41 minute read
9 Arguments Against Ace
Nine Reasons Against Tranquilizers In The Show Ring
Having shown back in the late ’50s up through today—and not ever being one who uses tranquilizers in the show ring—I learned how to prepare my horses the “old-fashioned” way, with no tranquilizer. I was naïve to the fact that many professionals were using them. I could never understand how some professionals were able to ride forward with pace and drive their horses forward to the long spot, fence after fence, without their horses getting strong or playing. I had to learn to ride “conservatively.” Often, if I asked my horse to move forward for one long spot, I couldn’t get “a pull on the reins” the rest of the round! He’d be long gone!
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I’ve read both articles, for and against the use of tranquilizers (“Solve A Host Of Problems With Controlled Quieting Medications,” March 21 & 28, p. 88, and “Why Not Just Allow A ½ CC Of Ace?”, April 11 & 18, p. 70). There have been many good arguments for giving tranquilizer, but many more and far more important ones for not giving them!
In response to some of the arguments for the use of tranquilizer, here are my responses: 1. It would result in less pounding on the horse physically.
Response: Don’t show every week!
Pick and choose a realistic number of shows that might allow your horse to last longer. 2. It would require less time to prep for the show ring.
Response: Learning the individual horse’s needs for prep and comfort, physically and mentally, are a big part of horsemanship and training.
The time invested to produce a good performance is all part of it. 3. It would quiet and desensitize horses so that they could take a much less accurate ride and accept more riding mistakes.
Response: But quieting and desensitizing horses lowers our standards of riding, training and horsemanship. Dealing with horses’ emotions is half the battle.
Drugs and quieting agents are trying to make a horse like a car.
We’re not dealing with metal with an engine that is the same under all circumstances. Learning to address your horse’s needs is what riding and training is all about. 4. It would eliminate use of illegal substances to quiet an animal, and the sport would only need to test for the amount of certain “prescribed” medications, so that would cut the cost of enforcement enormously.
Response: Illegal substances to quiet an animal will not go away. It’s often people’s nature to think “more is better.” If they don’t get the exact response they want, they will add
Other Things to the mix, especially if we are not testing for anything but a certain amount of the “prescribed” medications.
Another concern is, with horses showing so much, they will be on tranquilizer more than they are off tranquilizer! And how many days in a row will they have tranquilizer administered to them? Does it become cumulative? What if you have a class early in the morning and again late in the afternoon? Are you going to tranquilize two times a day?! Talk about “welfare of the horse!” What about schooling at home? Are they going to be tranquilized there as well? 5. No exhibitor, trainer or rider would have the advantage of winning due to a quieter animal.
Response: Wrong! It gives the advantage to the owner of the
“hot or crazy” horse! It gives the advantage to the riders who don’t ride very well. When drug testing first started I had the advantage for a while, because I didn’t need to change my training program. 6. Longe line abuse would disappear.
Response: There can be longe line abuse when horses are forced to run around wildly, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Proper longeing is a wonderful asset. It prepares horses physically and mentally while instilling balance, rhythm and discipline. Lack of the weight of the rider also helps to alleviate back soreness.
7. Lawsuits would disappear. Response: Using drugs that alter the horse’s mind, and in some instances his gait and balance, would only open us up to more lawsuits! With the varied the late ’50s up through responses different horses have today—and not ever when given any tranquilizer, one being one who uses can’t be sure how the horse will tranquilizers in the show react. Stumbling, tripping, falling— ring—I learned how to some horses even have the reverse prepare my horses the reaction when given a tranquilizer “old-fashioned” way, and become more excited. This with no tranquilizer. could be brought into question when there is a fall of horse and/or rider. Injuries will be scrutinized. Big lawsuits will follow. 8. Dangerous side effects of quieting medications would no longer be an issue. Response: Dangerous side effects will always be an issue, even with legalizing ace and supposedly educating people as to how and when to use it. There will always be uneducated people who are “needle happy” trying to “get the edge.” Being that “one size does not fit all,” and each horse can have a different reaction to the same amount of tranquilizer given, people will add other substances (often illegal) to try to perfect their horse’s performance. 9. The cost of testing will be much lower. Response: Not really. Testing will always be necessary as long as there are people trying to cheat the system. By opening up the door to tranquilizers, there will be far more use of them, which will require even more testing to be sure they are within the limits and that there are no added substances. We will always need a “policeman” to check for other illegal ingredients. The bottom line is we are already failing to develop any real horsemen. We’re dealing in an era of instant gratification. We have developed some wonderful riders, but how many of them have any idea what it takes to train a horse? If we choose to ride tranquilized horses, one doesn’t learn to deal with the horse’s emotions, which are such a key part to the successfulness of the training. PATTY HEUCKEROTH
Southern Pines, N.C.
