After a summer in Europe, a Califon trainer is competing in September's most interesting dressage freestyles. Plus, news from all over, including a Jerseyan's victory in the Zone 2 Maclay regionals.
Catherine Haddad Staller of Califon and Mane Stream Hotmail will be competing in the freestyle at the Central Park show and then Dressage at Devon. After a summer in Europe, Catherine Haddad Staller has come back to the U.S. to show off what her horse has learned.
The Califon resident will be competing Mane Stream Hotmail Saturday in the Dressage Challenge at the first Central Park Horse Show, as part of a field that includes Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games team gold medalist Isabell Werth of Germany, WEG team bronze medalist Hans Peter Minderhoud of the Netherlands and Olympic medalist Ashley Holzer of Canada. A highlight of the evening, presented by Rolex, is expected to be an exhibition by Steffen Peters of the U.S., bringing his longtime mount Ravel out of retirement.
Staller was a key player in raising the prize money that insured the WEG selection trials for the U.S. team were held in Gladstone during June, but she didn't compete there and focused on riding abroad instead.
"I was really disappointed," she said.
"I wanted to do Gladstone, but I just came to the conclusion that my horse wasn't ready for the pressure of being on a team. I'm not someone who ever backed off from a challenge," Staller added, explaining, "I felt like I was making the right decision for the career of my horse."
Hotmail was very tense at first in Europe, especially during the lively prizegiving ceremonies. Staller did a lot of response training with him, teaching the chestnut gelding through natural horsemanship techniques to respond by relaxing when he became uptight.
Now she's finally ready to present him to the public close to home.
"I feel like the training I did with him this summer has prepared him to handle venues like Central Park. But it's very hard for me to predict, because I don't know anything about the venue. No one has ever shown there before, so no one can give me any tips or clues. We're all assuming Central Park will be quite an exciting atmosphere," she commented.
"I'm not too worried about it. I think he'll step up to the plate. It's a very good test for him. The show is more of an exhibition, it doesn't count for world rankings, it's a very good training ground."
It's actually going to be a prep for the prestigious Dressage at Devon show in suburban Philadelphia the following weekend.
"My goal with this inexperienced horse is to turn him into a fierce Grand Prix competitor," she revealed.
"I would like him to step in the show ring this winter in Florida and be a force to contend with. I think Devon is a good place to start with that. It's not the same venue every weekend, like we get in Wellington (Florida). It's like the European venues and pulls in very big crowds. and the footing is excellent. I know I can rely on my horse to give me his best there."
She added, "Dressage at Devon is the real deal, with educated spectators."
They know what they're watching, so the freestyle footwork has to be fancy. She keeps making changes in the choreography for her freestyle, performed to, "On Top of the World" by Imagine Dragons, an alternative rock band from Las Vegas.
Speaking of Vegas, there's another goal that Staller is eyeing. The World Cup finals is set for Vegas next April, and competition will be heated. She expects only three U.S. riders will be able to participate and "everybody wants to do it. I'm certainly going to try. I know I have to have my horse not only technically correct, but artistically much more expressive to get to that level.
"That kind of of artistic expression comes out of technical correctness," said Staller, who is always working to hone her own skills while she trains her horse.
As she views the scenario, "It's easy to ride a freestyle if your technique is at your fingertips."
ON THE RAIL -- Michael Hughes did it again. The Allendale teen won the ASPCA Maclay Zone 2 Regional Finals yesterday for the second year in a row.
Coached by Missy Clark and John Brennan, Hughes finished ahead of his friend Ailish Cuniffe in the competition at the American Gold Cup in Westchester County, N.Y. Both are the children of professionals in the horse business. This is Hughes' last year competing as a junior...
The U.S. team of WEG star Beezie Madden -- double clear on Simon -- McLain Ward, Lauren Hough and Leslie Howard was second yesterday in the $300,000 BMO Nations' Cup at the Spruce Meadows show in Canada, where the home team won for only the second time since 1977....
Two New Jersey riders will be part of the NYC vs. the World Pro-Am show jumping competition in Central Park Friday night.
Jessica Springsteen of Rumson and Devin Ryan from Long Valley are on Georgina Bloomberg's NYC team.
It will face a "World" squad captained by Kent Farrington, a member of the U.S. show jumping bronze medal contingent at the WEG.
The show makes its debut with a jumping grand prix Thursday evening at the Trump Rink. Other activities include the dressage competition Saturday night and polo next Sunday afternoon, along with a variety of exhibitions at 9 a.m. and noon Saturday and next Sunday. For more information, go to www.centralparkhorseshow.com...
