Untacked september-october-2016 by HRCS

The Chronicle of the Horse

THE EQUESTRIAN LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

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

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.

m ar

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 © 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 Equal Housing Opportunity. count, number of bedrooms and the school district in property listings are deemed reliable, but should be verified by your own attorney, architect or zoning expert.

FARMS & ESTATES, WELLINGTON, FL Su

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, office, 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 fiber 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.

DON’T WAIT INSIDE

Come Show with Us!

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.

ation! r b e l e C s t ight Ligh N y a d r u t a S

Dining for Every Occasion

Cleghorn Golf

Cleghorn Gun Club at Tr yon Resort

Equestrian Lifestvyle at its Best!

and Sports Clu b

The Lodge at Lake Lure

THE 2016 FALL SERIES

PRESENTED BY THE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

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SEPT. 21-25 B HUNTERS|LEVEL 3 JUMPERS

FALL 2

SEPT. 28-OCT. 2 PREMIER AA HUNTERS|LEVEL 6 JUMPERS

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OCT. 5-9 B HUNTERS|LEVEL 6 JUMPERS

FALL 4

OCT. 12-16 SUNCAST FEI CSI 3*|PREMIER AA HUNTERS| LEVEL 6 JUMPERS ®

FALL 5

OCT. 19-23 ROLEX FEI CSI 5*|PREMIER AA HUNTERS| LEVEL 6 JUMPERS

FALL 6

OCT. 26-30 ASHEVILLE/GREENVILLE BMW CENTERS’ FEI CSI 3*|PREMIER AA HUNTERS| LEVEL 6 JUMPERS

4066 Pea Ridge Road, Mill Spring, NC 28756 | (828) 863-1000 | www.tryon.com | info@tryon.com

Meg N Atkinson

Town & CounTry realtors® 951 South Trade Street Tryon, North Carolina

Broker/Realtor

MegsProperties.com

Bedford Hill Farm

843.601.4191

Knolland Farm

Journey’s End

State of the art 12 stall barn • Separate 4 stall barn Wordley Martin riding arena w/groomer & jump sets 16 paddocks & pastures • Guest apt in main barn Minutes to TIEC • 4 BR 3 BA farmhouse 4058 Coxe Road Tryon, NC Call for pricing

33 acre estate • 5 BR 6½ BA luxury residence Gourmet kitchen • Master Suite with den,breakfast bar and fireplace on main level • 4 stall barn with adjacent pastures • Long range views 75 Taddington Circle Derbyshire $2,450,000

31 acre estate: magnificent views • 4 BR 4 BA main residence • In ground heated pool • Guest house 6 stall barn and pastures • Equipment barn and caretaker’s apt • Round pen and riding arena 600 N. Glassy Mtn Road Landrum, SC $2,700,000

Pine Valley Farm

Marigold Cottage in Derbyshire

Farm Property Close to TIEC

Contemporary 4 BR 4 BA residence on 16 acres 6 stall barn, riding ring, storage shed, pastures with run in sheds • In ground pool and hot tub Screened porch and wrap around deck • Mtn views 2410 Redland Road Campobello, SC $945,000

Charming 3 BR 3 BA cottage • Gated Community Lake and trail access • Downstairs Master Suite with walk in travertine shower • Detached 1 car garage Open concept with wood floor throughout 145 Hollymoorside Derbyshire $399,500

14 acres of rolling hills • Established pastures Beautiful views • Access to trails Minutes to Tryon International Equestrian Center 2 BR 2 BA home 1029 Turner Road Tryon, NC $470,000

Double Diamond Farm

Turtle Creek Luxury Townhomes

Breezy View Equestrian Rental

23 acres • Barn with 4 stalls, tackroom, office & shed 4 BR 5½ BA residence • Main level master and guest room • Large bonus room over garage Shared lake access 1481 Airport Road Rutherfordton, NC $749,000

Gated Community on Blue Ridge Parkway Magnificent post & beam 2 story great room Master downstairs with ensuite bath • Unobstructed pastoral setting with large stone patio 800 Turtle Creek Drive Boone, NC $639,000

5 miles to TIEC • 3 BR 3 BA cabin Outdoor gas fireplace and firepit Wrap around deck with mountain views Open concept kitchen and great room • 2 paddocks 45 Lake Sandy Plains Rd. Tryon, NC $2,450/week

LILLIE BROWN

Town & CounTry realtors®

Horse Farms & Upscale Homes TryonHorseFarms.com

Vestavia Farm

64+ Acres | State-of-the-art training facility Main & Guest Houses 2 Barns total 15 stalls | 35 Acres of pasture Garage and equipment outbuildings Columbus NC | $2,275,000

Historic Hunting Country Farm Magnificent Post&Beam! Equestrian Training Center 2 Barns total 19 stalls | 10+ Acres & 19+ Acres of deeded access | Convenient to FENCE Landrum SC | $1,380,000

Holly Ridge Lane Farm

3BR, 2.5BA | 4+ Acres Stoneybrook Equestrian Community 2-Stall shedrow barn | Fenced pasture Short hack to FETA trail system Tryon NC | $460,000

864.978.9465

951 South Trade Street Tryon, North Carolina

Clear View Farm

Hemlock Trail … White Oak Mtn

Green Acres Farm

Fairwinds Road Farm

22+ Acres | Hunter/Jumper Equestrian Center 2 Large riding rings | 2 Barns total 16 stalls 12 Paddocks, round pen | Guest house & staff apt All farm equipment & jumps included Landrum SC | $2,000,000

The Enclave at Fairview Farms: 4BR, 3BA Living room with stone fireplace Set among hardwoods with pastoral Views 10+ Acres | 4-Stall barn, 3 pastures Campobello SC | $619,000

‘Three Chimneys’ — NC Hwy 108

Brick Colonial: Replica of Revolutionary period home 11-Foot ceilings; 4 fireplaces; European molding 12+ Acres | Main House w/4BR;3BA Detached 2-car garage w/2-BR guest apartment Rutherfordton NC | $495,000

Stunning 2BR, 3.5BA log home on almost 150 acres! With every amenity & unique grounds Mountain views, cascading waterfalls, walking trails; picnic area with party house and log cabinette Columbus NC | $1,850,000

2BR, 1BA | 15 Acres Convenient to FENCE 3 Pastures | 2 run-in sheds Riding ring | 4-Stall barn Landrum SC | $520,000

Private Wildlife Paradise

On 72 Acres: streams, small waterfall, 1-acre pond, open pastureland, hardwoods & landscaped gardens Open floorplan, 3 BR, 3BA home with sauna room Numerous outbuildings plus 3-car garage w/wkshop Chesnee SC | $765,000

Where you FLY before you RIDE Asheville Regional Airport your easy connection to Tryon International Equestrian Center Frequent Daily Flights ALLEGIANT | AMERICAN | DELTA | UNITED

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WORLD EQUESTRIAN CENTER Presents

“The Ultimate Horse Show”