First Foal On The Way For Rafalca
It’s not unusual for top mares to reproduce via embryo transfer, but Jan Ebeling’s 2012 London Olympic Games partner, Rafalca, is about to deliver her first foal.
“We knew from the beginning at some point we were going to breed her when we were done riding her,” Ebeling said. “My wish was that I have one baby, the first baby, grow up with her mom in the field, because when I wake up I want to look out the window and see that mare with a baby. So that wish was granted.”
Ebeling and the team of owners behind Rafalca (his wife, Amy Ebeling, Ann Romney and Beth Meyer) tried to breed Rafalca following her retirement ceremony at the Central Park Horse Show (N.Y.) in 2014, but the mare didn’t take.
“We were a little disappointed. We thought, you know, maybe she’s just too old,” Jan said. “Maybe it’s not going to happen. And then our vet said, ‘No, I think we just need to try next year again. I think I can make it happen.’ ”
They selected Connaisseur, a Dutch Warmblood stallion (Con Amore— Donna Clara, Donnerhall) who had fresh semen available, which was a priority to better ensure the Oldenburg mare (Argentinius—Ratine, Rubinstein), now 19, would take this time around.
That was 10 months ago.
“I’m standing right here looking at her, and she’s just huge,” said Jan, who called from his Moorpark, Calif., farm with Amy and Romney standing with him, all admiring soon-to-be mama Rafalca. “I don’t really care whether it’s a filly or a colt, I just want her baby. I just want to look at it. I mean that horse has given me so much; she’s been such a hard worker, and she’s really catapulted my career into the limelight.”
Rafalca spends her days in a pasture with an older retired gelding and her nights in a stall.
“She’s it,” Jan said. “She’s my darling and my super horse.” “It’s such a mutual feeling between the two of them,” said Amy. “If you ever see the two of them together, Rafalca never takes her eyes off of Jan when he’s around, even now when he’s not riding her anymore or anything. It was such a magical team.”
The Ebelings and Romney hope to have three more foals with Rafalca—in their ideal world, two by embryo transfer and another carried by Rafalca. ANN GLAVAN
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FEI Suspends Two Officials Following Global Champions League Event
The Fédération Equestre Internationale confirmed the suspension of two officials, international judge Rogier van Iersel and course designer Rob Jansen, following the first leg of the inaugural Global Champions League in Miami Beach, Fla.
An FEI spokesperson confirmed: “The FEI has applied its rules relating to unsanctioned events and can confirm that the two officials are ineligible.FEI officials will not be authorized to officiate in any capacity at FEI and national events for a period of six months.”
The suspensions are the most recent byproduct of the ongoing conflict between the FEI and the Global Champions Tour, which hosts the league. The GCL introduced a new team format at GCT competitions.
FEI rule GR113 states riders, horses and show officials may not participate in unsanctioned events six months prior to participating in an FEI event.
“FEI officials were informedin Decemberthat they would not be authorized to officiate in any capacity at any GCL events, which have not been sanctioned/approved by the FEI. However, it was made clear in the same communication that they would be eligible to officiate at the Global Champions Tour, which is an FEI sanctioned event,” said an FEI spokesperson.
Van Iersel and Jansen released a joint statement, as first reported by WorldOfShowJumping.com.
“We feel that what Jan [Tops] has developed with GCT for more than 10 years has been great for the development of show jumping,” they stated. “The concept of the Global Champions League is another dimension, and the first two events have proven what we thought, that it will be good for show jumping. We wanted to support this initiative, and if you saw the atmosphere in Miami and Mexico it has immediately proven itself to be the positive new dimension we expected.
“Secondly, we don’t understand at all that riders and horses are allowed to compete and that officials are being used to try to block it, which we feel is totally ridiculous for a number of reasons, including horse welfare,” their statement continued. “The precautions for horse welfare at GCT and GCL events are far and above requirements. It is a transparent format and people understand it immediately. We saw in Mexico, where there has not been this level of show jumping for many years, and people were very enthusiastic and understood it. We are really pleased we can support the development of this, and we are really positive and pleased to help.”
The two officials also stated they informed the FEI of their plans before the first GCL event and requested a waiver, which was denied. They’ve appealed that decision and no final decision has been made yet. KIMBERLY LOUSHIN
The Show Jumping Hall of Fame will honor Elizabeth Busch Burke, Katie Prudent and Susie Hutchison with induction at the Devon Horse Show (Pa.).
These are individuals whose contributions to the sport have set them apart and whose influence has had a significant impact on the sport of show jumping and the equestrian community.
Burke, the daughter of 1988 Show Jumping Hall of Fame inductee August A. Busch Jr. and wife of 2001 inductee Bobby Burke, was a dedicated compet-
Roffman And Meredith Welcome First Child
Grand Prix dressage rider Caroline Roffman and her fiancé, show jumper Ben Meredith, welcomed their first child, Mae Victoria Meredith on April 1.
