Untacked september october 2016

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The CHRONICLE of the HORSE

THE EQUESTRIAN LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

AMERICA’S FIRST LADY OF FOXHUNTING Daphne Wood SUN, SURF AND HOOFBEATS

13

TOP TO-DOS IN DEL MAR

EXPLORE THE WORLD WITH “LIFE BETWEEN THE EARS”

TAKING HER SHOT HOW SHARIAH HARRIS RODE FROM INNER CITY TO IVY LEAGUE A SUPPLEMENT TO THE CHRONICLE OF THE HORSE

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016

Special Fall Fashion Preview Where Classic Meets Cool

MARTHA W. JOLICOEUR SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Saddle Trail | Wellington | $1,650,000 Beautiful renovation on Appaloosa Trail with updated home on 1.95 acres with room for barn and ring. The spacious three bedroom three bath home plus a large office, is in new and pristine condition. Impact glass windows, wood floors, new kitchen and baths, are just completed, and ready for your finishing touches.

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Bridle Path | Palm Beach Polo & CC | $8,950,000 Elegant style, sought after location, and neutral décor, make this fine property a classic. Featuring an infinity pool that overlooks the 12th hole of the Cypress Golf Course. Rarely does an exquisite home of this magnitude become available in the gated neighborhood of Palm Beach Polo & CC.

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Stables Way | Palm Beach Point East | Seasonal Rental Professional 10 acre farm with all the amenities, short hack to PBIEC. 12 stall center aisle stable, completely updated. Owner’s lounge with full kitchen and bath. New Riso fiber ring with underground drainage system, large grand prix field, tent pad that holds 15 12X12 stalls, 9 paddocks, and a large lunging ring with fiber footing.

Golf & Tennis | Palm Beach Polo & CC | $785,000 Don’t miss this spectacular renovation! Straight out of Restoration Hardware, this chic 2BD/2BA highly-sought after bungalow, boasting new wood floors, a new kitchen and new baths, is sure to please. This bright and open home provides idyllic water views from the screened lanai, and an extra large fenced courtyard with plenty of room for dogs.

MARTHA W. JOLICOEUR, P.A. WELLINGTON, FLORIDA BROKER ASSOCIATE 561.797.8040 www.marthasproperties.com

KNOWN GLOBALLY. LOVED LOCALLY.

MARTHASPROPERTIES.COM Š 2016 Douglas Elliman Real Estate. All material presented herein is intended for information purposes only. While, this information is believed to be correct, it is represented subject to errors, omissions, changes or withdrawal without notice. All property information, including, but not limited to square footage, room DPVOU OVNCFS PG CFESPPNT BOE UIF TDIPPM EJTUSJDU JO QSPQFSUZ MJTUJOHT BSF EFFNFE SFMJBCMF CVU TIPVME CF WFSJÌFE CZ ZPVS PXO BUUPSOFZ BSDIJUFDU PS [POJOH FYQFSU Equal Housing Opportunity.

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Jupiter Farms | Jupiter | $2,950,000 Exquisitely built Equestrian Paradise consisting of 5 bedroom, 5.5 bath home, along with an 8 stall center-aisle barn well set up with 1BR apt, tack room, feed room, ofďŹ ce, laundry room & storage garage. Included is a 125’X250’ riding ring, 11 paddocks w/4 additional stalls, and endless trails.

Stables Way | Palm Beach Point East | $4,050,000 Pristine 18 stall barn, with large ďŹ ber ring and 10 paddocks. Two aisles of 9 stalls each with their own tack room, wash stalls, and laundry. 2BR Owner’s quarters, plus a 2 bedroom staff quarters as well. Freshly painted inside and out with new landscaping. Short hack to show grounds. A wonderful facility for the serious equestrian.

Ocean Breeze Lane | Palm Beach Point | $985,000 Located within the exclusive gated equestrian neighborhood of Palm Beach Point. Ready to build your dream home. Secluded 5+ acre lot on cul-de-sac. Building plans are available. Lowest priced lot within Palm Beach Point. Don’t miss this great opportunity.

Rustic Ranches | Wellington | $1,275,000 Great opportunity to build an equestrian facility, just minutes from the Wellington Environmental Preserve, Wellington, & the WEF Showgrounds. Located directly across from the bridge that connects to the main Bridle Path that leads to the show grounds. Two 5 acre lots make up this 10 acre parcel.

KNOWN GLOBALLY. LOVED LOCALLY.

Tryon International Equestrian Center and Tryon Resort offers spectators, exhibitors, and competitors a wide variety of on-site lodging options, all located just steps away from facility stabling to ensure a convenient and stress-free stay. If interested in booking lodging for the 2016 Tryon Fall Show Series, please contact lodging@tryon.com for more information regarding weekly rates.

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TOWN & COUNTRY Realtors®

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He's taught me lessons like how to meet a horse in the middle, and how when you believe in a horse, he does his best for you. Sure, you have to give in a little bit to his quirky personality, but he tries for me. I'd much rather have a horse that does it their own way, but gives you what he has, than a horse that is super talented, but always finds a way to knock a jump down. He's straight, and aside from the ring, I just really like him. He's probably the last horse I'll ride in the championships that my dad trained, so he's special to me in that way, too.

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MALLET HILL, LAST LAND LOT AVAILABLE IN INCREDIBLY DESIREABLE SUB DIVISION AND STEPS AWAY FROM THE SHOW 13700 Quarter Horse Trail Wellington, Florida

Over 9 acres, preparing the land, so you only need to bring our plans!

."3*" .&/%&-40)/ 410354 &/5&35"*/.&/5 &26&453*"/ 3&"- &45"5& 7 &OREST (ILL "OULEVARD 7ELLINGTON &, # MARIA MARIAMENDELSOHN COM © 2015 Douglas Elliman Real Estate. All material presented herein is intended for information purposes only. While, this information is believed to be correct, it is represented subject to errors, omissions, changes or withdrawal without notice. All property information, including, but not limited to square footage, room count, number of bedrooms and the school district in property listings are deemed reliable, EXW VKRXOG EH YHULÀ HG E\ \RXU RZQ DWWRUQH\ DUFKLWHFW RU ]RQLQJ H[SHUW (TXDO +RXVLQJ 2SSRUWXQLW\

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Tryon, North Carolina Horse Country

RONALD PICCARI

e state prope rtie s & hor se farms

Lakes, Hills and Horses

Advantage Realty 177 N. Trade St. Tryon, NC 28782

828-606-7441 828-859-5454

snooty fox farm

hummingbird hill farm

Main residence offers the best of finishes, appliances and mechanical upgrades. Located in a park-like setting amidst rolling pasture, mature plantings, water features and 250° mountain views. $1.40M

In Golden Hills of Fairview Farm: Unique floorplan w/ 2 master suites, chef’s kitchen, spa-like bathrooms, media room, sunroom and two FPs. 4-Stall barn, riding arena, paddocks, private trail system. $1.60M

woodwind’s farm & wedding chapel

mountain view estate

58+ acres of total privacy: Its historic character dates to 1700’s, large main residence, three log guest cabins, plus a glass walled chapel. Creek, pasture, stream…a unique property! 15 min to TIEC. $989K

Lake Adger Private Lake Community: Fantastic home w/sweeping mtn views. This 4,000sf contemporary home; private marina slip; direct access to miles of shaEed trails. On 12+ acres with pool. $995K

cabin in the pines

bent oak farm – stirrup downs

Updated log home offers hand hewn logs, tall vaulted ceilings, plenty of windows & skylights for a natural, airy feeling. Mtn views, 14ac of pasture, custom barn & tack room, on GENTS trail system. $698K

On 14+ acres, well-appointed, low maintenance, Victorian style home. 2-3 Stall barn, tack room w/laundry, equip. barn, run-in shed and large fenced pasture. On CETA riding trails, 5 mins to TIEC. $890K

LakesHillsAndHorses.com

Home of Tryon International Equestrian Center

BONNIE LINGERFELT Fine Equestrian Properties & Country Homes

think field stone farm On 22 tranquil acres: Tom Hollis designed 3 BD/2BA home, stacked stone FP; 3-Stall barn, pastures, riding arena, neighborhood trail system and fully-updated log cabin guest house. 4 mi from TIEC. $1.250M

think private estate 90+ Acre Parcel: Pasture & hardwoods with protective conservation easement (not sub-dividable). Includes outbuildings & rented tenant house. Perfect location: minutes to shopping, 11 miles to TIEC. $899K

think motlow creek treasure…best buy! Beautiful 4BD/3.5BA, traditional home: quality & elegance abound. 4-stall barn, meticulously maintained pastures … a perfect mini horse farm. 5+ acres. 22 min to TIEC. Priced below appraisal. $598K

think bluebird haven

think spacious

Pristine 11+ Acre Horse Farm. 3 BD, 3 BA home. 2+ stall barn w/ wash rack, tack/feed room, space for more stalls. 2 paddocks, 2 pastures & private trails. Mature landscaping, bold creek. 3 min to TIEC. $549.9K

Roomy 4BD/3.5BA home on 30+ acres. Main level with tile entry. All bedrooms are on main level-have spa-like bath. New 4-stall barn w/ matted stalls, tack room, covered trailer parking. 14 mi to TIEC. $599K

TryonProperties.com

think c hoic e s in tryon hor se coun try

think french country elegance Farms at Mill Spring 4BD/4.5BA French country home set on 23 acres. Luxury abounds: soaring ceilings, walnut floors, custom cabinetry, 3 Mendota FPs. Private flagstone balcony & minutes to TIEC. $1.450M

Advantage Realty 177 N. Trade St. Tryon, NC 28782

828-817-0166 828-859-5454

s t n e t n Co

The C HRONICLE of the HORSE

Untacked VOL. 4, NO. 5

54 Daphne Wood: In Her Nature

S E P T E M B E R / O C TO B E R 2 016

54

68 California’s Camelot

76 Seeing The World

With “Life Between The Ears”

82 Rancho Las

Cascadas, Mexico

90 Shariah Harris

Is Seizing Opportunity With A Mallet

ON THE COVER: Josh Walker Photo

JOSH WALKER PHOTO

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28 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

SHAWN HAMILTON PHOTO

PHOTO COURTESY OF JULIE COSTELLO HOOK

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Departments 32

Editor’s Letter

34

Contributors

38

Around The Arena

42

Editor’s Picks: eShock Jumping Boots

44

Tech Spotlight: Seaver Girth

46

Test Lab: Headsets

48

The Clothes Horse: Reinterpret The Classics This Fall

AV E

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44

Feed Room: Hunt Breakfast Highlights

104

City Guide: Del Mar

112

Book Reviews

114

Charity Spotlight: Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s Second Chances Program

118

Best Of Web & Print

120

Parting Ways

48

104 30 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

U N TAC K E D

ROBBIE ROGERS FOR ISTOCKPHOTO.COM PHOTO

100

A BOND STRONGER THAN MEDAL Two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and FEI World Cup™ Jumping Champion Beezie Madden with Breitling LS.

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KNOW WHERE YOU STAND. More information at Ariat.com

EDITOR’S LETTER

The Places They Take Us It’s only natural that people who love horses often also love countryside and room to roam, and this issue of the magazine provides several views of the intersection between the equestrian life and land. Our cover story features Daphne Wood (p. 54), whose life is deeply rooted in hunting and in the landscape of the Georgia-Florida border where she grew up. Both passions have led her to become a

32 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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on to fulfill their ambitions. Harris learned to play polo, rode in pony races and foxhunts, and traveled to Nigeria through Work To Ride. Now she’s the program’s first Ivy League student, and she’s vying for a place on the Cornell University (N.Y.) women’s polo team. Her goal? To become an equine veterinarian. And in the meantime, she’s been teaching a new generation of Work To Ride students just how far horses can take you. I’m reminded of the time a non-equestrian I met marveled at the fact that my husband and I have two horses, a former race horse (now retired) and a black-and-white pinto. “Don’t they tie you down?” this gentleman asked. “It must be so hard to go anywhere with that responsibility.” If only he knew! A life with horses offers wide vistas and new perspectives, whether you’re riding in your own backyard or traveling the world. We’re glad you’re joining us for the journey.

—Glenye Cain Oakford

CHRISTOPHER OAKFORD PHOTO

remarkably strong and effective advocate for conservation of the sporting life and the land it requires. We also debut a new department in this issue based on the popular “Life Between the Ears” social media phenomenon (p. 76). This collection of riders’ photographs, each showing a view from horseback, reveals quite literally where horses can take us and reminds us how awe-inspiring the world’s beautiful diversity is and how important it is that equestrians not take their bridleways, from narrow rocky paths to vast steppes, for granted. Here’s one simple way to help: “Life Between the Ears” founder Kristine Dahms is selling note cards of some contributors’ most striking images to benefit the Equine Land Conservation Resource (see p. 81). But the equestrian viewpoint isn’t only about landscape. Seeing the world from the saddle can also open a new cultural door to the traveler, as photographer Shawn Hamilton shows from her time with the caballeros at Mexico’s Rancho Las Cascadas (p. 82). And many places are so steeped in equestrian history that they become touchstones for riders’ and horse-lovers’ childhood memories; we travel back to one such influential venue, Pebble Beach, in this issue’s History department (p. 68). In the case of Shariah Harris (p. 90), horses helped open up new opportunities in life. Harris discovered Philadelphia’s Work To Ride equestrian program by chance when her mother took a wrong turn while driving through the city’s Fairmount Park. Work To Ride teaches inner-city youth to ride, puts them to work caring for their mounts, and provides a haven of stability for many of the children that helps them go

JW Marriott Essex House Official hotel sponsor of the Rolex Central Park Horse Show. ͷͿͯͷǡ Ǥ ƪ Ǥ ǡ Ǥ ǡ ͮͷͮǤͮͰͳǤͶͯͶͶ Ǥ Ǥ

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© 2015 Marriott International, Inc.

CONTRIBUTORS

TEO SANCHEZ PHOTO

SANDY SHARKEY PHOTO

PHOTO COURTESY OF ELIZABETH PUTFARK

In This Issue

Shawn Hamilton

Kat Netzler

Elizabeth Putfark

Kelly Sanchez

Shawn started her career shooting horse shows but now focuses on documenting wild herds and unique riding vacations around the world, including Mexico’s Rancho Las Cascadas for this issue. Other trips have taken her to visit Mongolia’s horsemen and into the Andes on horseback. Shawn now lives on a small farm in Orono, Ontario, with her husband Joe, four children, five horses, one cat and one Bernese Mountain dog. In the winter months she teaches skiing, and she’s currently working on presenting her photography in the fine art world.

After growing up eventing in the Midwest and attending journalism school at the University of Georgia, Kat spent nine years serving on The Chronicle of the Horse’s editorial staff, first in its Middleburg, Va., main office and then in Chicago. She’s now the director of communications at a youth-focused social change nonprofit in Memphis, Tenn., where she lives with her husband Brett, Fitz the Corgi and Burger the Pit Bull.

Now a dressage enthusiast, Elizabeth grew up riding a little western, some hunter/ jumpers and a whole lot of green horses. She’s been a long-term contributor to American Cowboy magazine with interests in the history of the American West and the development of horses for sport. She completed a master’s in English before marrying a farrierturned-Navy-sailor whom she now follows around the country, horse trailer in tow. Her best days are spent breaking young horses and reading Pony Pals with her daughter Charlotte.

Kelly, who lives outside Los Angeles with her husband and two teenaged sons, has been visiting the Monterey Peninsula since she was a child—and that made her a natural to write about a glorious slice of Pebble Beach’s history in this issue. A frequent contributor to The Chronicle of the Horse and other horse publications, she also has written about architecture and design for Architectural Digest, Coastal Living and Dwell, where she is a contributing editor.

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Manuscripts and photographs, accompanied by return postage, will be handled with care. Publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. Copyright© 2016 by The Chronicle of the Horse, LLC. Reproduction of any material (including photographs and drawings) without written permission is prohibited. All rights reserved. The Chronicle of the Horse® and the distinctive masthead that appear on the cover of the magazine are all registered trademarks of The Chronicle of the Horse, LLC. and may not be used in any manner without prior written permission.

34 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

THE CHRONICLE OF THE HORSE (ISSN 0009-5990) is published January 11, January 25, February 1, February 15, February 22, March 7, March 21, April 4, April 11, April 25, May 2, May 16, May 30, June 6, June 20, July 4, July 11, July 25, August 1, August 15, August 29, September 5, September 19, September 26, October 3, October 17, October 24, November 7, November 14, November 21, November 28, December 12, December 19 and December 26 in 2016 by The Chronicle of the Horse, LLC, 108 The Plains Road, Middleburg, Virginia. Periodicals postage paid at Middleburg, VA and additional mailing offices. THE CHRONICLE OF THE HORSE UNTACKED is published bimonthly. It is part of your subscription to The Chronicle of the Horse. To order single copies, call 800-877-5467 or e-mail subscriptions@coth.com. SUBSCRIPTION RATES United States and possessions $59.95/yr. Canada $79.95/yr. Foreign (other than Canada) $159.95/yr. For all subscription options see www.coth.com. POSTMASTER SUBMIT ADDRESS CHANGES TO P.O. Box 433288, Palm Coast, Florida 32143-3288 CANADA POST Publications Mail Agreement #40612608 Canada Returns to be sent to Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON, N6C6B2

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The C HRONICLE of the HORSE

Untacked 6OLUME s .UMBER s 3EPTEMBER /CTOBER

produced and published by The Chronicle of the Horse PUBLISHER

KATHERINE BELLISSIMO PRESIDENT/EXECUTIVE EDITOR

BETH RASIN, brasin@coth.com

Editorial EDITOR

GLENYE CAIN OAKFORD, goakford@coth.com MANAGING EDITOR

SARA LIESER , slieser@coth.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR

MOLLY SORGE, msorge@coth.com ASSISTANT EDITOR

LISA SLADE, lslade@coth.com SENIOR REPORTER & MARKETING COORDINATOR

MOLLIE BAILEY, mbailey@coth.com EDITORIAL STAFF

SHARON ROSE, srose@coth.com LINDSAY BERRETH, lberreth@coth.com JENNIFER CALDER, jcalder@coth.com KIMBERLY LOUSHIN, kloushin@coth.com CATIE STASZAK, cstaszak@coth.com ANN GLAVAN, aglavan@coth.com EDITORIAL INTERN

LAURA LEMON, webintern@coth.com EDITORIAL PRODUCTION MANAGER

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Design & Production ART DIRECTOR

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chronofhorse.com 36 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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TAKE THE REINS. And plan a JetBlue vacation to more than 90 great destinations! Book now at jetblue.com

JetBlue is a proud sponsor of the Central Park Horse Show.

tidbits from across the industry

Aroundthe Arena IN My Faves: #AROLINE -ART

When Caroline Martin moved abroad for a year with her father to Nicaragua at age 15 back in 2010, she had no intention of pursuing a top-level eventing career, even though she had competed throughout her youth. But she missed riding and asked her parents to send her back to the States over winter vacation in order to train with renowned eventer Buck Davidson in Ocala, Fla. That visit home marked a major turning point for Martin, now 21. Since then, she’s taken her training to the next level with multiple horses including Quantum Solace, an Argentine Thoroughbred gelding that Davidson found. In 2013, she won the CCI** with him at the Adequan/FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (Ky.), and in 2014 they placed fifth at Jersey Fresh (N.J.) in the CCI***. Last summer, Martin shipped overseas to Bramham (England) and finished 10th in the CCI*** U-25, then returned Stateside and took home the reserve championship in the advanced division that fall at the Nutrena USEA American Eventing Championships (Texas). In January, the Springtown, Pa., resident was named to represent Team USA on the new Karen Stives Developing Rider Tour. Martin credits Davidson, her family and her horses for helping her move up the levels and transform her riding into a promising eventing career. Breeches: Pikeur Footwear: Sergio Grasso

LINDSAY BERRETH PHOTO

Food: “I pretty much eat steak and sweet potatoes every

38 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

night.” Movie: The Lord of The Rings trilogy Non-horsey hobby: Video games

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On Deck Guilty pleasure: “If all of

Mark your calendar with these upcoming important dates.

my horses jump clear in crosscountry and show jumping, or if one of them wins, I go get McDonald’s.�

X Sept. 18 That’s the deadline to nominate your equestrian hero to the 2016 FEI Awards. Established by the FÊdÊration Equestre Internationale, award categories include the Longines Rising Star Award for a person aged 14-21 who demonstrates outstanding sporting talent and commitment; Against All Odds Award for an equestrian who’s pursued ambitions despite physical issues or extremely difficult personal circumstances; Best Groom Award for outstanding equine caretaker; Best Athlete Award for someone who’s excelled in the past year and taken the sport to a new level, too; and the FEI Solidarity Award for an individual or organization whose skill, dedication and energy have helped expand equestrian sport. Make your nominations at feiawards.org.

City: Miami Memory in the saddle: “I love

being able to get on my horses when they’re healthy and sound and just go for a hack out in the woods after a big weekend.�

X Sept. 21–25 The Rolex Central Park Horse Show in New York City is one of the year’s most hotly anticipated equestrian events. The third annual show returns to Wollman Rink in Central Park with everything from world-class dressage and show jumping—including the U.S. Open $216,000 Grand Prix CSI*** presented by Rolex—to top show hunters and Arabian horse classes. There’s also a fun, educational (and free for general admission) Family Day on Sept. 25 with lots of kid-friendly activities. Check out CentralParkHorseShow.com for details and tickets.

Competition venue: Rolex

Kentucky

Sport Horse App: The CourseWalk App.

“That thing is a lifesaver. It does the minute markers for you on cross-country.� Quality in a person: Honesty Workout exercise: Kettlebells Family activity: Spending

holidays with each other and eating Type of fence to ride:

Galloping jumps Emoji: The pair of dancing girls Song: “In the Air� by Morgan

Page Picture in your home: “There’s

a cute picture of me and my grandmother, and it’s actually a picture of her when she was 12, and it’s a picture of me when I was 12, and you can’t even tell the difference between us.�

PHOTO COURTESY OF JAYNE SILBERMAN/NJEAA

Type of horse to ride: Irish

MOLLY SORGE PHOTO

Place to shop: AllSaints

X Oct. 16–Nov. 20 The New Jersey Equine Artists’ Association’s national juried show and sale, the NJEAA Art of the Horse, opens with an artists’ reception on Oct. 16 and and runs through Nov. 20 at the Farmstead Arts Center in Basking Ridge, N.J. Admission is free. The show will feature paintings, sculpture and photography from a variety of artists exploring the horse and the equine-human interaction, such as this piece, Stallion Persona, by Jayne Silberman. For details about the show, contact NJEAA director Sheila Barnes at xochitlb@comcast.net or (908) 284-9751. More details are on the NJEAA’s Facebook page, and directions are on farmsteadartscenter.org/contact-us.

X Oct. 21-23 The Baroque Equestrian Games 2016 Classical Championship at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington will bring classical dressage experts Bruno Gonzales from Spain and Tina Cristiani Veder from Italy to lead a program of displays, competitions and discussions about all aspects of Baroque riding, the 18th century style of equitation that emphasizes lightness, relaxation, suppleness, self-carriage, balance and brilliance. Come for the cavalcade of classical breeds, horsemanship competitions and stallion pageant, and don’t forget the costume party. See more at baroquegames.net. CORRECTIONS Éż 7KH &KDULW\ 6SRWOLJKW IHDWXUH S DERXW WKH +RUVH )DPLO\ ,QVWLWXWH LQ WKH -XO\ $XJXVW RI Untacked LQFRUUHFWO\ QRWHG WKDW WKH JURXS UHFHLYHV SURJUDP IXQGLQJ IURP WKH 6HPSHU )L )RXQGDWLRQ LW LV WKH 6HPSHU )L )XQG WKDW VXSSRUWV +),¡V HTXLQH DVVLVWHG FRPPXQLFDWLRQ SURJUDP Éż 2XU UHYLHZ RI WKH GRFXPHQWDU\ Harry and Snowman S LQ WKH VDPH LVVXH LQFRUUHFWO\ VWDWHG WKDW WKH ILOP LV EDVHG RQ WKH ERRN The Eighty-Dollar Champion ,W LV D VHSDUDWH SURMHFW C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M

SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

39

TRYON, NC

The Carolina Foothills, Where the Meadows and the Mountains meet Tryon’s Timeless Equestrian Tradition

L A N D R U M ,

S C

Madelon Wallace 864-316-3484 Specializing in Equestrian, Conservation and Estate Properties www.CarolinaHorseFarmsAndMore.com

W F

illow Oaks arm

This stately estate property features a 3 bedroom, 4 bath Georgian home and is one of the most centrally located horse properties in the area. Willow Oaks Farm is situated on 48+ rolling, open acres of productive pasture in the heart of the Tryon Horse Country and only a short distance from the new Tryon International Equestrian Center. Additional improvements include a garage apartment, inground pool, fenced pastures & outbuilding. This is an exceptional horse country propertyGreat Land in a Great Location. Offered at $1,435,000.

