The Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg was one big continuation of Washington D.C. I stayed in the East and did not go back to L.A. The North Run horses remained at the layover facility at the Prince George Equestrian Center, the site of the Capital Challenge Horse Show. They were shipped to Harrisburg two days before the show started.
In Harrisburg’s jumper team competition, the Prix de States, the California riders from Zone 10 were unbeatable. The team was comprised of Karl Cook, Aurora Griffin, Paris Sellon, and Tina Dilandri. The USEF Hunt Seat Medal Equitation Final was won by my barnmate Kimmy McCormack. She had a confident and smooth first, second and work-off round.
The USEF is a strange final in that the riders from California book the late flight hoping to make it to the work-off, but when they don’t, they zoom off to the airport hoping to get on a stand-by flight. As I am always scrambling for rides to the airport and relying on the kindness of strangers, I got stuck and will forever be grateful to Jocelyn Neff and her mother for coming to my rescue and letting me accompany them to the Philadelphia airport. Thank you to the Neffs.
Me helping Cleopatra in the Costume Parade.
I was home for a couple of days and got to help out with the Halloween costume parade at my community riding ring. The adorable kids in the canyon where I ride went all-out with their pony’s costumes and their own costumes. The parents and grandparents went all-out too. It was pretty funny to see Steven Spielberg do the “Dad” thing videoing his daughter Destry and her pony in their matching Hershey’s M&Ms outfits. The “cute” award went to Freddy, barn manager extraordinaire, and his son Little Freddie and daughter Danielle. They were dressed as Maximilian, the Emperor of Mexico, and Princess Carlotta.
Syracuse
Two days later I was on the plane to Syracuse for the ASPCA Maclay Medal Final. The venue for the Final is the Oncenter Complex and War Memorial, a large indoor arena and exhibition center. The arena doubles as a historical showcase to honor the veterans of war, which includes a series of glass cases with life-size mannequins in military uniforms dating back to the civil war. The nurses in their Red Cross uniforms were the only females in a sea of uniformed male soldiers. It is a sobering reminder of how easily a life is lost in war and how little control the men and women who fight for our country have over their destiny.
Freddie and his children in the Sullivan Canyon Costume Parade.
The competition area in the On-Star Center is directly over the ice rink. A wood surface is laid over the hockey rink and the footing poured over that. Syracuse gets very cold in the winter and one way of keeping warm is to eat lots of fried food. A featured snack at the concession booth is “fried dough” or funnel cakes. It is ubiquitous in upstate New York. Fried dough with sugar, fried dough with pizza sauce. I made the mistake of getting a fried croissant at the airport. It was extremely forgettable, not to mention greasy.
Anyway, back to the show: the horses are stabled in concrete multi-story parking structures. This year they plywooded the sides so the horses were somewhat protected from cold, drafty winds. You walk your horse down the ramps, which have been made safe with a runway of black rubber mats. Next you hit the city sidewalks, then over the crosswalk, which is manned 24/7 with cheerful policemen, and into the warm-up area where a battalion of Budweiser Clydesdales greet you from their giant ringside circus cages.
The equitation warm-up rounds begin at an ungodly hour of the morning/night and are completed at the crack of dawn when they begin to prepare the ring and set the course for the Maclay. The judges were George Morris and Linda Hough and the course had George Morris written all over it. It was challenging but fair and had just enough surprise fences (free-standing arch and narrow, leaf-covered free-standing wall) to cull the field to a manageable number. My round was tidy and respectable. I was on the stand-by for a decent amount of time. The flat phase narrowed the finalists to 18 and the second round really tested those who remained.
My barnmates (at trainer Missy Clark’s North Run), Tatiana Dzavick and Kimmy McCormack were the ones to beat from the first round and the flat. Tat had a stop and Kimmy’s round was the round you dream about. It was flawless, smooth and fluid. She was one with her horse Sundance. She worked really hard all year and was rewarded with wins in the Medal at Harrisburg and the Maclay at Syracuse. They were well-deserved wins and it was fun to see Kimmy, her mom, and her sister Kristy (who won the USET Final East in 2002) get so excited back in the barn area over the silver tray. They all wanted to touch it. The excitement of a big win never goes away.
The McCormacks do most of their own grooming, so after the oohs and ahhs, it was back to work. Sundance, a.k.a. “Tommy,” needed to be washed and wrapped and the trunks needed to be packed. It is a reminder to all of us that this sport requires a serious support system. Mrs. McCormack is amazing. She has traveled with Kimmy all year, as groom, chauffeur of the horse trailer, and sports therapist. She looked as happy as Kimmy. And let’s not forget Mr. McCormack: he pays the bills.
Big Jumping
Another component, really the main focus of the show, which is called the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament, is the show jumping. This is a big money show with top international Grand Prix riders. John Madden created it, brought in sponsors, and many family members are on staff. Beezie Madden jumped her Olympic horse Judgement a record 6’4” in the Four-Bar class. Leslie Howard almost fell off and Margie Goldstein-Engle did fall off. Course designers Leopoldo Palacios and Richard Jeffries set some very tough and tricky tracks.
Kimberly McCormack, my North Run barnmate and winner of the
ASPCA Maclay Final in Syracuse.
Photo: Reflections
For me, one of the most interesting aspects of the show was watching Kent Farrington on his amazing horse Up Chiqui go up against Olympic rider McLain Ward on his new mount Philippa. These two horses are as good as they get, but could not have more completely different jumping styles. Both are chestnut and quick and clear, but that’s all that they have in common. Up Chiqui is a 10 year old Belgian Warmblood stallion. He is the equine version of a laser tag gun. He zones in on the fence, measures the distance, targets it and magically vaults over, sort of like Keanu Reeves in The Matrix. He looks so proud of his effort at the end of every round. The eventual winners were Ward and Philippa, a 9 year old mare owned by Sagamore Farms and built like a stunning Breyer horse model. She has flawless conformation. She lopes effortlessly over every fence, but can pour on the speed when asked to. She allows McLain to look like the equitation rider that he is. Both horses get the job done and have extraordinary talent. Both riders are at the top of the AGA rankings.
In summing up the entire fall season I want to single out the junior riders from the West Coast. I want to mention the wonderful rides that Tina Dilandri, Hannah Selleck, Shelby Wakeman, Carly Anthony, Michelle Morris, Lucy Davis, Mallory Olsen, Sophie Verge and Stephanie Underwood put in. All of them have worked very hard, along with their respective trainers, Karen Healy, Archie Cox, Joe Thorpe, Keri Kampsen and Benson Caroll. Benson may not be as well known, as he is from Northern California and hasn’t been a regular at the back east finals. He is extremely knowledgeable and has many noteworthy accomplishments in the equitation as well as hunters and jumpers. His riders were a little under the radar, which makes their exceptional rounds so significant.
Zazou Hoffman is an accomplished junior hunter/jumper rider who lives in Santa Monica. California Riding Magazine is pleased to have this hard-working young rider as a regular columnist. She can be reached via e-mail at barnum1126@adelphia.net and her past columns can be viewed at www.ridingmagazine.com.
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