Mae was 7 pounds 6 ounces and 19 ¾ inches.
“I was very lucky,” said Roffman. “It was a very easy pregnancy. I was able to teach; I was teaching at the horse show the day I was induced.
“It’s very special,” she continued. “As many times as people tell you, you can’t understand or imagine your instant attachment.
“She’s very easy; you barely know she’s there sometimes, so she makes my life pretty easy at this point, which means she’ll probably be a wild 2-year-old or something, but for now I’m pretty lucky,” Roffman added with a laugh. She got back in the saddle two weeks after Mae was born and is looking forward to introducing her daughter to the horses. Mae has already sat on their Corgi, but Roffman joked that she needed to borrow a pony for a day because all of her horses are so big.
Roffman credited her barn staff at Lionshare Dressage in Wellington, Fla., for keeping everything running smoothly while she gets back in the groove.
KIMBERLY LOUSHIN
itor, owner and businesswoman. She was a rider, owner and leading force in promoting the sport.
She worked tirelessly to help build show jumping in the United States, leveraging the Anheuser-Busch name to open doors and develop sponsorship and media opportunities. Classes that benefited from her support included the American Invitational, American Grandprix Association Championships, Grand Prix de Penn National, Grand Prix of Devon, and several FEI World Cup Finals in Las Vegas. Elizabeth also used her influence to gain TV coverage for show jumping.
She owned many successful horses, including several champion hunters. But it was grand prix show jumper Authentic who was the most famous. She bought the Dutch Warmblood for Beezie Madden to ride in 2001, and the pair won Olympic team gold in 2004 in Athens, an accomplishment they repeated in 2008 in Hong Kong after Elizabeth sold Authentic.
Elizabeth helped create the Show Jumping Hall of Fame and served on its board of directors until her death in 2011.
For more than two decades Prudent was one of show jumping’s most successful riders. In 1969 at the age of 15 she won the ASPCA Maclay Finals. She then won the AHSA Medal Finals in 1972, making her one of the few to win both titles.
Prudent rode to dozens of grand prix wins around the world. In the first FEI World Cup Final, in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1979, she finished second to French rider Hugo Simon. She rode in five more Finals in the 1980s.
Prudent rode on the U.S. team at the 1980 Alternate Olympics in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where she helped the team finish fifth. She won the American Invitational three times aboard three different horses. She was also part of the U.S. gold medal team at the 1986 World Championships in Aachen, Germany.
Prudent was named the AGA Rider of the Year three times (1982, 1986 and 1988), and in 1987 she received the Whitney Stone Cup.
Prudent also developed multiple young riders including her son, grand prix rider Adam Prudent, as well as Alison Firestone, Elise Haas and Reed Kessler. In 2000, Prudent was named Coach of the Year by the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Prudent maintains her base at her Plain Bay Farm in Middleburg, Va.
Hutchison’s career in show jumping has been highlighted by more than three dozen grand prix wins. She’s represented the United States at six FEI World Cup Finals and the FEI World Equestrian Games. She finished fourth in the 1993 World Cup Final in Gothenburg and topped the World Cup’s USA West Coast League standings three times.
Hutchison has won such events as the Los Angeles National Grand Prix and the Grandprix of New York at the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden. She also won the Mercedes Challenge Series in 1989.
In 1992, Hutchison was named AGA Rider of the Year and was voted Show Jumping Horseman of the Year by The Chronicle of the Horse. In 1994 she rode at the World Equestrian Games in The Hague, the Netherlands, aboard her longtime partner Woodstock. The team finished fifth.
She remains an active and successful grand prix competitor.
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SPRING HORSE SHOWS ISSUE Living Legend Living Legend: Patty Heuckeroth
She created her own superstar horses from scratch, building an extraordinary career on a horse-first approach.
BY MOLLIE BAILEY
Ask Patty Heuckeroth if she’s ever been married, and she just laughs.
“ ‘Yes, I’ve been married my whole life to all these horses,’ ” she jokes. “I never could figure out where there’d be any time left over for a husband.”
For Heuckeroth, the horses have always come before everything, and she’s produced decades of show ring results thanks to that credo, earning the 1970 AHSA Horsewoman of the Year title, induction into the Show Hunter Hall of Fame in 2007, the J. Arthur Reynolds Horseman Award at Upperville (Va.) in 2011, and the 2009 and 2013 North Carolina Hunter Jumper Association Horsewoman of the Year titles.
She’s trained dozens of top hunters to major titles, but the accolades were always the byproducts of what longtime friend George Morris described as her “good, old-fashioned horsemanship.”