S F

ilver Fox arm

Nestled on 47.70 acres of beautiful farmland, this 3 bedroom, 4 bath modern farmhouse has a terrific open floor plan with a gourmet kitchen, wonderful light filled rooms and is perfectly suited for entertaining friends and family. This horse country estate also includes a three stall barn with a second floor which would make a great guest apartment, second home, studio space. Ample pasture and alternate locations for another barn and ring as well as a stream and mountain views. Located just 7.6 miles from Tryon International Equestrian Center. Offered at $1,450,000.

Know T h ese Hil ls Better T han A n yone e

Warrior Hall | $1,200,000. Circa 1934 | 14.78 Acres Elegant Estate and Rustic Retreat Manor House with Bunk House, Guest House, Barn, Camp & pool | Allison O’Steen 828-817-0756

Tryon Hunt Country | $685,000. 3.73 Acres | Equestrian Area Elegant Custom Designed Home Gourmet Kitchen with Aga Range. Allison O’Steen 828-817-0756

Tryon Horse Country | 13.68 Acres 3BR/2.5BA Farmhouse + Guest Apt. Barn | Rolling Pasture | CETA Trails Offered at $819,000.

Linbrooke 3BR/3.5BA w/23+ acres Pasture and Pond 2 large out buildings Offered at $750,000.

Farm Lake Road | 9.59 Acres | $574,900. Unique Farm Setting | 3BR/4BA Home 3-4 Stall Barn w/ Room for Expansion Stocked Pond | Lush, Level Pastures

Tryon Horse Country | 83.08 Acres 70 + Acres of Rolling Pasture Sweeping Mountain Views | Farm House 8 Miles to Tryon International Equestrian Center Offered at $1,600,000.

Adjoining 25+ exceptional acres available

reenspace of Fairview

Tract A 26 Acres Offered at $1,092,000.

Tract L 25 Acres Offered at $1,050,000.

Tract M 25 Acres Offered at $975,000.

Greenspace of Fairview, is a 1,331 acre Tract of land with only 14 farm tracts, 2 agricultural tracts and 778 acres of Open Space. This entire tract is under a Conservation Easement to ensure the permanent preservation of its essential character as open space and horse country subject to very limited residential development. Located in the heart of the Horse Country there are over 20 miles of equestrian trails, a 12.5 acre lake, 1.6 miles of Pacolet River Frontage, a 3/4 mile training track and an abundance of hardwood forest as well as acres and acres of rolling pasture and farmland. For Further Information call Madelon Wallace 864-316-3484.

W W E R E A L T Y . C O M 400 E. Rutherford Street, Landrum, SC 29356 864-457-2448

EDITOR’S PICKS

A Boot For The School Of Hard Knocks By K IMBERLY LOUSHIN

G

iving my horse the right leg protection is one of my main priorities. I’ve spent a few too many evenings cold-hosing legs after an unfortunate knock from a pole or shoe. As a result, most of my Internet shopping includes typing the word “boot” in the search engine. My “suggested items” at the bottom of every horse-supply retailer are chock full of them, and I spend a ludicrous amount of time debating the merits of one type of boot over another—or rather 10 others—before finally deciding on a pair. Never mind the fact that my existing boot collection suggests I own a small herd of horses, not just one. In the eShock Jumping Boots by eQuick, I’ve finally found everything I want in a boot: protection, fit and style. Available in black or brown, the boot’s outside shell is made of the same material used in ski boots, meaning it’s strong, flexible and holds up in extreme temperatures— no stiff boots on a frigid show morning. While other boots scuff immediately when dinged by a hoof, these still looked out-ofthe-box new for weeks. The strike plate on the back of the boot is unique, in that it features patented eFluid, which is designed to improve shock absorption by dispersing the energy. In a recent lab test, the shock-absorbing gel provided five times better protection than other brands. I did my own experiment, knocking on the strike plate, and while my methods were less than scientific and probably wouldn’t hold

42 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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up to the standards my gradeschool science teachers would expect, I felt the liquid did adequately disperse the energy. One thing to note: The fluid is quite an electric shade of blue, so while you’re sure to be styling in the jumper ring, it might not work so well in the equitation classes. The boot’s shell composition isn’t the only place eQuick borrows from other sports. The eShocks are lined with antiimpact HCL foam, the same stuff used in motorcycle vests. I loved that the foam wasn’t as hot as neoprene—my horse’s legs were much cooler after a jump school than they were in my neoprene-lined boots—and are a great option for those with neoprene allergies. The foam also dries quickly, so I could ride in the evening and, even after a thorough hosing off, they’d be dry and ready for use again the next morning. They’re also machine-washable. One of my biggest complaints on open front boots usually is fit. My Thoroughbred has petite legs, but I’d have no concerns with these boots fitting a drafty leg, too. The natural shape is wide enough to accommodate a thick cannon bone, and the flexible shell conforms snugly to a smaller leg once the Velcro is closed. This also meant I wasn’t bringing a small pile of arena dirt back to the barn with me. The eShock boots seemed true to size, so I know if I order a medium

it will fit as expected—unlike some other mediums I’ve ordered that would only work on something 17-plus hands. As with many new boots, the eShock boots feature soft edges at the top and bottom of the boot to prevent rubs. While Velcro isn’t always my first choice when it comes to boot closures, I found I loved the adjustability it provided on the eShocks. The straps never left dents on my horse’s legs, even if I pulled them tight. The straps also are set on a swivel to allow for micro-adjustments in fit, so they follow the shape of your horse’s leg. The Velcro closures have another nice feature: They’re completely removable, so once the “stickiness” wears off you can purchase new Velcro rather than having to replace a perfectly good boot. There’s also a snap closure option, if you’re Velcro-averse. The eShock boots are available in S, M or L, with either a snap or Velcro closure. They retail for $199. Visit equick.us to find a retailer near you.

TECH SPOTLIGHT

A Girth For Data-Driven Training The Seaver girth proposes to do forr or you. y your horse what a Fitbit does for By L I N DSAY BER R E T H Photos courtesy of SE AV ER The Seaver girth connects to a smartphone app TO LIVE STREAM DATA WHILE YOU RIDE AND THE APP PROVIDES TOOLS FOR ANALYZING THAT INFORMATION ONCE YOU DISMOUNT

I

magine a device that can count your strides on course, track your trot sets and detect an abscess before it happens. Zakaria Antar did, and now he’s made it a reality with the Seaver girth. Like a Fitbit for your horse, this girth can track daily training, potentially pick up on developing health problems and help balance and diversify your routine. Made with sensors that connect to an app, the Seaver girth can live stream speed, calories burned, heart rate and distance covered. It also provides in-depth details post-workout, such as average speed during work, a map view of jump paths, recovery time between exercises, fence approach and jump and gait analysis. Paris-based Antar is a show jumper himself, as well as the former head of competition at Hello Tomorrow, a global start-up competition that focuses on science, technology and entrepreneurship. He came up with the “smart girth� idea about two years ago. Antar teamed up with

44 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER

2016

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technical engineer Pierre-Yves Lalo and entrepreneur Filippo Bianco to start Seaver, and they spent six months working on a prototype. They’ve since received input from beta testers, including top riders like show jumpers Roger-Yves Bost and Juan AndrĂŠs RodrĂ­guez, eventer Thomas Carlile and dressage rider Ariana Chia, as well as a number of amateur competitors. Seaver recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to help with the first batch of girths and quickly raised more than $80,000, exceeding their goal by almost $30,000. “The horse cannot talk, so they cannot tell us when they’re injured or not feeling well,â€? Antar explained. “It makes more sense to come up with an object that will track your horse’s health and performance at the same time. We believe that, in the future, technology will be everywhere and at the same time nowhere, so it won’t be invasive.â€?

Antar hopes to address a every discipline and every type of rider’s needs with the Seaver girth. Professionals can use it to increase the efficiency of their training, and amateurs can use it to track their horse’s fitness and learn from their schooling sessions. Users will be able to define the parameters they want to measure and download data to a smartphone. Data also will be stored on Seaver’s servers for future accessibility. “For each discipline, there will be different features,� Antar said. “For instance, dressage would be balanced training, for jumping it would be the jump height and strides, and for crosscountry, the speed and time between fences and the conditioning. For western, it would be playback of your path and maybe speed and conditioning. Every discipline will find out which features they need the most.� If you’re a dressage rider who tends

The Seaver girth will track your rides VIA SENSORS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION INCLUDING YOUR HORSE S HEART RATE CALORIES BURNED AND DISTANCE TRAVELED

to spend more time working on your horse’s stiffer side, Antar believes the Seaver girth can help balance your training by showing you how much time you spend in each direction. It can also give you data on your horse’s recovery time and fitness after, for example, schooling several piaffes in a row or riding through a whole dressage test on a hot day. “If you just train your horse 5 percent more on your left hand every day, during one year, it becomes a lot,� he said. Antar believes Seaver can help the rider improve training sessions to create more even muscle and better gaits. Antar is also excited by the data that could be gathered and analyzed for show jumpers and, potentially, breeders. “For instance, for young horses, everyone tells us not to jump a lot with your horse, because if you jump a lot, he will be burned out by jumping,� he said. “No one can tell you in September of this year how much he jumped with his young horse from the beginning of the year, but the app will help. “You can look on the calendar and tell how many jumps he did, and the average height of the jumps,� Antar continued. “Then, in two or three years

A girth sleeve IS AVAILABLE IF YOU DON T WANT TO CHANGE YOUR CURRENT EQUIPMENT

when you have lots of information, you’ll be able to give data and say, ‘Whoa, what we have seen is that this horse cannot jump more than 200 times [per year], and the maximum jump needs to only be 1.20 meters.’ � That kind of data collection can lead to comparisons between different types or breeds of horses and allow trainers to individualize exercise regimens, so that, for example, “If your horse is this tall, if your horse has this weight, we advise you not to jump more than this number of jumps,� said Antar. Seaver girths consist of five main sensors, a control board, Bluetooth transmitter and a flash memory component. The girths are hand-made in France with high-quality leather, neoprene and anti-shock carbon. The girth is available in brown or

black in 13 different sizes and four different models: anatomical fit, low straps anatomical fit, belly guard or low straps belly guard. It will retail for 599 euros, or about $665. If you’d prefer to use your own girth, there’s another option: a sleeve that uses the same technology and will fit all types of girths. The sleeve will retail for 299 euros, or about $332. The Seaver girth will ship to backers in January 2017 and will be available to the public soon after. For more information, check out seaverhorse.com.

C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M

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45

TEST LAB

Hear, Hear! No instructor wants to shout lessons all day, and no student wants to miss valuable instruction while across the ring. Headsets can provide a direct connection to make communication stress-free. But before you take the sound-system leap, check out these five brands tested by Lexington, Ky.-based dressage professional Reese Koffler-Stanfield. By ANN GLAVAN

Comtek ALS-216 Personal Trainer System #OMTEK S !,3 0ERSONAL 4RAINER 3YSTEM FEATURES A PERSONAL TRANSMITTER AND LAPEL MICROPHONE FOR THE COACH AND A PERSONAL RECEIVER AND BOTH A LEFT AND RIGHT MONO EARPHONE FOR THE RIDER 4HE INSTRUCTOR S TRANSMITTER RUNS ON VOLT BATTERIES EITHER ALKALINE FOR UP TO HOURS OF OPERATION OR NICKEL METAL HYDRIDE RECHARGEABLE UP TO HOURS h4HE #OMTEK SYSTEM WAS A CLOSE SECOND TO #%%#/!#( v +OFmER 3TANlELD SAYS h7E REALLY LIKED IT 4HE EARPIECE lT WELL IN THE EAR AND IT HAD A LEFT AND A RIGHT EARPIECE WHICH WAS REALLY NICE BECAUSE ) ACTUALLY DO HAVE SOME STUDENTS WHO ARE HARD OF HEARING IN ONE EAR OR THE OTHER )T HAD GREAT SOUND QUALITY AND LOTS OF CHANNELS WHICH WAS NICE FOR HORSE SHOWS 9OU COULD BE ON YOUR OWN PRIVATE CHANNEL AS OPPOSED TO HEARING FEEDBACK FROM SOMEONE ELSE S CHANNEL 7E TOOK IT TO A HORSE SHOW AND LIKED IT )T WAS THE EASIEST TO USE AND EASY TO SET UP )T USED BATTERIES SO YOU DIDN T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT CHARGING IT 4HE ONLY THING WE DIDN T LIKE WAS THAT IT WAS A @ONE WAYER MEANING YOU COULDN T TALK BACK AND FORTH ON IT ONLY INSTRUCTOR TO STUDENT "UT IN GENERAL WE WERE A FAN OF #OMTEK v !VAILABLE AT VARIOUS ONLINE RETAILERS FOR Comtek.com/als-216.

46 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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Listen Portable FM System ,ISTEN SYSTEMS ARE NOT MADE OR SPECIlCALLY MARKETED SOLELY FOR EQUESTRIAN USE THE COMPANY FOCUSES ON PROVIDING SYSTEMS FOR LARGE VENUES LIKE CONCERT HALLS AND COURT ROOMS "UT HORSEMEN HAVE ALSO USED IT 4HE ,4 TRANSMITTER IS COMPATIBLE WITH BOTH THE ,2 AND THE ,2 RECEIVERS THE ,2 IS AN OLDER BUT LESS EXPENSIVE MODEL )T OFFERS PERCENT DIGITAL TUNING TO PREVENT CHANNEL DRIFT 4RANSMITTER AND RECEIVER TAKE !! BATTERIES AND THE TRANSMITTER HAS A BATTERY LIFE RANGING FROM HOURS WITH A RANGE OF BETWEEN AND FEET h) HAVE OWNED THE ,ISTEN SYSTEM MYSELF BEFORE AND IT WORKED /+ FOR US v +OFmER 3TANlELD SAYS h)T WAS AN EASY SETUP ;AND= THE SOUND QUALITY WAS GOOD BUT THE EARPIECE DIDN T STAY IN VERY WELL 4HE RECEIVERS CAN USE ANY OLD HEADPHONES THOUGH SO WE JUST ENDED UP SWAPPING THOSE OUT 4HE BOX THE INSTRUCTOR WEARSˆTHE TRANSMITTERˆIS A LITTLE LARGER AND MORE AWKWARD TO WEAR THAN THE OTHER MODELS v !VAILABLE AT VARIOUS ONLINE RETAILERS 3INGLE TRANSMITTER CAN BE USED WITH ,ISTEN S "EHIND 4HE (EAD -ICROPHONE ,AVALIER -ICROPHONE AND OTHERS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE FROM THE MANUFACTURER 3INGLE RECEIVER FOR ,2 MODEL THE MODEL TESTED FOR ,2 MODEL ListenTech.com.

TESTER’S CHOICE

CEECOACH

HE #%%#/!#( SYSTEM OPERATES ON "LUETOOTH AND ALLOWS FROM TWO TO SIX PEOPLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER OVER DISTANCES UP TO FEETˆWITHOUT THE NEED FOR A SMARTPHONE OR A MOBILE TELEPHONE NETWORK CONNECTION %ACH DEVICE S BATTERY ALLOWS UP TO HOURS OF TALK TIME ACCORDING TO THE COMPANY h) VE STARTED USING #%%#/!#( AND WE LIKE IT A LOT v SAYS +OFmER 3TANlELD h)T S SUPER EASY TO USE AND WAS AN EASY SETUP )T ALLOWS FOR BOTH ONE WAY AND TWO WAY COMMUNICATION WHICH IS A NICE FEATURE 4HE EARPIECE IS GOOD AND STAYS ON 4HERE IS SOME FEEDBACK WITH IT WHEN ) M STANDING AND TALKING TO A STUDENT YOU CAN HEAR DOUBLEˆIT ECHOES )T S WORTH NOTING #%%#/!#( IS NOT EXCLUSIVELY AN EQUESTRIAN LISTENING PRODUCT ;AS= THE COMPANY ALSO CATERS TO ATHLETIC EVENTS AND TOUR GUIDES 4HIS SET WAS OUR FAVORITE v

T

! SINGLE DEVICE WHICH CAN BE USED WITH OTHER #%%#/!#( DEVICES IS AVAILABLE DIRECT FROM THE MANUFACTURER FOR AND A TWO DEVICE h$UO 0AKv IS AVAILABLE FOR Ceecoach-us.com.

Eartec Simultalk 24G Wireless

One K Communication System

4HE %ARTEC IS ADVERTISED WITH A YARD RANGE AND OFFERS BOTH TWO WAY AND ONE WAY COMMUNICATION OPTIONS 4HE COMPANY ALSO OFFERS A VARIETY OF HEADSETS INCLUDING A POPULAR hEAR LOOPv STYLE THAT SITS ON RATHER THAN IN THE EAR 4HE STANDARD TWO PERSON SET AVAILABLE ONLINE AT MANY EQUESTRIAN RETAILERS INCLUDES TWO RADIOS TWO HEADSETS BATTERIES AND A CHARGER %ARTEC IS RELEASING AN UPDATED SYSTEM THIS FALL SO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR CHANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS TO THE CURRENT SYSTEM h) VE ALSO OWNED THIS SYSTEM BEFORE v SAYS +OFmER 3TANlELD h) LIKE THAT IT WORKS TWO WAYS 4HAT S A BIG PLUS )T WAS EASY TO SET UP 4HE EARPIECE GOT MIXED REVIEWS 3OME OF MY STUDENTS LIKED IT AND SOME DIDN T 4HE PIECE LIES ON TOP OF THE EAR ˆ IT S NOT AN EAR BUDˆSO FROM A HEADSET SHARING PERSPECTIVE IT S MORE SANITARY 7E HAD SOME TROUBLE USING IT AT HORSE SHOWS BECAUSE YOU CAN T CHANGE CHANNELS SO SOMETIMES YOU WOULD PICK UP WHAT OTHER TRAINERS OR STUDENTS WERE SAYING 4HERE WAS SOME FEEDBACK WITH THIS SYSTEM FROM THE WIND AS WELL v

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THE CLOTHES HORSE

REINTERPRET THE CLASSICS THIS FALL A look ahead to the fall and winter fashion lines reveals a return to vintage styles like the varsity jacket and reliable standards like the canvas work pant, but the tiniest modern touches make all the difference. By K AT N E T Z LER

CALLIDAE TEAM JACKET & SHOW SHIRT ,AYER UP FOR RIDING LESSONS THIS FALL IN THE NEW #ALLIDAE 4EAM *ACKET WHICH COMES IN DARK NAVY BRUSHED COTTON AND FEATURES -OKUBA GROSGRAIN RIBBONS IN &RENCH BLUE AND YELLOW ACROSS THE BACK 3IZES 3 , 4HE 3HOW 3HIRT SHOWN HERE IN CHARCOAL WHITE STRIPE WITH A PLEATED SILK RIBBON NECK CLOSURE IN GRAY BOASTS A DETACHABLE NECK CLOSURE AND EACH SHIRT COMES WITH A SECOND -OKUBA RIBBON IN A COORDINATING COLOR !VAILABLE IN SAND WHITE STRIPE BLUE WITH WHITE PINSTRIPE AND TWO WHITE OPTIONS 3IZES 83 8, callidae.com.

ARIAT TWO24 FOOTWEAR 4HIS SEASON MARKS THE DEBUT OF A NEW FASHION FOCUSED LINE FROM !RIAT INSPIRED BY 4RIPLE #ROWN WINNER 3ECRETARIAT AND HIS WORLD RECORD TIME OF IN THE "ELMONT 3TAKES 4HE 4WO WOMEN S COLLECTION AVAILABLE IN SIZES INCLUDING HALF SIZES IS HAND CRAFTED IN 3PAIN AND THE MEN S LINE SIZES IS BUILT IN THE 53! 3HOWN HERE WOMEN S 0EDRENA IN lREWOOD WOMEN S "AILEN IN RUSTIC BORDEAUX MEN S -AXWELL IN WHISKEY AND MEN S (IGHLANDS IN BLACK ariattwo24.com. 48 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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CARHARTT AMORET COAT, CRAWFORD PANT & LEGACY ESSENTIALS TOTE )NSULATED AND LIGHTWEIGHT THE #ARHARTT WOMEN S !MORET #OAT FEATURES 2AIN $EFENDER DURABLE WATER REPELLENT TO KEEP YOU COZY IN ALL KINDS OF WEATHER )NCLUDES DETACHABLE mANNEL LINED THREE PIECE HOOD !VAILABLE IN BLACK WITH MINIMAL GRAY HEATHER PLAID LINING (shown) DEEP PINE WITH EMERALD HEATHER PLAID LINING AND VINTAGE VIOLET WITH MINIMAL GRAY HEATHER PLAID LINING 3IZES 83 88, 4HE /RIGINAL &IT #RAWFORD 0ANT IS THE PERFECT RUGGED EXTERIOR FOR MUCKING STALLS AND HEFTING EXTRA BALES OF HAY AS WINTER SETS IN ! HINT OF 3PANDEX AND A CONTOURED WAISTBAND TO PREVENT GAPPING MAKES THESE PANTS AN EVERYDAY ESSENTIAL !VAILABLE IN DARK BROWN AND BLACK (shown) 3IZES SHORT OR REGULAR 4HE ,EGACY %SSENTIALS 4OTE COMES IN BLACK AND #ARHARTT BROWN (shown) carhartt.com.

LE FASH OPEN PLACKET SHIRT, STABLE BOMBER JACKET & CENTRAL PARK SCARF 7E RE SEEING PLENTY OF STYLE THROWBACKS THIS SEASON ESPECIALLY WHERE OUTERWEAR IS CONCERNED 4HE BAMBOO STRETCH KNIT 3TABLE "OMBER WITH CONTRAST DETAILS PLAID POCKET INTERIORS AND mEECE LINING COMES IN PEACOCK POCK NAVY SHOWN ROSE CHARCOAL HEATHER NAVY STELLAR NAVY BLUE HEATHER BORDEAUX CHARCOAL AND CHARCOAL BLACK BLUE 3IZES 83 , RUNS HALF SIZE LARGER THAN SHIRTING 3IZES 9OU LL WANT TO WEAR THE COMFY AND BEAUTIFUL NAVY WHITE 9OU LL PLA PLAID 3PORT 3HIRT EVERYWHERE FROM THE SHOW RING TO THE OFlCE 83 , AND THE LIMITED EDITION POLY SILK BLEND #ENTRAL 0ARK 3CARF IS THE PERFECT CHERRY ON TOP )T FEATURES A CHARCOAL SKETCH PRINT OF HUNTER RIDER *ENNIFER !LFANO AND -ISS ,UCY AT THE 2OLEX #ENTRAL 0ARK (ORSE 3HOW IN .EW 9ORK #ITY -EASURES " X " AND AVAILABLE IN ROSE PEACOCK (shown) PLUM GRAY OR BLACK WHITE 0RINT ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN I0HONE S COVER OR THROW PILLOW lefashny.com.

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THE CLOTHES HORSE KATHARINE PAGE CAPRIOLE BALLET FLATS )F YOU ALREADY KNOW AND LOVE +ATHARINE 0AGE S ICONIC BRIDLEWORK INSPIRED SANDAL LINE WE VE GOT GREAT NEWS 4HERE S A NEW CLOSED TOE MODEL TO TAKE YOU RIGHT INTO FALL 4HE #APRIOLE BALLET SLIPPER IS MADE OF SOFT GOAT SUEDE AND STILL BEARS THE UNIQUE STITCHING DETAILS FOR WHICH THIS BRAND HAS BECOME FAMOUS !VAILABLE IN "RUNELLO shown) ,USITANO GRAY JET BLACK BLAZER BLUE CHESTNUT PALOMINO AND CREMELLO !LSO AVAILABLE IN JET BLACK NAPPA LEATHER 3IZES KatharinePage.co.

