ray Texel on a whim to ask to train with him. She feared that he would think her too old to ride at her target level. He didn’t. So Leslie took a leap of faith, sold her home in Morgan Hill, and moved to be close to Ray at Alder Lane Farm in Cotati.

“This is my bucket list time,” Nelson says. After a knee replacement surgery this winter, she’ll be back in the saddle to tackle a show schedule that once again includes Thermal, Spruce Meadows and the Masters (Los Angeles and Paris, she hopes.) It’s a schedule that she feels honored to tackle. It’s no wonder then that even with all her

past achievements, Nelson considers right now as the pinnacle of all her athletic endeavors. So what’s her biggest secret to the dream life that she’s living? To never settle, no matter your age.

Horse & Style: You’ve taken some major risks to pursue show jumping at this level. Why right now?

Leslie Nelson: I know that my window is small, but I have to embrace this and jump in. It’s been the most rewarding experience of my life. My life has been a risk, and I accept it and go with my heart.

H&S: Which horses do you currently own and campaign?

LN: I currently have four, and three of them are from Ray’s long-time partner in Germany, Florian Meyer zu Hartum. I show Last Hurrah, my 10-year-old soldier, and Cornetto, a seven-year-old gelding, in the 1.20m division, and Ray shows Coupis, another seven-year-old, in the 1.30m and 1.40m. The newest addition is Baldira, and she’ll be Ray’s grand prix mount.

H&S: What is it like for you to compete at this level of international events such as Spruce Meadows and the Longines Los Angeles Masters?

LN: It’s really an honor to ride at this level. I figure that I only have about five more years to really try at it, and I’ve realized that I can overcome my limitations by choosing mind over matter. I’m familiar with the taste of this level from my junior days (in three-day eventing),

Opposite page: Leslie Nelson with her young jumper Coupis.

Photo ©Erin Gilmore Above: Leslie, pictured here in her early teens aboard a Thoroughbred that she personally purchased for $800, sailing over the brush on Pebble Beach's cross country track

december/january ·

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but now I have a greater appreciation (for this level). I’ve always known how to work hard in order to succeed, so I feel prepared and deserving of this experience. I’m also having so much fun.

H&S: When did you start mountain biking?

LN: I had a really bad ski accident doing a backflip (in the late '70s).

I almost lost my leg, and it was so severe that the doctors told me that I wouldn't ride or ski again. For rehab, they told me to ride my bike. I started mountain biking in 1979. I biked for 15 years to help support my horses (through sponsorships, prize money, and running a mountain biking school in Idaho) and biking was good cross training.

H&S: What drives you to succeed at the elite levels in multiple sports?

LN: I think it's DNA. I’m predisposed to be that way and I’ve learned to push against the opposition in my life – whether athletic or otherwise – to reach the upper percent. There's something inside of me that’s geared to deal with adversity. I've had so many crashes and burns and disappointments and I cannot be deterred. If you have something you love this much, you have to pursue it.

H&S: What are some tools that your trainer has equipped you with in order to be an effective rider?

LN: Ray teaches us how to ride our horses. The best compliment I can ever receive is when your trainer says, "this could be one of my horses," about a horse that I personally school. It's so empowering.

The ribbons are fun, but to know that my horse is correct and happy is even better.

H&S: How do you cross train for this level of riding?

LN: I’m 66-years-old and I want to keep riding until I’m 90, so I have to keep moving and watch what I’m eating in order to stay in shape.

I alternate days with road cycling and working out in my home gym.

I do my calisthenics on the floor every day. I ride two to three horses every day, and when I go to horse shows, I handwalk my own horses for hours.

H&S: How have you overcome roadblocks in your journey?

LN: Everyone gets nervous to a certain extent. You can hold onto failures or falls, and they will hold you back. I learn from my mistakes but then I keep going. I don’t hold onto those mistakes. If you think you'll fall off, you'll fall off.

I love the perfect rounds, but it's the enjoyment of the journey and the excitement of the next day. I'm grateful for my time. Even if I didn't do well that day, there's always tomorrow.

H&S: You’ve already achieved so much. Do you even think in terms of what’s next?

LN: Right now, my horses are the focus. This is the most special time of my life. I have four beautiful horses and I have the support of my husband to pursue this, and it's magical. I'm blessed. I'm going to take this as far as I can take this. We have so many dreams with our horses and so many pursuits. I’m finally fulfilling what I started when I was six – when I knew that I want to jump to the highest height that I’m capable. It's going to be an amazing journey.

From top: Nelson and her horse Hurrah compete at Huntington Beach in the 1.15m jumpers, summer 2014. Photo ©Captured Moments; Leslie charging downhill on Mammoth Mountain in 1997, a year before she won the VetExpert World Champion title. dece de cemb ce mber er/jjan nu uaaryy ·

45

BERTRAM ALLEN 

by Erin Gilmore

M OST

TARA METZNER

JANUS MARQUIS

20

INTRIGUING EQUESTRIANS It’s not everyday that a rider enters the world stage as a rookie and gallops out the winner. But in one round at this summer’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France, that’s exactly what Bertram Allen did.

was a homecoming for Allen, who moved to Germany when he was 16, and hadn’t competed in Ireland in three years.

The 19-year-old from County Wexford, Ireland, could have been forgiven a nervous moment or two as he was ushered toward the ingate of d’Ornano Stadium. After all, he was the youngest and least experienced member of the Irish team, appearing in his first international world championship team competition.

Since then he’s been called the next – well, you name it. The next Eddie Macken. The next McLain Ward.

The next Marcus Ehning. That latter is with whom he trains; Allen is based just down the road from Ehning in Hünxe, Germany. Allen spent his formative years training with Con Power of Ireland, as well as Irish rider Billy Twomey, with whom he now rides side-byside on the Irish team.

Bertram Allen the

old soul

But when he entered the arena, it was without a shred of hesitation. He handily won the first leg of the 2014 World Equestrian Games, riding a no-holds-barred speed round aboard Molly Malone, a horse he had brought up the levels himself, topping a staggering start list that was, by definition, made up of the best 153 riders in the world. By the end of the week Allen would finish his first WEG squad appearance as the best Irish rider and 7th individually in the world.

So no, Allen isn’t affected much by high-pressure moments. “I’m lucky in that I don’t get very nervous,” he remarks. “At times you get a little bit of nerves and that’s only natural, but I’d never be scared of taking on something. You either have that or you don’t.”

Allen unquestionably has “it,” even if his heavily lidded eyes tend to give the impression that he’s only half-paying attention to the task at hand.

BIDING HIS TIME Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Irish have taken notice of Allen since he began setting records as a pony rider. He blazed a path through the pony jumpers before moving on to a storied junior career. All the while it was as if he was merely biding his time until he could age into the international divisions.

Within weeks of his 18th birthday, Allen officially burst onto the international stage, fittingly claiming his first international victory at the 2013 Dublin Horse Show. It

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H&S MOST INTRIGUING EQUESTRIANS

Before Allen rode the great Romanov to a heartstopping second place in August’s famed Longines King George V Cup at Hickstead (coming within a millisecond of Beezie Madden’s winning time), the 16-year-old stallion by Heartbreaker, was campaigned by Twomey. The plan was always for Romanov to eventually go to Allen, when he was ready for an experienced horse that would show him the ropes during his first year at the international level. All the while, Allen has been bringing along his younger stars, including WEG partner Molly Malone, a 10-year-old KWPN grey mare that the Allen family purchased as a five-year-old.

“Molly means a lot to me,” he says of her. “She’s quite strong, so I try to just go with her. She’s got such a great attitude, a will to win and a great finesse. I’m very fortunate to have her in the stables.”

Allen is also fortunate to have the support of his family — both of his parents are successful in business — which allowed Allen a string of competitive horses growing up. His family still lives in County Wexford an hour south of Dublin, and his younger brother Harry is currently following in Bertram’s footsteps as a champion pony rider.

With a baby face that is always noticed and often remarked upon, Allen himself could still pass for a child rider. Even now at the age of 19, he looks closer to 15 in appearance. It’s ironic then that he’s looked

OF

2014

JAN TOPS

PEDRO CEBULKA

14

at as an old soul who possesses the kind of insight into horses that others spend a lifetime trying to cultivate.

N O F L A S H I N T H E PA N Three years in Germany haven’t changed the sudden “r”s in the Irish accent that mark Allen’s sentences. He runs his own yard of 18 horses, among them Barnike, the seven-year-old mare that Allen guided to become the first pair in history to net back-to-back wins at the FEI World Breeding Championships for Young Horses at Lanaken in 2014.

No matter their status, all the horses get ample time in the paddock.

As if there was any doubt that Allen was a flash in the pan, in November he competed in his very first FEI World Cup League Grand Prix, at the CSI5* in Verona, Italy. After winning the Friday welcome, he jumped double clear aboard Molly Malone and won the Grand Prix of Verona CSI5*-W, a stunning achievement, once again, for a rookie.

Allen is matter of fact when he describes that the 2015 FEI World Cup Final wasn’t necessarily a goal of his, but now that he has “a few points on the board,” he might make a go for it.

American audiences would be so lucky to see this young man compete at the 2015 Final in Las Vegas, Nevada. Allen has yet to appear on U.S. soil, but that, much like Allen’s next big milestone, is inevitable.

Right: Allen in the warm up prior to Round 1 of the 2014 Alltech FEI WEG Photo ©Erin Gilmore

THAT A RIDER ENTERS THE WORLD STAGE A S A R O O K I E AND G A L L O P S OUT THE WINNER.

I T ’ S N O T E V E R Y D AY

BERTRAM ALLEN

Tara Metzner

takes the next step

In 2010, Tara Metzner took her first trip to Indoors as a professional. It was a busy weekend for Meadowgrove Farm, where Metzner worked at the time, and with head trainers Francie Steinwedell and Dick Carvin unable to attend, Metzner was sent to steer the ship alone at a year-end final.

TARA METZNER

JANUS MARQUIS

Her student was not just any student, and her horse was not just any horse. Suddenly, she found herself with sole coaching and riding duties for Rumba (of USHJA Derby Finals fame) and Destry Spielberg at the 2010 Capital Challenge Horse Show.

Was it nerve-racking? Of course. But for Metzner, it was also a pivotal moment. She won the WCHR Emerging Pro Challenge that year, aboard Rumba and with Spielberg cheering her on.

Those types of high-pressure situations have molded Metzner into a leading professional in the hunter world, and in 2014, she returned to the Capital Challenge to win the $25,000 WCHR Professional Challenge aboard another “big name” horse, Come Monday (owned by Davlyn Farms). She set a record with that win, becoming the first person to ever win both the WCHR Emerging Pro, and Professional Challenge championships.

BIG HORSES AND HARD WORK Not many people can say their entrée into the hunter divisions was Rumba (winner of the inaugural International Hunter Derby Final, in 2010 with John French). Or that they’ve stepped from one big horse to another, as Metzner did by gaining the ride on Come Monday, a mare widely known for her previous successes under Christa Endicott.

