A trio of Hunterdon County women who show together find that helping each other makes their sport more rewarding, both in and out of the arena. UPDATED
Bridget Hay of East Amwell competing in the Fourth Level Test Two class on her homebred Faolan yesterday at Dressage at Devon. DEVON, Pa. -- Over the years, three New Jersey friends have been together through trials and triumphs, a scenario repeated over the last few days at the Dressage at Devon horse show.
Alice Tarjan of Frenchtown; Lauren Chumley, whose residence is a room in the house owned by Tarjan and her husband, Dennis, and Bridget Hay of East Amwell were lending a hand to each other all week, whether it meant holding a horse, carrying gear or offering tips as they watched a warm-up.
They also travel together to major events, such as this fall's national championships in Kentucky.
Tarjan and Hay were riding in Pony Club at the same time, Tarjan with Somerset Hills; Hay with its rival, Amwell, and Chumley grew up in Ohio. But their paths really crossed when all three worked with dressage trainer Silke Rembacz of Ringoes and they bonded.
Whether it's mucking stalls or lending emotional support, "We help each other. It's so much fun," said Chumley, 31, a trainer whose Lauren Chumley Dressage is located in Flemington. Hay works out of her family's Rainbow Ridge Farm, breeding her own horses and teaching. Tarjan, 36, is an amateur who has gained recognition as a top-flight horse picker, buying young horses after seeing them on videos and then developing them.
Tarjan and Chumley dominated in competition involving the equine younger set here. Chumley's Hot Streak, a U.S.-bred Hanoverian, won the 3-year-old prospect grand championship, while Tarjan's 4-year-old Danish-bred, Tiko, took the young performance horse championship.
Chilly temperatures and wind made circumstances far from optimum yesterday for the Fourth Level Test Two class in which Chumley and Hay participated. But it was better than Friday, which Chumley called the most adverse weather conditions in which she had ever competed.
The Friday evening schedule was cancelled after a downpour and power outage. That necessitated postponing Tarjan's ride on Elfenfeuer in the Grand Prix for the Freestyle to last night, and moving the highlight of the show, the freestyle itself, to this morning.
Alice Tarjan riding Elfenfeuer in the Grand Prix for the Freestyle at Dressage at Devon last night. The brisk temperatures prompted a lot of horses to spook and act up. In the Grand Prix for the Freestyle, one rider retired after her horse reared when it got to the center of the arena. Another was eliminated when her horse decided it simply didn't want to continue the test. Elfenfeuer behaved well and qualified for today's freestyle, where she earned 67.725 percent, very respectable for a first-timer.
Tarjan couldn't believe she would be riding in the Devon freestyle on a horse she brought along from a youngster.
"That's something I never thought would happen, never in a million years," she said.
Citing some mistakes she'll need to fix, Tarjan took that in stride.
"It's a work in progress," she explained, adding the Oldenburg has "been such a good girl all week."
The weather yesterday could have been a problem for Tarjan's horse Scylla, whom Chumley rode at Fourth Level and called, a "very difficult mare."
Happily, there were no disasters.
"It wasn't perfect, but she played along," said Chumley. A score of 57.300 didn't really disappoint because she thought the class was a bit of a stretch for a 6-year-old.
Chumley started eventing the "opinionated" mare "to try to blow off some steam; the horse just doesn't get tired.
Lauren Chumley on Scylla in the Fourth Level Test Two competition at Dressage at Devon. "She's an angry redhead, but she's cool. She's the kind of horse that is going to take a lot of time, but she's definitely worth the wait" for her "super-expressive trot and her incredible free shoulder," said Chumley.
"She's a typical fancy young horse. She has so much power, she didn't know what to do with it; so she used it for evil for a few years," Chumley said with a grin, noting Scylla is much better now.
Hay finished fifth in yesterday's class with 66.528 percent on Faolan, a home-bred full brother to Fitzhessen, a horse she loved and lost to laminitis. Today, she had another go and came in second riding Fourth Level Test Three, earning 67.833 percent.
The Oldenburg stallion is "unflappable. Conditions don't bother him. He's giving me more and more as the year's gone on," said Hay, 34.
Both kept an eye on Tarjan as she schooled Elfenfeuer when they completed their rides in yesterday's Fourth Level class.
Bridget Hay, Lauren Chumley and Alice Tarjan at Devon. "We bounce ideas off each other all the time," said Tarjan after dismounting.
"For training ideas, it helps, and it's great when you go to shows. Typically, there's at least two of us there. It's someone to split hotels with and go to dinner with.
"It's more than a network; it's nice to know you have people behind you."
ON THE RAIL IN NEW JERSEY--The Far Hills Race Meeting comes to Moorland Farm in Far Hills Oct. 17, featuring the country's richest steeplechase, the Grand National, with a $300,000 purse. In total, there will be $600,000 in prize money at event, which typically draws more than 30,000 people.