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-ADE FROM A PLUSH &RENCH TERRY MATERIAL WITH BUILT IN /PTI $RY TECHNOLOGY THE %LEMENTS #OWL FEATURES THUMBHOLES AND A DROPPED BACK HEM FOR FULL COVERAGE WHEN RIDING !VAILABLE IN PURPLE HEATHER DEEP SEA CORAL HEATHER AND TWILIGHT BLUE HEATHER (shown) 3IZES 83 88, 4HE WATER AND WIND REPELLENT 3OFTSHELL 7INTER 2IDING 0ANT BOASTS BREATHABLE FOUR WAY STRETCH ON THE OUTSIDE AND MICRO POLYESTER mEECE FOR WARMTH ON THE INSIDE !VAILABLE IN BLACK 3IZES 2 2 4HE GOATSKIN 7INTER 3HOW 'LOVE IS LINED WITH MICRO mEECE FOR WARMTH AND MINIMAL BULK )T ALSO FEATURES REIN REINFORCEMENT AT THE PINKY AND INDEX lNGERS AND IS TOUCHSCREEN FRIENDLY !VAILABLE IN BLACK 3IZES nobleoutямБtters.com.

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EQUILINE STEFANIE QUILTED JACKET & SALOMÉ POLAR FLEECE 4HE FALL WINTER PREMIUM COLLECTION FROM %QUILINE IS ALL ABOUT CLASSIC PATTERNS LIKE HOUNDSTOOTH AND PAISLEY WITH MODERN TWISTS 4HE 3TEFANIE COAT WITH ITS EYE CATCHING STITCH PATTERN AND MONOCHROMATIC LINING FEATURES STRETCH FABRIC ON HIPS AND UNDER ARMS FOR A SLEEK lT !VAILABLE IN BLACK 3IZES 83 88, 4HE 3ALOMÏ IS YOUR CLASSIC mEECE JACKET ELEVATED TO A NEW STANDARD OF ELEGANCE )T BOASTS EMBOSSED FABRIC AND A TWIST DESIGN FRONT ZIPPER FOR A DECIDEDLY %UROPEAN LOOK !VAILABLE IN SILVER GRAY 3IZES 83 88, equilineamerica.com.

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JOSH WALKER PHOTO

FEATURE COVER FEATURE

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In Her

Nature

Daphne Wood, co-founder of the Live Oak Hounds with her husband Marty, has devoted herself to preserving both the sporting life and the land she loves for future generations. BY ANN GL AVAN

That’s what I thought as I stepped out of Daphne Wood’s silver Volvo XC70 and onto her hunting land one early spring afternoon. We had just driven from Live Oak, the plantation where she and her husband Marty, a partner in the private investment firm Wood Associates, live in Monticello, Fla., near the Florida-Georgia border. As we made the 15-minute drive from the Woods’ home to this property, we passed the unremarkable mainstays of the modern American landscape: Huge swaths of clear-cut land, planted with neat rows of crops and interrupted by the occasional neighborhood or large home on a freshly mowed lawn. But the clearing we pulled into was from another era entirely. A team of gray mules hitched to a huge red wooden wagon flicked their long ears and short tails lazily at flies. A group of men in white vests held the reins of six Tennessee Walking Horses, who were tacked up and outfitted with leather shotgun sleeves. We swung our legs over the horses’ worn work saddles, and the mule drivers clucked their animals into a walk. The

mules pushed into their collars, and the wagon creaked to life as it rumbled toward the woods. We were riding back in time, through a landscape that once dominated this region of the country but which now only exists where landowners have made a conscious effort to protect and preserve it. That’s a choice Daphne and Marty, who also co-owns a safari company (see sidebar p. 59), made years ago: To leave the land undeveloped and ensure the survival of this rugged terrain and all the wildlife that live there. Tall, narrow pines threw marbled shade across the forest floor. The branchless trunks stretched up some 20 or 30 feet before beginning to form a canopy, leaving a clear view at ground level in any direction. Our horses’ hooves squished into the soft earth and slapped through puddles left by a recent rain shower. The grass reached well past our knees in the saddle. The brown brambles growing in thickets gave way with loud crackles. Two bird dogs bounded in and out of the brush, on the prowl for a resting covey of quail. This is Daphne Wood’s natural habitat. On this day, as she rode, she wore a faded green hat pulled over her JOSH WALKER PHOTO

T

“This is surreal.”

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CATHERINE CARR TABER PHOTO

COVER FEATURE

Daphne Wood’s passion for nature, WILDLIFE HUNTING AND SHOOTING HAS MADE HER A PROMINENT lXTURE IN THE FOXHUNTING WORLD AND A STAUNCH ADVOCATE FOR THE LAND THAT SUPPORTS HER SPORT

reddish-brown hair; it was decorated with an assortment of pins from different plantations she’s visited over the years on shooting trips. Peering out from under its low brim, she kept a watchful eye on the terrain we rode across as she made conversation with the shooting party. “I’ve often said that I’m very Paleolithic, and I mean that,� she said. “I’m a hunter-gatherer in my genes and in my soul. I can’t fathom wanting to live in a city.� The right-hand saddlebag on Daphne’s gray Tennessee Walking Horse has her initials, DFW, etched into it, with the name of this plantation—Merrily—tooled above the monogram. Merrily Plantation has been in her family since the 1940s, much of it preserved in as natural a state as possible. The land is a habitat for the Woods’ stock of quail and the hunt country for their famed Live Oak Hounds. Daphne, 70, grew up not far from here, on a smaller property closer to Thomasville, one of southwest Georgia’s larger towns, population 18,413. Daphne’s late father, Georgia state senator William Howard Flowers Jr., commuted to Thomasville to run

Flowers Baking Company, a business he inherited from his father. Today, known as Flowers Foods, the company is publicly held and is the second-largest bakery in the United States; Marty, 73, was a longtime executive with Flowers and remains on the company’s board. Daphne has spent most of her life in this south Georgia/ north Florida landscape, and she can’t see herself anywhere else. “In fact, I’ll tell you a funny story,� Daphne said. “I was 19 when Marty asked me to marry him. His father had a seat on the stock exchange in New York, and even at that tender young age, my answer was, ‘If you want to live in New York and work on the stock exchange, no.’ � She laughed heartily. “I just knew I couldn’t do that,� she said.

“I’ve often said that I’m very Paleolithic, and I mean that. I’m a hunter-gatherer in my genes and in my soul.�

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–Daphne Wood

“That Quintessential Southern Lady� Somewhere in her seven decades, Daphne mastered the art of holding a room when she speaks. Deliberate pauses, well-placed crescendos, words drawn out longer for emphasis or played

OZ ER OF TA LI CR TE SY PH OTO CO UR

PH OTOS CO UR TESY DA PH NE WO OD

Daphne Wood enjoyed what she called hTHE TOTAL FREEDOM OF MY CHILDHOODv IN THE NORTH 'EORGIA COUNTRYSIDE WITH HER SPOTTED PONY !NTE "ELLUM right AND DOG .ICKY above h-Y RIDES ON !NTE "ELLUM WERE ONLY OVER WHEN THE HUGE FARM BELL RANG ANNOUNCING DINNER AND TIME TO WASH HANDS AND COME SIT AT THE FAMILY TABLE v SHE SAID

sharply staccato when delivering some bit of wit, all warmed by her southern drawl, peppered with the occasional “bless your heart�—an expression that in the South can mean genuine concern, a polite brush-off, or subtle scorn, depending on the situation. “She doesn’t hide what she thinks of you. In a lot of ways, she’s that quintessential southern lady,� said Lexi Scovil, a young professional eventer and friend of Daphne and Marty. “She would never, ever be openly rude to you, but she’s going to use the southern ‘bless your heart’ terms. And she doesn’t pull her punches; she says exactly what’s on her mind.� As our hunting party rode through Merrily, quail were on Daphne’s mind. Our conversation fell off mid-sentence when the bird dogs started to point. They had been snuffling and scrambling through the brush, but they suddenly froze, still as statues save for the occasional tail wag, and we pulled up and dismounted. Daphne and Marty pulled the shotguns out of their leather sheaths, then stalked into the brush where the dogs had found a covey of quail. Steve Parrish, Merrily Plantation’s manager and resident bird-dog trainer, swung a leather whip through the brush, long swats meant to scare the quail up into the air, where Daphne and Marty took

turns firing, frequently hitting their mark. “Braaaamble!� Daphne hollered back to the wagon, where her beloved black Labrador retriever had been whining earnestly since Daphne had swung out of the saddle. Bramble’s job was to retrieve the shot quail, and when your owner hunts three times a week during the season, you get to know what stopping and gunfire mean. The wagon driver unhooked her leash, and Bramble raced full-tilt into the thicket Daphne pointed her toward. After a few moments of leaping around the brush and investigating, the retriever emerged victorious—she trotted off back to the wagon, quail in mouth. Daphne and the hunting party remounted, and the conversation resumed. At one point, the trees and brush opened onto a massive clearing with a large pond. The water glistened, reflecting burnt orange and a deep glassy blue in the late afternoon sun. Daphne pointed out where some beavers may have made a dam and explained how she and Marty hunt ducks off the water. At the plantation’s boundaries, a paved road leads back to civilization, back to manicured lime-green turf, to yards with landscaped shrubs and flowers arranged in aesthetically pleasing clumps. That’s not the land C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M

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PHOTO COURTESY OF DAPHNE WOOD

COVER FEATURE

Daphne and Marty Wood, SHOWN HERE AT A "RYN -AWR (OUND 3HOW 0A IN THE S ARE BOTH EXPERIENCED JUDGES OF FOXHOUNDS WITH A WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PEDIGREES AND CONFORMATION

Daphne is referring to when she talks about her love for the outdoors—it’s this wild place we hunted.

A Practical Naturalist That’s not to say the Woods’ land isn’t managed—it’s a notso-subtle difference Daphne draws between herself and the stereotypical environmentalist. “I’ve always been a nature nut, but I’ve always been a nature nut that totally believes in sustainable use of renewable resources, and to me that is such a critical difference,� Daphne said. “There are so many people now who, yeah, they believe in nature, but they want to just lock it up and act like it doesn’t need management. Well, there are very few species in the United States that would exist if humans weren’t somehow helping in the management of their habitat.� That’s the central tenet of what Daphne means to do 58 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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by preserving her land: It’s not to let nature take its course, allowing invasive species of plants and animals to run unabated among native ones or to let prey animals populate the area unchecked. The Woods employ five staff members whose sole job is to ensure the land is being properly managed, and they’re also hands-on as landowners. “I’ve been riding out with them for 25 years, and every day on their land they notice something that they want to change and improve,� said Jimmy Wofford, a longtime friend who regularly shoots quail with them at Live Oak Plantation and on shooting trips to Argentina. “She will mention to their head man there, ‘Steve, that’s taking over; we’ve got to spray that,’ or, ‘That food plot is not working for the quail, we have to change it to this and that.’ There is just always something.� The Woods’ knowledge of the land is both broad and detailed. They easily differentiate plants that look similar

A Thirst For Adventure

C

limb the stairs toward the third floor of Daphne and Marty Wood’s home at Live Oak in Monticello, Fla., and you’ll suddenly find yourself in Africa. You’ll encounter the hulking gray head of a black rhino on the wall, complete with a pair of two-foot-long horns. You’ll meet a stuffed jaguar, its face frozen mid-snarl, stalking along a branch mounted on the wall. In a dark room at the top of the landing, one can vaguely discern the outline of several large objects in the glow of a hallway light. This is a surprise Marty enjoys springing on visitors: flipping on the room’s light switch for a guest standing in the doorway, the sudden illumination revealing a young male lion with piercing golden eyes staring right at the startled visitor, and, its posture suggests, prepared to pounce. Along with the lion, the room houses other hunting trophies, most of them big game Marty shot in Zimbabwe, where he is a part-owner

of the Bulawayo Trading Company Safari Outfitters. “I dreamed of going to Africa from the time I was 9 years old, because I read the book The Man-Eaters of Tsavo,” Marty explained. The book by John Henry Patterson, published in 1907, recounts the author’s own adventures hunting lion in Kenya. “He has shot 25 Cape buffalo. Those are the mean ones, the really mean ones,” Daphne said of Marty, with both pride and more than a hint of disapproval in her voice. “I said to him, ‘Can we stop now? I mean, you’re in your 70s! Ernest Hemingway didn’t even kill that many Cape buffalo.’ ” “When I had to give up foxhunting my own hounds—give up riding a big Thoroughbred horse across country, following a pack of hounds in full cry—I had to do something to get my fix,” explained Marty, who stopped riding in 2006 after a fall. Daphne grudgingly accepts that she’s never going to convince Marty to

to the untrained eye, and as we rode through Merrily they pointed out the various flora by name, classifying them as native or non-native. If they’re not entirely sure what a certain tree or bush is, Daphne and Marty don’t hesitate to call out to Parrish for guidance. For the past 36 years, Daphne has volunteered for Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy, a land trust organization and information resource for property owners in northern Florida and southern Georgia who want to preserve their land through conservation easements. “That means they don’t pay me, but I work like a rented mule,” Daphne joked. “I’m trustee and secretary of the board of directors, but my most important job is that I’m chairman of their easement committee.” Land easement contracts are

stop, and she’s not one to sidestep a challenge or a risk, either. This year, Daphne chose to ride a 5-years-young warmblood gelding, Jet Marque, rather than an older and more experienced mount, for much of the foxhunting season. “I know, I’ve lost my mind,” Daphne said with a laugh. “It’s crazy. But, you know what, he only dumped me once this year, only once, when we were on a flyin’ coyote run, and, let me tell you, it was my fault.” That’s typical of Daphne, to assign blame to herself instead of to the horse, her friends say. “She’s so good with her horses, and she doesn’t believe in a bad horse,” said Lexi Scovil, an event rider and family friend. “She’s always all about making sure that they have everything they need, and if something is going wrong, it’s not the horse’s fault. She has to figure out why.” “I was OK,” Daphne said of her spill. “I got back on and viewed the coyote when it turned and was coming back to go west, I viewed it, it went past me, and later in the hunt we caught it. So all is well that ends well.”

complex legal documents specifying limits on property developments and tax deductions. “They are boring and horrible, and she reads them all,” Tali Crozer, Daphne’s younger sister, said. “She is a stickler for detail and proper grammar, and she will drive you crazy.” “It’s quite a lot of work, and, frankly, she’s smarter than anyone I know in terms of use of the English language,” said Walter Sedgwick, a trustee and past president of Tall Timbers who has known Daphne since they were children in Thomasville. “You take 10 pages of writing, and she’ll pick out a word and say, ‘I have concerns about this word. I think it needs to change from ‘the’ to ‘a.’ ” Daphne credits Sedgwick with sparking her interest in easements nearly three decades ago, when Daphne’s father was a senior member on the board. C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M

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“Her father was quite opposed to it,” Sedgwick recalled, referring to conservation easements. “But Daphne’s love of the land prevailed.” “[Sedgwick] is the one who said to me—and it really rang true—he said the reason that you have to push easements is because you have to reach the point that you say, ‘I am absolutely thrilled if my family wants to keep this land and can afford to, and I will do everything I can to make that possible. But I am not going to make it possible for them to trash it, clear-cut it and chop it up into houses,’ ” Daphne said. “I would rather someone I had never met own my land if they would take care of it, than to just pass it down so someone can make money off it with real estate,” she declared. “And that was the turning point for me.” “The land that is protected there in Georgia is really an extraordinary legacy for her,” Sedgwick said. “Not many people get to leave a legacy that important.”

Nature And Nurture If Daphne hadn’t been born with a love for the outdoors, it wouldn’t have taken her long to become immersed in it anyway. Her father William, like many people who live or grow up in Thomasville, was an avid quail hunter, and he made sure daughters Fontaine, Tali, Maury and Daphne (the second-to-youngest) learned how to shoot and ride as children. “Growing up, she would go to school and come home every afternoon and ride until dark,” Crozer said. “That’s all we did was ride, ride.” Daphne developed her love of animals in her childhood. “Growing up she had a spotted pony named Ante Bellum, a raccoon named Cicero and a Jack Russell terrier named Nicky, when she was probably 3 years old,” Crozer said. “She loves animals, and she’s had horses and Jack Russell terriers ever since, but not raccoons! She’s not crazy about raccoons, because they eat quail eggs.” Daphne adds a few more animals to the list of creatures she’s not crazy about, all stemming from her passion for preserving northern Florida’s natural ecosystem. “I really am very fond of everything that is on this land, except for poisonous snakes, armadillos and fire ants, because they’re invasive and horrible,” Daphne said. “Well, the poisonous snakes aren’t [invasive]. I just don’t like poisonous snakes.” 60 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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PHOTO COURTESY OF DAPHNE WOOD

COVER FEATURE

Near the top of the list of animals she loves, of course, are horses and hounds. An accomplished horsewoman, she has hunted for 43 seasons with Live Oak, serving as jt.MFH with her husband and, in the last decade, also with Mercer Fearington and Dr. John B. Reynolds. Most of her equestrian know-how didn’t come from a riding instructor but from her own experience and the people around her. Reminded of a family photo that Crozer mentioned—a picture of a young Daphne sitting atop the spotted pony Ante Bellum—Daphne recalled it immediately. “Is the pony a shaggy pony, his mane having obviously been cut by me with scissors, me bareback in overalls, bowl haircut, no saddle or bridle?” she asked. “That pony picture is so representative of the total freedom of my childhood.” Daphne eventually graduated from the pony to Tennessee Walking Horses, and she recalls receiving a three-gaited Saddlebred at one point and teaching it to jump by herself. “What a lucky child I was, particularly when now parents want their children riding only in a ring or arena, in an air vest,

Daphne Wood is as passionate ABOUT WING SHOOTING AS SHE IS ABOUT FOXHUNTING AND SPENDS MANY HOURS SHOOTING AT THE -ERRILY AND ,IVE /AK 0LANTATIONS WITH ONE OF HER BLACK ,ABRADOR RETRIEVERSˆIN THIS CASE $IXIE

involving hours of riding and hiking. “Of course, there’s also lots of beer and wine on the trip,� said Piper Parrish, a Live Oak Hounds whipperin and the manager of Live Oak Plantation. “The guides told us we are the only people that they’ve ever had who had a mule carry nothing but our beer and wine for us!�

At Home In The Wild

under the direct supervision of a professional trainer and perhaps even on an aced horse!� she said. “My rides on Ante Bellum were only over when the huge farm bell rang announcing dinner and time to wash hands and come sit at the family table.� Daphne’s mother, Maury Tice Flowers, didn’t shoot or ride, but she always came along when the family went hunting, following the hunters in a wagon pulled by the mule team, as guests still do at Merrily. Though all four Flowers girls were sent off to The Madeira School (Va.) at age 14, Daphne said there was never any pressure on them from either parent to tone down their love of the outdoors for gentler pursuits. “I was always very animal-oriented,� Daphne said. “So there wasn’t any point in trying to hem me up.� Even a vacation from Daphne’s daily life of hunting and hounds involves the outdoors. Nearly every summer, Daphne plans trips for a group of her female friends, wildlife excursions led by guides,

After spending most of the day immersed in nature with the bird dogs and the quail, we could almost have forgotten the rest of human civilization. But our hunting party emerged from the thickets in time for a dinner Marty and Daphne hosted for some foxhunting friends at the Thomasville Country Club. Before the meal, Daphne directed everyone to their seats. She introduced guests and made conversation, leaning in to look someone in the eye as she made a point. The evening rolled pleasantly along, fueled by good food and cheerful company—and by tales of heart-pounding hunting runs. When the meal was over, Daphne asked a server to bring a to-go box, and she began loading all of our table scraps into it—cake, small pieces of steak, vegetables and whipped potatoes. “For the dogs?� I asked. “No, for our red fox!� Daphne said with a grin. “We’ll show you.� Driving home, Marty pulled into their driveway, stopping the SUV near a large round bale set off the road, near a stand of trees. Carrying the box of scraps, Marty walked over and dumped the box’s contents in a circular black feed tub on top of the bale. We didn’t see them that night, but Daphne said a family of red foxes lives nearby that she and Marty feed regularly. While the Woods are passionate about preserving their game, these particular foxes aren’t C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M

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PHOTO COURTESY OF DAPHNE WOOD

COVER FEATURE

A mule-drawn “shooting wagon,� LIKE THIS ONE PULLED BY 'ARDENIA AND -AGNOLIA AND DRIVEN BY 2ICK "ARNES ACCOMPANIES $APHNE AND -ARTY 7OOD AND THEIR GUESTS ON QUAIL HUNTING TRIPS AT -ERRILY 0LANTATION

serious candidates for the chase. “Those miserable things, I’m setting something out for them right now,� Daphne said when we spoke a couple of months later by phone. “They really don’t give us any sport because you get on them, and five minutes later they’re in the ground. They’re not too sporting, but we love seeing them.� When she’s not feeding steak scraps to foxes, volunteering with Tall Timbers or shooting, hunting, riding and entertaining, Daphne also volunteers with the local humane society. Daphne and Crozer helped the organization set up one of the only low-cost spay-and-neuter clinics in the area, as well as programs to ship dogs out of a high-volume shelter and into open spaces at other rescues. “Don’t think you’d ever pass a turtle on the road that you wouldn’t slam on the brakes and move it always in the direction it’s going,� Crozer said. “We both still do that, and if there is an injured animal anywhere, we stop, pick it up, take it to the vet, get it fixed and hopefully return it to wherever it goes.�

Ambassadors For Foxhunting Ask someone how they met Daphne and Marty, and chances are it was because they were invited to try their hand at hunting with Live Oak. “I just stumbled out to her barn not 62 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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knowing whose barn it was,� said Mercer Fearington. Today, Fearington is a joint-MFH and field master at Live Oak, but on the day he wandered up to Daphne’s barn, he had no foxhunting experience. “I just went up there to look at it because it was being built, and it was a beautiful barn. She and Marty happened to be standing out front. It was in the middle of the afternoon, and, basically, they talked me into coming foxhunting.� The Woods built their Live Oak farm—barns, kennels, home and all—in the late 1980s. They met shortly after Daphne graduated from Madeira, where she received her first formal riding instruction and an introduction to hunting with the Loudoun Hunt (Va.). Things began to get serious, Daphne said, when she and Marty moved to Tacoma, Wash., as part of his Reserve Officers’ Training Corps commitment. In Washington, Daphne hunted with the Woodbrook Hunt, and her love of the sport deepened. “I hunted for two years, every time the hounds went out,� she said. After Marty fulfilled his ROTC duties in Tacoma, the couple moved so he could attend graduate school at the University of Virginia, and Daphne began hunting with the nearby Farmington Hunt Club. By the time Marty graduated and they moved back to Daphne’s hometown

Daphne and Marty Wood’s COMMITMENT TO PRESERVING HUNTING TOOK THEM TO ,ONDON IN FOR THE h,IBERTY AND ,IVELIHOODv MARCH ORGANIZED BY "RITAIN S #OUNTRYSIDE !LLIANCE AS PART OF THE EFFORT TO PREVENT A "RITISH BAN ON FOXHUNTING 4HEIR !MERICAN GROUP INCLUDED (left to right) "RENT #ONCILIO OF .ORTH #OUNTRY (OUNDS 6T 0AT 2OGERS OF THE -IDDLEBURG (UNT 6A 0ENNY $ENEGRE -&( OF THE -IDDLEBURG (UNT #AROL !NNE -ORLEY OF THE 7ENTWORTH (UNT . ( AND $APHNE AND -ARTY 7OOD 4WO YEARS LATER THE "RITISH 0ARLIAMENT PASSED THE (UNTING !CT WHICH ENDED LIVE HUNTING WITH DOGS IN THE 5NITED +INGDOM

JIM MEADS PHOTO

of Thomasville and established the Live Oak Hounds, Daphne already had earned her colors and buttons at Woodbrook, Farmington and Midland (Ga.). “Usually, between quail shooting and foxhunting, she’s out there six days a week, but if she can fit in the seventh—by golly, yes, she will!� said Kathy Barnett, Daphne’s personal assistant, who also helps with the Live Oak Hounds. “When she gets out there in the middle of the hunt, she’s sort of in another world,� Fearington said. “She’s just on top of it and not thinking of anything else.� It’s a way of life she wants to share with anyone and everyone willing to give it a try. “When I was in the early stages of learning to foxhunt, Daphne was very protective,� said Ken Haddad, a former executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission who accepted the Woods’ invitation years ago and has been hooked ever since. “It was fairly extraordinary, I thought, their such deep interest in making sure that somebody new to the activity was given all the right lessons and really given an opportunity to make it as a foxhunting participant,� Haddad continued. Daphne does her part to rustle up interest in hunting from young riders, as well. She donates $10,000 each year to the Live Oak Hounds U.S. Pony Clubs Foxhunting Challenge Award, which divides the prize money among the Pony Clubs that take the greatest number of their members foxhunting. “When they first talked to us about it, they said, ‘We want to give the winners a custom-made show coat,’ and I said, ‘You don’t understand. We could care less whether they show; we want them to hunt,’ � Daphne said. “And the only thing that’s going to make a mother get out of bed at 4 o’ clock in