But if big horses help make a rider, hard work and a strong backbone is what keeps them in the big ring. Fortunately, Metzner was raised on a combination of both. As a teenager, she paid-off the costs of her horse in working student hours, and whet her teeth in the Canadian equitation divisions (she won the CET Medal Finals in 1995). A single winter spent in Calgary inspired her to seek work in warmer climates, so she somewhat spontaneously drove to Southern California in 2000, where fellow Canadian Morley Abey found her a job with none other than Richard Spooner. She’s been in California ever since, and after several years working with the Meadowgrove team, last August she landed a private gig with Tammy Williams’ Davlyn Farms.

With the full time job as private rider and trainer at Davlyn, a small operation ensconced in Rancho Santa Fe, near San Diego, comes great opportunity. “This has been the first job where I’ve been able to have some goals, and work on myself and my riding, and try to accomplish those goals,” Metzner says. “Those jobs aren’t handedout everyday, and I feel very lucky to have found one.”

...HIGH-PRESSURE SITUATIONS H AV E M O L D E D M E T Z N E R I N T O A

LEADING PROFESSIONAL IN THE HUNTER WORLD

Metzner is already hungry for what next season will bring; a stroke of bad luck at Derby Finals this year left her on the sidelines (Come Monday incurred superficial scrapes from a fall on the lungeline, and Metzner withdrew out of an abundance of caution). After qualifying and almost competing in 2014, Metzner’s determined to make 2015 a better derby year. And there’s always the crown jewel of the Capital Challenge and unofficial “next step” after the Professional Challenge: the WCHR Professional Finals. Metzner’s Pro Challenge win this year qualified her into the top six of the Pro Finals. She was thrilled to suddenly be among the group of hunter riders who form a veritable force field at the top of hunter division.

While she didn’t win the Pro Finals this year, one day claiming victory now seems less like a dream and more a sure bet as Metzner chases down one big goal at a time.

Tara Metzner at Davlyn Farms in CA. Photo ©Erin Gilmore

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OF

2014

JAN TOPS

PEDRO CEBULKA 

the inimitable style of

Pedro Cebulka Just try and argue otherwise: there is no person of greater distinction in the world of show jumping than Pedro. First of all, he’s known by just one name, as most ubiquitous characters tend to be. At well over six-feet tall, his omnipresent top hat makes him even easier to spot.

And his many [many, many] colorful costumes always catch the eye and cement him in the memory.

Pedro Cebulka serves as ringmaster at the leading international horse shows around the globe, acting as a kind of elite traffic coordinator to the riders he escorts through the ingate during show jumping’s most high-pressure moments. He performs a job that to some, may seem frivolous at first glance. But if that’s what you think, well then, you just don’t know Pedro.

Cebulka is of German descent, proudly noting that he grew up in the Hanoverian region of Germany, and rode those horses during his childhood. In the late 1970s, he was traveling through North America when he learned about a new horse competition facility that was being built in Canada. Cebulka went to have a look, and before long he’d found himself a job at a fledgling Spruce Meadows.

Cebulka worked many jobs at Spruce, but when he started working the ingate, it stuck. His desire was as much to smooth ingate operations as it was to make people smile and create a positive energy for the riders. It sounds simple, but that is how the costumes began.

A WELCOME SIGHT Uncle Sam, Asian Emperor, a tailcoat in fire-engine red or bright pink; you name it, Pedro has worn it. Sometimes he wears a silver wig with his ensemble, and sometimes, black goggles. Animo has designed several long, custom coats for him, and for the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games this summer in Normandy, France, they made him a top hat with tan wings to match his tan coat that featured a pinhole design of arcing flames up the sleeves. When he waved riders forward to enter the arena, the sight of him served as a kind of relaxing balm, even in that tense moment.

“Number one, it is to make people smile,” he says of the costumes. “I like to combine the jobs of the starter and the ringmaster.”

He is there to communicate to the riders their standing in the class, to tell the judges if there is a tack delay or if a last minute shoe needs to be replaced. With the advent of live television broadcasts in recent years, relaying information to broadcast producers and announcers is even more critical.

ENJOY THE MOMENT After so many years and so many shows, Cebulka considers many of the riders friends, and when his job is to take a winning rider from the arena to greet the media, or to get them back on their horse in a hurry for the victory lap, he gets it done while respecting the moment.

AFTER

SO MANY YEARS

AND SO

MANY SHOWS, CEBULKA CONSIDERS MANY OF

THE RIDERS FRIENDS.

Cebulka on the red carpet at the Longines Los Angeles Masters. Photo ©Erin Gilmore

At the most recent WEG, Individual Gold Medalist Jeroen Dubbledam’s daughter broke from the crowd and ran into her father’s arms after he dismounted from his horse inside the arena.

International television was calling for Dubbledam and it was Cebulka’s job to bring him to the camera area, but he gave the Dutch rider time to celebrate the victory with his daughter.

It may seem as if Cebulka is everywhere, but in truth he works just 16 shows per year. He has served as official ringmaster for the Olympic Games since 1996, and he chooses the shows he attends carefully: The Masters Grand Slams in Paris, Hong Kong and Los Angeles; the American Gold Cup in New York and the American Invitational in Florida are but a few. For all the time that he’s “on,” he values his “off” time at home. He and his wife, trainer Jenna Cebulka, have been married for over 25 years and enjoy their home at the base of the Rocky Mountains outside of Calgary.

“I hope I can do it as long as I can stay healthy and sharp enough to stay fresh at the gate,” Cebulka says of ringmastering. “It’s a privilege to see, after how much work people have done, to see how truly happy they are when they win. It’s a privilege to share their joy.”

H&S MOST INTRIGUING EQUESTRIANS

OF

2014

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BERTRAM ALLEN TARA METZNER

JANUS MARQUIS

decade, from the Olympics to World Games, to rated shows around the world.

It sounds like a dream job, right? For Marquis it certainly is. As the equine physiotherapist for the US Equestrian Team, Marquis works hand-in-hand with team veterinarians to help the nation’s best show jumpers feel and perform 100 percent while competing at the very top of the sport.

It’s still a fairly modern concept: that horses as athletes deserve the same attentiveness and physical therapy that human athletes receive.

But in a sport where the stakes are ever higher, pre- and post-game physiotherapy has become a must for highly talented (and highly valuable) show jumpers.

Marquis does her work in the early morning hours before the day’s competition begins, and late at night after a class. With her curly blond ponytail and slight, 5’6” build, she is a familiar and steady presence in some of the most difficult-to-access barn aisles in the world.

THE FIRSTHAND DIFFERENCE If not one of the earliest practitioners of equine physiotherapy, Marquis was certainly one of its first devotees. She put herself through school at the University of New Mexico by riding and grooming, earning a degree in equine science and studying physiotherapy and athletic training in humans (later, she studied equine osteopathy in Europe).

“Horses certainly wouldn’t do this job if they didn’t enjoy it. It’s our job to make sure they’re properly cared for before and after a competition,” Marquis says.

IMAGINE BEING ABLE TO PUT

YOUR HANDS ON THE MOST F A M O U S H O R S E S ON THE UNITED STATES EQUESTRIAN TEAM Behind the scenes and hard at work, Longines Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead, July 2014. Photo © FEI/ Action Images - Jed Leicester

Janus Marquis

all hands on deck

Janus Marquis fittingly describes herself as a person obsessed with motion. She herself is in motion for most of the year, traveling the globe with the United States Equestrian Team. She’s not team coach, and she’s not the team manager, but in so many ways, her role is just as critical.

Imagine being able to put your hands on the most famous horses on the United States Equestrian Team. Imagine being behind the scenes at nearly every international equestrian competition during the last

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If not everyday, preventative equine physiotherapy is now a routine de rigueur for horse owners with the means to fly Marquis around the world to work on their horses. She also runs her own private practice alongside her work with the US Equestrian Team. “I really like that there are a lot of people who are interested in caring for their animals at the same level that the international horses are competing at,” she says.

That care may seem complicated, but for Marquis, physiotherapy comes down to the singular, yet critical theory of correct motion.

“Like any athlete, you want the horse to have relaxed and strong muscles so that they are able to actually use themselves properly,” she details. “More than anything else, it’s important to make sure everything is moving so they don’t go in and get hurt.”

You may think she arrives at a barn loaded down with high-tech machines and expensive alternative therapies (in truth, she does have a large white van containing a plethora of machines), but no matter how high-tech the accoutrements, her most important tools have always been her own two hands (ice runs a close second).

“I’m a huge fan of lasers, and I think they’re a really versatile, nice tool along with ultrasound and electrotherapy,” Marquis says. “But certainly, my hands are the tools I use the most. And I’m a huge fan of ice - it is so under utilized! It really creates a healing environment and reduces inflammation.”

Remember that the next time you’re wondering how Cortes ‘C’ stays so sharp, or how Rothchild arrives at the ring in tip-top shape after a cross-continental flight. Not to discredit the riders or their excellent programs in the least, but all the best show jumpers get by with a little help from the hands of their friend Janus.

JAN TOPS 

PEDRO CEBULKA

Anyone who can manage to eclipse one stellar career with another is a rare individual indeed. When Jan Tops’ name comes up in conversation, his remarkable first career as a rider falls under the dominating shadow of The Longines Global Champions Tour. He is founder and primary stakeholder of this 14-city, $12.5 million show jumping behemoth that began in 2006 as, in his own words, “a revolution”.

The Longines GCT, with its glittery, five-star environs and seamless production that beams show jumping into millions of homes around the world, has unquestionably raised the profile of the sport. Its attention to detail and resort-city stops from April through November attract high-level riders and VIPs in droves.

It’s a wholly intriguing concept for show jumping, and if it succeeds, it will once again mean another groundbreaking moment in the sport – once again, orchestrated by Tops.

In his spare time (whenever that might be) Tops serves as team coach for the Qatari show jumping team. At the GCT finale held recently in Qatar, he could be seen moving anxiously about during the final rounds. As organizer of that enormous event, and coach to Qatari rider Bassem Hassan Mohammed, who found himself in a stunning jump off after going clear in the first two rounds, it was hard to tell which high pressure factor was capturing Tops’ attention the most.

Then again, maybe it was a little bit of everything. Tops is a man of many talents, and his most ambitious career move may still be yet to come.

“I have had a great passion for show jumping all my life, but as a rider I could see there was so much potential to grow our sport and raise the bar,” 53-year-old Tops says.

In 2014, the GCT season finale in Doha, Qatar, raised the bar by awarding 450,000 Euro to the season winner (FEI-ranked world #1 Scott Brash took the title for the second year in a row).

the global presence of

Jan Tops

A GROUNDBREAKING PIONEER

Long before he hit the ground running as a horse show organizer, Tops made his mark on the sport as a rider. He represented The Netherlands in four consecutive Olympics, earning team gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games. For 30 years, Tops competed internationally and ran a successful training and sales operation at Stal Tops in Valkenswaard. Today it hosts a popular mid-summer stop on the GCT, and Tops’ wife, international show jumper Edwina Alexander, uses Stal Tops as her training base.

The success of the Global Champions Tour has made Tops a groundbreaking pioneer of the sport. And that was before the GCT made headlines in June 2014 when Tops sold a 50% interest in the series to Frank McCourt Jr. and McCourt Global, best known for its ownership and subsequent sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers for a record $2.15 billion.