“I owe Patty,” said Carol “Hoffy” Hoffman who worked for Heuckeroth for more than a decade and is now general manager at Anne Kursinski’s Market Street. “I can’t pay her back for all that I learned about good horsemanship, appreciation for the horse and how to turn them out for the show ring. She’s just a class act and a great horsewoman.” Loving The Challenge
The daughter of German native Otto Heuckeroth, the longtime manager of the Ox Ridge Hunt Club (Conn.), and his wife Marjorie who, in Patty’s words, “barely knew a bay from a CATHRIN CAMMETT PHOTO gray,” Patty grew up in the saddle. “A lot of people ask me, ‘Your father being German, did he teach you German?’ ” said Patty. “My response is always, ‘Oh no. My mother wouldn’t have it. We already spoke horse. She would have been cut out entirely.’ ”
Patty’s two older brothers didn’t take to the sport, but Patty became a barn rat from an early age. Otto would plunk her on the saddle in front of him before she was ready to ride on her own and go for a canter around the polo fields. When she was big enough he fed her a steady diet of naughty ponies.
Her first pony “was a little black Shetland who dumped me every day,” Patty recalled. “We even had a class at the show where whoever stayed on her twice around the ring bareback would win. They were all either black or black and white, and they all reared or spun or stopped or did something terrible. But I loved the challenge.”
When she was 9 Patty inherited Morris’ junior hunter Gamecock, with whom he’d won the AHSA Medal and ASPCA Maclay Finals.
“He was 16.1 hands, a good-sized Thoroughbred horse,” recalled
Patty Heuckeroth started working with Ed and Fran Bulkeley’s Sly Step as a weanling, training him to the green conformation championship at The National Horse Show.
DARKROOM ON WHEELS PHOTO
Morris, who trained with Otto. “For her it was a big step up at a young age to move onto a physically big horse.”
She reveled in the chance to ride a well-broke mount, and she rounded out her education riding plenty of different kinds of charges, too.
“There were 100 horses at the club and very few turnout places there,” she said. “Most horses didn’t get turned out, just had to be exercised every day, so I got to ride lots and lots of different horses. I always said my father gave me the basics, and the horses really taught me the rest, as they will. Each horse is a new lesson.”
In 1962 Patty won the Harry T. Peters trophy at Madison Square Garden for winning the USET Combined Test Championship, a precursor to today’s Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals, on Pete, a horse she competed in the hunters, equitation, jumpers, dressage and even a horse trial—which she won (see sidebar). Patty also dabbled in dressage, borrowing Madam Silly from Mrs. Joshua Barney to win the PHA National Dressage Medal three years in a row, retiring that trophy.
After high school Patty worked at Ox Ridge, and one winter she escaped the Connecticut snowdrifts to ride in Virginia with Gene Cunningham, who was winning major hunter titles aboard legendary mounts like Cap And Gown at the time. She remembers that trip as a very humbling experience.
“We started with a little cavaletti and an x, and I thought, ‘Thank goodness, you can’t go wrong with that.’ So I go through the first time, and he said, ‘Well you were a little to the left, do it again.’ And the next time it was, ‘You’re a little too fast through there,’ and the next it was, ‘You’re holding too long through there.’ I thought, ‘Wow! I never knew the x was so hard!’
“It got to the point where I was trying so hard to do everything the way he wanted me to do it,” she continued. “I had mostly been on my own, with my father of course, but letting the horses tell me what to do. At the end of the
Patty Heuckeroth’s first teacher was her father Otto, who taught her aboard a variety of naughty ponies. PHOTO COURTESY
—PATTY HEUCKEROTH
winter I told him, ‘I’ve got to go because now I can’t even canter!’ ”
Patty returned to Ox Ridge, riding for the likes of Mr. and Mrs. John J. Farrell and Ed and Fran Bulkeley. Several years later her friendship with Cunningham brought the two back together, and they dated. He continued to influence her horsemanship throughout her life.
“She had a very good recipe for riding,” said Morris. “Her father Otto, his system was German, more behind the horse. Then she became close with Gene Cunningham, who rode with Gordon Wright and was a forward seat rider. So she had the recipe of the German school and of our cavalry school, which did very well for her in the hunters.”
Getting On The Map
Big breaks can come from anywhere, and Patty’s biggest came in the form of a special little mare that needed some time off. That horse, Aldie Belle, was owned by Grace Schettino of Bittersweet Farms and went off to show with Schettino’s son Brooks in the junior divisions under Morris. When she popped a splint the mare came back to Ox Ridge to be rehabbed, a chore Patty happily took on. Once she had recovered Patty started showing her and found herself with an extraordinary hunter who really put her on the map.
In the beginning Aldie Belle would often be Patty’s only charge at the show, and even though bigger barns with fancy tack stalls dwarfed her miniature operation, she was the one walking back to the barn with armloads of blue ribbons. The mare won the AHSA Horse of the Year award in the regular working hunter division in 1968 and was inducted into the Show Hunter Hall of Fame in 2014.
“She won and won and won,” said Patty. “She just hated to touch a jump. She was so brave, and she was champion everywhere, including at all the major shows.”
