As the Essex Fox Hounds mark the 100th anniversary of their incorporation, they plan a new event and invite the public to attend. UPDATE: Sinead Halpin wins at Plantation Field International Horse Trials.
The Essex Fox Hounds, who draw a crowd for the Thanksgiving meet would like to see as enthusiastic a turnout for their new race day at Natirar next month Don't confuse this with the Far Hills Race Meeting of sanctioned steeplechasing that will be held just down the road at Moorland Farm the following Saturday, Oct. 19, with 30,000 or so in attendance.
The Essex offering is far more low-key, starting out with children's stick horse races, where the kids' little legs supply the locomotion, and continuing with leadline pony races.
The main events include a flat race, a timber race and a master's chase, in which competitors follow a leader over 2-foot, 6-inch fences, then gallop to the finish line when the leader peels off after the last fence. Stables or groups of friends can assemble teams for a relay race, in which they pass a baton. This is an opportunity for amateur and junior riders to try something different.
It's all in fun as part of "A Weekend in Gladstone," which celebrates a century of the hunt's incorporation. Among the activities are a procession of the coaches, foxhounds and riders down Main Street to the park, as well as a meet of the foxhounds at the Murphy family's Bedminster farm the day before the races and a hunt ball honoring the organization's legends at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation on the evening of the meet.
"We thought this was a great way to capitalize on our 100th year of incorporation," said Karen Murphy, one of the hunt's joint masters.
A photo of the Essex Fox Hounds in the early 20th Century The activity at Natirar may go beyond the centennial, however, and end up as a regular part of the Somerset Hills scene.
"Both ourselves and the park commission would love to see it become something that's annual," she continued.
" You couldn't ask for a more picturesque setting. We don't envision this becoming something of national acclaim like the (Far Hills) race meet, but we do want something that is within our own community that gives a little understanding of why we keep open space."
The outreach is important, and those in the hunt hope to do more of it, because many residents know nothing about the role of foxhunting in preserving the area's countryside ambience, or even about the hunt itself.
The only time the hunt is in the public eye is at its Thanksgiving Day meet, when scores of cars stream into one of the big estates, and everyone clambers out to watch the field come together and set off.
The interest in that gathering started when Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was a member of the hunt. Her celebrity drew a crowd that got in the habit of coming and continues to return annually nearly two decades after her death.
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis at the Essex Fox Hounds Thanksgiving meet in the early 1990s. Behind her and to the left is her son, John Kennedy But contrary to the perception of some, sport and preservation of the countryside are at the heart of the hunt.
"It's really about the chase," Murphy said, noting foxes are experts at eluding the hounds.
"It's about a way of life, a tradition we keep going."
The public is invited to watch the procession, expected to start after 11 a.m., and attend the races in the back field at Natirar. The gates open at 10 a.m. with racing beginning at noon. Admission is $40 per carload or $400 and $200 for two levels of tailgating in proximity to the action. Those who want to hike from the main parking area at Natirar are welcome to attend at no charge.
"We would like to have as many people as possible have an understanding of what we're doing and enjoy it," Murphy said.
PLANTATION FIELD -- Going to the Fall Classic jumper show at the Devon, Pa., showgrounds last weekend paid off for Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carneville, who added a clean stadium jumping round to their stellar dressage performance in the Plantation Field CIC 3-star in Unionville, Pa. They then finished off their weekend yesterday with a perfect cross-country performance to win the highly competitive division. (It was run under a format that held cross-country last, rather than as the second phase.)
The show jumping was a focus for Halpin, who runs a barn in Annandale, and worked with New Jersey show jumping trainer Amanda Flint to up her game in that segment. An accident in that phase with another horse sidelined Halpin earlier this year, but she and "Tate" looked extremely confident all the way through the weekend
.
Tate is a cross-country machine, as he proved once again over the rolling Tremaine Cooper-designed course at Plantation Field.Halpin finished on 37.8 penalties, while second-place Jennie Brannigan with Cambalda had 46.2.
Sinead Halpin and Manoir de Carniville were fault-free in the CIC 3-star show jumping phase at the Plantation Field event and went on to win the division with a perfect performance cross-country Halpin executed her plan cross-country "to take some of the more inside lines and test the boundary of how sharp an angle" she could ride to the jumps. Although she hadn't planned to come in under the optimum time, it worked out that way, as she had 13 seconds to spare when she crossed the finish line.