What does the addition of a powerful American partner mean? The acquisition fueled excited rumors that a long awaited US stop on the GCT schedule would be forthcoming. The world is still waiting for that news to break, but it’s widely believed the mostly European series will expand to the USA in 2015.

And no, he isn’t stopping there. In October, it was announced that along with a boost in prize money which will bring 2015 season rewards to around 20 million Euro, the GCT planned to introduce a new “club style” format to its series. Engineered to boost interest in the sport, the club style series will offer club owners the opportunity to field a team of four riders at each GCT event. While final plans were still being worked on at press time, the series will endeavor to premiere a system of buying and selling riders on club teams, in emulation of soccer or football.

Tops enjoys overseeing the action at every GCT stop.

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style

by Esther Hahn

FROM BACK IN THE DAY TO PRESENT DAY Equestrian fashion is so steeped in tradition that it’s only natural the clothing doesn’t stray too far from its origins. With styles so closely tied to functionality and safety, drastic changes aren’t made purely on a whim. But that’s not to say it all stays static. Colors, cuts and expectations are constantly changing. There are even items that meet extinction with the evolution of the sport: a billowing dress beyond the days of riding sidesaddle is seen as frivolous and possibly dangerous (not to mention, a symbol of female subjugation).

But the changes are in an old-meets-new kind of way.

Tradition is what constantly brings former looks back into style. Last year saw the resurgence of rust colored breeches. If you had the right Tailored Sportsman connection, you could order the classic rust breeches -- with fawn knee patches and all. Suddenly rust, once the only color to wear in the show ring before falling out of favor in the 1980s, went from looking dated to returning in vogue.

It’s a resurgence that proves the circuitous nature of equestrian fashion: a color of breeches goes from popular, to dated, and back to popular again. The rust probably won’t

ever dominate the show scene again (although, never say never) but its return to schooling arenas across the country proves the theory that what’s old can actually come back as new again.

A S I D E O F H I S TO R Y The fun only begins with these new-again colors. And in the jumper ring, it’s hard not to notice the return of the traditional, brown-topped riding boots (Ariat reports that its Challenge Contour boots in cognac — a gorgeous, warm brown color — can’t stay in stock on shelves, seemingly on perpetual back order) and the longer, four-button (sometimes even five-button) hunt coats. Of course, the materials change. New, technical fabrics actually breathe, wick moisture, and protect against the sun. And it’s through these high-tech, longer length hunt coats, these new-meetsold jackets, that colors make a return into the hunter show ring, a stage that went downright tame in white and navy in the last decade.

All signs point to the tweed pattern for hunt coats as the next throwback fashion statement to make a full-scale return, along with the contrast collar — and for the truly daring, the elbow patch. Almost everything that’s new is actually old, and that’s fitting given that the appeal of horses is eternal. It’s through riding that so many young girls (and boys) begin to cultivate their first tastes of style and fashion. As a rite of passage, it’s best that being an equestrian also comes with a side of history.

TA K E T H E O L D , ADD THE NEW A final trend from the history books is one that’s still re-emerging. At the inaugural Longines Los Angeles Masters, American show jumper Saree Kayne entered the indoor competition stage in a gray shirt with an understated, matching necktie. Fashion trailblazing is expected from Saree - she’s the sister of LA-based, celebrity fashion designer Jenni Kayne. But a look into the past shows her inspiration from a prior generation. An archival photograph of Princess Anne and the Queen’s horse Goodwill, her 1975 Olympics mount, captures the Royal wearing a diamond-patterned tie against a tweed coat.

There’s no saying if the tie for the female rider will return in full force. The trend wasn’t all that popular even back in the day. But it’s a chic accessory with traditional roots that add an unexpected element to show attire. And a new twist on unexpected neckwear for the male rider is the bowtie. Karl Cook regularly wears one in international Grand Prix classes (he sought approval from the FEI before wearing one in the show ring). Time will tell if the two looks catch on, but until then, wearing a classic Hermes scarf while out for a hack is a similar homage to the fashion concept.

As the saying goes, history repeats itself. And with a sport as constant and perpetual as riding horses over fences, it’s only natural that the fashion ebbs and flows throughout the years, with a healthy dose of innovation in addition to the old and established. It’s a sport that embraces and honors tradition, passing down this heritage through the generations. It’s also a sport that knows to not stray too far from the tried and true. But this is our time to add a stamp to this era of horse show fashion. Take the old, add the new, and remember to cherish every moment of taking part in this slice of equestrian history.

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THEN

Princess Anne wears a necktie in this circa 1975 photo

NOW

Saree Kayne wears a thin necktie in this awards photo from the Longines Los Angeles Masters, September 2014. Photo ©Getty Photos; Karl Cook turned a lot of heads in 2014 by sporting a bow tie in the show ring

5

THEN

The brown-topped tall boots and five-button coat with contrast collar are part of a traditional hunt outfit. Photo via Southern Maryland Magazine

NOW

DerDau Ostrich Hunt Top Field Boot with 4â&#x20AC;? ostrich cuff

2

THEN

Jacqueline Bouvier wears a tweed jacket while jumping, July 29, 1939 at the Southampton Riding & Hunt Club. Photo by Bert Morgan

NOW

Custo tweed jacket with Custom elbo patches, Couture elbow Hippique

THEN

The longer style hunt coat for the show ring directly descended from those worn while fox hunting. Photo via Equestrians From Back in the Day on Facebook

NOW

The four button RJ Classics Palmetto Xtreme Soft Shell Show Coat

THEN

Rust breeches in the jumper ring: Kendra Kilsdonk (Wiley) and The Godfather at Mount Snow Horse Show in Vermont in 1979. Photo by Darkroom on Wheels

NOW

Modern-day rust breeches from Tailored Sportsman

55

OUT&about

THE THROWBACK EDITION

1 3

2

6

7

4

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA MEMORIAL DAY CLASSIC MAY 20-24

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA CLASSIC MAY 27-31

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FALL CLASSIC

5

OCT 28- NOV 1

9

8

1. That is George Morris behind those shades 2. Armand Leone and Paul Schockemรถhle at the 1982 World Cup in Sweden 3. Katie Monahan riding Tina, winning a working hunter class at age nine 4. Evan and Robert Coluccio, Grand Champions at Upperville in 1998 5. Paul and Clea Newman 6. Michael and Bernie Traurig 7. Joe Fargis and Touch of Class, 1984 Los Angeles Olympics 8. Bill Steinkraus, George Morris and Frank Chapot 9. Harry and Snowman Special thanks to Donna Yaste Hual, Maggie Smith, Dianne de Franceaux Grod, Peggy Patterson, James Parker, and Jenny Carlton for use of these photos.

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA OAK TREE CLASSIC NOVEMBER 4-8

PASO ROBLES, CA

feature

Photos and story by Erin Gilmore

The

California

H U N T E RS A N D J UMP ER S GATH ER ON H A L LO W E D GR OUN D AT DEL MAR

Way

On the West Coast, they have what’s called a “California Indoor” circuit. It emulates its older cousin to the East, tracing a path between fall finale shows that wind a trail from California to Nevada.

The definition of “indoors” is relative, and depends to which coast you refer. While a landscape of closed-in stadiums and indoor stables mark the East Coast Indoors circuit, in California, they do things just a little bit differently.

Case in point: the Del Mar International Horse Show, held annually at the end of each October.

Beach life and weighty equine history blur together in the coastal town of Del Mar, 30 minutes north of the city of San Diego. It’s a stone’s throw from the Pacific Ocean and home to the Del Mar Racetrack, a jewel in the Thoroughbred racing industry.

Dramatic, sun soaked vistas made the journey to Del Mar more than worth it.

december/january ·

59

The show itself sits on, and adjacent to, the racetrack. For two weeks each fall, high-dollar equines of a different sort warm-up on fenced-off sections of the track, poking their heads out of the same stalls where racing Thoroughbreds reside during Del Mar’s long summer meet.

Striding on horseback onto the famed Del Mar Racetrack (even if it is on the side opposite the grandstands) is one of the more unique experiences that any hunter/jumper horse show has to offer.

Bernardo Cabral set a grand prix track that produced ten jumpoff pairs from the original start list of 43. Among them were West Coast heroes Rich Fellers and Flexible, the 2012 World Cup Final Champions and Olympic veterans who had appeared back at the top of their game after an otherwise quiet year. “The competition in the Villas at Rancho Valencia World Cup Grand Prix of Del Mar was outstanding,” West Palms manager Dale Harvey commented.

“What a great way to finish the season!”

The grand prix was Flexible’s to win as he chased the leader’s time late in the jumpoff to the encouraging screams of his fans.

Harrie Smolders and Regina Z, first-timers at Del Mar who normally would be competing closer to their base in Europe, had just set the time to beat at 37.40 seconds. Regina Z, a 14-yearold Zangersheide mare, has been Smolders’ partner for four years in competitions around the world.

Striding on horseback onto the famed Del Mar Racetrack is one of the more unique experiences that any hunter/ jumper horse show has to offer.

In no small part it is that sea and sun-soaked setting which draws competitors to this end-of-year show, the final event on show management West Palms Events’ annual calendar. Several headline classes attract riders who have worked all year to qualify for them; the $25,000 Grand Prix Hunter Derby Final, the $25,000 PCHA/Equine Insurance Children/Adults Jumper Championship, the GGT Footing Grand Prix Series Final, and of course, the $125,000 Villas at Rancho Valencia Grand Prix CSI2*, a World Cup Qualifier. All main events are held under the sweeping roof of the Del Mar Arena. It’s an indoor stadium of sorts, albeit with open ends that allow for salty sea breezes and an abundance of streaming sunshine.

AT T H E T O P O F T H E I R G A M E

Just a few weeks prior, at the Sacramento International Horse Show on October 4th (also a West Palms Event competition), Fellers and Flexible had stormed to a thrilling victory in the $55,000 Land Rover Grand Prix WCQ, setting the stage for a possible repeat performance in Del Mar.

Held less than a week prior to Halloween, grand prix night was preceded by an annual pre-show of dancing zombies and a ghoulishly attired horse and rider. Promoted on local radio and within the barns, a costume contest attracted an enthusiastic group of costumed spectators, both human and canine.

Above: Buddy Brown and Finally Ours won the 2014 Grand Prix Hunter Derby Series Final

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However, the favorites had to settle for second place in the Rancho Valencia Grand Prix, finishing a mere 4/100ths of a second behind Smolders’ winning time. It was a fair victory, but the air went out of the crowd just a little as the clock flashed Fellers and Flexible’s 2nd placed time. Whenever the beloved Irish Sport Horse stallion enters a West Coast arena, everyone in the house rides along with him over each and every fence.

THE EUROPEAN TRICKLE DOWN For his part, Smolders, a 34-year-old professional rider who represents The Netherlands, was part of a strong presence of European riders at this year’s Del Mar International. The trend can be attributed in part to a trickle-down effect from the Longines Los Angeles Masters CSI5*, held a month prior in September, as well as recent, private training commitments to high-level West Coast riders. It all made for stiffer competition for this particular grand prix title than in previous years (Jos Verlooy of Belgium, Darragh Kenny of Ireland, East Coastbased American Jack Hardin Towell and Eric Navet of France also competed). Smolders had a banner evening, also placing 3rd on his second mount Enjoy Louis, and local rider Tiffany Sullivan came in fourth aboard her own Tristan.