After she retired from showing Aldie Belle foaled two offspring. The first was a sweet, kind chestnut named Short Stop. Patty showed him as a first year horse but worried that he maxed out at 3'6".
“I was interested in the 4',” said Patty. “I thought he slapped out a little on the landing, and [he was] a sweet horse but not a candidate for the 4'. I sold him to Canada and didn’t really follow up on how he did. Years later I was talking to Jim Elder about horses I’d had that ended up on the Canadian team, and he mentioned Tretorn. I didn’t know who he was talking about until he said he was out of the little black mare I used to ride in the hunters. He said, ‘You don’t know Tretorn? He’s been the leading Midwest grand prix winner for three years in a row.’ ”
An All-Around Favorite
Patty Heuckeroth hesitates to name one horse as her all-time favorite. After all, there was Patty Heuckeroth enjoyed a long partnership with Fleetford, whom she named as her favorite all-around hunter. ERIN HARTY PHOTO Aldie Belle who put her on the map, Once A King who carved a special place in her heart and died at the height of his career after a bout of colic, and dozens of others who won class after class. But one horse had all the pieces: Fleetford.
“He was elegant moving and jumping, careful and agile and brave, a great hack and so pretty,” she said. “He wasn’t always the easiest because he was a little bit sensitive, but when he put it all together you couldn’t beat him. He was so beautiful across the ground as well as over the jumps. He was so light and airy when he jumped; he took your breath away.”
Heuckeroth says watching videos of Fleetford compete put her other mounts to shame, and she recalled one handy hunter class at Devon (Pa.) when she received a standing ovation for a fantastic trip.
“One year we went to Capital Challenge [Md.], and I hadn’t seen Larry Glefke in a long time,” she said. “I had Fleetford in the regular working and the conformation, and we won every class the first day, and Larry was second or third. Larry says, ‘Congratulations, that’s something.’ We’re both stabled next to Jack Stedding who says, ‘Larry, I see Patty has all the blues, and you’re third and fourth.’ Well the next day we won it all again, and as we’re walking back to the barn Jack calls out, ‘Larry, I see nothing’s changed.’ ”
That mare’s second offspring was a good jumper, but back problems shortened her career. She became a broodmare, throwing another black mare named Aldie’s Image who won one of the International Hunter Futurity classes at 3.
In 1969 Patty moved to her current base in Southern Pines, N.C., establishing Heuckeroth Farm and continuing her career with horses like Cornelia Guest’s Li-Ke, who won the 1970 AHSA Regular Working Hunter Horse of the Year award. Heuckeroth Farms would turn out winner after winner over the years, from the pre-green ranks through indoors, with charges like Once A King, Riot Free, Boren, Mesmerized, Wind Chimes and Fleetford.
A Passion For Young Horses
Young stock always played a central part in Patty’s career, and she was a passionate devotee, and frequent winner, of the International Hunter Futurity program. When she looks down her barn aisle today she counts one who was bred on the farm, one she bought as a yearling, and most of the rest who were bought under the age of 4.
She credits owners like Mary Braga for supporting her ethos in making up horses herself.
“All the customers and I were interested in the process, not in the winning—winning was the frosting on the cake,” she said. “I had people sending me horses in training so they could sell them, but I would say to them, ‘It takes a lot of expense and time, and at the end maybe we’ll get lucky and sell it and make some money, but if you don’t enjoy that part in between that, it won’t work.’
“Mrs. Braga would say, ‘I don’t understand these people! They rush their horses too much!’ ” Patty continued. “And I told her, ‘They don’t have customers like you. They buy one and want to win the next week.’ I respect someone as a rider and trainer who can show me many they’re winning with that they started, not ones who bought the best and did well.”
Patty’s résumé certainly shows that. While a few of her big winners like Aldie Belle and Li-Ke already had a few miles before she took over the ride, she started many horses who ended up going on to serious hunter careers. There’s Wave Bounder, bred by Braga and her daughter Pam Ohrstrom, who won the green conformation championship at the National (N.Y.) at just 5. And Patty picked out the Bulkeleys’ Sly Step as a weanling as well. That horse would go on to win green conformation titles as a 5-year-old at
Aldie Belle was Patty Heuckeroth’s first superstar, winning the 1968 AHSA Regular Working Hunter Horse of the Year
award. BUDD PHOTO
Washington International (D.C.) and the National in 1982. That’s what makes Even toward the end of her life Braga was still the difference between passionate about young horses. She bought the good riders and great Thoroughbred So Be It as a yearling in 2007, riders: being able to deal saying it would be her last purchase—that is until with the horse the way another special young Thoroughbred came along whom she bought and named, aptly, Never Say Never. When Braga it’s feeling underneath you at the time.” died in 2014 she left her —PATTY HEUCKEROTH horses to Patty.