Oct. 19th – 23rd, 2016 USEF Premier Hunter - Jumper Rating 4 World Equestrian Center - Wilmington, Ohio

Oct. 26th – 30th, 2016 USEF Premier Hunter - Jumper Rating 4 World Equestrian Center - Wilmington, Ohio

$12,000 World Equestrian Center Welcome Stake $30,000 World Equestrian Center Grand Prix $25,000 World Equestrian Center 3’ Hunter Derby $9,500 Futures Prix

$15,000 World Equestrian Center Welcome Stake $50,000 World Equestrian Center Grand Prix $30,000 World Equestrian Center 3’ Hunter Derby $40,000 World Equestrian Center 4’ Hunter Derby $10,000 Futures Prix

$500,000 in Combined Money & Prizes! Prize Lists Now Available at www.horseshowing.com

Entries Close October 14th

WORLD EQUESTRIAN CENTER

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Landrum Gateway to the Blue Ridge

EATS. ANTIQUES. BOUTIQUES. #LoveLandrum www.cityoflandrumsc.com www.facebook.com/cityoflandrum

8 antique stores, 7 restaurants, 12 boutiques, 21 specialty shops

O N L Y

L A N D R U M

SC Exit 1 off I-26 | 15 Minutes from the Tryon International Equestrian Center 15 Minutes from Spartanburg | 30 Minutes from Asheville | 1 Hour from Greenville | 1 Hour from Charlotte

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HHA Horse Hair Analysis

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Georgina Bloomberg and Lilli won the Adequan® Grand Prix CSI 3* at the 2015 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) in Wellington, FL. INDICATIONS For the intramuscular treatment of non-infectious degenerative and/or traumatic joint dysfunction and associated lameness of the carpal and hock joints in horses.

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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!

MARIA MENDELSOHN, SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT EQUESTRIAN REAL ESTATE

10680 W. Forest Hill Boulevard, Wellington, FL 33414 C: 561.758.1605 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, but should be veriﬁed by your own attorney, architect or zoning expert. Equal Housing Opportunity.

JANUARY 11 – APRIL 2, 2017 www.pbiec.com

Tryon, North Carolina Horse Country

ronald piccari

estate prope rtie s & hor se farms

Lakes, Hills and Horses

snooty fox 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

woodwind’s farm & wedding chapel

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

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

828-606-7441 828-859-5454

cabin in the pines

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

hummingbird hill farm

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

mountain view estate

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

bent oak farm – stirrup downs

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 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 bluebird haven

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

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 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 spacious

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

Untacked The C hronicle of the Horse

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

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

28 S EP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

SHAWN HAMILTON PHOTO

PHOTO COURTESY OF JULIE COSTELLO HOOK

U N TAC K E D

Cozy up to the lightweight Ideal Down Vest & insulated Coniston Boot with GORE-TEX® waterproof construction.

More information at Ariat.com

s t n e t n Co

OT O

Departments

AV E

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 100 F eed 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

104 30 S EP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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ROBBIE ROGERS FOR ISTOCKPHOTO.COM PHOTO

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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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 S EP 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. First opened in 1931, the JW Marriott Essex House on Central Park South continues to curate exceptional experiences for our guests. Our mutual passions reflect the cultural vibrancy of our neighborhood and we welcome the equestrian community that embraces the culture of sport and wellness so widely celebrated in and around Central Park. Experience the essence of the JW Marriott Essex House where impeccable service, iconic luxury and Art Deco inspired design will make for a stay that is nothing less than remarkable. To reserve a future stay, please call 212.247.0300 or visit JWMarriottEssexHouseNYC.com.

160 Central Park South New York, NY 10019

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.

Mail: The Chronicle of the Horse, P. O. Box 433288 Palm Coast, FL 32143-3288 Phone: 800.877.5467 Email: subscriptions@coth.com

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 S EP 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

U N TAC K E D

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The C hronicle of the Horse

Untacked Volume 4 • Number 5 • September/October 2016

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

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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

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chronofhorse.com 36 S EP 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: Caroline Mart

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

LINDSAY BERRETH PHOTO

night.”

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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.

City: Miami

That’s the deadline to nominate your equestrian hero to the 2016 FEI Awards. Established by the Fédération 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.

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

u Sept. 18

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.”

u 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

u 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.

u 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 ● The Charity Spotlight feature (p. 108) about the Horse & Family Institute in the July/August of Untacked incorrectly noted that the group receives program funding from the Semper Fi Foundation; it is the Semper Fi Fund that supports HFI’s equine-assisted communication program. ● Our review of the documentary Harry and Snowman (p. 106) in the same issue incorrectly stated that the film is based on the book The Eighty-Dollar Champion. It is a separate project. C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M

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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.

e Know Th ese Hills Better Than Anyone

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.

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

Adjoining 25+ exceptional acres available

reenspace of Fairview

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

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

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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.

Introducing GLANMIRE. Handcraaed in Europe. Our ﬁrst boot with an adjustable calf.

Shown in Black/Brown. Also available in Walnut.

TECH SPOTLIGHT

A Girth For Data-Driven Training The Seaver girth proposes to do for your horse what a Fitbit does for you. 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.

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

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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 Andrés Rodríguez, 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,” 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.”

Antar hopes to address 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.

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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 Comtek’s ALS-216 Personal Trainer System 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. The instructor’s transmitter runs on 9-volt batteries, either alkaline (for up to 35 hours of operation) or nickel-metal hydride rechargeable (up to 15 hours). “The Comtek system was a close second to CEECOACH,” Koffler-Stanfield says. “We really liked it. The earpiece fit well in the ear, and it had a left and a right earpiece, which was really nice, because I actually do have some students who are hard of hearing in one ear or the other. It had great sound quality and lots of channels, which was nice for horse shows: You could be on your own private channel, as opposed to hearing feedback from someone else’s channel. We took it to a horse show and liked it. It was the easiest to use and easy to set up. It used batteries, so you didn’t have to worry about charging it. The 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. But, in general, we were a fan of Comtek.” Available at various online retailers for $1,192.95. Comtek.com/als-216.

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Listen Portable FM System Listen systems are not made or specifically marketed solely for equestrian use; the company focuses on providing systems for large venues like concert halls and court rooms. But horsemen have also used it. The LT-700 transmitter is compatible with both the LR-300 and the LR-400 receivers (the LR-300 is an older but less expensive model). It offers 100 percent digital tuning to prevent channel drift. Transmitter and receiver take AA batteries, and the transmitter has a battery life ranging from 8-15 hours, with a range of between 150 and 200 feet. “I have owned the Listen system myself before, and it worked OK for us,” Koffler-Stanfield says. “It was an easy setup, [and] the sound quality was good, but the earpiece didn’t stay in very well. The receivers can use any old headphones, though, so we just ended up swapping those out. The box the instructor wears—the transmitter—is a little larger and more awkward to wear than the other models.” Available at various online retailers. Single transmitter: $493, can be used with Listen’s Behind-The-Head Microphone ($83), Lavalier Microphone ($30) and others available for purchase from the manufacturer. Single receiver: $149-$164 for LR-400 model (the model tested), $89-$100 for LR-300 model. ListenTech.com.