Smolders coolly waited and watched from outside the arena as Fellers tried to beat his time. “I watched with one eye, everything,” he said. “Flexible is an incredible horse, an incredible combination. To beat them is never easy, but Regina Z has won a lot, she’s very competitive. I’m so happy to have her.”

A DERBY OF A DIFFERENT SORT Held on the evening of Friday, October 24th, the Grand Prix Hunter Derby Final created an unusual spectacle for the crowd of riders who lined the north end of the arena to watch. An invention of West Palms manager Harvey, the Grand Prix Hunter Derby Series, now in its third year, adds the element of time to a hunter derby track. Judges scored the class on a combination of style and speed, with bonus points added for handiness and for staying within the time allowed. A hay bale jump created a passable obstacle for horses and riders to gallop from the indoor Del Mar Arena, outdoors to the Durante Arena, where they jumped a handful of fences under lights before returning to the arena.

For Buddy Brown, who won the inaugural final and placed third last year, the course (it’s nearly identical every year) and the test of speed were familiar challenges. He took the 2014 series title

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with Finally Ours, jumping two smooth and handy rounds aboard the 11-year-old black Hanoverian gelding owned by a syndicate that includes Brown’s 83-year-old father, Graham. “I’m glad you didn’t ride this year!” Brown jokingly called to 2013 Series Champion Tara Metzner, who was resting her horses after a busy show season but was on hand to help congratulate this year’s winner.

The prestige of winning at this California Indoor show was not lost on the winner of the $25,000 PCHA/ Equine Insurance Children/Adult Jumper Championship. Hannah Loly pumped her fist in the air as she glimpsed her time during an exciting jumpoff that saw each rider successfully jump clear and faster than the previous competitor. Loly triumphantly took the final round victory aboard her own Quaya Plaisir, and adult amateur Susan Meadows earned the Overall Series Championship.

The San Diego area’s rich equestrian history calls for higher spectator attendance than was evident this year at the Del Mar International. A sellout crowd at Del Mar is a wistful memory for those who have been around long enough to remember the days when crowds packed into the Del Mar Arena to watch hunters and jumpers.

With such a stellar setting, high-level competitors, and a smoothly run show, there’s every reason for those spectators to fill the stands en masse again one day.

Opposite page, clockwise: Harrie Smolders made a splash in his first appearance at Del Mar, winning the $125,000 Villas at Rancho Valencia WCQ Grand Prix; Hannah Loly celebrates her winning jumpoff round in the final of the $25,000 PCHA/ Equine Insurance Children/Adult Jumper Championship; Rich Fellers and Flexible jumped two clear rounds to finish second in the $125,000 Villas at Rancho Valencia WCQ Grand Prix.

Inn Center All the

of it

with an touch Paradise equestrian Found at The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe

It’s no secret that the Rancho Santa Fe area, with its balmy temperatures and low-slung ranch estates folded into softly rolling hills, is a semi-hidden paradise. Just five-minutes inland from the Del Mar Fairgrounds, the community is home golf clubs, tennis courts, and countless horse farms connected by an enviable network of bridle paths. In the center of all this, the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe is grandly placed much like a jewel that crowns the intimate Village of Rancho Santa Fe. The Inn has maintained its stalwart presence since the early 1920s. Bing Crosby preferred to stay there when in town for the racing season; Frank Lloyd Wright was married in its foyer.

Its history is grand, but like many historic buildings, it was in need of new life when a 2013 change in ownership and resulting facelift brought just that to The Inn. The change of hands included one very important twist – the new owner and manager are both passionate,

longtime horse owners. Naturally, there’s no group better than horse owners themselves to fully understand the multi-layered equine culture of Rancho Santa Fe. With Thoroughbred racing, polo, dressage, western and of course, multiple hunter/jumper show circuits within a ten mile radius, the Inn has become a favorite for horse people from all corners who follow the various circuits to the San Diego area.

From the equestrian art that greets visitors in the lobby, to snaffle bits that hold back the cabana curtains that surround a sunken, tiled pool, subtle nods to the horse are everywhere.

The understated elegance extends to the rooms; most of which open onto a private patio or balcony. The jury’s still out on whether hitching posts next to the Tesla charging stations are in The Inn’s future, but either way, equestrians are guaranteed to feel welcomed and right at home while enjoying this storied, elegant Southern California paradise. december/january ·

63

style

An

Evolution in Pinque

HOW THE HERMÈS ATELIER’S SEARCH FOR PERFECTION OUTFITTED

THE

US

EQUESTRIAN TEAM IN PURE ELEGANCE

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· december/january

When it was announced last year that the United States Equestrian Federation and Hermès were joining forces, there wasn’t a rider who didn’t sit up and take notice. The long tradition of lifestyle brand Hermès is indeed rooted in the equestrian world, but in bridging the gap between the history of a French atelier and modern-day riding apparel, both parties were taking an ambitious next step.

No one has benefited more from this evolution than the riders, who had long since abandoned old-fashioned materials for hightech apparel, but were still shrugging on their traditional pinque team coats for international team competition.

At Hermès headquarters in Paris, the design team aimed to create an updated apparel look that combined simplicity with functionality, while fulfilling a very specific set of goals.

“At Hermès we never take the creative process for granted. The sharpness of the cut, functionality, the quality of materials, the look of the garment, we look at everything down to the smallest degree,” describes Hermès Artistic Director Couli Jobert.

“We are always in search of perfection, and even more so when meeting the requirements of elite athletes.”

ELEGANCE MEETS TECHNICALITY Updating a piece of apparel that is heavy in history and tradition is no easy task.

Hermès began with the smallest of details – taking inspiration from the saddle nail that is on the skirt of every saddle, and the USEF’s own logo. The resulting symbol of the partnership between USEF and Hermès is a circular emblem that combines the USEF horse head and Hermès name.

Each article of the collection bears this distinctive signature.

Perhaps the most visible piece of a show jumper’s apparel – and therefore the most important – is their distinctively “pinque” coat. To those wondering, no one really knows where the name pinque came from; some believe that the original tailor of scarlet hunt coats, which were made popular by foxhunters long before they were worn by show jumpers, was a man called Mr. Pink, or Mr. Pinque. Others are sure that the pink nickname may have been referring to the faded color of a scarlet coat after several seasons of wear.

Whichever the reason, the name stuck, and pinque coats have long identified Team USA show jumping and event riders in international

Updating a piece of apparel that is heavy in history and tradition is no easy task. competition. The significance of the pinque coat is never, ever lost on American riders who have been lucky enough to wear one, or dream of one day earning the right.

In creating an updated coat, the key stakes were to combine a very high level of technicality with Hermès elegance and quality. The characteristics of the fabric needed to meet the demand of the high level of the sport. Ideally, the coat would stretch, be light, easily washable, and easy to dry. Lone gone are the days of heavy wool coats that damaged easily and permanently absorbed the smells of the day.

“The challenge in itself was to create functional and elegant clothing – certainly not incompatible elements – but also clothing that the riders would happily wear,” adds Jobert.

The pinque coat by Hermès is constructed from a very light, breathable and two-way stretch fabric coat that is 88 percent polyamide and 12 percent elastine. Hermès updated the fit of the coat, and tailor-made each new jacket for every active Team USA rider.

The result is a centerpiece garment that renews the tradition of elegant apparel for US team riders. The pinque coat is the only piece in the Hermès USEF Collection that is not available for the public to purchase – one tradition that will never change is the requirement to earn one’s right to don this very special piece of apparel.

Opposite page from top: The 1994 US Equestrian Team outfitted for Nations Cup competition at Spruce Meadows.

Photo ©Tish Quirk; Lucy Davis wears her pinque jacket by Hermès at the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Below and left: The modern-day pinque hunt coat as designed

by Hermès

december/january ·

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QUALITY BEGINS ON THE INSIDE - POTENTIAL IS UNCOVERED

ON THE

OUTSIDE

Derby Hill congratulates

FINALLY OURS

on an outstanding year with

BUDDY BROWN! This pair is an example of everything we believe in at Derby Hill... partnerships forged with love, faith, hard work, patience and perseverance.

Winner of the $25,000 Davlyn Farms Grand Prix Hunter Derby Finals

Reserve Champion $5000 49 Square Mile Open Hunter Derby

DEL MAR INTERNATIONAL

HMI EQUESTRIAN CHALLENGE

Winner $5000 USHJA National Hunter Derby

Reserve Champion $5000 Fleeceworks Grand Prix Hunter Derby

HMI JUNE CLASSIC

Winner $5000 Equuleus Designs Hunter Derby GIANT STEPS CHARITY CLASSIC

Winner $5000 Oak Haven LLC Grand Prix Hunter Derby SACRAMENTO INTERNATIONAL WELCOME

Reserve Champion $5000 Professionals Choice Open Hunter Derby SHP SPRING CLASSIC

DEL MAR INTL WELCOME WEEK

Circuit Champion Sonoma Horse Park Conformation Hunters Champion in the Conformation Hunters 5 times Reserve Champion in the Conformation Hunters 4 times

www. d erby h ill f arm.com

The Red Barn 100 Electioneer Rd., Stanford, CA 94305

Buddy & Vanessa Brown, Trainers (561) 758-3148 Ahlia Qutub, Assistant Trainer

Edgewood Equestrians 3421 Nicasio Valley Road Nicasio, CA 94946

feature

by Katie Shoultz

The

ASPCA

Alfred B. Maclay CHAMPIONSHIPS Anchor of The National Horse Show As the oldest and largest indoor horse show in America, The National Horse Show has a history and life all its own. With 2014 marking its 131st anniversary, and with rebuilds, facelifts and relocations throughout its storied past, the show has called the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky home for the past four years. As perhaps any organization in its one-hundredplus years of operation can attest, it’s hard to stay at the forefront of relevance in a modern world that reveres novelty more than time-honored traditions.

Nostalgia lingers in the air for something that once was, but has slipped away.

Those who have been around long enough, remember it as a grand affair at Madison Square Garden in New York City, an event that cemented the show with a celebrity status and the diamonds, fur and tuxes which were all standard fare in a bygone time.

The silver lining of the modern day NHS, held October 28th - November 2nd, happens to occur on the last day of the week-long show. As weary vendors pack-up, superstar hunters early in the week ship out and spectators drift through the Alltech Arena, only the most avid fans remain in the stands for the entirety of the ASPCA Alfred B. Maclay National Championships. This event’s prestige has never diminished because it has never swayed from its tried and true formula of providing a proving ground for young riders to showcase brilliant displays of equitation and critical thinking. Since 1933, the ASPCA Maclay has been the cornerstone event of the NHS.

A TRIED AND TRUE COURSE OF ACTION The Maclay, no matter what year it happens to be, brings an infusion of hope to the sport.

And few classes hold the clout of a future career hanging in the balance like this one. With 153 junior riders in the lineup this year, competition day was long and intense. The well-trodden path of hopes, dreams and disappointment began with a late night Saturday schooling session after the excitement of the $250,000 Canadian Pacific Grand Prix CSI4*-W wrapped up. The all-star lineup in the grand prix gave many of the junior riders in the stands a glimpse of a possible future. In a jump-off round that went viral and won’t soon be forgotten, Beezie Madden secured the win aboard Cortes ‘C’ with a gutsy gamble that paid off and left the crowd in awe. Leaving a stride early to the last oxer, horse and rider stretched across the fence to race home less than a second sooner than secondplace finisher Mclain Ward and Rothchild.