Halpin also celebrated as her fiance, Tik Maynard, finished second in the Open Intermediate division with Sapphire. He then bravely went on to ride Dutch Times to second place in the bareback puissance where the wall went up to 6-feet, 2-inches.
In the CIC 2-star, Boyd Martin went wire-to-wire to win with Pancho Villa.
Plantation Field, in a scenic hunt country setting, is getting more popular every year. Other big names competing included Phillip Dutton, fifth with Olympic veteran Mr. Medicott in the CIC 3-star and Doug Payne of Gladstone, fourth in the CIC 3-star aboard Crown Talisman.
ON THE RAIL -- The show jumping and dressage World Cup finals are coming back to the U.S. at last. Las Vegas, which hasn't hosted the indoor championships since 2009, last week was given the nod to present the 2015 joint edition of the Longines FEI Show Jumping World Cup and the Reem Acra FEI Dressage
World Cup.
Guadalajara, Mexico, orignally won the bid for the April 2015 competition, but it couldn't meet FEI requirements and Vegas was back in the picture.
Las Vegas Events, which has presented the finals five times previously, already is gearing up for its encore. It wasted no time in putting up a website, www.worldcuplasvegas.com, and will be starting general ticket sales early next year.
Beezie Madden, the current show jumping title holder (and the first American woman to take the crown since 1987) is understandably enthusiastic about the news.
"Having a championship in the U.S. is fantastic for our sport. It gives people a chance to be able to afford to come, and any time you can bring the Europeans here and have people be able to see them, I think it can only inspire young riders," she said.
Madden anticipates enthusiasm from her fellow riders about qualifying for the 2015 competition.
"Everybody always wanted to come to Las Vegas," she pointed out...
Aspiring endurance riders can learn more about the sport at a "Distance Riding 101" clinic Friday and Saturday at Horseshoe Bend Park in Kingwood Township.
The park also will be the scene of a pleasure trail ride from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday.
For information, contact sleeper@vet.penn.edu.
ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE
Today: Delaware Valley Horsemen's Association Driving Show, DVHA showgrounds, 299 Ringoes-Rosemont Road, Sergeantsville; Princeton Show Jumping, Hunter Farms North, 246 Burnt Hill Road, Skillman; Asbury Classic Week 1, The Ridge at Riverview, 3 Wolverton Road, Asbury; Spotted Toad Equestrian Show, Hunter Farms North, 246 Burnt Hill Road, Skillman; N.J. Horse Shows Association Annual Show, Briarwood Farm, Pleasant Run Road, Readington; K9 Soldiers Benefit Show, Changewater Stables, 483 Route 519, Stewartsville; Palermo True Schooling Show Series, 1555A Burnt Mills Road, Bedminster; Oxbow Dressage Show, Combined Test and Horse Trials, 39 Orts Road, Hamburg; High Point Equestrian Center Dressage Show, Combined Test and Horse Trials, 20 Birchtree Road, Montague; Autumn Riders Show, East Freehold Park, Kozloski Road, Freehold.
Wednesday: Princeton Show Jumping, Hunter Farms North, 246 Burnt Hill Road, Skillman (through next Sunday).
Friday: Woodedge at the Park, Horse Park of New Jersey, Route 524, Allentown (through next Sunday).
Saturday: Amwell Valley Hounds Hunter Trials, Plum Broke Farm, 12 Seabrook Road, Stockton; Garden State Paint Show, Gloucester County Dream Park, 400 Route 130 South, Logan Township (through next Sunday); Briarwood Farm Show, Pleasant Run Road, Readington; Spotted Toad Equestrian Show, Hunter Farms North, 246 Burnt Hill Road, Skillman (through next Sunday).
Next Sunday: Essex Fox Hounds Hunter Trials, Essex Hunt Club, Holland Road, Peapack; Kickin' Childhood Cancer Charity Show, Red Oak Farm, 557 Pleasant Plains Road, Stirling; Delaware Valley Horsemen's Association Hunter Show DVHA showgrounds, 299 Ringoes-Rosemont Road, Sergeantsville; Smoke Rise Riding Club Show, 1 Talbot Dr., Kinnelon.
Nancy Jaffer may be reached at nancyjaffer@comcast.net.