TESTER’S CHOICE

CEECOACH

he CEECOACH system operates on Bluetooth and allows from two to six people to communicate with each other over distances up to 1,600 feet—without the need for a smartphone or a mobile telephone network connection. Each device’s battery allows up to 10 hours of talk time, according to the company. “I’ve started using CEECOACH, and we like it a lot,” says Koffler-Stanfield. “It’s super easy to use and was an easy setup. It allows for both one-way and two-way communication, which is a nice feature. The earpiece is good and stays on. There is some feedback with it; when I’m standing and talking to a student you can hear double—it echoes. It’s worth noting CEECOACH is not exclusively an equestrian listening product, [as] the company also caters to athletic events and tour guides. This set was our favorite.” A single device, which can be used with other CEECOACH devices, is available direct from the manufacturer for $199, and a two-device “Duo Pak” is available for $349. Ceecoach-us.com.

Eartec Simultalk 24G Wireless

One K Communication System

The Eartec is advertised with a 150-yard range and offers both two-way and one-way communication options. The company also offers a variety of headsets, including a popular “ear loop” style that sits on, rather than in, the ear. The standard two-person set, available online at many equestrian retailers, includes two radios, two headsets, batteries and a charger. Eartec is releasing an updated system this fall, so keep an eye out for changes and improvements to the current system. “I’ve also owned this system before,” says Koffler-Stanfield. “I like that it works two ways. That’s a big plus. It was easy to set up. The earpiece got mixed reviews: Some of my students liked it and some didn’t. The piece lies on top of the ear—it’s not an ear bud—so from a headset-sharing perspective, it’s more sanitary. We 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. There was some feedback with this system from the wind as well.”

The complete One K Communication system features two-way communications via a trainer headset and intercom and a rider earpad and intercom. The trainer unit, which charges through a USB power and data cable, delivers 10 hours of talk time and has an advertised range of up to 980 yards in open terrain. “The One K had good sound quality, and you can talk both ways on it, which is a plus,” says Koffler-Stanfield. “The One K system is Bluetooth compatible, so it can connect to Bluetooth enabled cell phones and music players. We found that if you didn’t have a One K helmet, the earpiece [didn’t] fit well. The earpiece lies on top of the ear, like the Eartec system’s. It was a little confusing to set up, and the charger was a USB cord, not a wall plug, which was a little harder to use than some of the other systems.” Trainer headset and intercom ($219.95) and rider earpad and intercom ($229.95) available at various online retailers. OneKHelmets.com.

Available at Eartec and various online retailers for $300. Eartec.com.

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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 Layer up for riding lessons this fall in the new Callidae Team Jacket, which comes in dark navy brushed cotton and features Mokuba grosgrain ribbons in French blue and yellow across the back. Sizes S-L. $165. The Show Shirt, 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 Mokuba ribbon in a coordinating color. Available in sand/white stripe, blue with white pinstripe, and two white options. Sizes XS-XL. $195. callidae.com.

ARIAT TWO24 FOOTWEAR This season marks the debut of a new fashion-focused line from Ariat, inspired by Triple Crown winner Secretariat and his worldrecord time of 2:24 in the 1973 Belmont Stakes. The Two24 women’s collection (available in sizes 5-11, including half sizes) is hand-crafted in Spain, and the men’s line (sizes 7-13) is built in the USA. Shown here: women’s Pedrena ($409) in firewood, women’s Bailen ($349) in rustic bordeaux, men’s Maxwell ($425) in whiskey and men’s Highlands ($445) in black. ariattwo24.com. 48 S EP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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CARHARTT AMORET COAT, CRAWFORD PANT & LEGACY ESSENTIALS TOTE Insulated and lightweight, the Carhartt women’s Amoret Coat features Rain Defender durable water repellent to keep you cozy in all kinds of weather. Includes detachable flannel-lined three-piece hood. Available 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. Sizes XS-XXL. $99.99. The Original-Fit Crawford Pant is the perfect rugged exterior for mucking stalls and hefting extra bales of hay as winter sets in. A hint of Spandex and a contoured waistband to prevent gapping makes these pants an everyday essential. Available in dark brown and black (shown). Sizes 2-18; short or regular. $54.99. The Legacy Essentials Tote comes in black and Carhartt brown (shown). $29.99. carhartt.com.

LE FASH OPEN PLACKET SHIRT, STABLE BOMBER JACKET & CENTRAL PARK SCARF We’re seeing plenty of style throwbacks this season, especially where outerwear is concerned. The bamboo stretch knit Stable Bomber, with contrast details, plaid pocket interiors and fleece lining, comes in peacock/ navy (shown), rose/charcoal, heather navy, stellar blue/heather, bordeaux/charcoal and charcoal/black. Sizes XS-L (runs half-size larger than shirting). $298. You’ll want to wear the comfy and beautiful navy/white plaid Sport Shirt everywhere from the show ring to the office (XS-L, $215), and the limited edition poly/silk blend Central Park Scarf is the perfect cherry on top. It features a charcoal sketch print of hunter rider Jennifer Alfano and Miss Lucy at the Rolex Central Park Horse Show in New York City. Measures 50" x 50" and available in rose/peacock (shown), plum/gray or black/ white. $80. Print also available as an iPhone 6/6s cover or throw pillow. lefashny.com.

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THE CLOTHES HORSE KATHARINE PAGE CAPRIOLE BALLET FLATS If you already know and love Katharine Page’s iconic bridlework-inspired sandal line, we’ve got great news: There’s a new closed-toe model to take you right into fall. The Capriole ballet slipper is made of soft goat suede and still bears the unique stitching details for which this brand has become famous. Available in Brunello (shown), Lusitano gray, jet black, blazer blue, chestnut, palomino and cremello. Also available in jet black nappa leather. Sizes 36-42. $340. KatharinePage.co.

NOBLE OUTFITTERS ELEMENTS COWL, SOFTSHELL WINTER RIDING PANT & WINTER SHOW GLOVES

UNIVERSE OF HORSES MAXI DRESS With a high neckline and identical back, this equestrianprint dress doesn’t have to get packed away when summer ends. Add a sweater, a belt and your favorite pair of boots, and it’s the perfect layered look for fall. It also boasts handy pockets and is made of machinewashable rayon. Sizes S-L. $165. shopsigashop.com.

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Made from a plush French terry material with built-in Opti-Dry technology, the Elements Cowl features thumbholes and a dropped back hem for full coverage when riding. Available in purple heather, deep-sea coral heather and twilight blue heather (shown). Sizes XS-XXL. $54.95. The waterand wind-repellent Softshell Winter Riding Pant boasts breathable four-way stretch on the outside and micro polyester fleece for warmth on the inside. Available in black. Sizes 24R-34R. $99.95. The goatskin Winter Show Glove is lined with micro fleece for warmth and minimal bulk. It also features rein reinforcement at the pinky and index fingers and is touchscreen friendly. Available in black. Sizes 6-9. $34.95. nobleoutfitters.com.