“I was very lucky,” Patty said. “I always had someone there feeding me raw material, and they were very realistic customers. If things didn’t work out they understood that. And we were lucky—some of them really worked, and it was fabulous.”
While Patty’s heart was always in the hunters, she had an eye for finding great jumpers as well.
The Bulkeleys purchased No Penalty as a 2-year-old for Patty. “I saw her in a pen and liked her looks,” she recalled.
That horse showed in the hunters for a while and dabbled in the jumpers, and she went on to jump for the U.S. team and then the Canadian Equestrian Team.
In fact, she’s one of a slew of horses that started under Patty’s saddle then went on to jump in international competition. Out Late, whom she started as a 2-year-old, went on to represent the United States; The Immigrant, whom Patty started as a jumper, went on to win Olympic gold with Jim Elder for Canada in 1968, and Mexteco, whom she started as a jumper, represented Mexico and then Canada. She also started Simpatico, one of the top open jumpers of his time, over fences. Less Is More While Patty spent decades leading the jog, her real passion has always been for the animals themselves, not the competition. These days, at 72, she and barn manager of 30 years Torrie Clavan have 15 horses. Patty splits her time between instructing students, judging, teaching clinics and showing, though she prefers to stay closer to home near her horses and dogs. (She has two dogs of her own but runs an unofficial doggie daycare
to bring the canine count in the barn up to five most days.) She’s picked up her share of injuries over the years—five broken collarbones, one separated shoulder, one broken leg, two broken arms and a few ribs, fingers and toes—but she still rides three days a week. “Young horses are still interesting to me, but I understand too that you don’t bounce anymore,” she said. “You have to be willing to take the fall. When you were younger your bones are rubber, and you have no fear. I’ve tested this body enough over the years.” Patty’s passion for horsemanship, for doing right by the horse whether it’s a green horse in a lesson or a seasoned horse at a major championship, trumps all. “Riding is a two-way conversation between you and your horse,” said Patty. “Most people have a one-way conversation, like the way I use my cell phone—to only call out. You have to be attuned to whether the horse heard you. “To me that’s what makes the difference between good riders and great riders: being able to deal with the horse the way it’s feeling underneath you at the time,” she continued. Professional Sue Sisco, Aiken, S.C., has turned to Patty for tips for more than 25 years, and she appreciates that empathy for the horse guides her first and foremost. “Other professionals might take a horse and say, ‘Oh this one isn’t good Patty Heuckeroth paired enough; it’s not going up with Li-Ke to win the to be a first year 1970 AHSA Regular green contender at Working Hunter Horse of the Year award for owner Cornelia Guest. BOB Devon,’ ” said Sisco. “She feels, ‘Well FOSTER PHOTO the horse needs
Advice For Young Riders
Patty Heuckeroth competed in the USET Combined Test Championship, a precursor to today’s Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals, twice, winning on her second try.
The first year Heuckeroth was leading after the dressage phase, and she recalled that many riders struggled over the 3'9" course. Though she showed up too late to walk the track and worried she wouldn’t remember her course, she and her mount, Pete, completed it beautifully, only to hear over the loudspeaker that she was disqualified for using a standing martingale.
“You never forget something like that,” she said. “I still dream I go into a class, heading to the first fence, and I don’t know what the course is. I still have that same nightmare! As for people who get caught on a technicality I think they shouldn’t feel bad. They should be delighted to find out [at a smaller show] and not at the finale.”
Ed and Fran Bulkeley were longtime supporters of Patty Heuckeroth’s career, keeping her well-mounted on horses like
Once A King. PHOTO COURTESY OF PATTY HEUCKEROTH
GO WILD
Withasnakeorostrichprintedcuffyou’re boundtomake astatement inthe LimitedEditionHeritageEllipse.
KNOW WHERE YOU STAND.
Patty Heuckeroth picked out No Penalty as a 2-year-old for owners Ed and Fran Bulkeley, and that horse turned out to be a spectacular hunter before he went on to a career representing the United States and Canada in international show jumping
competition. BOB FOSTER PHOTO
Always Her Own Woman
Patty Heuckeroth’s never been afraid to share her views on the horse world: She’s anti-numerical scoring system (“A good mathematician can really do some damage”), antiincreased prize money without a cap on entry fees (“There are divisions now where even if you won every class in the division you wouldn’t win your entry fees back”) and anti-show industry (“You can’t afford to be a good sport anymore”).
“With Patty, it’s all about doing the right thing for the horse,” said longtime friend Betty Oare. “She has a good mind of her own, and she’ll stand her ground about what she thinks as a judge or at conventions whether it’s the popular view or not.”
Her passion for horsemanship continues to this day, as she’s been ardently opposing the legalization of ace or other tranquilizers in the show ring, and she wrote a letter published in this issue to that effect (see Feedback, p. 26). Even in the pre-drug testing days when there were no ramifications for medicating at will, Heuckeroth prepared her horses for the ring with training and horsemanship, not medical assistance.