Before the excitement of the grand prix had fully settled, an early 7 a.m. Sunday kicked-off the Maclay. After round one over fences, a complicated flat class,

round two over fences and a final horse swap between the top two riders, it came as no surprise when 16-year-old Victoria Colvin led the victory lap aboard Betsee Parker’s 12-year-old warmblood gelding Patrick. Colvin insists that she never knew the win was hers. “I felt confident going into the Maclay because I knew the horse I was on always tries to do good, but I’m still in shock. I never could have imagined I would come close to winning this title,” she shared.

In fact, for all the wins on ponies, hunters and jumpers that Colvin has landed, the equitation realm is still relatively new ground for her. It’s an endeavor she only began in earnest this year as she works to hone her extraordinary gift and continue her accelerated rise through the ranks of the sport. After spending her formative years training with Scott Stewart and Ken Berkley, Colvin ponied up with the equitation-titlecapturing machine, Andre Dignelli of Heritage Farm in Katonah, New York. “The lessons that I have received are amazing and one-of-a-kind. They look at the large and small details all the time, which I think is an advantage,” she said.

From top: Tori Colvin earned the coveted ASPCA Maclay Finals title aboard the talented Patrick; The stride that will haunt her! Hunter Holloway hits the seventh stride to the final fence in the Maclay Final. december/january ·

67

So a great feel on a horse, a natural eye to the jumps and textbook equitation? There’s not much Colvin can’t do on a horse. But, capturing the coveted title wasn’t without stiff competition. Although she held the scoreboard lead for most of the day, Hunter Holloway, 16, had to settle for reserve champion, and it all came down, literally, to the last stride.

The final two fences in the final workoff rode in a definite six strides from an oxer to the famed ASPCA wall. But Holloway swung wide and added a stride, an unfortunate miscalculation that would cost her the win. With Olympic show jumper McLain Ward and USEF President (and the 1965 Maclay winner) Chrystine Tauber in the judge’s seats, the course rode like a mini grand prix track with different turns and stride options that allowed riders to play it safe or show off versatility.

A conservative track just wasn’t in the cards for the win.

A LEARNING CURVE For her first go at the Maclay, 16-year-old Holloway, who is based in Topeka, Kansas at Equi-venture Farm, executed the challenges like a seasoned pro. But, she readily admitted to two surprises along the way. “I was definitely surprised when I came out on top throughout and was holding my own in the amazingly competitive field, and unfortunately, I surprised myself when I went wide and had to settle for that seven [strides]!”

For Holloway, second place was still a thrill, especially since the Pennsylvania National Horse Show at Harrisburg just a few weeks prior was the first time she rode her horse, Any Given Sunday, in an equitation class. A grand prix mount for her trainer and mother, Brandie Holloway, “Sunny” filled in when Holloway’s regular mount strained a muscle at the USET Finals. “He stepped right up and was such a confidence booster for me. We weren’t sure how he might handle the hunter jumps and going around like an eq horse, but he was so good,” said Holloway.

D O I N G W H AT I T TA K E S Both riders are prodigies in their own way; Colvin and Holloway haven’t ever known the “normal” life of a teenager. They take alternative schooling options and each girl clocks in between 10-12 rides on any given day. They are as committed to the sport as they are talented. Both have even already made their grand prix debuts;

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· december/january

Holloway made history when she won the 2010 Dallas Harvest $25,000 Grand Prix when she was only 12.

“My main focus will be the jumper ring and getting to the bigger classes. That’s where my heart is,” said Holloway.

This event’s prestige has never diminished because it has never swayed from its tried and true formula...

For Colvin, who made it to the grand prix ring at 13 and hasn’t looked back, the final of the Maclay was the only time she ever recalls feeling nervous. For both young riders, life will go on as they try to aim their sights on the next big thing ahead and become prepared to greater pressure and challenges. One thing is for sure though, Holloway plans on another bid at the Maclay next year.

As the horse show model continues to change and evolve, the heritage of producing the next generation of our sport’s superstars will hopefully always have a place at the Maclay Championship during the NHS. Although the “specialness” of a show is getting harder and harder to capture, the Maclay has its own living and breathing mystique — an annual ritual and the ultimate test for junior riders to set their sights on. It’s that unique mixture of tradition and history that holds the promise of the future.

From left: Top five Maclay finishers Michael Hughes, Tori Colvin and Hunter Holloway; Beezie Madden and Cortes ‘C’ couldn’t have made it a more thrilling victory when they won the $250,000 Alltech Canadian Pacific Grand Prix CSI4*-W. Photos ©Emily Riden and Rebecca Walton for PhelpsSports.com

LIFEofpessoa

by Alexa Pessoa

A Rivalry Gone Rogue

An intense rivalry has come sharply back into focus, and it’s too soon to tell if the sport of show jumping is going to come out the winner or the loser.

Earlier this year, I wrote about the ever-growing rivalry between global watch brands Rolex and Longines (Horse & Style Magazine, February/ March 2014). At that time, Longines was essentially blocking the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL from obtaining more 5* show dates, and in doing so, effectively punishing venues sponsored by Rolex (in 2014 Rolex became a season sponsor of FTI WEF). Shows sponsored by Longines were the first to apply for the dates, and it was well within their rights to do this, but typically when shows are being held on opposite sides of the world, organizers will agree to share the dates. That was not the case in this battle.

Fast-forward to the end of 2014, and the organizers of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival have made sure to apply for everything on time. But there is a new challenge. The Furusiyya FEI Nation’s Cup competition, traditionally held during the height of the FTI WEF circuit, will move to HITS Ocala, FL in 2015. For 12 years, the FEI Nation’s Cup has been a highlight of the winter circuit in Wellington. It serves as a North American qualifier for the prestigious Furusiyya FEI Nation’s Cup Final in September. But as the rivalry between the two watch brands intensifies, the Furusiyya Nation’s Cup league is turning its back on venues that are sponsored by Rolex.

TO UNDERSTAND THE MOTIVES Strange, you may say? What does Furusiyya have to do with this battle of the watch brands? Well, nothing as far as marketing is concerned, but to understand these motives it is crucial to understand the puppeteers.

In 2013, what used to be called the Nations Cup Super League was transformed into the Furusiyya Nation’s Cup League. After their long time relationship with Samsung came to a close, the FEI was faced with finding a new sponsor for the league. After several months, it was announced that The Saudi Equestrian Fund had made a commitment for a four-year, 16 million Euro, Nations Cup series to be called the Furusiyya Nation’s Cup. Along with this generous sponsorship came a major restructuring of what was the Super League. This new format made the league final much more inclusive to nations outside of Europe that had struggled to qualify in the past. By dividing the world into zones, it was now easier to make it to the final if you were from a possibly “weaker” country (in terms of riders), such as Saudi Arabia.

The tremendous amount of prize money offered seemed to quell any

70

objections that the historically strong nations may have had to the new qualifying system.

This brings us back to present day, where there are several dynamics at play. As we have now discovered, Furusiyya is not a brand at all, but a clever name given to a very large gift from the Saudi Equestrian Fund to the FEI. Who is the other largest sponsor of the FEI? Longines of course. The FEI named Longines its first-ever Top Partner in 2013, along with christening the brand as its Official Timekeeper and Official Watch.

WHO’S INFLUENCING WHO? The title sponsorship of the FEI Nation’s Cup series may not belong to Longines, but their considerable influence over the FEI has obviously played a part in the removal of the Furusiyya series from FTI WEF. And if this situation sounds familiar, it should. In 2014 the Rolex-sponsored Aachen, Germany venue said goodbye to the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup, holding its own Nations Cup outside of the Furusiyya league.

Is the Furusiyya Nation’s Cup at Spruce Meadows, also a Rolexsponsored venue, next in line for league removal?

We have to ask ourselves, at what point does sponsorship of an international federation hinder the development of the sport?

Venues that have been crucial to the growth of show jumping are losing their right to be a part of the prestigious series because of a rivalry gone rogue.

As this war continues to rage, it seems like only one side is putting up a fight. Rolex is a notoriously quiet brand that prefers a dignified approach to everything they do. There seems to have been no effort on their part to “fight back” against Longines. The prestige of their brand doesn’t necessarily need the exposure that the equestrian world brings.

The risk that this saga presents is that our sport could chase away the support of such a loyal brand. We can only hope that Longines intends to support show jumping for many years to come, because at this rate they will be standing all alone.

Writer an amateur rider ALEXA PESSOA, is profiled on page 8.

Below: Riders from 12 nations take part in the annual group photograph that marked the opening of the annual FEI Nations Cup competition at FTI WEF 2014. Photo ©Jack Mancini

I’ve Gone Global!

It is with pride and great excitement that I announce my newly formed partnership with Equestrian Sotheby’s International Realty. I’ve gone global! Now more than ever, the world exists in a constant state of evolution and so too is our exceptional Village of Wellington. As each passing show season attests, we have become the global winter destination for equestrian sports, attracting a uniquely diverse clientele. In response to this phenomenon, I feel that it is in the best interests of my clients to provide the most sophisticated real estate platform in the world, simply, Sotheby’s International Realty.

With Locations in 52 countries & territories and more than 15,000 experienced luxury agents, Sotheby’s is moving referrals around the globe. Our web presence & Equestrian Properties OHYHUDJHV WKH ZRUOG¶V PRVW LQÀXHQWLDO PHGLD SDUWQHUV ZLWK PRUH WKDQ PLOOLRQ impressions a year with close to 85 interconnected websites. This unparalleled cascading platform showcases our extraordinary properties in 16 different languages. For these reasons and more, the decision was a clear one.

When the time comes for you to consider entering the real estate market, I hope you’ll join me at Equestrian Sotheby’s and go global!!!

Orisette, Matt & Zoie

Matt Johnson Photo by Tracy Treverrow (DFK 2IÀFH LV ,QGHSHQGHQWO\ 2ZQHG DQG 2SHUDWHG

MATT JOHNSON 561-313-4367 www.MattSells.com

HORSEcorner

by Katie Shoultz

It doesn’t take a keen eye to see that seven-year-old Thoroughbred gelding Patrick Henry nearly explodes with talent. As the newly minted ambassador of the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center (MMSC) in Lexington, Kentucky, he’s got all the makings to be a showpiece for the breed.

The MMSC is a reschooling facility and showcase for adoptable Thoroughbreds located in the Kentucky Horse Park. Its location facilitates interactions with the public, and the center offers educational opportunities to promote the Thoroughbred breed and its many talents. Patrick was chosen as an ambassador of the MMSC with the hope that his future accomplishments will serve to promote Thoroughbreds within the horse show world.

Although he lacks a long list of accolades or ribbons (so far), the people around him can’t wait to tell anyone who asks that he’s got “something special.” They know it in their gut. But how do you go about translating a gut feeling into reality? To begin with, all the right pieces have to fall into place at exactly the right time.