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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

“This is surreal.”

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CATHERINE CARR TABER PHOTO

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Daphne Wood’s passion for nature, wildlife, hunting and shooting has made her a prominent fixture 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

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PH OTOS CO UR TESY DA PH NE WO OD

Daphne Wood enjoyed what she called “the total freedom of my childhood” in the north Georgia countryside, with her spotted pony Ante Bellum (right) and dog Nicky (above). “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,” 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

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Daphne and Marty Wood, shown here at a Bryn Mawr Hound Show (Pa.) in the 1990s, 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 S EP 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

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 S EP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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PHOTO COURTESY OF DAPHNE WOOD

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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 Merrily and Live Oak Plantations with one of her black Labrador retrievers—in this case, Dixie.

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

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A mule-drawn “shooting wagon,” like this one pulled by Gardenia and Magnolia and driven by Rick Barnes, accompanies Daphne and Marty Wood and their guests on quail-hunting trips at Merrily Plantation.

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 S EP 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 London in 2002 for the “Liberty and Livelihood” march organized by Britain’s Countryside Alliance as part of the effort to prevent a British ban on foxhunting. Their American group included (left to right) Brent Concilio of North Country Hounds (Vt.); Pat Rogers of the Middleburg Hunt (Va.); Penny Denegre, MFH of the Middleburg Hunt; Carol Anne Morley of the Wentworth Hunt (N.H.); and Daphne and Marty Wood. Two years later, the British Parliament passed the Hunting Act 2004, which ended live hunting with dogs in the United Kingdom.

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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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Artist Claudia Coleman painted Daphne Wood’s official portrait commemorating her presidency of the Masters of Foxhounds Association from 2002 to 2005. Daphne was the MFHA’s first woman president. The portrait shows her riding Scoobie, formerly her husband Marty’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 S EP 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 S EP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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JOSH WALKER PHOTO

Life Among Hounds

“I was always very animal-oriented,” says Daphne Wood. Buttons the Jack Russell terrier and Bramble the black Labrador retriever are two of her regular companions at Live Oak Farm in Monticello, Fla., where Daphne and her husband Marty 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

here was no other venue quite

like it. Its rugged cross-country courses wound through a fog-shrouded forest. Its hunter trials and steeplechases ran alongside the Pacific Ocean 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 California’s Monterey Peninsula loved and feared it in equal measure. The competition could be fierce, and Pebble Beach’s climate and topography weren’t for the meek: The weather could be cold even in mid-summer, and the terrain and jumping courses were formidable. 68 S EP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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JULIAN P. GRAHAM/PEBBLE BEACH COMPANY LAGORIO ARCHIVES PHOTO

This was Pebble Beach, and horse-

JON BILOUS/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO

The Pacific Ocean and the rocky shoreline of Monterey Peninsula, overlooked by the community’s iconic Lone Cypress (in background) on its granite perch, helped make Pebble Beach one of the most spectacular equestrian venues on the map. Here, a young Dick Collins (left) rides with Nancy Locke.

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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.” 70 S EP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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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 Pebble Beach’s equestrian center from 1946 to 1979. He coached, designed courses, oversaw the facility development and energetically maintained Pebble Beach’s high profile.

A Good Eye Richard “Dick” Collins was responsible for talent-spotting two legendary horses in U.S. horse sport. In 1956, U.S. Equestrian Team benefactor John Galvin asked Collins to go to the Stockholm Olympic Games and buy the best three-day horse he could find. Cost was no object. “He came back with a long-backed, big-headed, part-Connemara pony,” recalled his student Philip Durbrow. The 15.1-hand horse, then named Copper Coin, had carried Irishman Ian Dudgeon in a clear round in the Stockholm Olympics’ cross-country, only to be eliminated for missing a flag. Rechristened The Grasshopper, the little horse went on to take rider Michael Page to individual gold and team silver at the 1959 Pan Am Games; team gold at the 1963 Pan Am Games in São Paulo, Brazil; and team silver at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Claudia Frisbie Cojocar was a teenager when a horse at the Monterey County Fair caught Collins’ eye. “We went back to the barn area, and he threw me on in the shed row,” Cojocar said. “We popped back and forth over poles that people were holding up.” On Collins’ recommendation, Galvin bought the horse: It was Snowbound, the offthe-track Thoroughbred whom William Steinkraus later rode to win the United States’ first individual Olympic show jumping gold medal at the 1968 Mexico City Games.

Dick Collins first spotted the off-the-track Thoroughbred Snowbound at the Monterey County Fair, and he went on to win the United States’ first individual show jumping gold medal at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City with rider William Steinkraus (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 majestic—and testing— scenery. Fences like this coffin jump from the 1960s 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 S EP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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Competitors (from left) Bryan Anderson on Hollywood Scout, Claudia Frisbie Cojocar on Atlantis and John Anderson on Salty Shadow flew over a jump together during a 1979 Pebble Beach hunt race.

Julie Costello Hook, now a trainer, rode and competed at Pebble Beach in the 1960s and remembered the chilly fog that frequently enveloped the equestrian center, as during this hunter show circa 1969. 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. 74 S EP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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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. Competitors and attendees included future U.S. Dressage Federation Hall of Famers Kyra Downton (front row, sixth from left, in top hat) and Hilda Gurney (second row, third from left). Also in the crowd to Gurney’s left were dressage coach and American Hanoverian Society president Hermann Friedlaender, international dressage judge and American vaulting pioneer Elizabeth Searle, and J. Ashton Moore, with whom Searle later founded the Osierlea dressage facility in San Juan Bautista, Calif. A young Julie Costello Hook 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 3rd Annual Pebble Beach Three-Day Event in 1960.

Dick Collins shared a quiet moment with his dog Thady, named after Thady Ryan, the famous master of the Scarteen Hounds and chef d’equipe for the Irish eventing team in the 1960s.

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.” C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M

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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.” >>>

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DAMARA ANN MULLENS/@HORSEPOOR4EVER PHOTO

MIRROR LAKE, CALIF. Damara Mullens is an amateur rider from Bakersfield, Calif., who loves to trail ride and take photos. “We are fortunate to live within a few hours of scenic areas that attract people from all over the world. We visit Yosemite several times a year,” she said. This shot was taken from the back of Apple Jack, a 13-year-old Appaloosa-Arabian cross. “He was born at my parents’ house and came to my house when he was 3 years old,” said Mullens, who also has an 11-year-old Arabian, Gimli. “My horses live in my back yard. I usually find a scenic area to horse camp twice a month. We explore lots of mountain and desert trails.” Mirror Lake is a small lake in Tenaya Canyon in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Yosemite National Park (Calif.).