The race meeting benefits Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset (formerly Somerset Medical Center) for which it has raised more than $18 million over the years. For more information, go to farhillsrace.org...
The Essex Fox Hounds are presenting a "Weekend in Gladstone" starting Saturday with a barn party barbeque at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation in, where else, Gladstone.
Next Sunday, the Master's Chase, a day of amateur racing, will be offered at Natirar in Peapack, starting at noon after gates open at 10 a.m. For information, go to www.essexfoxhounds.org.
Essex organizers are busy Oct. 18 too, offering a hunter pace from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Oct. 18 at Cedar Lane Farm on Homestead Road in Oldwick. For information, call (973) 605-8414 or email afsjg@aol.com...
Another pillar of the Somerset Hills equestrian community is gone. Alice "Appie" Lorillard died Tuesday at the age of 96. The Bedminster resident was involved with the Essex Fox Hounds for more than 60 years, serving both as field master and as a member of the hunt committee.
She is survived by her daughter, Lisa Halsted of California and Peter Lorillard of Bedminster, as well as six grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements are pending, but donations in her memory may be made to the Essex Fox Hounds (essexfoxhounds.org)...
At last week's deadline to submit a bid for the 2018 FEI World Cup finals in dressage and show jumping, Paris, Gothenburg (Sweden) and Las Vegas were in the running.
Vegas, which was the presumed winner when it was the only bidder at the last go-round, came back with the Thomas & Mack Center as its venue. Thomas & Mack, where the finals were held this year, was deemed by the FEI (international equestrian federation) not to be up to snuff as the sport has evolved, which is why the bidding was reopened.
No other venues in the city were available for the 2018 dates. Gothenburg is a regular on the World Cup finals calendar (the finals will be there next year) and Paris has not held the finals since 1987. A decision will be made next month.The 2017 finals come back to the U.S., with competition scheduled for Omaha, Neb...
Today's Spring Valley Hounds Hunter Pace in New Vernon has been cancelled due to the weather.
NEW JERSEY ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE
Today: Princeton Show Jumping Series, Hunter Farms North, 246 Burnt Hill Road, Skillman; U.S. Equestrian Federation Talent Search, U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation, Pottersville Road, Gladstone; Spotted Toad Show, Hunter Farms North, 246 Burnt Hill Road, Skillman; Garden State Appaloosa Show, Gloucester County Dream Park, 400 Route 130 South, Logan Township ESDCTA Horse Trials, Horse Park of New Jersey, Route 524, Allentown; Delaware Valley Horsemen's Association Driving Show, DVHA Showgrounds, 299 Ringoes-Rosemont Road, Sergeantsville; CJL Farm Show, West Milford Equestrian Center, 367 Union Valley Road, Newfoundland; Lord Stirling Stable Pleasure Drive, 256 S. Maple Ave., Basking Ridge (9-11 a.m.); NJPHA Fall Finale, Duncraven, 1300 Trenton-Harbourton Road, Titusville; Amwell Valley Trail Association Hunter Pace, Big Sky Farm, 107 Van Lieus Road, Ringoes (9 a.m.-Noon, www.avta.net.)
Thursday: Garden State Classic Show and USDF Region I Col. Bengt Ljungquist Memorial Championship, Horse Park of New Jersey, 626 Route 524, Allentown (through Oct. 11); Asbury Classic, The Ridge at Riverview, 3 Wolverton Road, Asbury, Hunterdon County (through Oct. 11).
Saturday: CJL Farm Show, Centenary College Equestrian Center, 12-56 Califon Road, Long Valley; Saddlebrook Ridge Dressage Show, 10 Saddlebrook Court, Shamong; Woodedge Show, Gloucester County Dream Park, 400 Route 130 South, Logan Township (through Oct. 11); Palermo Show Stable Show, 1555A Burnt Mills Road, Bedminster (through Oct. 11).
Oct. 11: Amwell Valley Hounds Hunter Pace, Big Sky Farm, 107 Van Lieus Road, Ringoes (9 a.m.-1 p.m., register on premises); Essex Foxhounds Master's Chase, Natirar, Main Street, Peapack; Mylestone Equine Rescue Open House, 227 Still Valley Road, Pohatcong (Noon-4 p.m., rain date Oct. 18); Smoke Rise Riding Club Show, Smoke Rise Farms, 1 Talbot Dr., Kinnelon; Delaware Valley Horsemen's Association Hunter Show, DVHA Showgrounds, 299 Ringoes-Rosemont Road, Sergeantsville; Central Jersey Horseman's Association Show, East Freehold Showgrounds, Kozloski Road, Freehold.
Nancy Jaffer: nancyjaffer@comcast.net.