“She does an awful lot to keep the old English tradition of foxhunting going.� –Mercer Fearington the morning is money for the club: Show me the money.� The Live Oak Hounds is unusual in the sense that it’s private; Daphne and Marty pay all the bills and staff salaries, and they own Live Oak’s hounds. Today, most hunts are subscription packs, supported by members, or “subscribers,� whose dues form the hunt’s operational budget. And most modern masters also have a board to contend with when it comes to decisions regarding the hounds and their budget. “The counsel is, it goes the way they say,� Barnett said. “If you want to come hunting with Live Oak, you get permission from the masters. It keeps us a small group of people who know and like each other and carry the same passion for it. We don’t have the person who just wants to come out and ride in the woods for 30 minutes and then go home. We have people dedicated to hunting—all aspects of hunting.� “She does an awful lot to keep the old English tradition of foxhunting going, which I very much support,� Fearington C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M

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PHOTO COURTESY OF DAPHNE WOOD

COVER FEATURE

Artist Claudia Coleman painted $APHNE 7OOD S OFlCIAL PORTRAIT COMMEMORATING HER PRESIDENCY OF THE -ASTERS OF &OXHOUNDS !SSOCIATION FROM TO $APHNE WAS THE -&(! S lRST WOMAN PRESIDENT 4HE PORTRAIT SHOWS HER RIDING 3COOBIE FORMERLY HER HUSBAND -ARTY S FAVORITE HUNTSMAN S HORSE

said. “She’s extremely forgiving if someone doesn’t know and, say, comes up with a pink shirt on or something, but she certainly tells them about it,� he added with a laugh. I witnessed such a lesson firsthand when I hunted as a guest with the Live Oak field. I was riding alongside Lexi Scovil at the end of the hunt. We were recounting the day’s adventures when Daphne came trotting up next to us on her palomino Quarter Horse, Mr. Skip. Daphne had been whipping-in and hadn’t seen much of Scovil or me until now, and she wanted to ride along with us and ask how our horses had done. Mid-conversation, Daphne noticed Scovil’s jacket. It was black, as is proper for a field member on a formal hunt day, but it also had rows of rhinestones decorating the collar and buttons. Casting an appraising eye over the rhinestones, Daphne asked, “What is that, some sort of S&M jacket?� She grinned at her joke before she trotted back up to the front of the field with the other whips, leaving Scovil and me laughing. Daphne has also made more formal efforts to ensure foxhunting’s future. She served as president of the Masters of Foxhounds Association from 2000 to 2003 and is still a director at large. Daphne was the MFHA’s first female 64 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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president, and she and Marty are the first husband and wife to lead the organization. (Marty was president from 1990-1993.) The Woods also are working to secure the future of Live Oak. “The way we’re going to do that is to endow the hunt, so that on our death they’ll have an endowment to support the hounds,� Daphne explained. “They never think of anything in terms of a 24-hour span. They think of it as forever,� Barnett said. “So when they make a commitment, even if it’s as simple as adding a house dog to the list, the commitment is all the way through, forever. Each aspect has been looked at or considered, starting from the simple dynamics of, ‘Is there room for a new dog bed in the kitchen?’ �

No Couch Potato

Daphne’s knack for organizing extends beyond the hunting field. “She has unending energy for going out in the evenings,� said Parrish. “I turn into a pumpkin, but she will just stay out. � “Even when Marty goes out of town, she never has a free night,� Fearington said. “She lives every day to the absolute fullest. There is no couch potato in that girl.� Daphne and Marty met in New Jersey, when Marty was an undergraduate student at Princeton. A mutual friend set them up on a blind date. “I think it was an OK first date, neither good nor bad. It was just OK,� Marty said. “Then three weeks later she came down for the last football weekend of the year, and I never looked at another girl after that.� Marty was in the shooting club at Princeton but had never foxhunted before he met Daphne. It didn’t take him long to get as hooked as she was. Marty carried the horn for 31 seasons with the Live Oak Hounds, until he suffered a head injury in a bad fall in the hunting field in 2006. While he no longer rides, he still follows the hunt in his Chevy Tahoe. “I see a lot of people and couples that have like interests, but they’re probably not as passionate as [the

“She’s like a glass of vintage Champagne, full of bubbles and fun.”

Woods] are about the same thing,” said Jane Gaston, a show hunter rider and friend of the Woods. “They are both equally passionate about their hunting, whether it be wing shooting or foxhunting.” Their shared love of sports has taken them all over the world. For 25 years, Marty and Daphne spent every summer in England and Scotland shooting pheasant and grouse. They regularly travel to hunt dove in Argentina, and Marty hunts big game in Africa. And nothing will keep Daphne from making one of their sporting journeys—not even surgery, which once threatened to at least postpone an Argentine wing-shooting trip. “She was dancing at my daughter’s wedding and bowed her tendon,” recalled J. W. Y. “Duck” Martin, foxhunter and friend of the Woods. “There’s a video of it,” Marty said. “Daphne suddenly disappears when her tendon goes, and she comes up looking

around with a fist raised. She’s ready to slug the person she thought had kicked her! “So we leave to go to Argentina a week later, and her leg is in a cast, because she had it operated on,” Marty continued. “The cast is –Marty Wood covered with camouflage tape so she can go hunting in a chair. That’s Daphne; she got that from her dad. She’ll bulldoze any problem.” When Daphne and Marty celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in June, Daphne organized not one, but two parties, held on different nights. “According to the DJ, there were 72 songs played that night, and Daphne says she danced 70 of them,” said Marty. “I’ve never seen her as happy and having so much fun.” Marty’s robust, rumbling voice adopts a softer tone when he talks about his wife. “She’s like a glass of vintage Champagne, full of bubbles and fun,” Marty said. “It seems like it was yesterday. And

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COVER FEATURE I guarantee you I love her more today than I did the day I married her.�

The Woods have no children, but they speak about the Live Oak foxhounds with as much pride as any parent. “Our hounds are our children,� Daphne said. The pack resides in a peach-colored kennel made of brick and wrought iron, entirely of Marty’s design. During my visit, the cement floors were spotless as Marty and Daphne pulled a select few stallion hounds and bitches out from the pens, remarking on the attributes of each and standing them squarely, chins and tails up, for photographs. “Daphne and Marty carry the American hound studbook in their minds, and they have a pretty good grasp of the British stud book,� Wofford said. “They can tell you, ‘That hound in Essex goes back to Orange County so-andso, and we drafted a hound to them years ago that was the sire of their best hound, so-and-so.’ They don’t belabor that information with you unless you express an interest, but you’d be impressed and astonished at the depth of their knowledge and understanding.� Along with breeding their own pack, Marty and Daphne are also enthusiastic hound judges. “Marty has judged every major hound show in England, and he’s the only American to judge foxhounds at Peterborough, in 2001,� Daphne said proudly, referring to the Peterborough Royal Foxhound Show (England). Founded in 1878, it’s the world’s premier show for hunting hounds. “He’s judged every major show, and I’ve judged all the major shows except Peterborough,� Daphne continued. (Peterborough traditionally has not had female foxhound judges.) In May of 2017, Marty will be inducted into the Huntsmen’s Room at the Museum of Hounds & Hunting North America (Va.). “Oh, he was so thrilled when they announced it that he was choked up and couldn’t speak,� Daphne said. “He was beside himself. I think it meant as much to him as anything that’s ever happened to him in his life.� The hounds and foxhunts; the vast plantations with their forests, native grasses, and wildlife thoughtfully managed and conserved; the wing-shooting parties at home and abroad—these are more than passions for the Woods. They are the Woods; they can’t be untangled from the couple’s identities. In 2016, the Equine Land Conservation Resource 66 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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JOSH WALKER PHOTO

Life Among Hounds

“I was always very animal-oriented,� SAYS $APHNE 7OOD "UTTONS THE *ACK 2USSELL TERRIER AND "RAMBLE THE BLACK ,ABRADOR RETRIEVER ARE TWO OF HER REGULAR COMPANIONS AT ,IVE /AK &ARM IN -ONTICELLO &LA WHERE $APHNE AND HER HUSBAND -ARTY ALSO KEEP A PACK OF FOXHOUNDS AND A STABLE OF HUNT HORSES

presented them with the Anson W. H. Taylor Award for “outstanding contribution to preserving land for equine use through their extraordinary generosity of time, effort and expertise.� Returning from our morning out foxhunting, Daphne— still in breeches and ratcatcher—insisted we have a cup of tea before I hit the road. But she was briefly pulled away for a phone call, leaving me in the large, bright kitchen. An entire wall, painted a soft yellow, was dedicated to Gaston watercolors of hounds’ heads; the pictures’ orderly arrangement was at odds with the stacks of books and papers that littered the large kitchen island nearby. Early afternoon sunlight fell through a large window that overlooked the backyard and beyond it a different, wilder scene: towering old pine trees and tawny brush, doubtless filled with birds and game. This is the untamed landscape Daphne loves, and if it survives for another 100 years, that will be in large measure because she and Marty are here now.

JANUARY 11TH - APRIL 2ND, 2017

HISTORY

CALIFORNIA’S CAMELOT The Pebble Beach Equestrian Center’s dramatic coastal setting—and its largerthan-life longtime manager Dick Collins—still inspire fond memories of this equestrian gem from its heyday in the 1950s and ’60s.

By KELLY SANCHEZ

T

HERE WAS NO OTHER VENUE QUITE

LIKE IT )TS RUGGED CROSS COUNTRY COURSES WOUND THROUGH A FOG SHROUDED FOREST )TS HUNTER TRIALS AND STEEPLECHASES RAN ALONGSIDE THE 0ACIlC /CEAN SHORELINE AND AS THREE DAY EVENT COMPETITORS NEGOTIATED BANKS DITCHES AND OPEN WATER A CHORUS OF BARKING SEA LIONS CHEERED THEM ON

MEN ARRIVING TO COMPETE ON #ALIFORNIA S -ONTEREY 0ENINSULA LOVED AND FEARED IT IN EQUAL MEASURE 4HE COMPETITION COULD BE lERCE AND 0EBBLE "EACH S CLIMATE AND TOPOGRAPHY WEREN T FOR THE MEEK 4HE WEATHER COULD BE COLD EVEN IN MID SUMMER AND THE TERRAIN AND JUMPING COURSES WERE FORMIDABLE 68 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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JULIAN P. GRAHAM/PEBBLE BEACH COMPANY LAGORIO ARCHIVES PHOTO

4HIS WAS 0EBBLE "EACH AND HORSE

JON BILOUS/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO

The PaciямБc Ocean and the rocky shoreline of Monterey Peninsula, OVERLOOKED BY THE COMMUNITY S ICONIC ,ONE #YPRESS (in background) ON ITS GRANITE PERCH HELPED MAKE 0EBBLE "EACH ONE OF THE MOST SPECTACULAR EQUESTRIAN VENUES ON THE MAP (ERE A YOUNG $ICK #OLLINS (left) RIDES WITH .ANCY ,OCKE

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HISTORY “You really had to be able to ride to go to Pebble Beach,” said hunter/jumper trainer Meredith Bullock, who first made the trek from southern California for shows as a teenager. “You’d be happy to come away with a third or a fifth. Everyone came back riding better.” Pebble Beach has been an American sporting fixture since 1919, when its now legendary golf links opened. It’s been an equestrian paradise at least as long—its first annual horse show was in 1924—and not just for its cross-country and steeplechase courses, show arenas and polo field. More than 100 miles of trails, some dating to the late 19th century, also snaked through Pebble Beach’s forest. And other paths crossed sand dunes and led horses and riders to the ocean, where they could frolic in the surf with sea otters, seals and sea lions in their midst.

It was like we’d gone to a different planet.” –BRIAN SABO Pebble Beach hasn’t hosted a major equine event since 2013, but it remains a Valhalla for those who lived, worked and competed there in its heyday. Memories of Pebble Beach’s majestic landscape and of its late manager Richard “Dick” Collins—who ran the equestrian center and riding school from 1946 to 1979 and helped put it on many horse lovers’ bucket lists—still burn bright. “The air was extraordinary, coming fresh off the ocean through all the pine trees and drawing from the grass on the golf course,” recalled Philip Durbrow, who started riding with Collins at Pebble Beach as a child in the 1950s. He is now chairman and CEO of Marshall Strategy in San Francisco. “It had an amazingly invigorating effect on horses and people.” “It was magical, is what it was,” Bullock said. Brian Sabo competed at Pebble Beach in Pony Club rallies and three-day events with trainer and future Olympic medalist Hilda Gurney in the 1960s. He vividly remembers arriving via the 17-Mile Drive—the scenic route that hugs the Monterey Peninsula coastline. “We’d drive over the hill from Salinas, where it was blazing hot, and there was the 17-Mile Drive, and all these pine trees and the fog, and a huge catered brunch the morning of the crosscountry,” recalled Sabo, who later became president of the U.S. Eventing Association. “It was like we’d gone to a different planet.”

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BIG NAMES AND DAUNTING FENCES When Samuel F.B. Morse founded the Pebble Beach Company in 1919, his aim was to preserve not only Pebble Beach’s awe-inspiring vistas, but also its property values. Morse’s idea, as historian and author Neal Hotelling put it, was to turn Pebble Beach into a resort and sporting empire “meant to attract quality people to the peninsula so they could be enticed into buying their own slice of paradise.” Pebble Beach featured tennis, sailing and beach activities. Initially Morse intended to build an airstrip where the stables now stand, but area residents needed stabling for their horses. Morse was a horse owner himself. He explored Pebble Beach’s potential on horseback as he drew up plans for the country club, the Cypress Point golf course, bridle paths and more. In 1924 he built the board-and-batten Pebble Beach Stables as a quadrangle around a central courtyard—the riding program’s hearth and home. The stables were well established by 1946 when Morse hired Collins to help him develop a full-fledged riding school. Collins, then 38 and fresh off World War II service, was a natural choice. The Long Beach, Calif., native had learned practical horsemanship at the Urban Military Academy in Hollywood—he competed in shows judged by Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs and other celebrity horsemen—then had taught riding and polo at Pebble Beach’s exclusive Douglas School (later the Robert Louis Stevenson School). Under Collins’ energetic management, Pebble Beach’s equestrian life thrived. He invited top riders and horses to train, built new arenas and courses, and established a Pony Club. He raised Pebble Beach’s profile by bringing in some of the era’s most famous coaches to lecture, teach and judge, including Col. Alois Podhajsky, the director of the Spanish Riding School with its famous Lipizzan horses; U.S. Equestrian Team coach Stefan von Visy; and Jack Le Goff, the rider and revolutionary coach of the U.S. eventing team. When Collins was inducted into the 2003 U.S. Eventing Association Hall of Fame, Durbrow recalled his mentor’s unconventional way of designing what would become Pebble Beach’s formidable cross-country course. Taking a handful of young riders out into the forest before school, he’d tell them to jump various natural obstacles, from logs to ditches to water. “This was Dick’s method of finding just the right path through the forest to take greatest advantage of the beautiful and varied terrain of Pebble Beach,” Durbrow said. “Dick felt that a crosscountry course should have a rhythm to it and be structured like a musical composition, with a first part that was an inviting and

PHOTO COURTESY OF PHILIP DURBROW

TERRI MILLER PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO

The last major show held in Pebble Beach took place in 2013, BUT FOR MANY YEARS BEFORE THAT IT WAS A DESTINATION LOCATION FOR HORSE SHOWS EVENTS AND DRESSAGE SHOWS

Dick Collins was the enthusiastic and exacting manager OF 0EBBLE "EACH S EQUESTRIAN CENTER FROM TO (E COACHED DESIGNED COURSES OVERSAW THE FACILITY DEVELOPMENT AND ENERGETICALLY MAINTAINED 0EBBLE "EACH S HIGH PROlLE

A Good Eye 2ICHARD h$ICKv #OLLINS WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR TALENT SPOTTING TWO LEGENDARY HORSES IN 5 3 HORSE SPORT )N 5 3 %QUESTRIAN 4EAM BENEFACTOR *OHN 'ALVIN ASKED #OLLINS TO GO TO THE 3TOCKHOLM /LYMPIC 'AMES AND BUY THE BEST THREE DAY HORSE HE COULD lND #OST WAS NO OBJECT h(E CAME BACK WITH A LONG BACKED BIG HEADED PART #ONNEMARA PONY v RECALLED HIS STUDENT 0HILIP $URBROW 4HE HAND HORSE THEN NAMED #OPPER #OIN HAD CARRIED )RISHMAN )AN $UDGEON IN A CLEAR ROUND IN THE 3TOCKHOLM /LYMPICS CROSS COUNTRY ONLY TO BE ELIMINATED FOR MISSING A mAG 2ECHRISTENED 4HE 'RASSHOPPER THE LITTLE HORSE WENT ON TO TAKE RIDER -ICHAEL 0AGE TO INDIVIDUAL GOLD AND TEAM SILVER AT THE 0AN !M 'AMES TEAM GOLD AT THE 0AN !M 'AMES IN 3├ОO 0AULO "RAZIL AND TEAM SILVER AT THE 4OKYO /LYMPICS #LAUDIA &RISBIE #OJOCAR WAS A TEENAGER WHEN A HORSE AT THE -ONTEREY #OUNTY &AIR CAUGHT #OLLINS EYE h7E WENT BACK TO THE BARN AREA AND HE THREW ME ON IN THE SHED ROW v #OJOCAR SAID h7E POPPED BACK AND FORTH OVER POLES THAT PEOPLE WERE HOLDING UP v /N #OLLINS RECOMMENDATION 'ALVIN BOUGHT THE HORSE )T WAS 3NOWBOUND THE OFF THE TRACK 4HOROUGHBRED WHOM 7ILLIAM 3TEINKRAUS LATER RODE TO WIN THE 5NITED 3TATES lRST INDIVIDUAL /LYMPIC SHOW JUMPING GOLD MEDAL AT THE -EXICO #ITY 'AMES

Dick Collins ямБrst spotted the off-the-track 4HOROUGHBRED 3NOWBOUND AT THE -ONTEREY #OUNTY &AIR AND HE WENT ON TO WIN THE 5NITED 3TATES lRST INDIVIDUAL SHOW JUMPING GOLD MEDAL AT THE /LYMPIC 'AMES IN -EXICO #ITY WITH RIDER 7ILLIAM 3TEINKRAUS (shown here)

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HISTORY

“THIS IS NOT A COUNTRY CLUB!� The 1950s and ’60s were especially vibrant at Pebble Beach, powered by Collins’ enthusiasm. He reveled in his role as host of virtually any equestrian undertaking: drag hunts, three-day events, hunter trials, Pony Club rallies, polo matches, dressage and hunter/jumper shows all fell under his purview. On the rare sunny day during the usually chilly summer season, Collins—elegantly attired in a tweed jacket and hat—would get on the loudspeaker

JULIAN P. GRAHAM/PEBBLE BEACH COMPANY LAGORIO ARCHIVES PHOTO

encouraging prelude of things to come, a middle part that created the greatest physical challenges while the horse was at his best, and a conclusion that provided more intellectual or psychological challenges to the rider.� Working with Japanese-American master craftsmen who’d been sent to internment camps during World War II, Collins sculpted jumps into Pebble Beach’s natural terrain. “Dick felt that in the hunting field, obstacles are not always so conveniently placed and that horses and riders needed to know how to deal with that,� Durbrow said. “It was the best feeling in the world to have jumped those courses and lived,� said Jo Jo White, who grew up in Carmel, Calif., and rode with Collins at Pebble Beach throughout the 1960s. “It was quite a bit of riding.� Bullock recalled the ditches and banks that faced riders in the hunter classes, too. “In the corner of the ring, there was a ditch to a bank and up to another bank, and then you jumped off that bank into the outer field,� she said with a laugh. “Those were hunter classes.� The courses weren’t Pebble Beach’s only unique features. For the National Three-Day Championships and the U.S. Eventing Team Selection Trials in 1958, Collins stationed soldiers from Fort Ord around the course with field telephones, so they could update the scoreboard in real time. The Fort Ord marching band also performed at shows and during the parade of teams. “It was something you’d expect at a Rolex of today, but it wasn’t done then,� said Sabo. “Dick was that far ahead of the curve in terms of running an event.�

Pebble Beach manager Dick Collins’ fearsome crosscountry courses wound THROUGH SOME OF THE NATION S MOST MAJESTICˆAND TESTINGˆ SCENERY &ENCES LIKE THIS COFlN JUMP FROM THE S MADE GETTING A CLEAR ROUND A MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT

and apologize for the weather. Not surprisingly, competitors’ parties at his home near the polo field were festive affairs. But although Collins loved people and socializing, he was also earlyto-bed-and-early-to-rise: Around 8 p.m., he would blow a horn to signal to his guests it was time to leave. Collins also was a vigorous teacher, pushing his students with exhortations of “Forward,� “Put your head up,� and “Kick on!� And he could be as exacting as any of Pebble Beach’s cross-country courses. White remembers three-day training rides at Bird Rock, a course that ran parallel to the coast, where hunter trials and steeplechase races took place, and a long straightaway offered riders a chance to test their horses’ gears. “We’d tack up when it was still dark,� White said, “and when the sun came up, Dick would give us the high sign from his little green Jeep, and we’d go from a 3:30 mile to a 2:45 mile. On the last part of it, we got to breeze, blowing out our horses’ pipes and going as fast as we could. The horses were snorting in the early morning mist, and Dick was yelling at us from his Jeep, ‘You think that’s a 2:45 mile? Are you looking at your watch?’ �

It was the best feeling in the world to have jumped those courses and lived.� –JO JO WHITE 72 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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DYNAMIC

DUO Cordova Tightâ„¢ 0JLÄS® Jersey

PHOTO COURTESY OF PEBBLE BEACH COMPANY LAGORIO ARCHIVES

superior function meets super flattering

PHOTO COURTESY OF JULIE COSTELLO HOOK

Competitors (from left) Bryan Anderson on Hollywood Scout, #LAUDIA &RISBIE #OJOCAR ON !TLANTIS AND *OHN !NDERSON ON 3ALTY 3HADOW mEW OVER A JUMP TOGETHER DURING A 0EBBLE "EACH HUNT RACE

Julie Costello Hook, now a trainer, RODE AND COMPETED AT 0EBBLE "EACH IN THE S AND REMEMBERED THE CHILLY FOG THAT FREQUENTLY ENVELOPED THE EQUESTRIAN CENTER AS DURING THIS HUNTER SHOW CIRCA C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M

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HISTORY We’re not teaching people how to ride. We’re teaching them how to live.� To those who got their start in the Pony Club he founded in the 1950s, Collins was a larger-than-life figure who had no patience for idleness. “This is not a country club!� he would bellow. “Either you are riding, working or gone from here.� “When Dick would yell your last name across the courtyard, you knew you were in trouble,� said White. “Or he might see you somewhere and say, ‘If I went to the barn right now, would your bridle be clean?’ � “We were all a little in fear of Dick,� acknowledged trainer Julie Costello Hook, who rode at Pebble Beach with her late brother Pete and brother Mick, who both became well known course-designers. “You did it right or you didn’t do it at all.� Collins had a larger mission in mind. “We’re not teaching people how to ride,� he once said. “We’re teaching them how to live.� Those who met Collins’ exacting standards received extraordinary opportunities and responsibilities—even if they sometimes felt they’d been thrown into the deep end of the pool. When he went to Ireland for his annual foxhunting trip, Collins depended on his students to help take care of the equestrian center, remembers Hook. “He left my mother in charge of the office and Pete and me in charge of the horses,� she said. “He thought nothing of leaving teenagers with that kind of responsibility.� And when a group of stablehands once disappeared on a drunken binge, Hook and Pete worked before and after school to feed, water and clean the stalls of 70-odd horses, she recalled. Durbrow, who was 10 when his family moved to nearby Carmel in 1950, started at Pebble Beach by sitting on the fence and watching people ride. “Dick noticed and started giving me things to do,� Durbrow said. He mucked out stalls, fed and blanketed the horses, and began taking lessons. Eventually, he was teaching lessons and building courses. Another student at the time, Claudia Frisbie Cojocar, recalled being allowed to take her Pony Club B test on Fleet Captain, who was Walter Staley’s mount at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF JULIE COSTELLO HOOK

–DICK COLLINS

Col. Alois Podhajsky (standing, right), the director of the Spanish Riding School, visited the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center in 1967 to judge a dressage championship. #OMPETITORS AND ATTENDEES INCLUDED FUTURE 5 3 $RESSAGE &EDERATION (ALL OF &AMERS +YRA $OWNTON (front row, sixth from left, in top hat) AND (ILDA 'URNEY (second row, third from left) !LSO IN THE CROWD TO 'URNEY S LEFT WERE DRESSAGE COACH AND !MERICAN (ANOVERIAN 3OCIETY PRESIDENT (ERMANN &RIEDLAENDER INTERNATIONAL DRESSAGE JUDGE AND !MERICAN VAULTING PIONEER %LIZABETH 3EARLE AND * !SHTON -OORE WITH WHOM 3EARLE LATER FOUNDED THE /SIERLEA DRESSAGE FACILITY IN 3AN *UAN "AUTISTA #ALIF ! YOUNG *ULIE #OSTELLO (OOK IS SEATED IN THE FRONT ROW (third from right)

But those rewards came with good, hard work. Collins, too, kept busy. When he and his second wife, Sheila, also worked in real estate, he would shoehorn house-showings into his packed schedule at the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center. “I remember Dick galloping off the polo field and crossing the street between chukkers,� Durbrow said. “He tied his horse to a tree and showed some people a house that was for sale on the edge of the polo field. Then he said goodbye, galloped back, changed horses, and the game resumed.�

“WE’RE SITTING ON A GOLDMINE� Collins retired in 1979 and died five years later. The Pebble Beach Equestrian Center remained influential in Golden State equestrian life under the guidance first of Abby and Jay Foss, who added on to the facility. Derek di Grazia and his wife Bea took the reins from 1984 to 1992, organizing three-day, hunter/jumper and dressage shows. Tim Postel followed, putting on a succession of wellattended shows.