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ADRIANE CUMMINGS/@CHARLIEZJALAPAE PHOTO

LIFE BETWEEN THE EARS

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK, UTAH Adriane Cummings is a college student in Louisville, Ky., who juggles school, working and trail riding when she can. “I used to show hunter/jumper, but now I just ride for fun with college and work taking up so much time,” she said. This photo is taken from the rim of Bryce Canyon, which is not so much a canyon as a collection of naturally formed amphitheaters. Stream erosion and frost weathering have created its distinctive geological pillar-like structures, called hoodoos. “We had a friend who had a house out in Las Vegas who invited us out for a vacation,” Cummings said. “My aunt and uncle, who are also horse people, highly recommended the Bryce Canyon riding tour over the Grand Canyon. The mule I rode was named Bungee. He was a big gray mule. He was very sweet and very surefooted going up and down the rock faces.” At home, Cummings takes to the trails on Winston, her 5-year-old Tennessee Walking mule. “We might look into doing some local schooling shows in the next year or so just to have something different to do,” she said.

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CLAUDIA GOBBI/@CLAUDIAGOBBI96 PHOTO

CAELEN KELLY OF DUNFANAGHY STABLES IRELAND/@CAELEN_KELLY PHOTO

TRAMORE STRAND, IRELAND “This photo was taken overlooking Tramore Strand, from the Tramore Sand Dunes in County Donegal, Ireland, outside of the village of Dunfanaghy, which lies along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way coastal route,” said Caelen Kelly, who took the photo. “Tramore Beach can only be accessed via foot or by horse, as it is totally secluded by the surrounding sand dunes.” Kelly works as a mounted trail guide for the Dunfanaghy Stables, which is owned and operated by John and Helen McDaid. Dunfanaghy Stables offer rides ranging from 30 minutes to weeklong journeys, as well as lessons for children and beginners. The ears in the photo belong to Cassidy, one of more than 60 horses used for the trail rides that navigate the beaches and mountain ranges around the village. Cassidy is an Irish Sport Horse who was bred in County Donegal and who has hunted with the Donegal Harriers.

LAKE GARDA, ITALY This photo is from Claudia Gobbi’s hometown of Arco, situated in the region of Trentino Alto Adige in northern Italy. “I do most of my riding here,” said Gobbi. “I don’t need to go far because there are already lots of places to discover. I really love the place where I live, even if it’s a small town between the mountains. There are so many things to do and to see, both with the horse and not, because we have Lake Garda for summer sports (windsurfing, kitesurfing, sailing) and relaxing and the Dolomite mountains for winter sports and hiking.” Gobbi, who is a student, rides western on her 10-year-old Haflinger mare Maffi, whose ears appear in this photo. Gobbi’s parents have a small farm with cows, but Gobbi has been horse-crazy since she was small. “One day they surprised me, giving me Maffi’s mum as a wonderful gift,” Gobbi said. “A year later, Maffi was born, and that was the beginning of our story. “I really can say that we grew up together,” she continued. “She is my first experience with a horse because she is actually (with her mum) the first horse I’ve ever had. It’s surely for this reason that we have such a deep feeling, and we can understand each other. She is sometimes a bit crazy, but I’m proud of her; she’s only mine, and we have a special relationship. Because of this, riding her is something magic. I can really say that dreams can come true, and this is the story of mine.” C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M

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SARA KLYMKOWSKY/@SARA_KLYMKOWSKY PHOTO

RÁQUIRA, COLOMBIA Sara Klymkowsky works in private equity in New York City, but she’s “obsessed with seeing new places on horseback,” she said. In fact, she competed in the 2015 Mongol Derby and has ridden in Kenya, Colombia, Patagonia and Brazil. This shot was taken in Ráquira, Colombia, in the desert near a sacred indigenous site, while Klymkowsky was on a guided ride. The horse was a CriolloArabian cross named Azafran. “They use him for endurance and these rides,” Klymkowsky said. “I adored him.” Klymkowsky grew up riding western. She rode in the rodeo and western pleasure and also worked as a ranch hand. She tried English tack three years ago because she knew her Kenyan safari trip would involve an English saddle. She recently moved from New York City to North Salem, N.Y., where she keeps her own horse, Napoleon. “I don’t compete him,” she said. “I mess around with lots of trail riding, trying dressage and foxhunting—so really all English these days—but I do throw a western saddle on Napoleon every now and then.”

LUCY SAUNDERS/@JOCKEYCLUBROOMS PHOTO

NEWMARKET, SUFFOLK, ENGLAND Lucy Saunders works for The Jockey Club in Newmarket and spends her mornings riding out for local trainer James Owen. “This is one of his 2-year-olds, who James and his team broke in as a yearling,” Saunders said. “She has now gone into training in a racing yard. “This filly is particularly relaxed and well behaved. It was a lovely spring-like morning to be out on the heath as the mornings started getting lighter,” Saunders continued. The picture is of Newmarket Heath, next door to the Rowley Mile racecourse. “This beautiful heath land has been used for more than 350 years to train race horses, since the reign of King Charles II,” Saunders said. “Comprised of 2,500 acres, the training grounds include 50 miles of turf gallops and more than 14 miles of artificial tracks, manicured on a daily basis by over 35 heath staff. The gallops are used by more than 2,500 horses in the care of more than 80 trainers, with the names including the very best known horses and trainers in the world. The town also has two racecourses and is a hub of equestrian and racing-related enterprise, much like a smaller version of Kentucky.” Saunders rides for fun and competes when she can in eventing, showing or team chasing. She’s also ridden as an amateur jockey. She works in The Jockey Club Rooms, which is a private members’ club. “Although I don’t work directly with horses, I’m never far away from one and always feel part of the sport,” she said. “Most of the time when I’m not at work I can be found on a horse or asleep.”

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KRISTINE DAHMS/@LIFEBETWEENTHEEARS PHOTO

Sharing Life Between The Ears RICK DAHMS PHOTOS

VASHON ISLAND, WASH. The woman behind Life Between The Ears, Kristine Dahms, captioned this shot with, “Nothing better than a ride after work on a warm spring evening with the dogs. It’s days like this that make up for months of winter rain and mud so deep it sucks your muck boots off.” Dahms lives on a small farm on Maury Island, which is part of Vashon Island, the largest island in Puget Sound (Wash.). They are actually two islands connected by a manmade isthmus, which was constructed in 1913. The view in the distance is of Mt. Rainier, which is 54 miles southeast of Seattle and is the highest mountain of the Cascade Range in the Pacific Northwest. The ears in the photo belong to Wyn, Dahms’ Welsh Cob. She mainly rides dressage along with some trail riding. “I 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,” Dahms said. “Wyn was very green when I got him, and I’ve come off him more times than I’d like to admit, but he’s made me a better rider. Quickly. He’s athletic and talented, so my goal is to keep up with him and start recognized shows next year. As one of my trainers used to joke, ‘You guys are doing great for the blind leading the blind.’ ”

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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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. This photo tells the story of where we are and what we’re doing in a simple manner. The traditional Mexican 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. He’s wearing a Mexican tie called a charro moño, a type of bow tie.