A MASCOT IN THE MAKING Originally named Diable Tonnere, Patrick was bred by My Meadowviewfarm in Water Mill, NY. The racing stable is owned by the Riggio family (Leonard Riggio is chairman of Barnes & Noble, Inc.) and has produced several Kentucky Derby horses and stands leading Thoroughbred sires.

The family is a longtime supporter of the Thoroughbred breed. And although they bred Patrick with racing intentions, they remained determined to unearth his talents, whether he was to be best suited for racing, hunters, or jumpers.

PATRICK

HENRY n the not so distant past, the Thoroughbred reigned supreme in the hunter, equitation and jumper rings. With the likes of legendary riders such as George Morris, Rodney Jenkins and Joe Fargis (just to name a few) taking top titles aboard Thoroughbreds, the breed was truly America’s sweetheart.

But with the dominating influx of European warmbloods, Thoroughbred blood began to wane, to the point of today’s near extinction in the A-circuit and international competitions. Over the past few years, the breed has had a bit of a comeback, and initiatives have pointed in a more positive direction, but it takes a village and extraordinary horses to get a piece of the pie.

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Patrick was fast and even picked up a win in one out of his four racing starts, but the track proved to be too unnerving for Patrick’s personality. With his best interests in mind, the Riggio family decided to retire him from the track and start fresh.

Stephanie Riggio, a hunter rider who competes in the amateur divisions, was keen to have a go with him as a hunter prospect. After spending some time during the winter circuit in Wellington last year, Patrick showed great aptitude for jumping, but his powerful and sinewy reflexes didn’t exactly translate into the look and feel of an effortless, polished round over a hunter course. And again, before it had really begun, Patrick was deemed the wrong fit, the proverbial square peg in a round hole.

It was then that the Riggios decided a year off would be best suited for Patrick’s excitable nature as they waited patiently for him to come into his own. Cue MMSC. Having adopted out several of the Riggio Thoroughbreds whose careers in racing never took off, the family was familiar with MMSC’s work and aligned interests with promoting and advocating for the breed.

And so, the next card played for Patrick proved particularly fortuitous when he landed at MMSC. Founder Susanna Thomas immediately fell in love with the big gelding.

UNBRIDLED'S SONG

UNBRIDLED

TROLLEY SONG

PATRICK HENRY

(BORN DIABLE TONNERE)

WIN'S FAIR LADY

“Patrick is larger than life in all ways. He’s almost 17 hands, with four white socks and a big blaze, ebony bay in color, and big bold, curious eyes. He is stunning to look at,” Thomas said. “He has a freakishly huge jump on him. He’s super smart, catlike under saddle and powerful. He is a ham and a show-off to boot.”

M A K I N G T H E M AT C H After getting acquainted and making certain Patrick benefitted from the time in her program that is specifically designed to help Thoroughbreds reengage after being off the track, Thomas knew Patrick had “show jumper” written all over him. After several spa treatments (farrier, chiropractic and vet work) and relaxation exercises to help Patrick’s mental engagement, Thomas felt that he could begin the journey of finding a new home with a professional.

With that assessment, she set the wheels in motion to land him with a trainer that could work with his potential. “I would tell people that he was tough to ride, a bit like a Ferrari going all out with a steering wheel that could pop off at any time,” said Thomas. After a few false starts, it turned out that the right professional happened to live down the road in Lexington: fifth generation horsewoman and trainer Melissa Murphy.

“I have, like many, a barn full of warmbloods, but I grew up on Thoroughbreds,” said Murphy, a well-connected trainer with a deep affinity for the breed. “It was all we ever had. And I have a special place in my heart for a good one; when you get a truly good one – it’s hard to imagine anything better.” For all the Thoroughbreds she’s sat on though, Murphy hasn’t come across one quite like this guy.

“He’s in a league all his own and we’ve definitely have had a ‘getting to know Patrick’ phase,” she told.

DEHERE WIN CRAFTY LADY

Patrick continues to be very particular about his people, but Murphy will let her brother, Bobby Murphy, a course designer, judge and allaround promoter of the industry hop on when he’s in town. “Bobby has been riding Patrick when he can. During all the Kentucky shows in the summer he would sneak away in the evenings and get out to ride. Patrick loves him, and Bobby knows the Thoroughbred ride.”

(A little known fact about Bobby is that he can be out of the saddle

...I have a special place in my heart for a good one; when you get a truly good one – it’s hard to imagine anything better. for months and still make it look easy). A big picture guy with an inherent forward vision for the sport, Bobby Murphy sees greatness for Patrick that goes beyond the ring and is eager to promote him as an educational work in progress. “He reminds me of the modern day version of the Eighty-Dollar Champion,” said Bobby. And with that great comeback story in mind, Murphy hopes to have his own second chance at the show ring aboard Patrick.

Knowing that the best find their way in their own time, Murphy plans to bring Patrick down with the show horses to Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida. It is the hope that he will ride with the MMSC namesake to encourage more new beginnings for the breed and make the Thoroughbred comeback to the show ring more than just dreams and wishes.

Below: Patrick Henry works over pole exercises to help improve his focus and coordination. Photos ©Catherine Flowers

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STYLEprofiles

by Sarah Appel & Terri RRoberson ob berson

Trendy Trainer House Check Gloves, Burberry, $425 Firenze Backpack, Noel Asmar, $368 Synergy Quilted Shell Jacket, Musto Equestrian, $310 Gold Rebel RebelNecklace, Maria Black, $160 Contour Warm Up Breech, Noel Asmar, $178 Quiltboot, Stuart Weitzman, $650

Toasty

Threads Gorgeous Gent Gowan Check Scarf, Barbour, $69 Mens Cable Knit Gloves, Joules, $35 Leather Riding Boot, Gucci, $1,200 Mens Half Neck Zip Jumper, Joules, $103 Mens Cable Knit Hat, Joules, $35 Lowerdale Quilted Vest, Barbour, $179

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When cold and crisp weather makes you want to stay in and escape the winter elements, fight back! Wrap, layer and drape yourself in these uber-stylish winter duds and beat the brisk by working that black ice like a catwalk!

Jovial Junior Womens Pack Away Padded Jacket, Joules, $171 Denim Breech, Ariat, $110 Flat Studs Soft Pochette Bag, Marc Jacobs, $795 Love Mash Up Intarsia Gloves, C Wonder, $58 Jodi Metallic Leather Ankle Boot, Joie, $340 Love Mash Up Pom Hat, $48

Ambient Amateur Wool-Cashmere Poncho, Burberry, $1,295 Suede Equestrian Hat, Eric Javits, $185 Tweed Manor Tote: Hunter Jumper, Tucker Tweed, $219 Equestrian Chain Necklace, Concavalli, $140 Double-Strap Watch, Massimo Dutti, $198 Remington Boot, Ariat, $240

Polished Pony Mom Kingswood Jacket, Barbour, $499 Equestrian DoubleWrap Gloves, Ralph Lauren, $495 She’s a Lucky Gallop Scarf, Modcloth, $20 Softy SaddleTote, Marc

by Marc Jacobs, $498 Horse & Horseshoe Duo Charm Necklace, Sydney Evan, $945 Margot Booties, Rag & Bone, $525

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feature

by Erin Gilmore

What Makes You Stronger HOW RIDER PAT BENNETT TURNED ALS INTO A DIAGNOSIS FOR NOT GIVING UP

No one knows how long they have.

That’s what Pat Bennett’s doctor told her as she sat in a quiet medical office, staring straight ahead as the careful explanation of her diagnosis washed over her. Next to her, Bennett’s trainer and longtime friend Laura Gerst gripped her hand and listened silently. It wasn’t quite a death sentence, but it certainly felt like the end of something.

“When they said that I had ALS, I thought, they have to be wrong,” Pat said. “All I’d heard about was the horrible reality of it, that it is a terrifying disease because you waste away but your mind stays the same. I thought my life was over.”

But for months, Bennett had known that something wasn’t right. At 58 years old, she had recently retired from her job at pharmaceuticals company Roche, where she had worked in human resources for 28 years. She returned to the office once a week to help with new hiring, but found that she easily tired, her speech would falter and people would have a difficult time understanding her.

At Windy Hill Equestrian, where she’s been riding for almost 15 years, her barn mates were becoming seriously concerned that she might have a drinking problem – after drinking one glass of wine at social gatherings her words would slur badly.

But Bennett most definitely did not have a drinking problem, and she wasn’t suffering from chronic fatigue. Early symptoms of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, can be exhibited in speech. Upper affects speech, and lower affects breathing. When Bennett was diagnosed with ALS in November 2012, her speech problems suddenly made sense. She was also diagnosed as having breathing problems attributable to ALS.

From top: Pat and Elle at the 2014 Oregon High Desert Classic; With Elle at home at Windy Hill Equestrian, Los Altos Hills, CA. Photos ©Cathal Phelan, Erin Gilmore

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L I F E I S TO O S H O R T As a child - growing up in Los Altos, CA, Bennett rode at Fremont Hills Stables, where Windy Hill is based today. But when she graduated from college and entered the “real world,” a horse wasn’t in the cards. It wasn’t until 1999 that she happened to ride a friend’s horse and was hooked again. “Life is too short, and I knew I needed to ride again,” she said.

Bennett went out on her own to look for a horse, and found Izzi, a five-year-old, green broke Appaloosa.

She worked her way up with Izzi, doing some 2’6” jumpers and taking lots of trail rides through the Los Altos Hills near Fremont Hills. She began training with Gerst, and barn life quickly became the center of her everyday routine.

But when her diagnosis coincided with Izzi’s retirement, Bennett fell into a depression. She tried to come to terms with the fact that she probably shouldn’t get another horse. Fifty percent of those with ALS typically don’t survive more than three years past their diagnosis, and Bennett didn’t want to leave another horse behind to an uncertain future.

“I was really scared to ride another horse, and I didn’t know how long I would be able to ride,” Bennett explained. “I had fallen off Izzi right before I was diagnosed. I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but I knew something was very wrong.”

With family concerned but not living in close proximity, and never having married, Gerst became Bennett’s closest confidant, accompanying her to all of her doctor’s appointments. And as Gerst sat by Bennett’s side through the second opinions, speech pathologist appointments and assessments, she knew that Bennett had to keep riding.

ALS causes weakness of the muscles, progressively causing them to become weaker until they eventually atrophy. It’s a terrifying disease for those who have it, because while the body continues its slide downhill, the mind stays sharp and aware. However, the more physically fit a person is, the longer they can fight the effects of the disease. Bennett was already in great shape – she ran every morning, and through riding her legs were fit and her coordination strong.

But, what she needed, was a safe, comfortable horse to continue her riding with. Gerst found that horse for Bennett in a dramatically colored, 12-year-old Warmblood-cross with a kind eye and little desire to spook or run. The brown and white paint mare was originally named Tiger Lily, but Bennett had trouble navigating those words, so she renamed the mare Elle. She bought the mare only with the promise from Gerst that Elle would always, always have a home at Windy Hill.

“Elle is slow and quiet, and actually, my legs have gotten even stronger since I’ve had her,” Bennett says. “When I’m riding, I’m not sick. It takes my mind away from it. And at the barn, they make me work and don’t baby me!”

