U.S. Hunter Jumper Association honors dedicated trainer who helps lay a foundation for students not only in riding, but also in horsemanship and empathy for the animal
Kit Sydnor, a trainer who got her start in New Jersey, was honored by the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association as a mentor providing a firm foundation for the riders she teachesActually, the riding part scared her at first; she remembers fretting on her way to troop lessons at Union County's Watchung Stables, then in Summit, but adds she wouldn't have missed the opportunity for the world.
Once she caught on, however, she couldn't stay out of the saddle. Sydnor finally got a horse when she was in high school, after her family moved to Peapack. There she rode with the Somerset Hills Pony Club under the tutelage of such legends as Col. Jack Fritz, then vice president of the U.S. Equestrian Team, and Col. D.W. Thackeray, a cavalry veteran who was a judge in a variety of disciplines.
At Sweetbriar College in Virginia, she eagerly sopped up every bit of equestrian knowledge available to her. After graduation, she taught at a Montessori school in Chester, but was depressed not being with horses, so she went to work teaching at the well-known Pegasus/Meadowbrook stables in the Washington D.C./Maryland Rock Creek Park, where she found her profession.
Sydnor always was an avid reader of books about horses and horsemanship, one of which was the respected volume, "School for Young Riders" written by noted instructor Jane Marshall Dillon, copyright 1958.
So it was a special honor last month when Sydnor, 67, was a recipient of the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association's Jane Marshall Dillon trophy, along with Dianne Johnson of Washington State.
The award recognizes those who have "devoted their lives to teaching and mentoring riders beginning their education in the hunter/jumper discipline. These teachers have been instrumental in building future horsemen, by instructing their students in proper horsemanship, training and riding while instilling in them the principles of integrity, empathy for the horse and a strong work ethic."
That describes Sydnor, who now runs a Virginia farm with her daughter, Jennifer Fessler, and continues as an instructor in her sensitive and perceptive way.
"I guess my teaching has mostly evolved to `What is your horse telling you?' and helping the rider try to figure that out, and help the horse," said Sydnor.
"I keep teaching because of the horses and all the things they teach us; me included. I love their sensitivity, and believe strongly that in our computerized world, people need to also keep developing their abilities to be aware of the feeling of other living beings, to communicate, to control their own feelings, to focus and concentrate, to form a partnership. Computers do not do that, nor do most other sports."
Parker Pearson, one of the people who nominated her for the award put it this way, "As a mentor to young professionals, she emphasizes the importance of ethics, sportsmanship, and integrity within the business and imparts this with as much prowess as the technical knowledge she also shares."
Added Pearson, "She is truly one of the stars in our midst who sometimes go unrecognized because they are too humble and busy doing what they have always done to stand up and shine."
A CHANCE TO LEARN -- "Responsible Horse Ownership in a Tough Economic Climate" says it all about the problems so many in the equestrian world are facing, which is why that is the subject of the horse management seminar being presented next month by the Rutgers Equine Science Center and Rutgers Cooperative Extension.
"The Equine Science Center has been trying to push responsible horse ownership because of the whole unwanted horse issue," said Carey Williams, the extension's horse specialist and associate director of the extension for the Center.
As people encounter financial problems and can no longer keep their horses, a number of the animals wind up at auction, while others are headed for slaughter or dumped on other people's property.
One seminar topic will address the cost of keeping a horse by Carissa Wickens of the University of Delaware, while economical veterinary care will be discussed by Michael Fugaro of Centenary College and Mountain Pointe Veterinary. Williams will speak on reducing feed costs by improving pastures.
"So many people want to rescue everything out there and they take on horses and don't realize it's more of a financial burden than they thought. Then they're not doing the horse any service," said Williams. "There's no such thing as a free horse."
She added, "We're hoping before people take on the responsibility, they could come and listen to this and find out, `Maybe I need a couple of people to help me.'"
Horse businesses also are struggling in tough times, and the center has been seeking grants to offer business courses for those trying to make a living in the industry, but that program won't start until next year.
To fill the gap, part of the seminar is directed at them.
While people in horse-related businesses know a lot about the animals, they often don't know much about a balance sheet.
"When we did a survey of businesses, pretty much everybody says, `We don't have a business plan but yes, we think they are important,'" reported Williams.
"That told us we need to help horse owners, whether it's a farm business or they're making horse treats or it's a small tack business."
Robin Brumfield of Rutgers has a presentation on business planning for equestrians, while marketing and promotion of horses and services is the topic of William Day of the State University of New York at Morrisville;
Registration postmarked before Saturday gets a price break; $50 for adults and $20 for children or students. After that date, it's $65/$35. Enrollment is limited.
The seminar runs from 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at the Cook Campus Center in New Brunswick.
Information is available on the Equine Science Center website at esc.rutgers.edu or contact Laura Gladney at 848-932-3229, gladney@aesop.rutgers.edu, or Williams at 848-932-5529, cwilliams@aesop.rutgers.edu.
ON THE RAIL -- Services for dressage pioneer Lazelle Knocke will be held today at 4:30 p.m. in the Readington Reformed Church on Readington Road under the direction of Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, Flemington. Go to holcombefisher.com for further information or to send condolences.
Mrs. Knocke, 94, died Christmas day. A resident of Readington for more than a half-century, she rode out of her Hobby Horse Hill farm there. She served as president of the U.S. Dressage Federation, which she helped found, and also was a founder of the Eastern States Dressage Association, now the Eastern States Dressage and Combined Training Association.
Gifts in her memory may be made to The Dressage Foundation, 1314 'O' Street, Suite 305, Lincoln, Neb., 68508 or to the ESDCTA Don Perignon Educational Fund, c/o Marsha Montgomery, 11 Indian Run, Whitehouse Station, N.J. 08889.
Totilas, the most admired dressage horse of the 21st Century, will not be coming to Florida this month for the World Dressage Masters as planned.
The only horse ever to score more than 90 percent in competition, the black Dutchbred stallion took weeks to recover from a twisted leg joint and is now back in light work at home in Germany. He would not be sufficiently fit, however, to take part in the Masters at Palm Beach County's Jim Brandon Equestrian Center at the end of January.
With the Olympics this summer as a goal, his owners are not taking any chances with him.
Totilas is the second high-profile entry withdrawn from the competition. Olympic multi-gold medalist Anky van Grunsven of the Netherlands, a previous winner of the Masters' Florida leg, announced late last year she could not make it after her husband, Sjef Jansen, the Dutch team trainer, suffered health problems.
The Masters still has a good line-up, however, featuring last year's winner, U.S. national champion Steffen Peters with Ravel, and Great Britain's Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro on their first trip to America. Dujardin was a winner at London's Olympia show last month and a close fourth behind Totilas and Matthias Alexander Rath in the 2011 European Championships.
The Masters' organization is hoping to have Dujardin's mentor, Carl Hester, as a fill-in for Rath and Totilas. Hester was second in the European championships on the marvelous Uthopia, another exciting stallion.
ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE
Today: Snowbird Winter Show, Hunter's Crossing Farm, 121 E. Valley Brook Road, Long Valley; Black River Farm Jumper Show Winter Tour, 20 Boss Road, Ringoes; Palermo Show Stable Winter Festival, 1555A Burnt Mills Road, Pluckemin.
Saturday: Duncraven Winter Circuit, 1300 Trenton-Harbourton Road, Titusville (through next Sunday).
Nancy Jaffer may be reached at nancyjaffer@att.net.