Herrmann’s Original Royal Lipizzan Stallions of Austria, under the direction of Gabriella Herrmann, will appear at Lord Stirling Stable, 256 South Maple Ave., Basking Ridge next weekend.
They will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 and 5 p.m.next Sunday.
The show, presented by the Somerset County Park Commission and the Friends of Lord Stirling Stable, features the airs above the ground for which these horses are famous. Once used in battle to intimidate enemy foot soldiers, the leaps have become an amazing art form.
This breed is best known for its connection with Austria's Spanish Riding School and it was featured in the Walt Disney movie, "The Miracle of the White Stallions."
Advance ticket prices are $20. Tickets purchased after Thursday are $25. They may be purchased online at www.flssnj.org http://www.flss.org. Children 5 and under are admitted free. Alternatively, tickets can be purchased at the stable office with cash or check. For more information, call (908) 766-5955...
Melissa Fellers, of Lincoln Park won the Marshall & Sterling National Finals HITS Working Hunter Professional Division Championship with Larger Than Life in Saugerties, N.Y., last week.
The 13-year-old gelding, owned since he was five by Linda Corvari of Long Valley, has been blind in his right eye since 2011. But that doesn't stop the horse, who is shown by his owner in the adult hunter division.
Fellers, who is associated with Robert Beck in Long Valley, also was reserve champion with Unwritten, an 8-year-old Hanoverian who belongs to Amy Miller of Mendham.
The Bit O' Straw Hunter Classic at the Marshall & Sterling Finals went to Hope Leeper's Take Five, guided by Emily Irene, who rides out of Heritage Stable in Randolph.
The $50,000 Princeton Young Jumper Championships presented by B.W. Furlong and Associates runs Wednesday through Saturday at Hunter Farms North, 246 Burnt Hill Road, Skilllman as part of the Princeton Show Jumping Fall Tournament.
Classes for five-, six-, seven- and eight-year-old horses will be featured, over routes laid out by Irish course designer Alan Wade. The show ends with the $30,000 Grand Prix of Princeton for older horses next Sunday afternoon. Go to www.hunterfarms.us for more information...
Want to brush up on practical first aid for your horse? Veterinarian Christina Wilson is holding a seminar on the subject Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. The evening at the Lower Valley Presbyterian Church Parish Hall, 445 Route 513, Califon, will include tips on how to control bleeding and taking your horse's vital signs.
Accountant Stacey Yalenti also will offer information on business fundamentals for horse and stable owners. RSVP to equiheartvet@gmail.com.
ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE
Today: Spring Valley Hounds Polo Match, Grayfields Farm, 80 Long Bridge Road, Allamuchy (exit 19 Route 80, gates open 10 a.m. for noon start, postponed from yesterday); Eastern Pennsylvania Reining Horse Association Reining Thunder Futurity, Gloucester County Dream Park, 400 Route 130 South, Logan Township; Tewksbury Trail Association Trail Pace, Christie Hoffman Park, Route 512, Tewksbury (8:30 a.m.-1 p.m.); Delaware Valley Horseman's Association Jumper Show, DVHA Showgrounds, 299 Ringoes-Rosemont Road, Sergeantsville; Judged Trail Ride, Horse Park of New Jersey, Route 524, Allentown.
Wednesday: Princeton Show Jumping Fall Tournament, 246 Burnt Hill Road, Skillman (through next Sunday).
Friday: Garden State Driving Event, Horse Park of New Jersey, Route 524, Allentown (through next Sunday).
Saturday: Open Space Pace Parade and Festival, Freehold Raceway, Freehold (parade starts at 10 a.m. in downtown Freehold); N.J. Pony Breeders and Owners Show, Delaware Valley Horsemen's Association Showgrounds, 299 Ringoes-Rosemont Road, Sergeantsville Spotted Toad Equestrian Show, Hunter Farms North, 246 Burnt Hill Road, Skilllman (through next Sunday).
Next Sunday: Essex Foxhounds Hunter Trials, Essex Hunt Club, 48 Holland Road, Peapack; NJ Horse Shows Association Show, Duncraven, 1300 Trenton-Harbourton Road, Titusville; Palermo Show Stable True Schooling Show, 1555A Burnt Mills Road, Bedminster; Delaware Valley Horseman's Association Draft, Very Small Equine and Western Show, DVHA Showgrounds, 299 Ringoes-Rosemont Road, Sergeantsville; Autumn Riders Show, East Freehold Showgrounds, Kozloski Road, Freehold; Oxbow Stables Dressage Show, Combined Test and Horse Trials, 39 Orts Road, Hamburg; Suddenly Farm Dressage Show, 325 Main St., Lumberton.
.Nancy Jaffer may be reached at nancyjaffer@comcast.net.