MORE THAN A BARN For Bennett, Windy Hill Equestrian is so much more than the place where she keeps her horse – it’s her community. Trainers Maja

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Lindemann and John Wohr work alongside Gerst in the busy training operation that includes riders of all levels, from juniors to adult/amateurs.

Long before Bennett was diagnosed, she served as unofficial social coordinator for barn gatherings on the road and at home. She helps to arrange the rental houses for the barn at shows, and it’s a role she relishes, and continues today, even if she leans on email more now than phone calls to rally the group.

“She’s always been such an asset to our barn; she coordinates so much of the social stuff and is such a positive influence,” says Gerst.

Bennett has also been able to continue showing, and never misses a show with the barn. “Anything that has classes for me I’ll go to!” she says. “If they have flat classes for me I’ll go.”

The most noticeable changes in her riding since her diagnosis are the addition of a safety vest, and the desire to compete in the 18” crossrail division.

“I know I’m not as strong as everyone else, but in the same way that I would never drive a car without a seatbelt, I won’t ride anymore without a vest. It gives me peace of mind,” Bennett explains.

Her favorite part of showing is being able to ride Elle around the grounds, something that she’s always confident to do with the mare. And Lindemann makes sure they always achieve their number one and most important goal: to have fun. Bennett showed with the barn at the High Desert Classic in Bend, Oregon over the summer, and was named circuit champion in the crossrail division. She’s already looking forward to competing at HITS Thermal 2015, and going back to next summer’s show in Bend.

Something else changed in the summer of 2014. Bennett had taken to bringing a pen and paper with her to write her communication out when she went to run errands or stop by the deli for a sandwich.

Her speech has been severely affected by ALS, and unless you know her as well as Lindemann and Gerst do, it can be difficult, if not impossible to understand her speech.

THE WORLD KNOWS ALS What’s more, people generally didn’t even understand the disease that Bennett is suffering from. That is, until a little thing called the Ice Bucket Challenge went viral around the world last summer.

Now, when Bennett goes out and wears her button that says, “I have ALS” people immediately understand where she’s coming from, and try harder to help her.

It’s a change that she describes as simply incredible.

Bennett’s doctors continue to be amazed at how well she is doing, over a year after her diagnosis. Gerst still accompanies her to all of her appointments, and while seeing the speech pathologist, pulmonary specialist and others are critical, one appointment that Bennett doesn’t need is with the physical therapist.

Riding is her therapy, and rather than counting down her riding days, Bennett is making the days count.

“I want to do this as long as I can,” Bennett says. “We won’t know how long I can ride, but it’s really important to have something to look forward to. ALS doesn’t take away your brain or personality. It doesn’t take away who you are.”

Opposite page: Lindemann (right) and Gerst posed happily with Pat and Elle after Pat won the Crossrails Championship at the 2014 Oregon High Desert Classic.

Enter the H&S Giveaway at horseandstylemag.com/giveaway to win fabulous prizes from our fashionable partners.

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Reward your horse with a large bucket of horse cookies from Charleigh’s Cookies! Charleigh’s Cookies are hand made from organic ingredients that are free of sugar, preservatives and non-nutritious additives.

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JANUARY GIVEAWAY

Enter to win a COOL shirt and Grey High Performance Moisture Management Jersey from EIS! From outerwear to dress shirts and more, Equi In Style designs quality riding apparel that will keep you cool in the summer, warm in the winter, and protected all year long!

EIS apparel is constructed from lightweight performance material with easy care, normal wash and special wicking fabric that helps control body odor, making them the perfect fit for an active lifestyle.

Photos ©Cathal Phelan december/january ·

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VENDORspotlight

Brown Beauty Equestrian There’s no customer more discerning than a middle-aged woman who knows what she wants. When Debra Ferreria, who began her riding career well into adulthood, first set out to purchase riding clothes, she quickly saw the gaps in the apparel that was offered to participants in equestrian sport. “I kept thinking I was in the ‘wrong’ tack store; apparel was cheaply made with inferior fabrics,” she remembers.

It was during those first forays into equestrian apparel that the seed was planted to one day offer something better. Several years later, Ferreria, who is based in Southern California and travels to shows up and down the state, officially opened the “awning” of her mobile equestrian boutique, Brown Beauty Equestrian.

Since 2006, Ferreria has been sourcing equestrian apparel and accessories from the brands that she herself is drawn to. From a wide array of popular long sleeve sun shirts, to delicate scarves and carefully sourced jewelry, the journey into her mobile store is a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of the horse show.

Horse & Style: Where, when, and how did Brown Beauty start?

Debra Ferreria: Brown Beauty sparked to life while my husband and I were walking on the Maximillianstrasse in Munich, Germany after discovering a riding apparel shop filled with the most amazing fashions in September, 2006. I traveled to Munich six times over the next few months, designing, and planning the manufacture of the first Brown Beauty collection.

H&S: Is there any special meaning behind the name?

DF: I am a card-carrying member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

To honor my ancestors, I wanted to name my business after a famous American horse. I discovered that the horse ridden

by Paul Revere through Boston was a mare named Brown Beauty. Revere had borrowed the mare from John Larkin, a farmer, for his ride through Boston (Brown Beauty was confiscated by the British after Revere was captured) .

I loved the idea of a feisty mare being the mascot of my business and the logo and marketing materials depicting Revere and Brown Beauty quickly followed.

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Beach shows, where I took long hikes through the forest, watched the fog wafting through the trees over the show rings, and listened to the sound of seals barking in the distance. I often say I'm going to write a book about my (carnie) adventures.

Luckily for some, I don't write everything down as it would be a helluva book!

H&S: Describe some of your favorite brands, and how you’ve sourced them.

DF: I have to say that everything in my trailer is my favorite brand.

Nothing gets in my trailer unless I love it. Nothing. I try to source from US or North American brands first, European second, and also Fair Trade, handmade brands. I am a proponent of made in the USA brands and strongly support the resurgence of USA manufacturing.

H&S: What inspired you to go into business, and how have you grown? How do you measure success?

DF: I started to ride at 45-years-old. When it became time to go

enjoying the wine and cheese parties a little too much at the shows.

I've been sober for three years now. Thank God for that. Life is great, business is thriving and I am blessed beyond belief.

shopping for riding apparel, I kept thinking I was in the ‘wrong’ tack store; apparel was cheaply made with inferior fabrics that didn't stand up to the rigors of the sport. I found myself saying, ‘somebody needs to do something about this!’ Not realizing that the finger of fate was pointing directly at me.

H&S: What advice would you give to someone who wanted to create their own equestrian business?

DF: To be honest -- don't do it -- unless you have unlimited funding

The recession of the late 2000s coincided with the inception of my business. I realized I needed to change to be competitive. In retrospect, the best thing that ever happened to my business was the recession. Brown Beauty's current success is directly attributed to the changes I made to my inventory in the summer of 2009. I don't measure success by money and profit (the typical barometer of a successful business). I measure success by customer satisfaction.

H&S: What have you learned, both about equestrian style and the business world, since founding Brown Beauty?

DF: Equestrian fashion is quickly evolving. The introduction of technical fabrics several years ago changed the industry. The concern of sun damage has taken short sleeve shirts off the racks in Southern California! Now you can be sun-conscious, cool and stylish at the same time! Fabrics are now expected to work as hard as the athlete!

I've learned that the horse show business is not for sissies. Thick skin is a prerequisite. It's a dog-eat-dog world at every level, but I guess that just describes business in general, doesn't it?

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H&S: Describe your greatest challenge, and how you’ve overcome it.

DF: My greatest challenge was

to make it through the first five years of losses, a solid relationship, endless self motivation and a crystal ball! But I have to say there is demand for a kid’s only or men's only mobile store!

H&S: What’s next for Brown Beauty?

DF: A new website is under construction and I'm learning a new way of marketing using hashtags (#OMG!)

H&S: Do you yourself ride, and if so, in what capacity?

DF: As mentioned, I started riding in my mid-forties. My son decided he liked a little girl in his 4th grade class. Since she rode, his plan was to take riding lessons. I bought a block of ten lessons -- and by the third lesson he was still petrified of horses. I took over the lessons and ended up with two Hanoverians, which led to eventually owning a mobile equestrian boutique. I stopped riding when I realized that it is impossible to ride and own a mobile boutique at the same time and do both well. I had to be honest with myself and choose one or the other. I rode at a three-day event barn in San Juan Capistrano and was jumping courses at the end of my ‘career.’ But I could see myself riding again one day. I love it so much.

H&S: What have been some of the adventures along the way?

DF: I've made many friends in the industry who I would have never

Previous page and above: The Brown Beauty trailer is stocked with special items that range from functional to simply fashionable!

Previous page inset: Debra Ferreria of Brown Beauty Equestrian

met had I not taken on this adventure. I fondly remember the Pebble

Photos ©Erin Gilmore

· december/january

Giant Steps Therapeutic Equestrian Center sends heartfelt thanks to all who made the 2014 Charity Classic an unprecedented success.

Mark your calendars for the next Giant Steps Charity Classic Gala Saturday August 1, 2015!

Inset photo ŠDeb Dawson, Color Guard photo ŠApplehead Design

Gucci Eden Valley Stables

Shaklee Sonoma Horse Park

Alhambra

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Brunoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s On Fourth

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Rombauer Vineyards

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Lagunitas Brewing Company

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FAB Sportswear LLC

Winston Equestrian USA

Chef Gary Danko & Greg Lopez

Rich Fellers Horse & Style Magazine

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Geoff Yang

VOLUNTEERS Gerardo Acevedo

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BARNenvy Story and photos by Erin Gilmore

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Lucky Jack Farm RANCHO SANTA FE, CALIFORNIA There’s no better place for friends to gather than within the whitewashed courtyard of Lucky Jack Farm. Horse owner and amateur competitor Patty Brutten conceived the private, 15-acre equestrian facility north of San Diego, CA after years of keeping her horses in dark, cramped boarding barns. For Brutten, Lucky Jack Farm became the antithesis of old-fashioned spaces for horses.

Open, welcoming and bright, it is a peaceful, healthy home base for humans and horses alike.

Its centerpiece a 16-stall barn perched on a hillside in the equestrian community of Rancho Santa Fe, the facility is so remarkable that it was chosen to grace the cover of architect John Blackburn’s book Healthy Stables by Design. Blackburn, who completed construction on the farm in 2010, faced a host of code, environmental and geologic challenges throughout the planning and building process.

But for each problem — strict fire codes, a rocky, sloping landscape and unique property characteristics — an innovative solution was found that ultimately adds to the character of Lucky Jack Farm.

A terra cotta roof and white adobe walls are mixed with timber beams, and in the clubhouse, Douglas fir wood flooring pay homage to the area’s Lilian Rice architecture style. Lucky Jack’s open courtyards and drought-resistant landscaping are also in keeping with the region. The sloped roof of the barn, lined with skylights from end to end that brighten the aisle way in latticed shadows, is the facility’s crown jewel. Brutten’s trainer Marcy Gehrke bases her business out of the facility, and a group of friends board their horses there. Brutten has hosted select events at Lucky Jack; the 6,000 square-foot entertainment area with outdoor fireplace and patio is an elegant venue for holding equestrian-related fundraisers.