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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, I spot Miguel, 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 flock toward home for the night after grazing them on the open pasture for the day. This is just one of the typical rural scenes we pass as we ride the trails to town, and it’s why I love these rides so much—being 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 fields are hemmed by stone walls.

About The Ranch Swiss-born Ursula Wiprächtiger Schreyer—“Uschi” for short—brought her vision for Rancho Las Cascadas to a plateau in the Mexican highlands, where it grew into a world-renowned guest ranch. Located in San Agustín Buenavista, the ranch has collected some notable accolades: It’s one of Equitrekking’s top 20 ranches and has received Trip Advisor’s certificate of excellence nine years running, among others. From Rancho Las Cascadas you can head out to San Miguel de Allende, designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO; tour the famous pyramids of Teotihuacan; shop for spices, cowboy hats, boots or saddles at the local market; or choose from a number of in-thesaddle activities, whether you’re a seasoned equestrian or brand new to riding. The weary traveler can also jump in the infinity pool for a dip, simply soak in the hot tub, or laze around with a good book. A day at Rancho Las Cascadas 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. The ranch serves traditional Mexican cuisine in an elegant dining room that makes the day’s hot ride seem a lifetime away—and 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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Señor 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. The 48-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-akind antique store in historic San Miguel de Allende. The window here is also symbolic: Flea 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 décor, like this hand-painted pottery in a shop in Jilotopec. This traditional style adds a bright flourish to the Rancho Las Cascadas interior, too, and if you fall in love with any part of their décor—even the dishes!—they’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 find, one of many interesting items one can discover in San Miguel de Allende, recently named a UNESCO World Heritage City. The 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, I stop in the garden to take a few photos. This hummingbird appears, collecting nectar from the aloe vera flowers that only bloom once a year.

TRAVEL

The Casa de Sol was the first house at Rancho Las Cascadas that Swiss-born owner Ursula Wiprächtiger Schreyer—“Uschi” for short—built. It provided shelter for her as she built her dream ranch in the middle of rural Mexico. The casita houses up to five, and today it’s typically booked by families or couples who prefer more space.

Fresh fish are exchanged at Jilotopec’s local market, typical of the markets that dot the area around Rancho Las Cascadas. These 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.

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This plant, a succulent called Hens and Chicks, is actually a colony of plants. They’re sporting the last drops from a recent rainfall when I find them in the Rancho Las Cascadas garden on my way to breakfast. Their contrast with the red mulch is what caught my eye.

Just outside my room, my hat, half-chaps and jacket air out from a long day’s journey. Every 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. This 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. Not surprisingly, this traditional Mexican dish stays on the menu at Rancho Las Cascadas, 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. The saddles are called Charro saddles and hark back to an old Spanish style believed to have arrived with the conquistadors. The Spanish version had no horn, and the Charro’s large horn is a Mexican 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 infinity pool. It’s the reason Ursula Wiprächtiger Schreyer bought the property—and the inspiration for its name, Rancho Las Cascadas, the “ranch of the cascades.”

For More Inform ation Website: rancholascascadas.com Email: info@rancholascascadas.com Phone: +52 55 18 01 01 01 or +52 155 10 70 20 80 Skype: ranchocascadas Mailing Address: Rancho Las Cascadas, San Agustín Buenavista, San Francisco Soyaniquilpan de Juarez, CP 54280, Estado de Mexico, Mexico

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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

Ten years ago, Shariah Harris would never have expected to be among the 3,000 incoming freshmen arriving at Cornell University (N.Y.) this fall. She would have been amazed to know she’d get a full scholarship and blown away by the fact that Cornell 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 Lancaster Polo Club (Pa.) every Sunday during the summer. “One of the first questions I received when I told my friends I ride horses was, ‘Oh, so you have money,’ ” Harris said. “No, I don’t have money. An opportunity was presented to me, and I just hopped on it.”

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LEZLIE HINER PHOTO

Shariah Harris (left) with fellow Work To Ride polo team members Daymar Rosser (center) and Brandon Rease. “We all feel like a family here, and I definitely wanted to be a part of that,” Harris 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 S EP 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 To Ride is the brainchild of Lezlie Hiner, a former exercise rider who was working in sales at her father’s Philadelphia document-storage company in 1993 when she heard that the city was taking bids to run one of its former police stables, Chamounix Equestrian Center. Eager to swap out her business suit for jeans, Hiner pitched a plan to the city, but not for a traditional barn. What she proposed was a non-profit community outreach program, designed to mentor inner-city kids with discipline, hard work and the panacea for youthful malaise: horses. “Anyone in horses knows that when a kid gets into riding when they’re young, it kind of keeps them out of trouble,” Hiner, 58, said. “They just don’t have time for it! It was basically on that premise and the fact that we are located at the apex of two of the worst neighborhoods in Philadelphia—West Philly and North Philly—that I designed the program.” Hiner’s bid won. Soon the stables were filling with kids—mostly boys drawn by the lure of dirt and open space—and Hiner’s program was off at the gallop. By the time the Harris family pulled up in 2007, Work To Ride was going strong. The scene the Harrises found was mostly the same as it is today—15 to 20 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. Although they may not love each and every mundane chore, the kids are happy to do the work. Without it, they wouldn’t get to experience horses at all. “The kids come in knowing nothing,” Hiner explained. “They work hard, and they’re grateful for what they have.” Everyone who wants to ride has to work. And everyone who works gets to ride. Students between the ages of 7 and 19 can join the program by committing to a year of learning-by-doing that involves all aspects of horsemanship. Since horses have to be taken care of seven days a week, Hiner expects each student to be there as much as they can. As the kids get older, that often means every day of the week.

It’s a big commitment, for students and for parents. Shariah Harris’ mother Sharmell remembers times when she would have to ask for Hiner’s permission to spend time with her three children, all of whom enrolled in Work To Ride, or when they were available so she could schedule their annual appointments. And, she admits, at first she was skeptical about whether the program would be worth all the effort. “Initially, I had no faith,” Sharmell said with a laugh. “I just wanted my son to be a part of something positive with boys, instead of just being in a house full of females. My trust came years later, after spending almost every day at the barn and hearing countless stories about the barn. I realized that Lezlie was not just running a typical program. “Lezlie and the Work To Ride crew was an extended family that my children love and will always be connected to,” she added. Hiner reviews the report cards of every Work To Ride student at the end of each grading period. Any student with a grade lower than C is required to attend weekly tutoring sessions, and their riding rights get restricted—a punishment Shariah remembers as being more than enough motivation to study hard. But more than riding time is on the line for students willing to work hard in the program and at school. One of the most important aspects of Work To Ride is the Mecca Harris Scholarship Fund, set up in memory of a promising 14-yearold Work To Ride member. Mecca (no relation to Shariah) was shot dead, along with her mother Sheila Harris and Sheila’s boyfriend Daryl Bynum, in the family’s apartment during an alleged robbery in 2003. Mecca’s death dealt a devastating blow to everyone in the program, but Lezlie was determined to honor her memory with a promise for the future of Work To Ride students—the kind of future Mecca should have had. “We 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,” Hiner explained. “Donations have the option of being designated to the students’ scholarship funds, and any money they win goes into that fund. We 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,” said Work To Ride founder Lezlie Hiner, shown in the Philadelphia program’s barn.