JULIAN P. GRAHAM/PEBBLE BEACH COMPANY LAGORIO ARCHIVES PHOTO

Pebble Beach was a popular venue for three-day eventers EAGER TO TAKE ON THE NOTORIOUSLY CHALLENGING CROSS COUNTRY COURSE AS EVIDENCED BY THE CROWDED SCOREBOARD AT THE RD !NNUAL 0EBBLE "EACH 4HREE $AY %VENT IN

Dick Collins shared a quiet moment with his dog Thady, NAMED AFTER 4HADY 2YAN THE FAMOUS MASTER OF THE 3CARTEEN (OUNDS AND CHEF D EQUIPE FOR THE )RISH EVENTING TEAM IN THE S

PHOTO COURTESY OF PHILIP DURBROW

But in 2013, the Pebble Beach Company took over the equestrian center’s management and suspended large-scale equestrian events on the property. Despite protests, Collins’ home was razed, and the polo field—which Morse had named Collins Field—was turned into the Pebble Beach Golf Academy. The Pebble Beach Equestrian Center remains open for business, offering lessons as well as trail rides through nearby Del Monte Forest. It’s also the site of a recently launched equine-facilitated program for veterans. But plans call for a new riding facility with a covered arena. That would replace the familiar board-and-batten structure that for decades rang with children’s voices, expert horsemen’s advice, and Collins’ instructions and exhortations. Times are changing, but those who still saddle up in Pebble Beach are hoping to preserve this slice of equestrian lifestyle on some of the world’s most valuable soil. “We’re sitting on a goldmine—the land is so valuable, and we all know that horses need space,� said Thea Montella, an equine sports massage therapist who has ridden in Pebble Beach since 1982. “We’re focusing on what horses can bring to the community and on developing something the [Pebble Beach Company] can be proud of. But we’re hanging on by a thread trying to keep this way of life.� Those who came up in the Collins years aren’t convinced that a new facility will be able to replicate the magic that was Pebble Beach in its equestrian heyday. “Sam Morse’s original vision was of a beautiful place to live by the ocean and enjoy the sporting life,� said Durbrow. “That’s pretty

much what it was in the 1950s and ’60s. There was an active tennis club, a beach club and sailing. Residents often parked on the edge of the polo field to watch training, galloping and jumping on the grass. “It was a great place to live,� he added. “Very little of that remains.�

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LIFE BETWEEN THE EARS Seeing The World With

“Life Between The Ears” By harnessing the power of a hashtag, one amateur rider has created a stunning collection of photos from every corner of the world—all taken from the saddle. Now it’s also Untacked’s newest department. B Y MOLLY S ORGE HESE PICTURES WILL MOTIVATE YOU to grab a suitcase, pack your breeches and book a ticket to pretty much anywhere. Photo after photo of breathtaking views from around the world, always with two pointy equine ears peeking up into the frame. These are images from Life Between The Ears, a social media phenomenon that started with a Facebook page. Founder Kristine Dahms posts stunning photos from around the globe, all shot by riders with one hand on the reins and the other on the shutter button. Dahms mines photos with the hashtag #lifebetweentheears and features them after getting permission and details about the shot. It all started in 2008, when Dahms had just returned to riding after a 20-year hiatus. A horse-crazy girl, she’d put her saddle aside to develop her career as a graphic designer. “I just started taking pictures of my own horse,” Dahms said. “He was my first horse as an adult. My friends started sharing their photos with me, and I’d share them on my page. And then I decided to make a public page on Facebook.” The Facebook page was soon joined by an Instagram feed, a dedicated website (lifebetweentheears.com), a Twitter feed and a Pinterest page, all under lifebetweentheears account names. Then Dahms started searching the #lifebetweentheears hashtag, and people began sending images to her directly. “I’d occasionally see some stunning shots from other parts of the world, and I figured the more the merrier!” she said. “It’s one big horse party. I never imagined it would take off like this. It’s so fun; it’s like a treasure hunt to look for new ones all the time. “People will also alert me to photos I might be interested in,” she continued. “Everybody gets involved, which is fun. I’ve made some friends across the world.” >>>

T

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DAMARA ANN MULLENS/@HORSEPOOR4EVER PHOTO

MIRROR LAKE, CALIF. $AMARA -ULLENS IS AN AMATEUR RIDER FROM "AKERSlELD #ALIF WHO LOVES TO TRAIL RIDE AND TAKE PHOTOS h7E ARE FORTUNATE TO LIVE WITHIN A FEW HOURS OF SCENIC AREAS THAT ATTRACT PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD 7E VISIT 9OSEMITE SEVERAL TIMES A YEAR v SHE SAID 4HIS SHOT WAS TAKEN FROM THE BACK OF !PPLE *ACK A YEAR OLD !PPALOOSA !RABIAN CROSS h(E WAS BORN AT MY PARENTS HOUSE AND CAME TO MY HOUSE WHEN HE WAS YEARS OLD v SAID -ULLENS WHO ALSO HAS AN YEAR OLD !RABIAN 'IMLI h-Y HORSES LIVE IN MY BACK YARD ) USUALLY lND A SCENIC AREA TO HORSE CAMP TWICE A MONTH 7E EXPLORE LOTS OF MOUNTAIN AND DESERT TRAILS v -IRROR ,AKE IS A SMALL LAKE IN 4ENAYA #ANYON IN THE FOOTHILLS OF THE 3IERRA .EVADA MOUNTAIN RANGE IN 9OSEMITE .ATIONAL 0ARK #ALIF

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ADRIANE CUMMINGS/@CHARLIEZJALAPAE PHOTO

LIFE BETWEEN THE EARS

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK, UTAH !DRIANE #UMMINGS IS A COLLEGE STUDENT IN ,OUISVILLE +Y WHO JUGGLES SCHOOL WORKING AND TRAIL RIDING WHEN SHE CAN h) USED TO SHOW HUNTER JUMPER BUT NOW ) JUST RIDE FOR FUN WITH COLLEGE AND WORK TAKING UP SO MUCH TIME v SHE SAID 4HIS PHOTO IS TAKEN FROM THE RIM OF "RYCE #ANYON WHICH IS NOT SO MUCH A CANYON AS A COLLECTION OF NATURALLY FORMED AMPHITHEATERS 3TREAM EROSION AND FROST WEATH ERING HAVE CREATED ITS DISTINCTIVE GEOLOGICAL PILLAR LIKE STRUCTURES CALLED HOODOOS h7E HAD A FRIEND WHO HAD A HOUSE OUT IN ,AS 6EGAS WHO INVITED US OUT FOR A VACATION v #UMMINGS SAID h-Y AUNT AND UNCLE WHO ARE ALSO HORSE PEOPLE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THE "RYCE #ANYON RIDING TOUR OVER THE 'RAND #ANYON 4HE MULE ) RODE WAS NAMED "UNGEE (E WAS A BIG GRAY MULE (E WAS VERY SWEET AND VERY SURE FOOTED GOING UP AND DOWN THE ROCK FACES v !T HOME #UMMINGS TAKES TO THE TRAILS ON 7INSTON HER YEAR OLD 4ENNESSEE 7ALKING MULE h7E MIGHT LOOK INTO DOING SOME LOCAL SCHOOLING SHOWS IN THE NEXT YEAR OR SO JUST TO HAVE SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO DO v SHE SAID

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CLAUDIA GOBBI/@CLAUDIAGOBBI96 PHOTO

CAELEN KELLY OF DUNFANAGHY STABLES IRELAND/@CAELEN_KELLY PHOTO

TRAMORE STRAND, IRELAND h4HIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN OVERLOOKING 4RAMORE 3TRAND FROM THE 4RAMORE 3AND $UNES IN #OUNTY $ONEGAL )RELAND OUTSIDE OF THE VILLAGE OF $UNFA NAGHY WHICH LIES ALONG )RELAND S 7ILD !TLANTIC 7AY COASTAL ROUTE v SAID #AELEN +ELLY WHO TOOK THE PHOTO h4RAMORE "EACH CAN ONLY BE ACCESSED VIA FOOT OR BY HORSE AS IT IS TOTALLY SECLUDED BY THE SURROUNDING SAND DUNES v +ELLY WORKS AS A MOUNTED TRAIL GUIDE FOR THE $UNFANAGHY 3TABLES WHICH IS OWNED AND OPER ATED BY *OHN AND (ELEN -C$AID $UNFANAGHY 3TABLES OFFER RIDES RANGING FROM MINUTES TO WEEKLONG JOURNEYS AS WELL AS LESSONS FOR CHILDREN AND BEGINNERS 4HE EARS IN THE PHOTO BELONG TO #ASSIDY ONE OF MORE THAN HORSES USED FOR THE TRAIL RIDES THAT NAVIGATE THE BEACHES AND MOUNTAIN RANGES AROUND THE VILLAGE #ASSIDY IS AN )RISH 3PORT (ORSE WHO WAS BRED IN #OUNTY $ONEGAL AND WHO HAS HUNTED WITH THE $ONEGAL (ARRIERS

LAKE GARDA, ITALY 4HIS PHOTO IS FROM #LAUDIA 'OBBI S HOMETOWN OF !RCO SITUATED IN THE REGION OF 4RENTINO !LTO !DIGE IN NORTHERN )TALY h) DO MOST OF MY RIDING HERE v SAID 'OBBI h) DON T NEED TO GO FAR BECAUSE THERE ARE ALREADY LOTS OF PLACES TO DISCOVER ) REALLY LOVE THE PLACE WHERE ) LIVE EVEN IF IT S A SMALL TOWN BETWEEN THE MOUN TAINS 4HERE ARE SO MANY THINGS TO DO AND TO SEE BOTH WITH THE HORSE AND NOT BECAUSE WE HAVE ,AKE 'ARDA FOR SUMMER SPORTS WINDSURlNG KITESURlNG SAILING AND RELAXING AND THE $OLOMITE MOUNTAINS FOR WINTER SPORTS AND HIKING v 'OBBI WHO IS A STUDENT RIDES WESTERN ON HER YEAR OLD (AmINGER MARE -AFl WHOSE EARS APPEAR IN THIS PHOTO 'OBBI S PARENTS HAVE A SMALL FARM WITH COWS BUT 'OBBI HAS BEEN HORSE CRAZY SINCE SHE WAS SMALL h/NE DAY THEY SURPRISED ME GIVING ME -AFl S MUM AS A WONDERFUL GIFT v 'OBBI SAID h! YEAR LATER -AFl WAS BORN AND THAT WAS THE BEGINNING OF OUR STORY h) REALLY CAN SAY THAT WE GREW UP TOGETHER v SHE CONTINUED h3HE IS MY lRST EXPERIENCE WITH A HORSE BECAUSE SHE IS ACTUALLY WITH HER MUM THE lRST HORSE ) VE EVER HAD )T S SURELY FOR THIS REASON THAT WE HAVE SUCH A DEEP FEELING AND WE CAN UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER 3HE IS SOMETIMES A BIT CRAZY BUT ) M PROUD OF HER SHE S ONLY MINE AND WE HAVE A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP "ECAUSE OF THIS RIDING HER IS SOMETHING MAGIC ) CAN REALLY SAY THAT DREAMS CAN COME TRUE AND THIS IS THE STORY OF MINE v C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M

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SARA KLYMKOWSKY/@SARA_KLYMKOWSKY PHOTO

RÁQUIRA, COLOMBIA 3ARA +LYMKOWSKY WORKS IN PRIVATE EQUITY IN .EW 9ORK #ITY BUT SHE S hOBSESSED WITH SEEING NEW PLACES ON HORSEBACK v SHE SAID )N FACT SHE COMPETED IN THE -ONGOL $ERBY AND HAS RIDDEN IN +ENYA #OLOMBIA 0ATAGONIA AND "RAZIL 4HIS SHOT WAS TAKEN IN 2ÉQUIRA #OLOMBIA IN THE DESERT NEAR A SACRED INDIGENOUS SITE WHILE +LYMKOWSKY WAS ON A GUIDED RIDE 4HE HORSE WAS A #RIOLLO !RABIAN CROSS NAMED !ZAFRAN h4HEY USE HIM FOR ENDURANCE AND THESE RIDES v +LYMKOWSKY SAID h) ADORED HIM v +LYMKOWSKY GREW UP RIDING WESTERN 3HE RODE IN THE RODEO AND WESTERN PLEASURE AND ALSO WORKED AS A RANCH HAND 3HE TRIED %NGLISH TACK THREE YEARS AGO BECAUSE SHE KNEW HER +ENYAN SAFARI TRIP WOULD INVOLVE AN %NG LISH SADDLE 3HE RECENTLY MOVED FROM .EW 9ORK #ITY TO .ORTH 3ALEM . 9 WHERE SHE KEEPS HER OWN HORSE .APOLEON h) DON T COMPETE HIM v SHE SAID h) MESS AROUND WITH LOTS OF TRAIL RIDING TRYING DRESSAGE AND FOXHUNTING SO REALLY ALL %NGLISH THESE DAYS BUT ) DO THROW A WESTERN SADDLE ON .APOLEON EVERY NOW AND THEN v

LUCY SAUNDERS/@JOCKEYCLUBROOMS PHOTO

NEWMARKET, SUFFOLK, ENGLAND ,UCY 3AUNDERS WORKS FOR 4HE *OCKEY #LUB IN .EWMARKET AND SPENDS HER MORNINGS RIDING OUT FOR LOCAL TRAINER *AMES /WEN h4HIS IS ONE OF HIS YEAR OLDS WHO *AMES AND HIS TEAM BROKE IN AS A YEARLING v 3AUNDERS SAID h3HE HAS NOW GONE INTO TRAINING IN A RACING YARD h4HIS lLLY IS PARTICULARLY RELAXED AND WELL BEHAVED )T WAS A LOVELY SPRING LIKE MORNING TO BE OUT ON THE HEATH AS THE MORNINGS STARTED GETTING LIGHTER v 3AUNDERS CONTINUED 4HE PICTURE IS OF .EWMARKET (EATH NEXT DOOR TO THE 2OWLEY -ILE RACECOURSE h4HIS BEAUTIFUL HEATH LAND HAS BEEN USED FOR MORE THAN YEARS TO TRAIN RACE HORSES SINCE THE REIGN OF +ING #HARLES )) v 3AUNDERS SAID h#OMPRISED OF ACRES THE TRAINING GROUNDS INCLUDE MILES OF TURF GALLOPS AND MORE THAN MILES OF ARTIlCIAL TRACKS MANICURED ON A DAILY BASIS BY OVER HEATH STAFF 4HE GALLOPS ARE USED BY MORE THAN HORSES IN THE CARE OF MORE THAN TRAINERS WITH THE NAMES INCLUDING THE VERY BEST KNOWN HORSES AND TRAINERS IN THE WORLD 4HE TOWN ALSO HAS TWO RACECOURSES AND IS A HUB OF EQUESTRIAN AND RACING RELATED ENTERPRISE MUCH LIKE A SMALLER VERSION OF +ENTUCKY v 3AUNDERS RIDES FOR FUN AND COMPETES WHEN SHE CAN IN EVENTING SHOWING OR TEAM CHASING 3HE S ALSO RIDDEN AS AN AMATEUR JOCKEY 3HE WORKS IN 4HE *OCKEY #LUB 2OOMS WHICH IS A PRIVATE MEMBERS CLUB h!LTHOUGH ) DON T WORK DIRECTLY WITH HORSES ) M NEVER FAR AWAY FROM ONE AND ALWAYS FEEL PART OF THE SPORT v SHE SAID h-OST OF THE TIME WHEN ) M NOT AT WORK ) CAN BE FOUND ON A HORSE OR ASLEEP v

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KRISTINE DAHMS/@LIFEBETWEENTHEEARS PHOTO

Sharing Life Between The Ears RICK DAHMS PHOTOS

VASHON ISLAND, WASH. 4HE WOMAN BEHIND ,IFE "ETWEEN 4HE %ARS +RISTINE $AHMS CAPTIONED THIS SHOT WITH h.OTHING BETTER THAN A RIDE AFTER WORK ON A WARM SPRING EVENING WITH THE DOGS )T S DAYS LIKE THIS THAT MAKE UP FOR MONTHS OF WINTER RAIN AND MUD SO DEEP IT SUCKS YOUR MUCK BOOTS OFF v $AHMS LIVES ON A SMALL FARM ON -AURY )SLAND WHICH IS PART OF 6ASHON )SLAND THE LARGEST ISLAND IN 0UGET 3OUND 7ASH 4HEY ARE ACTUALLY TWO ISLANDS CONNECTED BY A MANMADE ISTHMUS WHICH WAS CONSTRUCTED IN 4HE VIEW IN THE DISTANCE IS OF -T 2AINIER WHICH IS MILES SOUTHEAST OF 3EATTLE AND IS THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN OF THE #ASCADE 2ANGE IN THE 0ACIlC .ORTHWEST 4HE EARS IN THE PHOTO BELONG TO 7YN $AHMS 7ELSH #OB 3HE MAINLY RIDES DRESSAGE ALONG WITH SOME TRAIL RIDING h) BELIEVE IT S IMPORTANT FOR HORSES TO GET OUT OF THE SAND BOX AND INTO THE WORLD PLUS IT S GOOD FOR ME AND THE DOGS AS WELL v $AHMS SAID h7YN WAS VERY GREEN WHEN ) GOT HIM AND ) VE COME OFF HIM MORE TIMES THAN ) D LIKE TO ADMIT BUT HE S MADE ME A BETTER RIDER 1UICKLY (E S ATHLETIC AND TALENTED SO MY GOAL IS TO KEEP UP WITH HIM AND START RECOGNIZED SHOWS NEXT YEAR !S ONE OF MY TRAINERS USED TO JOKE @9OU GUYS ARE DOING GREAT FOR THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND v

Founder Kristine Dahms has taken some of the Life Between The Ears images from cyberspace to print, creating two lines of greeting cards—one of her own photos and one of international submissions to #lifebetweentheears—with selected photos from her social media pages. “Everyone wanted a way to share them with other people, and since I’m a graphic designer, it seemed like kind of a no-brainer,� Dahms said. “I put stories on the back of them—there’s a paragraph about the rider and a paragraph about the location.� A portion of the proceeds from the card sales goes to the Equine Land Conservation Resource (elcr.org). Cards are available at lifebetweentheears.com/retail.

Rancho Las Cascadas: TRAVEL TO MEXICO’S BACKCOUNTRY WITH THE CABALLEROS In the Mexican highlands, there’s a little piece of paradise about an hour— and a century—away from Mexico City. Story and photos by SHAW N HA MILTON

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F

irst there’s the sound of ice crushing in the blender, then a quiet grinding as someone presses the rim of a margarita glass into a heap of salt, followed by footsteps heading out to the hot tub and a splash as they climb in. Finally, glasses clink together, and then the first sip—aaaaaah! Cascading falls a few hundred feet away rumble beneath the sound of people chattering about the day’s events. They were strangers at first, but in a very short time at Rancho Las Cascadas—a ranch and hotel on a plateau in San Agustín Buenavista, just about an hour’s drive from Mexico City—everyone quickly becomes part of the family.

Getting the horses tacked up in the morning. 4HIS PHOTO TELLS THE STORY OF WHERE WE ARE AND WHAT WE RE DOING IN A SIMPLE MANNER 4HE TRADITIONAL -EXICAN SHIRT AND HAT SPEAK OF THE PLACE AND THE TASSEL MADE OF HORSEHAIR GIVES THE PHOTO AN EXTRA PUNCH

Carlos, who has been with the ranch for eight years, IS A WEALTH OF INFORMATION ON THE TRAIL AND IS A TRUE COWBOY (E S WEARING A -EXICAN TIE CALLED A charro moño A TYPE OF BOW TIE

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TRAVEL

The sun begins to warm the ranch, BUT THE EARLY MORNING AIR IS STILL COLD WHEN THE MEN GO ABOUT THEIR MORNING CHORES

Venturing out of my room early in the morning, ) SPOT -IGUEL ONE OF THE HORSEMEN TAKING A BREAK FROM MORNING CHORES AND PONDERING LIFE CAUGHT IN SILHOUETTE BY THE RISING SUN

I have no fixed schedule on this visit to Rancho Las Cascadas. Rising early, just before sunrise, I watch the caballeros go about their morning routine and capture images of the horses backlit by the rising sun. New faces appear around the breakfast table each day. A German man is on a soul-searching mission, pondering leaving his wife and buying a horse. An American psychiatrist says he’s out here for a few days to wind down with some time in the saddle, and a family of four from Boston found the ranch while looking for something to do in Mexico that was off the usual tourist track. Some visitors opt for tours and excursions off horseback, but I rarely turn down a day in the saddle. So I mount up and head off with my companions through the Mexican countryside. 84

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A young caballero, assisted by his German Shepherd, TURNS HIS mOCK TOWARD HOME FOR THE NIGHT AFTER GRAZING THEM ON THE OPEN PASTURE FOR THE DAY 4HIS IS JUST ONE OF THE TYPICAL RURAL SCENES WE PASS AS WE RIDE THE TRAILS TO TOWN AND IT S WHY ) LOVE THESE RIDES SO MUCHˆBEING ABLE TO WITNESS EVERYDAY RURAL LIFE IN ITS TRADITIONAL FORM

The Santa Ana Mountains provide a dramatic backdrop as A HORSE AND RIDER CROSS THE FERTILE PLAINS WHOSE lELDS ARE HEMMED BY STONE WALLS

About The Ranch 3WISS BORN 5RSULA 7IPRËCHTIGER 3CHREYERˆh5SCHIv FOR SHORTˆBROUGHT HER VISION FOR 2ANCHO ,AS #ASCADAS TO A PLATEAU IN THE -EXICAN HIGHLANDS WHERE IT GREW INTO A WORLD RENOWNED GUEST RANCH ,OCATED IN 3AN !GUSTÓN "UENAVISTA THE RANCH HAS COLLECTED SOME NOTABLE ACCOLADES )T S ONE OF %QUITREKKING S TOP RANCHES AND HAS RECEIVED 4RIP !DVISOR S CERTIlCATE OF EXCELLENCE NINE YEARS RUNNING AMONG OTHERS &ROM 2ANCHO ,AS #ASCADAS YOU CAN HEAD OUT TO 3AN -IGUEL DE !LLENDE DESIGNATED A 7ORLD (ERITAGE 3ITE BY 5.%3#/ TOUR THE FAMOUS PYRAMIDS OF 4EOTIHUACAN SHOP FOR SPICES COWBOY HATS BOOTS OR SADDLES AT THE LOCAL MARKET OR CHOOSE FROM A NUMBER OF IN THE SADDLE ACTIVITIES WHETHER YOU RE A SEASONED EQUESTRIAN OR BRAND NEW TO RIDING 4HE WEARY TRAVELER CAN ALSO JUMP IN THE INlNITY POOL FOR A DIP SIMPLY SOAK IN THE HOT TUB OR LAZE AROUND WITH A GOOD BOOK ! DAY AT 2ANCHO ,AS #ASCADAS ISN T COMPLETE UNTIL YOU STOP IN THE RANCH BAR TO MAKE YOUR OWN MARGARITA WITH FRESH LIMES AND THE LOCAL TEQUILA THEN SLIP INTO THE HOT TUB TO SWAP STORIES WITH THE OTHER GUESTS AS THE SUN SETTLES DOWN FOR THE NIGHT 4HE RANCH SERVES TRADITIONAL -EXICAN CUISINE IN AN ELEGANT DINING ROOM THAT MAKES THE DAY S HOT RIDE SEEM A LIFETIME AWAYˆAND IF YOU STILL HAVE SOME ENERGY LEFT YOU CAN PLAY A GAME OF POOL IN THE BAR OR TAKE A SALSA LESSON