Opposite: Every stall was designed to avoid the claustrophobic and closed-in. Complete cross aeration keeps the barn fresh; on one side of their stalls, horses can look across the aisle at each other, also relax with their heads outside the barn, creating a peaceful atmosphere.

Above: a dramatic sunshade creates cover in the barn's outdoor lounge area, the clubhouse is seen at right. december/january ·

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This page, clockwise: Lucky Jack Farm was constructed in 2010 as a private facility that the owners could enjoy with friends; Safety was a great concern of architect John Blackburn, who considered the fact that the barn, built on a steep slope, could present hazards in the event of a loose horse. The trellis and resulting landscaping create an attractive visual and physical barrier that keeps horses within bounds of the barn area; Every stall bears the name of its occupant, or if vacant, that of the farm Opposite page, clockwise: A round pen (pictured) and covered Eurociser create several exercise options for the horses, while a manicured riding path leads down to the full-sized arena, and beyond to the Rancho Santa Fe trail system; The group of friends who enjoy Lucky Jack together: trainer Marcy Gehrke, Cathy Gilchrist, Jan Barstow, Patty Brutten, and Barbara Brown; Antique Navajo Indian rugs, cowhide leather ottomans and a generous picture window give Lucky Jack’s clubhouse an inviting atmosphere where the horses are never more than a few steps away; A Deborah Butterfield sculpture at the base of the turnouts greet all who enter Lucky Jack Farm — the drive then slopes to the right towards the entrance to the barn.

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Huntington Beach Surf Classic July 1-4 Huntington Beach Summer Classic August 6-9 Huntington Beach, CA

OUT&about

THE NATIONAL HORSE SHOW CSI4*-W - LEXINGTON, KY

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1. That’s Alise Oken, Jessica Springsteen, and a KY Blue cheerleader -- err, Reed Kessler -- hanging with Kalvin Dobbs 2. Hunter Harrison, Cayce Harrison, Quentin Judge, McLain and Lauren Ward make up the Double H crew 3. Brianne Goutal was "lovin' it" with this costume 4. Tongues out, flash that smile! Both Lilli Hymowitz and Enjoy looked pleased with their winnings 5. A cattily-attired Lillie Keenan (that’s a cheetah costume) course walks with coach Andre Dignelli 6. Another day, another press conference for McLain Ward 7. Kirsten Coe gives Baronez big pats 8. Stephanie Danhakl and Golden Rule shared a quiet moment 9. Hunter Harrison assists grand prix winner Beezie Madden with her NHS medal Photos ©Emily Riden

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We use Equine insurance for all aspects of our business. Their attention to our business and communication is fantastic. Policies are competitive and meet our needs, including workers’ compensation insurance. We are thankful to have them as part of our team.

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1. Adrienne Dixon enjoys her moment in the spotlight after winning the 2014 WCE Finals 2. Archie Cox makes a few final adjustments before sending his rider into the ring 3. Icebreaker surrounded by his many fans 4. Sophie Verges gets an A+ in color coordination! 5. Now that’s one way to wear your victory with pride 6. Uma O'Neill talks game strategy with coach Ray Texal 7. Mackenzie Root and Alicia Saxton 8. Reed Kessler put the Sunshine Series on her fall show schedule 9. Lauren Bradley

Photos ©Bethany Unwin

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ASKdr.carrie

Q: A:

The show season is over and I’ve lost my drive! What do I do to stay focused and keep training?

Nothing! Let your focus soften and take a break from intense training. Honor the changing season and the need for both horse and rider to lighten-up. Allow some time to refill your energy tank, enjoy the pleasures of trail riding, grooming, fitness hacks, and less structured time with your horse. Training can pause or return to basics for a bit while everyone slows down. Don’t be afraid of the doldrums that may emerge when the busy show schedule ceases. It is natural to come down a bit hard, as keeping the energy up for showing is more taxing than you think. Remember that these blues are not necessarily depression but the rebalance from all the hard work and exertion of the past 10 months.

Motivation in sport is inspired by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic elements. It is useful to determine what types of internal and external factors play into your motivation. Are you driven by friends and social stimulation at the shows?

Do the ribbons or accolades from other riders motivate you? Are you inspired by the pleasure of connecting with your horse or feeling strong in your body when competing? Are you motivated by the relationship and feedback you get from your trainer or peers? Do the sounds and smells of the barn in the morning inspire you to get out of bed? Each of these examples has internal and external factors. Social stimulation and connection are both. Awards reflect outer performance as well as mind-body connection. Notice the internal and external factors that keep you going and start to turn your focus to the internal pieces that are more accessible during the off-season.

Don’t be afraid of the doldrums that may emerge when the busy show schedule ceases.

Since motivation tends to be goal-driven, clarifying goals is helpful for getting inspired and staying on track. Reflect on your 2014 goals and evaluate what you have achieved. Begin to outline your 2015 goals and the steps necessary to get there. While thinking about the external goals you have achieved, give some attention to the internal components of those goals. For instance, winning is an external reward that may be accompanied by the experience of staying fully focused for an entire round. In this example, the internal motivation is about consistent focus so prolonged focus may be an off-season goal that motivates you. Looking at the internal element of any externally oriented goal or achievement will help you to find motivation in the simple tasks and downtime of the off-season. Additionally, setting new goals for the 2015 season can guide your understanding of what motivates you. Slow down, reflect, and allow your motivation to organically gain steam for the next chapter.

Q: A:

I am trying to think of New Year’s resolutions for my riding that are internally oriented. Can you help me?

Here are 10 internally or process-focused New Year’s intentions. I encourage you to focus on only one or two per month, adding to your repertoire as your growth and needs change:

1. Focus on your relationship with each mount as much as the successes you achieve together.

2. Communicate with your mind and body equally on and off the horse.

3. Be specific about your goals with each endeavor.

4. Focus on controlling that which is within you.

5. Let self-consciousness teach you about your growing edges, rather than make you uncomfortable.

Carrie Wicks,Ph.D. |

6. Have the courage to seek increasingly more difficult challenges.

7. Teach yourself to focus on one thing at a time for prolonged periods.

8. Make no assumptions when communicating with a horse.

9. Note how each success and each challenge helps you to know yourself better.

10. Take nothing personally.

(707) 529-8371 | carrie@carriewicks.com | drcarriewicks.com

Dr. Carrie founded The (W)inner’s Circle for Equestrians, a membership-based program that supports riders to develop a mental practice for peak performance. She regularly consults with riders and trainers. She is also a parenting guru who guides teens and parents through challenges while deepening their bonds and navigating adolescence. Dr. Carrie was a top Junior/Amateur competitor, a young professional rider, and mother of an elite gymnast and an equestrian. She has worn all the hats!

Her doctoral dissertation, “Adolescent Equestrienne Athletes’ Experiences of Mindfulness in Competition” is in the Library of Congress and is currently being revised as a book for the public.

If you would like to ask a question for this column or ask about a complimentary Performance Strategy session, please contact Carrie.

december/january ·

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2014

HOLIDAY GUIDE

TO

Horse & Style searched, sourced and shopped high and low to bring you our 3rd annual H&S Holiday Guide to Equestrian Style. Whether you are shopping for a fellow equestrian, a fourlegged friend or maybe just a little something for yourself, you will find it here! With over 200 products that link directly to the source in this all-digital gift guide, you’re certain to find that special gift for everyone on your list.

Visit www.horseandstylemag.com/HolidayGuide to read, browse and enjoy the 2014 Horse & Style Holiday Guide to Equestrian Style!

Planked Horse Triptych Ralph Lauren ˚ $299

Hermès Gallop Hermès ˚ €250.00

Marion Quilted Riding Boot Tory Burch ˚ $367.50

Show Horses Waterproof Raincoat Nordstrom ˚ $51.95

Handmilled Walnut Cheese Tray Miller's Milling ˚ $75

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EQUESTRIAN STYLE preview Girls Knitted Animal Hat Joules ˚ $31.28

Leather Bridle Mirror October Design ˚ Price n/a

Arion Jumping Horse Necklace Navika Girl ˚ $24

Girls Animal Mittens Joules ˚ $23.44

Ponytail Collection

Ponytail Products Grooming Assortment prices vary

Woof Case Loft and Livery ˚ $35

Wooden Rocking Horse

Grey/Pink Plaid Sport Shirt

Neiman Marcus ˚ $160

Le Fash ˚ $215 december/january ·

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BITof bliss

Allison Kroff and James Girolamo

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Insurance coverage and care for your Horses, Farm, Home and Business

ight years after meeting in Colorado on the summer horse show circuit, grand prix rider Allison Kroff married James Girolamo in Park City, Utah.

Girolamo, who is a familiar face at horse shows from California to the Midwest, where he works in a variety of roles that range from barn manager to course designing assistant, was taken with Kroff when they first met in 2006. After eight years of dating, the two tied the knot in front of an intimate crowd of family and friends at the private home of John and Cathy Boruch in Park City.

Kroff’s close friends, including rider Chelsea Jones and Circle Oak Equine’s Dr. Sarah Puchalski, traveled from near and far to be there for her big day on September 20, 2014. “Every person that came to our wedding had to travel from either Arizona, Colorado or California,” Kroff said. “We felt so blessed to have so many people there.”

The 20-acre ranch property, complete with barn, riding arena, and grass pastures sits on the banks of the Provo River and made for a stunning location for a wedding. Naturally, horses made the landscape even more beautiful.

“I am grateful to John and Cathy for making my wedding dreams come true,” Kroff added. “I want to thank them for letting us have our wedding at their amazing house.”

Opposite page: Kroff wore a sleeveless empire-waist lace dress

by Cosmo Bella.

From top: The couple's reception and ceremony were held at a private Park City ranch; An admitted Etsy obsession on Kroff’s part paved the way for the small details, including the equestrian-themed cake topper. Attendees were invited to sign the custom guest book.

Photos ©Ashlee Elizabeth Photography

35 Years Dedicated to Insurance A Lifetime Devoted to Horses Tom Rattigan . trattigan@g2insurance.com

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Jim

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Jim Dratfield has made a career in photographing the beloved pets of both elite clientele and everyday animal owners.

His first book, The Quotable Canine, was published in 1995, receiving accolades from many and inspiring a successful companion book, The Quotable Feline. Dratfield has since published over half-a-dozen photography books that feature animals of all shapes and sizes.

His work has been featured at Manhattan’s prestigious William Secord Gallery, and in addition to books, his photos grace the pages of many magazines, gallery walls, calendars and within private homes.

Dratfield grew-up in Princeton, NJ, and after a brief stint in Los Angeles and New York working as an actor, he returned to his home state and took-up pet photography. His animal portrait studio, which he opened in February of 1993, quickly evolved to include custom photo shoots around the country.

He’s since photographed everything from pet hedgehogs to monkeys, dogs, cats, and of course, horses.

“The response to the finished pictures is one of the most rewarding aspects of the job,” Dratfield says. “I believe that many things touch us throughout our lives, but it’s often our pets who are there for us in good times and bad.”

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BUSINESSlistings

WHERE TO FIND US! Shop these select tack store locations in the United States and Canada to purchase your copy of Horse & Style!

Do you want to see Horse & Style near you?

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