with sponsors to get them interested in donating to a particular kid.” Students 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. A number of disciplines are taught at Work To Ride, but Hiner admits that for shows, she’s picky about what she encourages her kids to pursue. “We don’t compete in sports that require subjective comparison,” Hiner explained. “No hunters, no pleasure classes; I don’t do any of that. Nothing where it’s about who’s got the most expensive pony or is wearing the most expensive boots.” Work To Ride 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 fields 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 S EP TEMBER /OCTOBER 2016

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Shariah Harris (far left) and her Work To Ride polo teammates—(from left) brothers Kareem and Daymar Rosser and Shariah’s sister She’Ree Harris—traveled to Nigeria in 2013 for the UNICEF Cup 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) Daymar Rosser, Kareem Rosser and She’Ree Harris defeated Nigeria’s DeeBee Farms in a 5-4 victory at the 2013 UNICEF Cup in Nigeria.

“You would feel the looks. … Then when we beat them, you get respect a little bit.” –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) Daymar Rosser, Shariah Harris, Kareem Rosser and Shariah’s sister She’Ree Harris—celebrate their 2013 UNICEF Cup trophy in Nigeria, after their win over DeeBee Farms.

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 (Mass.) at the Myopia Polo Club, will join the famed Cornell University (N.Y.) women’s polo team this fall. She is the first Work To Ride student to attend an Ivy League 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, Shariah Harris competed in the Retired Racehorse Project’s 2015 Thoroughbred Makeover. She was the top-scoring junior in the field hunter division with Late Starter (shown) and the top-scoring junior as well as third in the polo division with Show Bill. C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M

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PROFILE

LEZLIE HINER PHOTOT

“The places where I first competed, they knew that when Work To Ride came, the black kids were coming,” said Shariah Harris (third from left), shown here after exercising Work To Ride horses with fellow program students (from left) Marc Harris, Shariah’s brother; Daymar Rosser; Samantha Rahe-Krick; and Malachi Lyles.

Shariah Harris trained and rode the 5-year-old Thoroughbred mare Show Bill, shown here at the Lancaster Polo Club (Pa.), to finish third in the 2015 Thoroughbred Makeover’s polo division. Nicknamed “Katy Perry,” Show Bill later sold to polo professional Trey Schott.

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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:

INGREDIENTS: 1 ham with bone in (approx. 12 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.

INGREDIENTS: NEIL LANGAN/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO

8 oz. rice 1 ½ lbs. whitefish or salmon fillets 4 oz. butter 1 onion, chopped ¾ tsp. mild curry powder

COLCANNON

salt and pepper

3. In the saucepan, melt 2 oz. of butter, and soften the onion in it for 5 minutes. 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), finely 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.

FANFO/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO

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

5. Add salt and pepper to taste.

1 tbsp. lemon juice

2. Drain off the water into a measuring cup or pan. Transfer the fish to a dish and cover with foil.

INGREDIENTS:

4. Mash the potatoes with milk or cream, and add in the greens and onions.

3 heaped tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped

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 Cál ceannann, meaning “white-headed cabbage”—is a traditional Irish dish that gives potatoes a creamy boost.

3. Add the onions and cook for another minute.

3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

KONSTANTIA KOPACHINSKY/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO

FEED ROOM

HUEVOS RANCHEROS

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

INGREDIENTS: 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 on medium heat until they are translucent. Add tomatoes and juice from the can. Add chopped green chili peppers, chili powder and salt to taste. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.

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

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.

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.

INGREDIENTS:

MONKEY BUSINESS IMAGES/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO

4 slices of bread

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8 oz. Cheddar cheese, grated 1 tsp. mustard powder 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 4 tbsp. Guinness 1 tbsp. butter 2 tsp. flour Black 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.

INGREDIENTS: 6 slices of day-old bread, cubed (French 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.)

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.

GRESEI/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO

INGREDIENTS:

MIMOSA

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. Scotch whisky

INGREDIENTS:

1 ½ oz. Stone’s green ginger wine

Equal parts Champagne and orange juice. Serve chilled.

Combine in a glass and drink!

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

MIKELEDRAY/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO

WHISKY MAC

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CITY GUIDE

Sun, Surf And Hoofbeats By LISA SLADE

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

VISIT THE BEACH…

It’s the most obvious Del Mar activity, and it’s the perfect one for an off day or even every day: Duck out after the long hours of showing and catch the sunset. Both Powerhouse Park and Seagrove Park, which are located above the 15th Street surf break and connected by a walkway, are open to the public. They’re easily accessible and offer parking nearby, but there are still miles of coastline to explore outside of those two locations. Both parks offer beach access, grassy areas for picnics and lounging and plenty of benches. East Coasters beware: The ocean water’s likely a bit colder than anything you’ve felt on the other side of the country, even in the summer. If you’re really wanting a dip—or even to take a surfing lesson—you might want to consider renting a wetsuit.

Powerhouse Park 1658 Coast Blvd. Del Mar, CA 92014

Seagrove Park 1601 Coast Blvd. Del Mar, CA 92014 (858) 755-9313 delmar.ca.us

SUSAN SCHMITZ FOR ISTOCKPHOTO.COM PHOTO

CITY GUIDE

If 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? Dogs are always allowed, but they aren’t allowed off leash at all times. The city keeps its “Dog Beach Del Mar North Beach” Facebook page updated with the off-leash times, and information is also available at the “Dog Friendly Beaches” 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

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DEL MAR RACETRACK

There aren’t many tracks in the world with a vista like this one: The famous stucco grandstand at the Del Mar race course is located directly in front of the Pacific Ocean. The track’s motto, aptly, is “Where The Turf Meets The Surf.” Live racing isn’t always in season (the track hosts a summer meet that typically runs from mid-July to early September and a fall meet from mid-November to early December), but even when the races aren’t on, it’s still worth walking over from the Del Mar National Horse Show, adjacent to the track. Tour the facility, maybe place a few simulcast bets at the Del Mar Surfside Race Place, and reflect on the history of the place. When the track opened in 1937, Bing Crosby greeted guests at the gate, and it was the site of a 1938 match race between Seabiscuit and Ligaroti (Seabiscuit won.). It’s also where, much more recently, the famous mare Zenyatta won three of her races. There are a series of concerts at the track during the off season, and you can find 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

…OR THE DOG BEACH

It’s tough to beat fresh California produce, and the Del Mar Farmers Market offers just that in spades every Saturday, 1-4 p.m., all year around. Want an escape from horse show burgers and fries? You can stock up for the next week of showing here. In 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. Here’s a bonus: The market directly benefits the community through its support for local conservancy programs, the Del Mar Library and even some student scholarships. 225 9th Street Del Mar, CA 92014 (858) 465-0013 delmarfarmersmarket.org