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TRAVEL

SeĂąor Roman, the Rancho Las Cascadas blacksmith, COMES TO A TINY VILLAGE WHERE WE RE HAVING LUNCH IN ORDER TO REPAIR ONE OF OUR HORSE S SHOES 4HE YEAR OLD FARRIER HAS BEEN WITH THE RANCH FOR EIGHT YEARS AND HAS BEEN SHOEING HORSES FOR MOST OF HIS LIFE JUST AS HIS FATHER DID

Candlesticks line the stairs, and a window frame hangs like artwork on the wall OF THIS ONE OF A KIND ANTIQUE STORE IN HISTORIC 3AN -IGUEL DE !LLENDE 4HE WINDOW HERE IS ALSO SYMBOLIC &LEA MARKETS AND ANTIQUE SHOPS LIKE THIS ARE A WINDOW INTO THE PAST AND PRESENT CULTURE OF THE COUNTRY

Mexico is known for its colorful household and garden dĂŠcor, LIKE THIS HAND PAINTED POTTERY IN A SHOP IN *ILOTOPEC 4HIS TRADITIONAL STYLE ADDS A BRIGHT mOURISH TO THE 2ANCHO ,AS #ASCADAS INTERIOR TOO AND IF YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH ANY PART OF THEIR DĂ?CORˆEVEN THE DISHES ˆTHEY LL TAKE YOU TO A SHOP WHERE YOU CAN GET IT

Riding through this part of Mexico immerses you in a world that hasn’t yet stepped onto the whirring hamster-wheel of modern life. There is high-speed Internet here, and everyone has a cell phone, but the local farming families still gather corn by hand and move their herds on horseback. We lunch in a sleepy village, and then continue on our way, letting the horses drink at the picturesque river crossings as we make our progress through the countryside. We pass fields of nopales, the flat-padded cactus that features in many meals here. Blue agave plants, the base ingredient for tequila, tower overhead. And on the homeward trail again, the open fields that stretch across the plains below the highlands invite nice, long gallops in the cool, early evening breeze. 86

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Vivid color and imagination went into this curious ямБnd, ONE OF MANY INTERESTING ITEMS ONE CAN DISCOVER IN 3AN -IGUEL DE !LLENDE RECENTLY NAMED A 5.%3#/ 7ORLD (ERITAGE #ITY 4HE WOMAN WHO OWNS THIS STORE COLLECTS HISTORICAL AND RELIGIOUS ARTIFACTS AND SHE S HAPPY TO TELL YOU THE RICH HISTORY AND RELIGIOUS MEANING OF ANY PIECE IN THE STORE

While wandering to breakfast one morning, ) STOP IN THE GARDEN TO TAKE A FEW PHOTOS 4HIS HUMMINGBIRD APPEARS COLLECTING NECTAR FROM THE ALOE VERA mOWERS THAT ONLY BLOOM ONCE A YEAR

TRAVEL

The Casa de Sol was the ďŹ rst house at Rancho Las Cascadas that Swiss-born owner Ursula Wiprächtiger Schreyerˆh5SCHIv FOR SHORTˆBUILT )T PROVIDED SHELTER FOR HER AS SHE BUILT HER DREAM RANCH IN THE MIDDLE OF RURAL -EXICO 4HE casita HOUSES UP TO lVE AND TODAY IT S TYPICALLY BOOKED BY FAMILIES OR COUPLES WHO PREFER MORE SPACE

This plant, a succulent called Hens and Chicks, is actually a colony of plants. 4HEY RE SPORTING THE LAST DROPS FROM A RECENT RAINFALL WHEN ) lND THEM IN THE 2ANCHO ,AS #ASCADAS GARDEN ON MY WAY TO BREAKFAST 4HEIR CONTRAST WITH THE RED MULCH IS WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE

Fresh ďŹ sh are exchanged at Jilotopec’s local market, typical of the markets that dot the area around Rancho Las Cascadas. 4HESE STAPLES OF VILLAGE LIFE OFFER EVERYTHING FROM CHILI PEPPERS TO CHICKEN TO COWBOY HATS AND THEY RE A WONDERFUL CHANCE TO TAKE IN THE SIGHTS SOUNDS AND SMELLS OF DAILY LIFE Just outside my room, my hat, half-chaps and jacket air out from a long day’s journey. %VERY CORNER OF THE RANCH HAS A WARM INVITING FEEL THAT WELCOMES THE TRAVELER BACK HOME

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Nopal cactus, also known as prickly pear cactus, awaits a buyer at the Jilotopec market. 4HIS VERY POPULAR AND ABUNDANT CACTUS IS A REGULAR FEATURE OF LOCAL CUISINE IT S OFTEN SERVED GRILLED AS A MAIN COURSE OR AS AN INGREDIENT IN MANY MEAT DISHES .OT SURPRISINGLY THIS TRADITIONAL -EXICAN DISH STAYS ON THE MENU AT 2ANCHO ,AS #ASCADAS AND VISITORS CAN SEE THE CACTUS PADS STACKED UP FOR SALE ON ONE OF THE RANCH S FREQUENT TOURS TO NEARBY MARKETS

Our horses stand quietly, tied to a church fence, while we escape the heat of the day and have a cold drink with the caballeros. 4HE SADDLES ARE CALLED #HARRO SADDLES AND HARK BACK TO AN OLD 3PANISH STYLE BELIEVED TO HAVE ARRIVED WITH THE CONQUISTADORS 4HE 3PANISH VERSION HAD NO HORN AND THE #HARRO S LARGE HORN IS A -EXICAN INNOVATION THAT MAKES THIS SADDLE IDEAL FOR ROPING CATTLE

The water of the Rio Rosa River takes a 25-foot plunge just steps away from the ranch’s hot tub and inďŹ nity pool. )T S THE REASON 5RSULA 7IPRĂ‹CHTIGER 3CHREYER BOUGHT THE PROPERTYˆAND THE INSPIRATION FOR ITS NAME 2ANCHO ,AS #ASCADAS THE hRANCH OF THE CASCADES v

For More Inform ation 7EBSITE rancholascascadas.com %MAIL info@rancholascascadas.com 0HONE OR 3KYPE RANCHOCASCADAS -AILING !DDRESS 2ANCHO ,AS #ASCADAS 3AN !GUSTĂ“N "UENAVISTA 3AN &RANCISCO 3OYANIQUILPAN DE *UAREZ #0 %STADO DE -EXICO -EXICO

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IS SEIZING OPPORTUNIT Y WITH A MALLET

And now the graduate of Work To Ride’s renowned inner-city polo team is heading to the Ivy League. By ELIZABETH PUTFARK

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4EN YEARS AGO 3HARIAH (ARRIS WOULD NEVER HAVE EXPECTED TO BE AMONG THE INCOMING FRESHMEN ARRIVING AT #ORNELL 5NIVERSITY . 9 THIS FALL 3HE WOULD HAVE BEEN AMAZED TO KNOW SHE D GET A FULL SCHOLARSHIP AND BLOWN AWAY BY THE FACT THAT #ORNELL WOULD BE ONE OF MANY TOP TIER SCHOOLS OFFERING HER ADMISSION

. . . But what would surprise her most would be what she’s bringing to campus: a helmet, knee guards and a polo mallet. That’s because where Harris grew up, riding horses and playing polo is, in Harris’ words, “just weird,� and getting full rides to Ivy League schools isn’t too common either. Harris, 18, was born in North Philadelphia, a neighborhood known for drugs, poverty and crime. Her father was incarcerated when she was young and has long since been out of the picture, so she, her older sister She’Ree and her younger brother Marc were raised by their single working mother, Sharmell, a hair stylist in the city.

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LEZLIE HINER PHOTO

Shariah Harris (above) and the Work To Ride polo students PLAY AT THE ,ANCASTER 0OLO #LUB 0A EVERY 3UNDAY DURING THE SUMMER h/NE OF THE lRST QUESTIONS ) RECEIVED WHEN ) TOLD MY FRIENDS ) RIDE HORSES WAS @/H SO YOU HAVE MONEY v (ARRIS SAID h.O ) DON T HAVE MONEY !N OPPORTUNITY WAS PRESENTED TO ME AND ) JUST HOPPED ON IT v

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LEZLIE HINER PHOTO

Shariah Harris (left) with fellow Work To Ride polo team members $AYMAR 2OSSER (center) AND "RANDON 2EASE h7E ALL FEEL LIKE A FAMILY HERE AND ) DElNITELY WANTED TO BE A PART OF THAT v (ARRIS SAID

At age 9, Shariah was a good student, an animal lover and a sports fan, and she had just started to play the flute in her school band, an activity she’d continue right through high school. But she hadn’t found an outlet for the ambitious spirit her mother was doing her best to nurture. When she did find it, it was only because of a wrong turn. Shariah was riding in the car with her mom one day when Sharmell ended up lost in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park and drove all the way to the dead end of Chamounix Road. There, nestled in the trees near the Pennsylvania Turnpike, was a different kind of riding academy, one that would change all three of the Harris children’s lives: Work To Ride.

A Safe Place To Grow At Work To Ride, founder Lezlie Hiner runs a revolutionary program teaching horse care and riding to inner-city youth— 92 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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children who would ordinarily never have contact with a horse (see sidebar). Shariah Harris fell in love with the horses and the program, never imagining quite how they would change her life. Shariah was lucky—her mom moved their family from North Philadelphia to Lansdowne, a safer suburb nearby, when Harris started kindergarten. But not every Work To Ride kid is so fortunate. Shariah knows many for whom the extended family at the barn has been a safe haven and, at times, a saving grace. “If you didn’t want to go home, you’d stay with Lezlie,� Shariah said. “Lezlie always feeds us, and if we need help with our school work, she finds us tutors. I know I have some friends in the program that that definitely helped out a lot. “The barn is definitely like everyone’s safe haven,� she continued. “You’re around people that you love. The barn introduced you to a different environment than you’re used to. At the barn we’re away from the

violence and the drugs and the drama of the community that we grew up in.� And at Work To Ride, older kids also become mentors for the younger participants. Shariah found role models in students like Kareem and Daymar Rosser and Brandon Rease. The boys were standouts of the Work To Ride polo team. “They were the face of the program,� Shariah remembered. “I used to watch them play all the time. They were just amazing.� But it wasn’t only the success of the older boys that made Harris so eager to be a part of Work To Ride; it was their camaraderie. “I remember seeing the relationships between the older kids, how they interacted with each other, and they were pretty much like brothers and sisters,� Shariah said. “We all feel like a family here, and I definitely wanted to be a part of that.� In 1999, Hiner’s kids had made history by forming the first all African-American

ORK 4O 2IDE IS THE BRAINCHILD OF ,EZLIE (INER A FORMER EXERCISE RIDER WHO WAS WORKING IN SALES AT HER FATHER S 0HILADELPHIA DOCUMENT STORAGE COMPANY IN WHEN SHE HEARD THAT THE CITY WAS TAKING BIDS TO RUN ONE OF ITS FORMER POLICE STABLES #HAMOUNIX %QUESTRIAN #ENTER %AGER TO SWAP OUT HER BUSINESS SUIT FOR JEANS (INER PITCHED A PLAN TO THE CITY BUT NOT FOR A TRADITIONAL BARN 7HAT SHE PROPOSED WAS A NON PROlT COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROGRAM DESIGNED TO MENTOR INNER CITY KIDS WITH DISCIPLINE HARD WORK AND THE PANACEA FOR YOUTHFUL MALAISE HORSES h!NYONE IN HORSES KNOWS THAT WHEN A KID GETS INTO RIDING WHEN THEY RE YOUNG IT KIND OF KEEPS THEM OUT OF TROUBLE v (INER SAID h4HEY JUST DON T HAVE TIME FOR IT )T WAS BASICALLY ON THAT PREMISE AND THE FACT THAT WE ARE LOCATED AT THE APEX OF TWO OF THE WORST NEIGHBORHOODS IN 0HILADELPHIAˆ7EST 0HILLY AND .ORTH 0HILLYˆTHAT ) DESIGNED THE PROGRAM v (INER S BID WON 3OON THE STABLES WERE lLLING WITH KIDSˆMOSTLY BOYS DRAWN BY THE LURE OF DIRT AND OPEN SPACEˆAND (INER S PROGRAM WAS OFF AT THE GALLOP "Y THE TIME THE (ARRIS FAMILY PULLED UP IN 7ORK 4O 2IDE WAS GOING STRONG 4HE SCENE THE (ARRISES FOUND WAS MOSTLY THE SAME AS IT IS TODAYˆ TO KIDS FROM THE INNER CITY CARRYING OUT ALL THE DAILY WORK THAT GOES INTO KEEPING A BARN RUNNING FROM MUCKING STALLS AND CLEANING BUCKETS TO FEEDING AND DOCTORING HORSES !LTHOUGH THEY MAY NOT LOVE EACH AND EVERY MUNDANE CHORE THE KIDS ARE HAPPY TO DO THE WORK 7ITHOUT IT THEY WOULDN T GET TO EXPERIENCE HORSES AT ALL h4HE KIDS COME IN KNOWING NOTHING v (INER EXPLAINED h4HEY WORK HARD AND THEY RE GRATEFUL FOR WHAT THEY HAVE v %VERYONE WHO WANTS TO RIDE HAS TO WORK !ND EVERYONE WHO WORKS GETS TO RIDE 3TUDENTS BETWEEN THE AGES OF AND CAN JOIN THE PROGRAM BY COMMITTING TO A YEAR OF LEARNING BY DOING THAT INVOLVES ALL ASPECTS OF HORSEMANSHIP 3INCE HORSES HAVE TO BE TAKEN CARE OF SEVEN DAYS A WEEK (INER EXPECTS EACH STUDENT TO BE THERE AS MUCH AS THEY CAN !S THE KIDS GET OLDER THAT OFTEN MEANS EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK

W

)T S A BIG COMMITMENT FOR STUDENTS AND FOR PARENTS 3HARIAH (ARRIS MOTHER 3HARMELL REMEMBERS TIMES WHEN SHE WOULD HAVE TO ASK FOR (INER S PERMISSION TO SPEND TIME WITH HER THREE CHILDREN ALL OF WHOM ENROLLED IN 7ORK 4O 2IDE OR WHEN THEY WERE AVAILABLE SO SHE COULD SCHEDULE THEIR ANNUAL APPOINTMENTS !ND SHE ADMITS AT lRST SHE WAS SKEPTICAL ABOUT WHETHER THE PROGRAM WOULD BE WORTH ALL THE EFFORT h)NITIALLY ) HAD NO FAITH v 3HARMELL SAID WITH A LAUGH h) JUST WANTED MY SON TO BE A PART OF SOMETHING POSITIVE WITH BOYS INSTEAD OF JUST BEING IN A HOUSE FULL OF FEMALES -Y TRUST CAME YEARS LATER AFTER SPENDING ALMOST EVERY DAY AT THE BARN AND HEARING COUNTLESS STORIES ABOUT THE BARN ) REALIZED THAT ,EZLIE WAS NOT JUST RUNNING A TYPICAL PROGRAM h,EZLIE AND THE 7ORK 4O 2IDE CREW WAS AN EXTENDED FAMILY THAT MY CHILDREN LOVE AND WILL ALWAYS BE CONNECTED TO v SHE ADDED (INER REVIEWS THE REPORT CARDS OF EVERY 7ORK 4O 2IDE STUDENT AT THE END OF EACH GRADING PERIOD !NY STUDENT WITH A GRADE LOWER THAN # IS REQUIRED TO ATTEND WEEKLY TUTORING SESSIONS AND THEIR RIDING RIGHTS GET RESTRICTEDˆA PUNISHMENT 3HARIAH REMEMBERS AS BEING MORE THAN ENOUGH MOTIVATION TO STUDY HARD "UT MORE THAN RIDING TIME IS ON THE LINE FOR STUDENTS WILLING TO WORK HARD IN THE PROGRAM AND AT SCHOOL /NE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF 7ORK 4O 2IDE IS THE -ECCA (ARRIS 3CHOLARSHIP &UND SET UP IN MEMORY OF A PROMISING YEAR OLD 7ORK 4O 2IDE MEMBER -ECCA NO RELATION TO 3HARIAH WAS SHOT DEAD ALONG WITH HER MOTHER 3HEILA (ARRIS AND 3HEILA S BOYFRIEND $ARYL "YNUM IN THE FAMILY S APARTMENT DURING AN ALLEGED ROBBERY IN -ECCA S DEATH DEALT A DEVASTATING BLOW TO EVERYONE IN THE PROGRAM BUT ,EZLIE WAS DETERMINED TO HONOR HER MEMORY WITH A PROMISE FOR THE FUTURE OF 7ORK 4O 2IDE STUDENTSˆTHE KIND OF FUTURE -ECCA SHOULD HAVE HAD h7E TRY TO MAKE IT SO THE KIDS THAT GRADUATE WITH US CAN GO TO COLLEGE THAT THEY DON T HAVE TO TAKE ON MUCH DEBT v (INER EXPLAINED h$ONATIONS HAVE THE OPTION OF BEING DESIGNATED TO THE STUDENTS SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS AND ANY MONEY THEY WIN GOES INTO THAT FUND 7E ALSO WORK INDIVIDUALLY

RYAN DONNELL PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO

A Different Kind Of Riding Academy

“Anyone in horses knows that when a kid gets into riding WHEN THEY RE YOUNG IT KIND OF KEEPS THEM OUT OF TROUBLE v SAID 7ORK 4O 2IDE FOUNDER ,EZLIE (INER SHOWN IN THE 0HILADELPHIA PROGRAM S BARN

WITH SPONSORS TO GET THEM INTERESTED IN DONATING TO A PARTICULAR KID v 3TUDENTS ARE MOST LIKELY TO CATCH THE ATTENTION OF SPONSORS AFTER THEY VE SPENT A COUPLE OF YEARS IN THE PROGRAM AND BEGUN TO COMPETE IN LOCAL AND REGIONAL CONTESTS ! NUMBER OF DISCIPLINES ARE TAUGHT AT 7ORK 4O 2IDE BUT (INER ADMITS THAT FOR SHOWS SHE S PICKY ABOUT WHAT SHE ENCOURAGES HER KIDS TO PURSUE h7E DON T COMPETE IN SPORTS THAT REQUIRE SUBJECTIVE COMPARISON v (INER EXPLAINED h.O HUNTERS NO PLEASURE CLASSES ) DON T DO ANY OF THAT .OTHING WHERE IT S ABOUT WHO S GOT THE MOST EXPENSIVE PONY OR IS WEARING THE MOST EXPENSIVE BOOTS v 7ORK 4O 2IDE KIDS HAVE FOXHUNTED AND COMPETED IN SHOW JUMPING RACES AND COMPETITIVE TRAIL BUT IRONICALLY THEY VE FOUND THEIR GREATEST SUCCESS ON ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUSLY POSH PLAYING lELDS IN EQUESTRIAN SPORT THE POLO GROUNDS

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polo team in the United States. Over the next few years, they racked up some local and regional wins, mostly against upscale prep schools, and their success earned them a place in the national spotlight. HBO Real Sports ran a special on Work To Ride in 2003, and the group was featured in Sports Illustrated in 2004. As their audience grew, so did funding and support, and with Hiner at the helm the students’ performance in the game got better and better and better. By the time Harris entered the program in 2007, the Work To Ride kids were already well known—and well respected—within their regional polo community. “The places where I first competed, they knew that when Work To Ride came, the black kids were coming,� Shariah said with a laugh. “That’s how it went. And it was OK.� But as time went on, Shariah found new venues to be a little less welcoming. “When I got older and we started branching out to other places, and we were just walking through, you’d get the stares, like, ‘What are you people doing here?’ and, ‘Who are they?’ � Shariah recalled. “And then when we introduced ourselves as the Work To Ride team, they’d look at us like we were a fish out of water, like, ‘These are the kids we’re playing?’ No one would actually vocalize anything, but you could definitely feel it, and you would feel the looks. “Then when we beat them,� she added, “you get respect a little bit.� 94 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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Shariah Harris (far left) and her Work To Ride POLO TEAMMATESˆ(from left) BROTHERS +AREEM AND $AYMAR 2OSSER AND 3HARIAH S SISTER 3HE 2EE (ARRISˆTRAVELED TO .IGERIA IN FOR THE 5.)#%& #UP POLO MATCH

Getting Back Up During the six years after Shariah’s arrival, the Work To Ride polo team would win far more than a little respect. In 2011 and 2012, Hiner’s varsity team “Cowtown/ WTR� won back-to-back national titles at the U.S. Polo Association’s National Interscholastic Polo Championships. Brothers Kareem and Daymar were ranked first and third on the USPA’s National Interscholastic All Stars list in 2011, and Daymar and Julia Smith were ranked second and third the following year. Kareem earned a spot on the 2012 Team USPA and last year led Colorado State University to its first National Polo Championship in 16 years. Shariah aspired to follow in their footsteps, but there was one problem: She wasn’t exactly an instant riding sensation.

In fact, she remembers falling off on one of her first days at the barn. But she showed something more important than raw talent at the beginning: grit. “Shariah’s always been very brave,� Hiner reflected. “She’s not one of those kids that whines a lot. She kind of took to riding fairly quickly. Fell off, got back on. Fell off, got back on. And she’s still doing that to this day! “She’s holding the record for most falls of any kid in my whole program,� she continued. “She just bounces and gets back up!� Shariah’s tenacity was partly natural, but her toughness also was inspired by Hiner’s stalwart leadership. A polo player herself, Hiner runs a tight ship, and her frank, unapologetic coaching style makes an immediate impression on kids. “When I first met Lezlie, she scared

LEZLIE HINER PHOTO

Shariah Harris (far left) and her Work To Ride teammates (from left) $AYMAR 2OSSER +AREEM 2OSSER AND 3HE 2EE (ARRIS DEFEATED .IGERIA S $EE"EE &ARMS IN A VICTORY AT THE 5.)#%& #UP IN .IGERIA

“You would feel the looks. ‌ Then when we beat them, you get respect a little bit.â€? –SHARIAH HARRIS

me!� Shariah said. “I remember being really terrified of her because I saw how she used to yell at the older kids when they did something wrong or stupid, and I remember thinking, ‘Gosh, I don’t want that to be me!’ But once you get to know her, you just love her.� Hiner’s high expectations and Shariah’s persistence paid off during Shariah’s tenure at Work To Ride. In 2013, Shariah and her Work To Ride teammates won the UNICEF Cup in Kaduna, Nigeria, at a tournament that’s become a regular

event for Hiner’s team. For the past two years, Harris also made the All Star list in the Interscholastic Southeastern Preliminary Tournament. Shariah is also a 2016 nominee for the Polo Training Foundation’s best interscholastic female player of the year.

A Katy Perry Makeover For her senior year in 2015, Shariah and Hiner wanted to make the most of the time Shariah had left in the program. Kate

Goldenberg, a friend of Hiner’s and the owner of Safe Haven Equine in Perkasie, Pa., broached the idea of participating in the Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover, a competition in Lexington, Ky., that offers $100,000 in prize money and showcases former race horses in early training for a variety of second careers. Goldenberg said she had the perfect horse to send Work To Ride: Show Bill, a 15.2-hand bay mare by Show Tune out of Greedy Girl, by Rinka Das. At first, Lezlie said no; there simply wasn’t room in the barn. Then, with only five months left before the competition, a spot opened up, and Show Bill (nicknamed “Katy Perry�) moved to the Work To Ride stable. “When Katy Perry came, I immediately liked her because she was very quiet and

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PROFILE The Work To Ride polo team— (from left) $AYMAR 2OSSER 3HARIAH (ARRIS +AREEM 2OSSER AND 3HARIAH S SISTER 3HE 2EE (ARRISˆCELEBRATE THEIR 5.)#%& #UP TROPHY IN .IGERIA AFTER THEIR WIN OVER $EE"EE &ARMS

LEZLIE HINER PHOTO

willing to learn,� Shariah said. “And she was very responsive to pressure, so that made her perfect to train to be a polo pony. First, I had to do a lot of transitions: walk, stop, walk, stop. Then trot, stop, trot, walk. Then I introduced the mallet to her. She was a little jumpy about it, but for the most part she was pretty good. A lot of walking, just swinging the mallet on either side, just to get her used to it. “Then we eventually moved up to going out in the field and just tapping the ball a little bit. She didn’t like that as much! She didn’t like the sound of the mallet hitting the ball. I spent a lot of time working on that with her. And, from there, getting her used to traffic—horses running up behind her, brushing past her, everyone screaming. She was a little skittish about that, but she was always willing to learn. That’s what makes a really great horse. “And she was cute,� she added. “That helps!� Shariah also took on a field hunter prospect in Late Starter, a chestnut gelding (Suave—Twice As Sweet, Concorde’s Tune). After a grueling five months of training six days a week, Hiner, Shariah and the two off-the-track Thoroughbreds joined the throngs of riders headed to Kentucky for the third annual Thoroughbred Makeover. The competition was stiff, and, as Hiner immediately noticed, very white. “She was the only black kid there,� Hiner recalled. “And that’s kind of surprising to me. But as years go on, that’ll change. It’s a great program, and it was a great experience. She worked hard, and she learned a lot.