“I was so naïve,” she recalled. “When I went to Gene Cunningham’s to ride for the winter I asked him, ‘How come these other pros can gallop along and jump big jumps from the long spot time after time, and the horses don’t play on the other side?’ And he said, ‘Well Patty, they get a little extra help.’ I didn’t even know what he meant, I was so naïve.” to be trained,’ and because she’ll put in the same effort and takes the time to do it properly she’s had success with some that others wouldn’t. And of course a well-trained horse is more desirable and has a better chance at a better home.”
Sisco appreciates Patty’s “less is more” approach when it comes to showing and her opinion that homework should be done at home. Patty handwrites Sisco riding lessons for particular horses, memos that Sisco studies before rides.
“We know the system, so if she’s not saying something, that says something. It means all is going well,” said Sisco. “There’s not a lot of discussion at the in-gate and in the schooling area.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think, ‘What would Patty do?’ Everything I do follows what she does, with horses on the ground, riding and
Patty Heuckeroth had a succession of top regular working hunters, including Sue Frishman’s Riot Free. THE PORTRAIT
GROUP PHOTO
—SUE SISCO
Patty Heuckeroth still runs Heuckeroth Farm and stays busy teaching, riding and instructing clinics. PHOTO COURTESY OF
PATTY HEUCKEROTH
general behavior in life,” she continued.
Hoffman started working for Patty when the former was still in college. She credits Patty for instilling the fundamentals and the details of how things should be done, whether preparing for a schooling ride or for the green hunter stake at Devon.
“I preach it to this day,” said Hoffman, Frenchtown, N.J. “If we’re working with a young horse every now and then, and I’ll say, ‘Patty would say…’ and Anne, teasing, will say, ‘I’m so sick of hearing about what Patty would say or Patty would do.’ I was so blessed to be around her for a decade, and that horsemanship is still ingrained in me today.”
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Trying To Solve An Age-Old Problem
The author pleads for a better way of treating top equitation horses.
BY KIP ROSENTHAL PHOTO BY MOLLY SORGE
Ithought the article Mr. Ernie Oare wrote (“Solve A Host Of Problems With Controlled Quieting Medications,” March 21 & 28, p. 88) regarding hunter showing today was honest and forthcoming.
I’d like to continue this regarding the equitation division as I see it today. I’ve been in the “trenches,” and I’ve judged major horse shows and all the equitation finals.
Let me start by saying that the top equitation trainers will continue to be the best because they have a very sound and educated system in which to produce the best horses and riders. There is no shortcut to training winners at this level. The best equitation horses will continue to succeed because they have the best hunter traits, including attractiveness; a beautifully balanced uphill, rhythmic canter; and the elasticity and willingness of a jumper to jump anything from any angle or distance, whether a narrow obstacle or a spooky unusual jump.
The top riders are terrifically schooled and can answer anything the courses ask. The top trainers, horses and riders are the best because of their vast knowledge, expertise and repetition. This is why they win! This is why riders go to these top trainers to polish up their skills in order to have their best chance at winning at the regional and national levels.
It is time for the U.S. Equestrian Federation, U.S. Hunter Jumper Association and USEF Equine Drugs and Medications Committee to wake up and understand what, in many cases, is being done to make these horses appear to be almost robot-like.
Let’s Face What’s Really Going On
Let me give you a little look behind the scenes of what goes on. Mr. Oare talked about excessive longeing, and perhaps in some cases, medication that is given to the horses that isn’t known by all. The equitation, in my observation, has a different approach.
Understand that a mere swap of a lead for one stride between two shrubs, or a shake of a horse’s head as one ear plug loosens up, or the raising of a horse’s head and neck as it approaches the end of the ring where the scoreboard might go from black and blank to suddenly flashing the rider’s number and name— are all enough to lower the rider’s score out of contention. These “blips” have nothing to do with the rider’s ability, but when you have numerous riders in prestigious classes it may, and usually does, drop the rider out of contention.
Judging will not change. It is what it is; it’s noticeable, therefore penalized. The equitation horse at “special” events has to be rendered opinionless! These might be special classes at the Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.), Devon (Pa.), Lake Placid (N.Y.), the Hampton Classic (N.Y.), the Maclay regionals and all the equitation national finals. I’m sure this is also true in the South, Midwest, Southwest and West Coast where they have their own special shows and classes. I just speak from the area I know.