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEL MAR FARMERS MARKET

A lot of Del Mar has a casual beach vibe, but if it’s luxury you’re seeking, that’s possible too. L’Auberge Del Mar is a four-star hotel with beachfront views and a highly-rated spa. The 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. Best of all, it’s about a 10-minute drive from Del Mar’s horse show venues. L’Auberge 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

DEL MAR FARMERS MARKET

PHOTO COURTESY OF L’AUBERGE

L’AUBERGE DEL MAR

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CITY GUIDE PACIFICA DEL MAR

PHOTO COURTESY OF PACIFICA DEL MAR

At Pacifica Del Mar, you can sample the fruits of the sea while gazing out at the Pacific. Of course, seafood is their specialty—patrons recommend the shrimp and grits and the porcinidusted sea scallops—but the filet mignon is popular there as well. Start with the oysters, raw or baked, and then finish up with the signature Pacifica’s Burnt Cream dessert with caramelized bananas. The 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 pacificadelmar.com

It’s not the fanciest place—you can stop in wearing beach clothes or breeches—and that’s one of the things locals and visitors alike will tell you they love about it. Board & Brew, which opened its first location in Del Mar in 1979 and still stands in that same spot today, is renowned for both its craft beer selection and its giant sandwiches. The Turkado (with turkey, jack cheese and avocado on sourdough) is a favorite, as is the grilled Baja Chicken that features jalapeños and a French baguette. Just make sure you order the famed “secret sauce,” Board & Brew’s biggest claim to gastronomic fame. The 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

BOARD & BREW DEL MAR

TAKE A HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE

On the evenings in Del Mar, the sky is often full of hot air balloons. Feeling jealous of their sunset views? You can take one for a spin yourself, with the help of a certified pilot. The flights take you over the coastline, and on clear days you can see all the way to Mexico. If you like your bubbly in mid-air, there are in-flight Champagne toasts available, as well as other features.

Panda Air Bear Hot Air Balloon Flights GARY ARBACH FOR ISTOCKPHOTO.COM PHOTO

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

California Dreamin’ (800) 373-3359 www.californiadreamin.com

Sky’s The Limit Ballooning Adventures (760) 602-0295 sandiegoballoonrides.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF FREE FLIGHT

FREE FLIGHT EXOTIC BIRD SANCTUARY

BEAMING ORGANIC SUPERFOOD CAFÉ

Located just down the road from both Del Mar horse shows, this renowned exotic bird sanctuary features parrots of all colors and sizes. Free Flight is open daily (weather permitting), and you can visit and learn about the birds for a small admission fee of $7 for adults and $3 for kids under 13. Spend some time walking among the birds, and even feeding them, with the help of Free Flight’s parrot experts. It’s definitely not your average horse show day activity, but Del Mar isn’t your average place, either. 2132 Jimmy Durante Blvd. Del Mar, CA 92014 (858) 481-3148 freeflightbirds.org

If you want to live and eat like the locals in Del Mar, you’re going to have to eat healthy. At the Beaming Café, you can pick up some cold-pressed fresh juices for a cleanse, or you can just enjoy a superfood smoothie or salad (There’s even a juice dubbed the “hangover cure”—with sparkling mineral water, apple cider vinegar, fresh ginger, raw honey and B vitamins—if you indulged too heavily the night before.). If you’re seeking some more serious refueling, they offer dishes like the raw vegetable lasagna or an açaí protein bowl that you can take back to the horse show with you. You can even finish 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 What kind of place is Jake’s Del Mar? It’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 CeeLo Green. It’s another oceanfront establishment—with floor-toceiling windows for optimal views—with a focus on doing seriously good seafood. Start with the tartare tostada, enjoy the mixed seafood pot (fresh fish, scallops, mussels and shrimp in a saffron tomato broth) or the lobster tail, and then make sure to finish with the “Sweet Cheeks” chocolate ganache cake or fire-torched pineapple banana cake. From the bar, the pink grapefruit martini is a local favorite. Jake’s is also a popular lunch spot, and they offer a brunch on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If 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

RED TRACTON’S STEAKHOUSE

Red Tracton’s upscale steakhouse, located at the Winners Circle Resort directly across the street from the Del Mar racetrack, is most famous for its prime rib, but the Alaskan king crab legs and “gigantic Australian lobster tail” shouldn’t be missed either—if they’re in season and available during your visit. The loaded baked potato, dauntingly huge, makes an excellent side item if you’ve worked up an appetite in the barn. The live piano bar adds ambiance, and it’s a great location to spot some of Thoroughbred racing’s most famous horsemen, like 2016 Triple Crown winning trainer Bob Baffert. The 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

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NAKED CAFE

Naked Cafe is tucked away in a parking lot across from the beach in Solana Beach, just a few miles north of Del Mar, and it’s easy to miss at first glance. But you want to make sure you don’t miss Naked Cafe, which serves breakfast and lunch. The feature is definitely the coconut-encrusted French toast, but the place also makes a mean breakfast burrito. All the options are vegetarian-friendly, and they offer both a vegan sausage and soy chorizo. A 24-ounce French press of Kona coffee will get you ready for a long day. Warning: The 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

PHOTO COURTESY OF JAKE’S DEL MAR

JAKE’S DEL MAR

E N T E R TA I N I N

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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

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

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, I don’t think I would have come as far along as I have now,” said Ben Cheston, shown here with Second Chances horse Selway. Cheston learned horseshoeing in the Second Chances Program at the James River Work Center in State Farm, Va., 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.

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 James River Work Center in State Farm, Va., is one of nine Second Chances programs based at correctional facilities around the nation. Inmates accepted into Second Chances 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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CHARITY SPOTLIGHT

Jet On Home relaxes in the barn at the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s James River Work Center 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.”

LEARN MORE: Visit the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation website at trfinc.org.

GET IN TOUCH: Contact the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation headquarters in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., at (518) 226-0028 or via the email contact box at trfinc.org/contact-us/.

GET INVOLVED: In addition to monetary donations, the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation encourages donations of equipment, from equine first-aid items to blankets, bridles and barn supplies. To see a list of needed items, check out the TRF’s online Wish List at trfinc.org/wish-list/. The group also offers other donation opportunities, such as hay drives and horse sponsorship. Volunteers are also welcome. For more information on becoming a volunteer, use the email form on the “Contact” page at trfinc.org.

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BEST OF WEB & PRINT

LINDSAY BERRETH PHOTOS

What’s Hot On The Web

u 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.

u 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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u A Long And Winding

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.

u Shady Sales And Secret

AMATEUR ISSUE: Is Your Saddle

Pad Sabotaging Your

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Vol. 79, No. 17 July 11 & 18, 2016 • $4.99

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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

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u Do You Have What It

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u 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.”

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.”

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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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