LEZLIE HINER PHOTO

Shariah Harris, here riding Icaza in a game against Harvard -ASS AT THE -YOPIA 0OLO #LUB WILL JOIN THE FAMED #ORNELL 5NIVERSITY . 9 WOMEN S POLO TEAM THIS FALL 3HE IS THE lRST 7ORK 4O 2IDE STUDENT TO ATTEND AN )VY ,EAGUE COLLEGE

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“The whole thing in Kentucky was freakin’ fantastic,� she added. Shariah and Katy Perry took home third place in the polo division, and Shariah was the top-scoring junior in the polo and field hunter divisions. Katy Perry even sold to one of Shariah’s fellow polo competitors, second-placed trainer Trey Schott. Shariah got a cut of the proceeds, which she has put toward college expenses. The Makeover was a dramatic and successful conclusion to Shariah’s high school career with Work To Ride. But she had a little more history to make at the program before she packed up her mallet.

Within the polo community, Cornell University is known as one of the best of the best. They have the longest running and most successful women’s team in polo, with 15 national titles, 33 appearances in the national finals, and 23 Eastern regional titles since their founding in the 1930s, shortly after the U.S. Women’s Polo Association was formed in 1932. Making the team at Cornell is a lofty ambition for any polo player, and for Shariah—who with her siblings will be the first generation in her family to graduate from college—getting into Cornell had always seemed like a dream. Work To Ride’s polo team made annual trips to Ithaca to play Cornell, and those journeys—and meeting the Cornell players—sparked Shariah’s desire to apply. But polo wasn’t the main reason she wanted to get into Cornell. “It was their animal science program,� said Shariah, who is planning to become an equine veterinarian. “It’s great. It’s one of the top ones, and that’s my major.� By the spring of 2016, Shariah already had offers from a number of notable schools with strong science programs,

LEZLIE HINER PHOTO

A Dream Attained

Representing Philadelphia’s Work To Ride program, 3HARIAH (ARRIS COMPETED IN THE 2ETIRED 2ACEHORSE 0ROJECT S 4HOROUGHBRED -AKEOVER 3HE WAS THE TOP SCORING JUNIOR IN THE lELD HUNTER DIVISION WITH ,ATE 3TARTER (shown) AND THE TOP SCORING JUNIOR AS WELL AS THIRD IN THE POLO DIVISION WITH 3HOW "ILL C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M

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LEZLIE HINER PHOTOT

LEZLIE HINER PHOTOT

“The places where I ďŹ rst competed, THEY KNEW THAT WHEN 7ORK 4O 2IDE CAME THE BLACK KIDS WERE COMING v SAID 3HARIAH (ARRIS (third from left) SHOWN HERE AFTER EXERCISING 7ORK 4O 2IDE HORSES WITH FELLOW PROGRAM STUDENTS (from left) -ARC (ARRIS 3HARIAH S BROTHER $AYMAR 2OSSER 3AMANTHA 2AHE +RICK AND -ALACHI ,YLES

Shariah Harris trained and rode THE YEAR OLD 4HOROUGHBRED MARE 3HOW "ILL SHOWN HERE AT THE ,ANCASTER 0OLO #LUB 0A TO lNISH THIRD IN THE 4HOROUGHBRED -AKEOVER S POLO DIVISION .ICKNAMED h+ATY 0ERRY v 3HOW "ILL LATER SOLD TO POLO PROFESSIONAL 4REY 3CHOTT

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including the University of Virginia, Texas A&M, and the University of Kentucky. She was happy, but in her heart she was still holding out for one more envelope. “I knew that if I got in, I was going to Cornell,� Shariah said. “But I really didn’t think I was getting in. I kept telling my family, ‘Everybody, I’m not getting in. I really don’t think I’m getting in.’ � Shariah’s mother was at work when the letter from Cornell arrived, but her older sister, She’Ree, a fellow Work To Ride graduate who is now attending Delaware County Community College (Pa.), was at home and in another room when Shariah picked up the mail. “I tried to open it fast,� Shariah remembered, “before my sister could come in. I was thinking, ‘Let me open it before she gets in here, so I can get my rejection in private.’ But of course she caught me. So we opened it together. “I just remember seeing the C, and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness! That says congratulations!’ And then I was screaming, and my sister was screaming. I just couldn’t believe I got in. I still can’t believe it.� In fact, Shariah earned a full scholarship to Cornell, not just an acceptance. Shariah is the first Work To Ride member to be accepted at an Ivy League school. If she earns a starting spot on the polo team this fall, she’ll be the first African-American woman to ride onto the field wearing Cornell’s colors of carnelian red and white, and if she stays with her current animal science major, she’ll also be the first large-animal veterinarian to come out of Hiner’s program. But she

“I think when people are given the opportunity, you’d be surprised the things they can do.” –SHARIAH HARRIS

doesn’t believe she’ll be the last, and she’s trying to inspire other children’s dreams and ambitions. For the last four summers, Shariah has worked at Hiner’s eight-week summer camp series, showing a new generation of Work To Ride kids the lifechanging power of horses. “I’m a camp counselor, and we teach kids the basics of riding, terminology, cleaning stalls—just introduce them to horses,” she said. But the summer program,

of course, is about more than just riding and horse care for the 20 to 25 children a week who attend. It’s also about how work and discipline can lead to opportunity. While most people think it takes money, prestige and, as Hiner put it, the “most expensive boots” to make it in the equestrian world, Shariah disagrees. “One of the first questions I received when I told my friends I ride horses was, ‘Oh, so you have money,’ ”she said. “No, I don’t have money. An opportunity was presented to me, and I just hopped on it. “I think when people are given the opportunity, you’d be surprised the things

they can do,” she concluded. The opportunity that Shariah found at the end of a dirt road, sandwiched between two rough neighborhoods and the Pennsylvania Turnpike—that opportunity is still there. Of the eight new recruits at Work To Ride this year, only three now remain. Time will tell whether they have the grit that Shariah had to get back on again and again and again, the gumption to see Hiner’s program through. And when they need inspiration— when they need to believe in how far they can go—undoubtedly they’ll look up to Shariah the same way she looked up to Kareem and Daymar Rosser when the odds seemed impossible 10 years ago. Then they’ll surprise everyone, too, with the things they can achieve.

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FEED ROOM HUNT BREAKFAST HIGHLIGHTS The arrival of fall turns the foxhunter’s mind to great sporting traditions: the hunting horn, a fast-running fox and a hearty hunt breakfast after the chase. We’ve combined recipes from three great hunting nations—Great Britain, Ireland and the United States— for an international flavor that celebrates the sporting heritage that all three share.

BRENT HOFACKER/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO

BAKED HAM WITH SHERRY A timeless favorite since the days of that famous foxhunter George Washington, when a good baked ham could take days to prepare. Here’s a less time-consuming recipe that doesn’t compromise on flavor:

).'2%$)%.43: 1 HAM WITH BONE IN APPROX LBS 4 cups WATER 1 cup BROWN SUGAR ½ cup WHOLE CLOVES ½ cup DRY SHERRY BLACK PEPPER

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 2. Place ham in a roasting pan. With a sharp knife, score a diamond pattern in the top of the ham, and press whole cloves into the top where the lines cross. Pack the top with a layer of brown sugar. 3. Pour water into the bottom of the roasting pan so it is approximately 1 inch in depth. Cover the pan tightly with foil or a lid. 4. Bake for 4-4 ½ hours in the preheated oven (about 20-30 minutes per pound) or until the internal temperature of the

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ham has reached 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Take care that the thermometer isn’t touching the bone when you measure the temperature. Remove from oven and let stand for about 20 minutes. 5. Slice thin, dampen the slices with sherry and sprinkle with black pepper.

Serve with your choice of sides. We suggest biscuits, green beans, sweet potatoes or colcannon (see recipe on next page).

KEDGEREE In the days of the Raj, British officers devised this simple, mildly curried dish. They brought the recipe home, and today it’s a popular (and lighter!) alternative to the full English breakfast.

).'2%$)%.43 NEIL LANGAN/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO

8 oz. RICE 1 ½ lbs. WHITElSH OR SALMON lLLETS 4 oz. BUTTER

3 HEAPED TBSP FRESH PARSLEY CHOPPED

1 ONION CHOPPED

1 TBSP LEMON JUICE

ž TSP MILD CURRY POWDER

COLCANNON

3 HARD BOILED EGGS CHOPPED

SALT AND PEPPER

1. Place whitefish or salmon fillets in saucepan and cover with about 2 cups of cold water. Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer for about 8 minutes, or until fish is cooked through.

Colcannon—or CĂĄl ceannann, meaning “white-headed cabbageâ€?—is a traditional Irish dish that gives potatoes a creamy boost.

2. Drain off the water into a measuring cup or pan. Transfer the fish to a dish and cover with foil. 3. In the saucepan, melt 2 oz. of butter, and soften the onion in it for 5 minutes.

).'2%$)%.43

4. Stir in curry powder; cook for 1 minute.

6 LARGE POTATOES PEELED USE GOOD MASHING POTATOES LIKE RUSSETS

5. Add rice and the water used to poach the fish. Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer gently for 15 minutes.

2 tbsp. UNSALTED BUTTER

6. When rice has been cooking for 10 minutes, flake the fish.

8 oz. KALE CABBAGE OR OTHER LEAFY GREEN

7. When rice has cooked, remove it from the heat and fork in the flaked fish, hard-boiled eggs, parsley, lemon juice and the remaining butter.

6 SPRING ONIONS INCLUDING GREEN TOPS lNELY CHOPPED

8. Cover the pan, and place it on gentle heat again for 5 minutes. 9. Tip the kedgeree into a hot serving dish, season to taste, and serve.

½ cup OF MILK OR CREAM SALT AND PEPPER 1. Boil potatoes in salted water in a medium pot until tender (15-20 minutes), then drain.

3. Add the onions and cook for another minute. 4. Mash the potatoes with milk or cream, and add in the greens and onions. 5. Add salt and pepper to taste.

FANFO/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO

2. Cook greens in butter over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes, or until they have wilted a little.

KONSTANTIA KOPACHINSKY/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO

FEED ROOM

HUEVOS RANCHEROS This southwestern take on breakfast will warm you up, p, whether you’ve been pursuing coyotes through the sagebrush brush or foxes over frosty green hill country.

).'2%$)%.43 1 TBSP OLIVE OIL ½ MEDIUM ONION CHOPPED 1 15-oz. CAN CRUSHED TOMATOES 3 oz. GREEN CHILI PEPPERS CHOPPED CHILI POWDER 4 CORN TORTILLAS 4 EGGS BUTTER 1. Gently fry the onions in olive oil in a large skillet let on medium heat until they are translucent. Add tomatoes and d juice from the can. Add chopped green chili peppers, chili powder and salt to taste. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. 2. Heat the tortillas individually in a lightly oiled skillet on medium-high heat for 1 minute on each side, or until heated through. Keep the tortillas warm in the oven.

3

Fry the eggs in a little butter for 3-4 minutes (for eggs with runny yolks), using the same skillet as the tortillas.

4. Place warmed tortilla on the plate, top with sauce, and add one fried egg. Garnish with favorites such as sliced avocado, lime and cilantro.

WELSH RAREBIT Also known as “Welsh rabbit,� this sophisticated grilled cheese with a peculiar name is a dish with a little bite. Worcestershire sauce, mustard and Guinness add piquancy and make it as elegantly raffish as Mr. Fox in his black silk hunting topper.

).'2%$)%.43

MONKEY BUSINESS IMAGES/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO

4 SLICES OF BREAD

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8 oz. #HEDDAR CHEESE GRATED 1 tsp. MUSTARD POWDER 2 tsp. 7ORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE 4 tbsp. 'UINNESS 1 tbsp. BUTTER 2 tsp. mOUR "LACK PEPPER TO TASTE

1. Add cheese, mustard powder, Worcestershire sauce, butter, flour and pepper in a saucepan and mix together. Then add the Guinness and gently heat, stirring until it is a medium to thick paste, but still liquid enough to swirl around the pan. 2. Leave the mixture to cool slightly while you toast the bread on one side. 3. Coat the untoasted side of each piece of bread with the cheese mixture, and grill until the mixture is lightly browned on top.

BREAD PUDDING Easy to make and popular with both grizzled veterans of the chase and the young entry, bread pudding can be as plain or as fancy as your imagination allows.

).'2%$)%.43 6 SLICES OF DAY OLD BREAD CUBED &RENCH BREAD IS VERY GOOD ½ cup RAISINS SOAKED IN BOURBON AND DRAINED 4 EGGS BEATEN 2 CUPS MILK ¾ cup WHITE SUGAR 1 tsp. GROUND CINNAMON 1 tsp. VANILLA EXTRACT

MSPHOTOGRAPHIC/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO

2 TBSP BUTTER MELTED

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. Combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat until well mixed.

2. Place bread in bottom of a lightly greased 8-inch square baking pan or casserole dish.

5. Pour mixture over bread until the bread is covered and soaking up the mixture.

3. Pour the melted butter over bread and sprinkle with raisins.

6. Bake for 45 minutes or until set. (The top should spring back when lightly tapped.)

WHISKY MAC

MIMOSA

The Whisky Mac (or Whisky Macdonald, to give it its proper name) is what makes the English hunter’s upper lip stiff and is certainly one way to ward off the cold. But beware: It packs a punch.

Something bubbly makes every breakfast a celebration. For a classically light restorative, opt for the twin tonics of orange juice and Champagne, combined in one perfect drink.

1 ½ oz. 3COTCH WHISKY

).'2%$)%.43

1 ½ oz. 3TONE S GREEN GINGER WINE

%QUAL PARTS #HAMPAGNE AND ORANGE JUICE 3ERVE CHILLED

Combine in a glass and drink!

C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M

MIKELEDRAY/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO

GRESEI/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO

).'2%$)%.43

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CITY GUIDE

Sun, Surf And Hoofbeats By LISA SLADE

I

f you’re seeking the perfect climate almost every day of the year, picturesque beaches and plenty of top-notch seafood, then Del Mar, Calif., is your heaven. Oh, and this idyllic oceanfront community also happens to be horsey: The Del Mar National Horse Show—featuring hunter/

jumper, dressage and western competition—takes place for three weeks starting in April, with another three weeks of hunter/jumper shows in October at the Del Mar International Horse Show. Five weeks of the Showpark series shows run through July and August, as well as a summer dressage show. The historic Thoroughbred racetrack also contributes to Del Mar’s equine vibe. Even when the horse shows aren’t in town and the races are over, you’re still almost as likely to find a bridle path as you are a surfboard shop in the Del Mar area. The weather, a stunning beach backdrop and a plethora

ROBBIE ROGERS FOR ISTOCKPHOTO.COM PHOTO

of oceanside restaurants make it the perfect place to vacation, whether you’re showing or not.

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In Del Mar

9,6,7 7+( %($&+… )T S THE MOST OBVIOUS $EL -AR ACTIVITY AND IT S THE PERFECT ONE FOR AN OFF DAY OR EVEN EVERY DAY $UCK OUT AFTER THE LONG HOURS OF SHOWING AND CATCH THE SUNSET "OTH 0OWERHOUSE 0ARK AND 3EAGROVE 0ARK WHICH ARE LOCATED ABOVE THE TH 3TREET SURF BREAK AND CONNECTED BY A WALKWAY ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 4HEY RE EASILY ACCESSIBLE AND OFFER PARKING NEARBY BUT THERE ARE STILL MILES OF COASTLINE TO EXPLORE OUTSIDE OF THOSE TWO LOCATIONS "OTH PARKS OFFER BEACH ACCESS GRASSY AREAS FOR PICNICS AND LOUNGING AND PLENTY OF BENCHES %AST #OASTERS BEWARE 4HE OCEAN WATER S LIKELY A BIT COLDER THAN ANYTHING YOU VE FELT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY EVEN IN THE SUMMER )F YOU RE REALLY WANTING A DIPˆOR EVEN TO TAKE A SURlNG LESSONˆYOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER RENTING A WETSUIT

0OWERHOUSE 0ARK 1658 Coast Blvd. Del Mar, CA 92014

3EAGROVE 0ARK 1601 Coast Blvd. Del Mar, CA 92014 (858) 755-9313 delmar.ca.us

SUSAN SCHMITZ FOR ISTOCKPHOTO.COM PHOTO

CITY GUIDE

)F YOU HAVE A HORSE SHOW DOG WHO S BEEN PATIENTLY WAITING BY THE GOLF CART ALL WEEK WHAT BETTER WAY TO REWARD HIM THAN WITH A LITTLE ROMP IN THE SURF WITH SOME CANINE FRIENDS $OGS ARE ALWAYS ALLOWED BUT THEY AREN T ALLOWED OFF LEASH AT ALL TIMES 4HE CITY KEEPS ITS h$OG "EACH $EL -AR .ORTH "EACHv &ACEBOOK PAGE UPDATED WITH THE OFF LEASH TIMES AND INFORMATION IS ALSO AVAILABLE AT THE h$OG &RIENDLY "EACHESv TAB AT delmar.ca.us Del Mar North Beach Dog Beach 3200 Camino Del Mar Del Mar, CA 92014 (858) 755-9313 delmar.ca.us

106 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

$%, -!2 2!#%42!#+ 4HERE AREN T MANY TRACKS IN THE WORLD WITH A VISTA LIKE THIS ONE 4HE FAMOUS STUCCO GRANDSTAND AT THE $EL -AR RACE COURSE IS LOCATED DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE 0ACIlC /CEAN 4HE TRACK S MOTTO APTLY IS h7HERE 4HE 4URF -EETS 4HE 3URF v ,IVE RACING ISN T ALWAYS IN SEASON THE TRACK HOSTS A SUMMER MEET THAT TYPICALLY RUNS FROM MID *ULY TO EARLY 3EPTEMBER AND A FALL MEET FROM MID .OVEMBER TO EARLY $ECEMBER BUT EVEN WHEN THE RACES AREN T ON IT S STILL WORTH WALKING OVER FROM THE $EL -AR .ATIONAL (ORSE 3HOW ADJACENT TO THE TRACK 4OUR THE FACILITY MAYBE PLACE A FEW SIMULCAST BETS AT THE $EL -AR 3URFSIDE 2ACE 0LACE AND REmECT ON THE HISTORY OF THE PLACE 7HEN THE TRACK OPENED IN "ING #ROSBY GREETED GUESTS AT THE GATE AND IT WAS THE SITE OF A MATCH RACE BETWEEN 3EABISCUIT AND ,IGAROTI 3EABISCUIT WON )T S ALSO WHERE MUCH MORE RECENTLY THE FAMOUS MARE :ENYATTA WON THREE OF HER RACES 4HERE ARE A SERIES OF CONCERTS AT THE TRACK DURING THE OFF SEASON AND YOU CAN lND THOSE AND THE LIVE RACING AND SIMULCAST INFORMATION ON THE TRACK S WEBSITE 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd. Del Mar, CA 92014 (858) 755-1141 dmtc.com

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PHOTO COURTESY OF DEL MAR RACETRACK

…25 7+( '2* %($&+

)T S TOUGH TO BEAT FRESH #ALIFORNIA PRODUCE AND THE $EL -AR &ARMERS -ARKET OFFERS JUST THAT IN SPADES EVERY 3ATURDAY P M ALL YEAR AROUND 7ANT AN ESCAPE FROM HORSE SHOW BURGERS AND FRIES 9OU CAN STOCK UP FOR THE NEXT WEEK OF SHOWING HERE )N ADDITION TO THE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES SOLD BY LOCAL FARMERS THERE ARE ALSO BAKED GOODS SOME PREPARED FOODS CHEESES HONEYS JAMS SPICES ICE CREAM AND MORE (ERE S A BONUS 4HE MARKET DIRECTLY BENElTS THE COMMUNITY THROUGH ITS SUPPORT FOR LOCAL CONSERVANCY PROGRAMS THE $EL -AR ,IBRARY AND EVEN SOME STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS 225 9th Street Del Mar, CA 92014 (858) 465-0013 delmarfarmersmarket.org

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEL MAR FARMERS MARKET

! LOT OF $EL -AR HAS A CASUAL BEACH VIBE BUT IF IT S LUXURY YOU RE SEEKING THAT S POSSIBLE TOO , !UBERGE $EL -AR IS A FOUR STAR HOTEL WITH BEACHFRONT VIEWS AND A HIGHLY RATED SPA 7HE HOTEL OFFERS BEACH PACKAGES INCLUDING TOWELS BEACH CHAIRS SUNSCREEN AND UMBRELLAS BUT THERE S ALSO A BEAUTIFUL POOL AND HOT TUB ON SITE IF YOU RE NOT FEELING AS ADVENTUROUS "EST OF ALL IT S ABOUT A MINUTE DRIVE FROM $EL -AR S HORSE SHOW VENUES , !UBERGE ALSO IS A POPULAR WEDDING SPOT IF YOU RE LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO TIE THE KNOT 1540 Camino Del Mar Del Mar, CA 92014 (858) 259-1515 laubergedelmar.com

$%, -!2 &!2-%23 -!2+%4

PHOTO COURTESY OF L’AUBERGE

/ $8%(5*( '(/ 0$5

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CITY GUIDE 0!#)&)#! $%, -!2

PHOTO COURTESY OF PACIFICA DEL MAR

!T 0ACIlCA $EL -AR YOU CAN SAMPLE THE FRUITS OF THE SEA WHILE GAZING OUT AT THE 0ACIlC /F COURSE SEAFOOD IS THEIR SPECIALTY┬ИPATRONS RECOMMEND THE SHRIMP AND GRITS AND THE PORCINI DUSTED SEA SCALLOPS┬ИBUT THE lLET MIGNON IS POPULAR THERE AS WELL 3TART WITH THE OYSTERS RAW OR BAKED AND THEN lNISH UP WITH THE SIGNATURE 0ACIlCA S "URNT #REAM DESSERT WITH CARAMELIZED BANANAS 4HE RESTAURANT ALSO HAS AN AMPLE WINE MENU AND A POPULAR MARGARITA AS WELL AS SOME SEASONAL COCKTAILS TOO Del Mar Plaza 1555 Camino Del Mar Del Mar, CA 92014 (858) 792-0476 paciямБcadelmar.com

)T S NOT THE FANCIEST PLACE┬ИYOU CAN STOP IN WEARING BEACH CLOTHES OR BREECHES┬ИAND THAT S ONE OF THE THINGS LOCALS AND VISITORS ALIKE WILL TELL YOU THEY LOVE ABOUT IT "OARD "REW WHICH OPENED ITS lRST LOCATION IN $EL -AR IN AND STILL STANDS IN THAT SAME SPOT TODAY IS RENOWNED FOR BOTH ITS CRAFT BEER SELECTION AND ITS GIANT SANDWICHES 4HE 4URKADO WITH TURKEY JACK CHEESE AND AVOCADO ON SOURDOUGH IS A FAVORITE AS IS THE GRILLED "AJA #HICKEN THAT FEATURES JALAPE├ЧOS AND A &RENCH BAGUETTE *UST MAKE SURE YOU ORDER THE FAMED hSECRET SAUCE v "OARD "REW S BIGGEST CLAIM TO GASTRONOMIC FAME 4HE BEER MENU CHANGES OFTEN BUT THERE WILL BE PLENTY TO QUENCH YOUR THIRST ON TAP 1212 Camino Del Mar Del Mar, CA 92014 (858) 481-1021 boardandbrew.com

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PHOTO COURTESY OF BOARD AND BREW