So how is a horse rendered opinionless? Not so much by longeing, as is apparently done to the hunters, according to Mr. Oare, but by excessive riding and jumping. Sometimes these horses are ridden for a good portion of the night. The schooling areas are not shut down, and the ring
Kip Rosenthal believes there’s a better way to prepare equitation horses for big events, one that doesn’t involve riding them all night before the class. “It’s time to do what’s best for our horses and help them out instead of riding and jumping them into the ground,” she said.
is littered with unusual spooky very small, maybe 2'6" jumps. The horses might be ridden by the junior show rider, but many times, it’s the barn’s staff members riding them for hours at a time until the horse is thought to be rendered opinionless. The horse is cooled down, brought back to the barn, washed and tied in his stall waiting for the braiding fairy to come in. Once again the horse is tied up, unable to lay down. Sometimes water is withheld. The lights are on all night, and the horses get very little rest. Allowing And Listing Medications I’ve always been told to stop complaining and come up with a solution. My proposed solution is actually very simple and has been talked about “behind the scenes” for a long time. My answer is the use of acepromazine, a mild tranquilizer that has been around for as long as I’ve been riding. Please allow me to explain more on this topic.
When we go to a doctor today, whether it be a dentist, a dermatologist or a cardiologist, we are told to bring a list of all the medications we currently take, including the dosage and prescribing regimen. I suggest that on every entry form, we include a list of all the medications that horse receives, signed off by the trainer responsible for sending the horse to the ring, not a groom or stable manager, but the trainer who will walk into the ring with his or her rider to accept the awards.
There is already a precedent set that all horses must provide a health certificate that includes the vaccinations and Coggins. We would continue to follow the medication rules, with the exception that acepromazine would be an allowed medication. This medication report should have full disclosure.
Drug testing will still be done, and a copy of the entry form and medication report would be submitted with every drug test sent in for testing. If a horse or pony is found to have a medication that is not listed on the entry form the trainer would receive a stiff penalty. However, if acepromazine is found and has been listed as one of the medications on the horse’s entry form, there would be no penalty.
Acepromazine does not make a bad horse a good horse nor an uneducated horse an educated one. It takes hours, days, weeks, months and years to make our top equitation horses beautifully trained, schooled and educated. What it would do is stop the excessive riding and jumping to render them opinion-less, which is what, in many ways, it’s come down to.
One answer I’ve heard is that “no one other than a veterinarian” can give a horse an injection. If this is true, why are sharps containers found stapled or nailed up in tent stabling areas? The veterinarians have their own sharps containers in their cars. We already give our horses Legend and Adequan, plus probably other meds; I really don’t know. These medications are given through injection, and when used, the needles are put in the sharps containers.
Again, it’s time for the USEF, USHJA and D&M Committee to wake up and see what’s being done to our horses to render them without any opinion. These animals give us their all, but they’re still animals, not pieces of sporting equipment. Their performance on a special given day could depend on being a winner or also ran. These very special days are stressful for all, including the trainers, their staff, riders, families and, probably most of all, our horses. Acepromazine will not make a loser a winner but will help the very best not be literally ridden to the ground.
Our top trainers and instructors will still be our winners simply because they are the most knowledgeable and experienced and have a terrific teaching system. Their horses are beautifully educated, and their riders are extremely educated. However, it’s time to give our wonderful horses a break. If we
Acepromazine does not make can’t “allow them to be horses” and a bad horse a good horse nor an have a possible blip on the radar uneducated horse an educated one.” then let’s finally do what those of us in the trenches have been talking about doing for years. Let it be public disclosure. Add a sheet to every entry form. Continue to drug test. Make the pros accountable if a horse of theirs is found to have a substance not on the med list. I’ll bet the pros will be willing to do this. Most professionals I know do this job for a living because they love their animals; otherwise it would be too long and hard a career, seven days a week, eight to 14 hours a day. It’s time to do what’s best for our horses and help them out instead of riding and jumping them into the ground. It seems like such an easy fix to me. Yes, I understand horses metabolize medications differently. So how about instead of our association just slamming the door, how about talking to well-respected pros, getting their input on how this medication could be used? I’m just trying to come up with a solution to an age-old problem. I’m trying to speak for the equitation horses to find a way to resolve the all-night riding and jumping. KIP ROSENTHAL has ridden and trained with the likes of George Morris, Victor Hugo-Vidal, Bert de Némethy and more. She placed in the top three at the AHSA Medal Finals and ASPCA Maclay Finals and rode her horse Goodboy Dee to the AHSA Horse of the Year Junior Hunter Championship. As an R-rated judge, Rosenthal has judged prestigious competitions including the Hampton Classic (N.Y.), Lake Placid (N.Y.), Capital Challenge (Md.), the NCEA National Championships, as well as the Pessoa/USEF Hunter Seat Medal Finals, Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals and the ASPCA Maclay Finals. The owner and trainer of Benchmark Farm in Bedford, N.Y., she serves as a member of the USHJA Hunter Seat Equitation Task Force. She also holds a Ph.D. in clinical counseling psychology and conducts sports psychology seminars throughout the country. IN THE FORUM, horsemen are invited to express their views and offer constructive criticism on any topic relevant to working with and enjoying horses. The opinions expressed by the writers are entirely their own and not necessarily those of The Chronicle of the Horse.