"/!2$ "2%7 $%, -!2

4!+% ! (/4 !)2 "!,,//. 2)$% /N THE EVENINGS IN $EL -AR THE SKY IS OFTEN FULL OF HOT AIR BALLOONS &EELING JEALOUS OF THEIR SUNSET VIEWS 9OU CAN TAKE ONE FOR A SPIN YOURSELF WITH THE HELP OF A CERTIlED PILOT 4HE mIGHTS TAKE YOU OVER THE COASTLINE AND ON CLEAR DAYS YOU CAN SEE ALL THE WAY TO -EXICO )F YOU LIKE YOUR BUBBLY IN MID AIR THERE ARE IN mIGHT #HAMPAGNE TOASTS AVAILABLE AS WELL AS OTHER FEATURES

0ANDA !IR "EAR (OT !IR "ALLOON &LIGHTS GARY ARBACH FOR ISTOCKPHOTO.COM PHOTO

(760) 717-8444 panda-air-bearballoonямВights.com

#ALIFORNIA $REAMIN (800) 373-3359 www.californiadreamin.com

3KY S 4HE ,IMIT "ALLOONING !DVENTURES (760) 602-0295 sandiegoballoonrides.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF FREE FLIGHT

&2%% &,)'(4 %8/4)# ")2$ 3!.#45!29

"%!-).' /2'!.)# 350%2&//$ #!&├Й

,OCATED JUST DOWN THE ROAD FROM BOTH $EL -AR HORSE SHOWS THIS RENOWNED EXOTIC BIRD SANCTUARY FEATURES PARROTS OF ALL COLORS AND SIZES &REE &LIGHT IS OPEN DAILY WEATHER PERMITTING AND YOU CAN VISIT AND LEARN ABOUT THE BIRDS FOR A SMALL ADMISSION FEE OF FOR ADULTS AND FOR KIDS UNDER 3PEND SOME TIME WALKING AMONG THE BIRDS AND EVEN FEEDING THEM WITH THE HELP OF &REE &LIGHT S PARROT EXPERTS )T S DElNITELY NOT YOUR AVERAGE HORSE SHOW DAY ACTIVITY BUT $EL -AR ISN T YOUR AVERAGE PLACE EITHER 2132 Jimmy Durante Blvd. Del Mar, CA 92014 (858) 481-3148 freeямВightbirds.org

)F YOU WANT TO LIVE AND EAT LIKE THE LOCALS IN $EL -AR YOU RE GOING TO HAVE TO EAT HEALTHY !T THE "EAMING #AF├П YOU CAN PICK UP SOME COLD PRESSED FRESH JUICES FOR A CLEANSE OR YOU CAN JUST ENJOY A SUPERFOOD SMOOTHIE OR SALAD 4HERE S EVEN A JUICE DUBBED THE hHANGOVER CUREv┬ИWITH SPARKLING MINERAL WATER APPLE CIDER VINEGAR FRESH GINGER RAW HONEY AND " VITAMINS┬ИIF YOU INDULGED TOO HEAVILY THE NIGHT BEFORE )F YOU RE SEEKING SOME MORE SERIOUS REFUELING THEY OFFER DISHES LIKE THE RAW VEGETABLE LASAGNA OR AN A┬еA├У PROTEIN BOWL THAT YOU CAN TAKE BACK TO THE HORSE SHOW WITH YOU 9OU CAN EVEN lNISH UP WITH A SOMEHOW STILL HEALTHY FOR YOU ULTIMATE FUDGE BROWNIE 2683 Via De La Valle Del Mar, CA 92014 858-481-1222 livebeaming.com/beaming-cafes

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CITY GUIDE 7HAT KIND OF PLACE IS *AKE S $EL -AR )T S THE KIND OF PLACE WHERE YOU RE AS LIKELY TO SEE HORSE SHOW FRIENDS AS YOU ARE TO SEE SOUL AND HIP HOP MUSICIAN #EE,O 'REEN )T S ANOTHER OCEANFRONT ESTABLISHMENTˆWITH mOOR TO CEILING WINDOWS FOR OPTIMAL VIEWSˆWITH A FOCUS ON DOING SERIOUSLY GOOD SEAFOOD 3TART WITH THE TARTARE TOSTADA ENJOY THE MIXED SEAFOOD POT FRESH lSH SCALLOPS MUSSELS AND SHRIMP IN A SAFFRON TOMATO BROTH OR THE LOBSTER TAIL AND THEN MAKE SURE TO lNISH WITH THE h3WEET #HEEKSv CHOCOLATE GANACHE CAKE OR lRE TORCHED PINEAPPLE BANANA CAKE &ROM THE BAR THE PINK GRAPEFRUIT MARTINI IS A LOCAL FAVORITE *AKE S IS ALSO A POPULAR LUNCH SPOT AND THEY OFFER A BRUNCH ON 3UNDAY FROM A M TO P M )F YOU RE MAKING DINNER PLANS THE RESTAURANT POSTS THE SUNSET TIME ON THEIR WEBSITE EVERY DAY AND YOU CAN CATCH SOME AMAZING VIEWS IF YOU SNAG A RESERVATION DURING THAT HOUR 1660 Coast Blvd. Del Mar, CA 92014 (858) 755-2002 jakesdelmar.com

5(' 75$&721 6 67($.+286(

.!+%$ #!&%

2ED 4RACTON S UPSCALE STEAKHOUSE LOCATED AT THE 7INNERS #IRCLE 2ESORT DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE $EL -AR RACETRACK IS MOST FAMOUS FOR ITS PRIME RIB BUT THE !LASKAN KING CRAB LEGS AND hGIGANTIC !USTRALIAN LOBSTER TAILv SHOULDN T BE MISSED EITHERˆIF THEY RE IN SEASON AND AVAILABLE DURING YOUR VISIT 4HE LOADED BAKED POTATO DAUNTINGLY HUGE MAKES AN EXCELLENT SIDE ITEM IF YOU VE WORKED UP AN APPETITE IN THE BARN 4HE LIVE PIANO BAR ADDS AMBIANCE AND IT S A GREAT LOCATION TO SPOT SOME OF 4HOROUGHBRED RACING S MOST FAMOUS HORSEMEN LIKE 4RIPLE #ROWN WINNING TRAINER "OB "AFFERT 4HE PLACE IS THE STUFF OF LOCAL LEGENDS SO IF YOU RE COMING DURING THE HORSE SHOW WEEKS OR WHILE RACING IS ON YOU LL WANT A RESERVATION FOR SURE Winners Circle Resort 550 Via De La Valle Solana Beach, CA 92075 (858) 755-6600 redtractonssteakhouse.com

.AKED #AFE IS TUCKED AWAY IN A PARKING LOT ACROSS FROM THE BEACH IN 3OLANA "EACH JUST A FEW MILES NORTH OF $EL -AR AND IT S EASY TO MISS AT lRST GLANCE "UT YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU DON T MISS .AKED #AFE WHICH SERVES BREAKFAST AND LUNCH 4HE FEATURE IS DElNITELY THE COCONUT ENCRUSTED &RENCH TOAST BUT THE PLACE ALSO MAKES A MEAN BREAKFAST BURRITO !LL THE OPTIONS ARE VEGETARIAN FRIENDLY AND THEY OFFER BOTH A VEGAN SAUSAGE AND SOY CHORIZO ! OUNCE &RENCH PRESS OF +ONA COFFEE WILL GET YOU READY FOR A LONG DAY 7ARNING 4HE PLACE IS SMALL SO IF YOU ARRIVE DURING PEAK BRUNCH HOURS BE PREPARED TO WAIT A BIT FOR A TABLE 106 S. Sierra Ave. Solana Beach, CA 92075 (858) 259–7866 thenakedcafe.com

110 SEP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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PHOTO COURTESY OF JAKE’S DEL MAR

-$.( 6 '(/ 0$5

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BOOK REVIEW

The Perfect Horse: The Daring U.S. Mission To Rescue The Priceless Stallions Kidnapped By The Nazis By ELIZ ABETH LET TS

I

f you think you know the story of how the Lipizzaner horses were rescued at the end of World War II from watching Disney’s Miracle of the White Stallions, think again. Elizabeth Letts has thoroughly researched the people, places, historical and political events involved to

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veterinarian Rudolf Lessing, stud farm director Hubert Rudofsky, Tennessee native Capt. Tom Stewart and German horse expert Gustav Rau. She weaves their paths across time and geography toward one another, so that when the moment of truth arrives, in which each is risking his life for these horses and the centuries of history they represent, you’ve come to care deeply about all of them. create a work of nonfiction that moves Full of detail and rich scenes—I at the pace of a thriller and provides particularly enjoyed a midnight mission in a far more complex and intriguing which Capt. Stewart canters a Lipizzaner narrative. over a hedge in the road as Lessing calls Set in one of the darkest times out, “That horse doesn’t jump!”—the book in our history, The Perfect Horse is beautifully illustrates the connection a a true tale of men choosing beauty horse can forge between cultures, even over the death and destruction that inspiring men wearing opposing uniforms had surrounded a continent for in a world war to work together for a years. Readers who enjoyed Laura common cause. Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit should “Against the backdrop of all this pick up The Perfect Horse, which is a wreckage, the saving of the horses was a similar blend of extensive and detailed small thing; and yet as Hank Reed’s men historical study presented in a pageinstinctively knew, it was only through turning story line. individual acts of compassion that the world You meet the individuals who was able to climb out of the trough it had risked their lives and those of others to dug for itself and attempt to find its way safeguard the horses and an institution into a more peaceful future,” writes Letts. that speaks to men across cultures, Whether instructing the reader on generations and political divides. the fading equestrian culture of the U.S. Whether performing for the Austrian military at the time or the continued use people, the Nazis who briefly owned of the horse by the Germans and Russians them or the conquering American during the conflict, whether making you generals, the horses and riders from the feel the loss of an individual soldier or Spanish Riding School cast their spell. illustrating the interaction of conquered Letts gives you the story behind the and conqueror, Letts’ work should key players—including lifelong horseman especially speak to any reader who cares Col. Charles “Hank” Reed, Austrian about what the horse means to us or what director of the Spanish Riding School it can teach us about ourselves. and Olympian Alois Podhajsky, German —Beth Rasin

American Pharoah: The Untold Story Of The Triple Crown Winner’s Legendary Rise By JOE DRAPE

he New York Times’ awardwinning sportswriter Joe Drape gets a jump out of the gate over other writers with American Pharoah: The Untold Story Of The Triple Crown Winner’s Legendary Rise. In the first of what will surely be many books published about the horse that, in 2015, ended America’s 37-year Triple Crown drought, Drape carries readers along not only as American Pharoah chases down history at various tracks around the country, but also into the often seemingly inaccessible and mysterious Thoroughbred racing industry. A strong advocate for stricter drug rules and more transparency in the Sport of Kings, Drape came by his passion for racing naturally. Years before becoming a turf writer, Drape owned race horses. As his writing career blossomed, he often whiled away the downtime during his assignments at the nearest track. Drape weaves nuanced character studies through the American Pharoah story, introducing the reader to the key players who surround the sport’s newest hero—owner Ahmed Zayat, trainer Bob

T

Baffert and jockey Victor Espinoza— as well as the horse himself. But the strength of the book is in its digressions from these men, whose names have become familiar to the general public after American Pharoah’s well-publicized wins in the 2015 Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. Drape delves into the science of breeding, the role of those who first got their hands on this exceptional colt in his earliest days, and the interdependent relationships (and mutual respect) among trainers, exercise riders and jockeys. It hardly matters that we already know the ending to this tale of the turf. Drape draws us in by painting a nuanced and colorful word-picture. And he reveals the mystical amalgamation—part science, part training, part luck and part sheer athletic brilliance—that it takes to create this rare kind of Thoroughbred racing champion. –Jennifer B. Calder

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CHARITY SPOTLIGHT

A CLOSER LOOK AT:

JENNIFER ERNST PHOTO

Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s Second Chances Program “If I wouldn’t have been in that program, ) DON T THINK ) WOULD HAVE COME AS FAR ALONG AS ) HAVE NOW v SAID "EN #HESTON SHOWN HERE WITH 3ECOND #HANCES HORSE 3ELWAY #HESTON LEARNED HORSESHOEING IN THE 3ECOND #HANCES 0ROGRAM AT THE *AMES 2IVER 7ORK #ENTER IN 3TATE &ARM 6A AND NOW OPERATES HIS OWN FARRIER BUSINESS

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The nation’s oldest and largest Thoroughbred retirement charity also provides an educational program for incarcerated men and women. By LAURA LEMON

LAURA LEMON PHOTO

en Cheston didn’t have any expectations when he started the Second Chances Program at the James River Work Center in State Farm, Va. He’d heard about the program through a friend and decided to apply, simply because he liked horses and wanted to get away from the correctional facility’s main camp. But through the horses and people at Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, he found peace and purpose, taking the farrier skills he learned in the educational program to establish his own horse-shoeing business in Culpeper, Va., after his release. “If I wouldn’t have been in that program, I don’t think I would have come as far along as I have now,� said Cheston. Founded in 1984 at New York’s Wallkill Correctional Facility, Second Chances has since spread to nine correctional facilities, providing inmates with a vocational program where they learn various aspects of horses as they care for TRF’s retired race horses.

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The program also offers a new life to those horses. The TRF designed the program not only to help inmates, but also to save Thoroughbreds at risk for abandonment and slaughter once their racing careers are over. To do that, the TRF accepts all registered Thoroughbreds that have either trained or raced, regardless of their physical condition. “More than half the horses in our herd aren’t sound enough to be show horses or hunt horses, so we’ve been able to find a purpose for them and a job for them in helping people,� said Diana Pikulski, director of external affairs. “And they’ve also become amazing horses in equineassisted growth and learning and therapy.� The TRF as a whole takes care of 850 horses. It provides a permanent home for former race horses or, for those sound enough for a second career, a temporary home until adoption. The organization keeps track of adopted horses and takes horses back again, if need be. In the Second Chances program, the

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s program AT THE *AMES 2IVER 7ORK #ENTER IN 3TATE &ARM 6A IS ONE OF NINE 3ECOND #HANCES PROGRAMS BASED AT CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES AROUND THE NATION )NMATES ACCEPTED INTO 3ECOND #HANCES CARE FOR FORMER RACE HORSES AND LEARN PRACTICAL AND PERSONAL SKILLS THAT CAN LEAD TO NEW CAREERS AFTER THEIR RELEASE

inmates care for the horses, and the horses act as teachers. “Thoroughbreds are so sensitive,� said Development Officer Elizabeth Beer, “and they require you to slow down and ask them. You can’t boss around and get physical with a Thoroughbred. You can’t be a bully with a Thoroughbred. And you have to completely come back to their level. It is a game-changer for these people. They come out with a vocation, a new interest, happiness.� Just as the racetrack doesn’t have to be the end to a Thoroughbred’s working life and purpose, incarceration doesn’t have to define an inmate’s entire life. The educational program for Second Chances seeks to teach inmates horse-

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LAURA LEMON PHOTO

CHARITY SPOTLIGHT

Jet On Home relaxes in the barn AT THE 4HOROUGHBRED 2ETIREMENT &OUNDATION S *AMES 2IVER 7ORK #ENTER AS AN INMATE PASSES BY

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care skills they can use to build a career, and it offers life lessons on responsibility, patience and relationships. The goal: to reduce the likelihood of recidivism. While research is just beginning, Beer estimated that the percentage of recidivism for individuals who completed the Second Chances educational program is about 10 percent. This starkly contrasts to the normal 67.8 to 76.6 percent recidivism rate reported in 2014 in 30 states by the Bureau for Justice Statistics. “It just makes you realize that there is more to life than all that other crap,� said Cheston. “Nothing really compares to, I guess you could say, the therapeutic value of combining the horses with a different environment for the inmates to heal the battle wounds or whatever you want to call them. “When I would go down there and start fooling with the horses, I would forget about everything else and just be concentrated on the horse,� Cheston continued. “Like if I was having a bad day or something, as soon as I got down there with the horses, it would go away.� “[One graduate] had been in prison for 28 years, and when he came into this program, he said, ‘I found myself

now,’ � said Anne Tucker, the founder and former president of the TRF’s James River chapter, who now serves on the TRF’s national Second Chances committee. “He said, ‘I’m not coming back to prison anymore.’ And he’s been doing great.� Individuals have to apply to Second Chances, once they’re cleared by the correctional facility to become candidates. If they’re accepted into the program, they’ll receive education and equal treatment, regardless of their backgrounds. “I always feel like one of the important things of this program is the fact that for the horses, certainly, and all of us, we don’t judge,� said Tucker. “None of us care that they all wear orange shirts. You know, everybody’s got a place to start, and let’s see what you can do.� “Everybody there kind of treated you like a human being,� said Cheston. “You know, didn’t treat you like a criminal or a convict or just somebody with a number.� The hands-on educational program encompasses all aspects of horse care, from learning about various parts of the horse’s anatomy to bandaging a horse to taking care of injuries and maintaining health. The program includes regular tests, and graduates receive a certificate when they complete the program. “I think the biggest thing that we see is that in a prison environment, it’s kind of self-survival,� said Melissa Jensen, a former TRF program manager at the James River Work Facility. “It is all about yourself and taking care of yourself. And when they come down here, they have to work together. It’s coordination and working with others and learning to work with people that you may not have chosen to work with.� As many employees joke, TRF

supporters—the program’s workers, volunteers and sponsors—come for the horses and stay for the inmates. The staff sees that gradual shift at work at the facility’s occasional open house days: On their first visit, sponsors arrive with carrots for the horses, but soon they’ll start bringing doughnuts for the people, too. Those human-to-human connections, TRF supporters say, create a community that believes in the humanhorse relationship and its ability to change lives. “We have a lot of horse people who come down here thinking they’re going to do things with the horses, and you come here and end up getting more involved with the whole process, not only the horses but the men,� said Thomas Newton, DVM, the program’s veterinarian and TRF James River board member. That relationship with program participants can stretch even beyond an inmate’s incarceration, Newton said, with volunteers and staff “becoming advocates for the guys, helping them out afterwards, trying to get them in good places and keeping in touch with them and being a support system for them. “That is what makes it a special place,� said Newton. “It’s more than just taking care of a lot of horses that need a good life after racing. But it is the whole program. It’s the human-animal side of it that makes it special.� “The women down there, the men that come in, the volunteers, their heart is in it,� said Cheston. “There were a couple ladies in there who told me some things about myself that I really needed to hear to help my self-esteem, because what I thought about myself was that I was worth nothing. And they told me some stuff that made me think differently and

made me realize that I did deserve better.� Not all Second Chances graduates go on to careers with horses, but some, like Nicole Mason-Suares, do. Mason-Suares learned about Second Chances at the Lowell Correctional Institution of Florida in Ocala, after a friend who was already in the program told her about it. Mason-Suares applied to learn basic farriery skills, although she didn’t know what a farrier was and had no prior background with horses. Since her release in 2014, Mason-Suares still works with Thoroughbreds. After gaining experience at several Ocala-area farms, she now co-owns a business that buys yearlings to break, train and resell at 2-year-old auctions. She also has her own retired race horse, Exporter, a 6-year-old Grand Slam gelding. “The biggest takeaway, hands down, was hope,� Mason-Suares said. “Hope for a new life with endless opportunities, hope that is still being fulfilled two years later! I am forever grateful and indebted to the Second Chances program. It not only saved my life, it gave me one that I never would have imagined for myself.�

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LEARN MORE: 6ISIT THE 4HOROUGHBRED 2ETIREMENT &OUNDATION WEBSITE AT trďŹ nc.org

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GET IN TOUCH: #ONTACT THE 4HOROUGHBRED 2ETIREMENT &OUNDATION HEADQUARTERS IN 3ARATOGA 3PRINGS . 9 AT OR VIA THE EMAIL CONTACT BOX AT TRlNC ORG CONTACT US

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GET INVOLVED: )N ADDITION TO MONETARY DONATIONS THE 4HOROUGHBRED 2ETIREMENT &OUNDATION ENCOURAGES DONATIONS OF EQUIPMENT FROM EQUINE lRST AID ITEMS TO BLANKETS BRIDLES AND BARN SUPPLIES 4O SEE A LIST OF NEEDED ITEMS CHECK OUT THE 42& S ONLINE 7ISH ,IST AT TRlNC ORG WISH LIST 4HE GROUP ALSO OFFERS OTHER DONATION OPPORTUNITIES SUCH AS HAY DRIVES AND HORSE SPONSORSHIP 6OLUNTEERS ARE ALSO WELCOME &OR MORE INFORMATION ON BECOMING A VOLUNTEER USE THE EMAIL FORM ON THE h#ONTACTv PAGE AT TRlNC ORG

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BEST OF WEB & PRINT

LINDSAY BERRETH PHOTOS

What’s Hot On The Web

X Take A Look Back At The Rio Olympic Games Relive all the glorious moments that came out of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro—the U.S. show jumping team’s hard-fought silver medal, Laura Graves’ Grand Prix Special ride that secured team bronze, and Phillip Dutton’s inspired week that brought home individual bronze. Chronicle reporters Mollie Bailey and Lindsay Berreth were there in Rio collecting all the amazing stories and beautiful photos. They not only reported on who won what, but also found some of the most inspiring stories of riders fulfilling their dreams. Take a look back at all of Rio at coth.com/2016-Olympics.

X Completing A Dream Deferred What happens when you’ve given up on a lifelong dream—shelved it and allowed it to gather dust—and then 36 years later that dream comes true? Groom Laurie Pitts found out. She was all set to groom at the 1980 Olympic Games but lost the opportunity when the United States boycotted the Moscow Games. Pitts’ chance of a lifetime, to check the Olympics off her bucket list, came up again for the Rio Games. Read more at coth.com/article/groomspotlight-laurie-pitts-rio-complete-dream-deferred and check out all out Groom Spotlight articles at coth.com/category/tags/groom-spotlight.

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X A Long And Winding

Don’t Miss In The Magazine

Road To Rio Ever wonder what it takes to get to an Olympic Games? From April to August, we followed along with six riders as they sought to qualify for and compete on the U.S. show jumping, eventing and dressage teams in Rio. They shared amazing insight into the amount of dedication, sacrifice, heartache and joy that goes into preparing a horse for an Olympic bid. Read them all at coth.com/content/2016-road-olympics.

X Shady Sales And Secret

AMATEUR ISSUE: Is Your Saddle

Pad Sabotaging Your

Ammy Status? p. 32

Vol. 79, No. 17 Alcp (( (/# )'(- $4.99

Commissions In our Amateur Issue, Molly Sorge’s story “A Dishonest Deal: Price Padding, Hidden Commissions And Dual Agency” (July 11 & 18, p. 24 ) takes a hard SHADY SALES & SEC RET COMMISSIONS: look at the fraud and abuse that too many trainers can engage in while operating in an unregulated Inside: industry. Find out from people who’ve been there why intimidation by trainers and a culture of secrecy is running unchecked—and what you can do to avoid becoming a victim. “It’s not about what value the horse might be,” says one disillusioned owner. “It’s about the budget of the buyer.” How They’re Impacting

The Industry p. 24

Get To Know: USEF Presiden t Murray Kessler p. 52 A Racing Insider’s Perspecti ve On Ace p. 70 Did I Do That? Embarra ssing Show Memories p. 88

WORCESTER TELEGRAM PHOTO

X Do You Have What It

Takes To Be A Working Student?

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As part of our Junior & Pony Issue (July 4), we asked five trainers across disciplines what works—and what doesn’t—when it comes to being a working student. How do you know what you’re really getting into? How can you get the most out of the experience? Should you expect to ride top horses or slave away all day mucking stalls? “There will be bad days when you don’t get to go to the event; you have to stay home and take care of things. A working student needs to take that all in stride and learn from it,” says Mike Huber. “It’s often a very humbling experience.”

ASK X Living Legend: Torrance

Watkins She was eventing’s golden girl at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, but Torrance Watkins still thinks about how her performance there could have been better. In Mickey Rathbun’s article in our Olympic Preview Issue (Aug. 1 & 8, p. 32), get to know how she came from a non-horsey family to become a leading figure in the sport, and how she survived one setback after another and found her way by focusing on her horses. “They’re always your best friends,” she says. “They don’t judge you.”

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PARTING WAYS

Drop Score Photo by PIERRE COSTABADIE/ARND.NL Brazilian rider Eduardo Menezes hit the dirt and his mount Calavda lost his bridle after failing to get over a vertical in the first round of the 2013 Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Final in Barcelona. Both were unharmed. The Brazilian team went on to win Round 1 but narrowly lost to France in the end.

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