Manuel Torres and Christofolini H gallop to the final fence of their winning jump-off round.
Manuel Torres put in two clean rounds to win the George L. Ohrstrom Grand Prix on Saturday, May 7, 2016, as part of the Lexington Spring Encore horse show at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Virginia.
Torres, a five-time Olympian for his native country of Colombia, rode Christofolini H, owned by Andrea Torres Guerreiro, to the win. Torres now operates Santa Catalina Farm in Waterford, Virginia.
Final placings in the $30,000 George L. Ohrstrom Grand Prix
A young participant gives her pony a hug during the ground phase of the natural horsemanship clinic.
A participant works on moving her horse’s forehand.
A participant listens to George Shaefer.
George Schaefer works with Tamla Nichols horse.
Karen Corvin works with her horse, Whiskey.
George Schaefer bends this horse’s head, patiently waiting for the horse to move his hind end.
Karen Corvin works with Whiskey.
Natural Horsemanship morning ground session.
Susan Byrd and Rain.
Whiskey
Clinician George Schaefer
Gabi Hooten works with her horse during the morning ground session.
George Shaefer demonstrates using his own horse during the clinic.
Tamla Nichols listens to George Schaefer speak on natural horsemanship techniques.
Gabi Hooten works with her horse.
If you wanted to get out for the day with your horse but not face the pressure of a horse show, the Botetourt County Horseman’s Association’s first Lunch & Learn event was a perfect spring outing.
While the weather was a little bit cool and misty, about 25 riders and their horses came out of Green Hill Park Equestrian Center to ride with local clinicians. George Schaefer taught both morning and afternoon Natural Horsemanship sessions. Gabi Hooten worked with riders on Classical and Western Dressage, and Dedi Spradlin offered jumping critiques and spoke about hunter etiquette. Some riders also used the trails at the park.
The day also included a lunch of grilled hotdogs with sides, and a chance to catch up with friends, look over used tack for sale.
BCHA is planning another Lunch & Learn event Oct. 1. Contact BCHAHorseClub@gmail.com for more information or if you are interested in being a clinician.
Below are more photos from the day. Click on a photo to make it larger.
Karen Corvin and Whiskey
A horse waits at the trailer.
Dressage
Western dressage session
Judy Sanders listens during the afternoon session of Natural Horsemanship.
JoAnn Dester
George Schaefer works with a Rocky Mountain Horse.
Tamla Nichols takes part in the Dressage clinic.
JoAnn Dester works with her horse.
Judy Sanders
George Schaefer demonstrates.
JoAnn Dester asks her horse to give.
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George Schaefer demonstrates.
Carol Bernstein
Carol Bernstein and Judy Sanders
Judy Sanders
Carol Bernstein
Dressage session
Mounted Natural Horsemanship
Karen Corvin
Tamla Nichols
Dressage session
Gabi Hooten instructs the Dressage session
Gabi Hooten instructs the Dressage session
Tamla Nichols
Gabi Hooten talks to riders in the Dressage session.
Karen Corvin
George Schaefer gets his clinic participants ready to mount.
Mary Lisa Leffler riding Bling Bling. Photo by Teresa Ramsay Photography
Mary Lisa Leffler and Bling Bling are kicking off the spring show season in winning form at the Virginia Horse Center. After earning a win in Ocala and a win in Atlanta, the duo can now add winning the $30,000 Rockbridge Grand Prix during the Lexington Spring Premiere to their growing list of accomplishments.
Leffler and Bling Bling’s double clear performance in the Saturday night’s highlight event was strong enough to earn them the top honors. “We’re still a new partnership,” Leffler said. “I know she’s fast and she’s clever. She turns and burns, so for me, I could jump all those jumps on angles and not have to worry.”
The pair went fourth in the order, and Leffler did not have a chance to watch anyone go before her in the jump-off. She knew that the first few of riders had rails, and her quick wit combined with her horse’s agility sent them straight to the top of the leaderboard, while last year’s winners, Brooke Kemper and Classified, ended up in second place.
Leffler has been competing at the Virginia Horse Center for as long as she can remember. She said, “It’s just one of my favorite events. Their hospitality — they try so hard, the evening Grand Prix. They really put on a good horse show.”
“The best part of the whole thing was that my sister drove my parents down, so they got to see their horse finally go,” Leffler continued. “So having them there and winning was great!”
In the hunter ring, it was Joy Janouskovec that went home with top honors. Janouskovec and her mount Walk the Line won Friday night’s feature class, the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby, besting a field of 21 competitors.
Joy Janouskovec and Walk the Line
Photo by: Teresa Ramsay Photography
The competition at the Virginia Horse Center continues this week, hosting the Lexington Spring Encore on Wednesday through Sunday, May 4-8. The Spring Encore will boast many exciting events, featuring both the $30,000 George L. Ohrstrom Grand Prix and the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby.
The $30,000 George L. Ohrstrom, Jr. Grand Prix will be held on Saturday, May 7, in the Anderson Coliseum arena. Along with the winning presentation, there will be a Groom’s award presentation to the groom of the winning mount. Guests are also invited to join the course designer, Mr. Anderson Lima of Sao Paulo, Brazil, for a course walk before the class.
The $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby will take place Friday, May 6, at 5 p.m. in the Hilltop arena. In honor of the Virginia Horse Center’s 30th Anniversary, there will be a “Celebrate 30” Wine & Cheese Party held at the Hilltop ring. The party will begin at 5:30 p.m. and run until the conclusion of the derby.
Thirty-five years ago, riding atop Ginger in that old H.S. Lebman saddle as my dad leads us around the driveway at our family’s farm. About 6 years later, Ginger would become my first show horse.
My love of horses was one of the best traits I inherited from my parents. Both my mom and dad grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh and had limited access to horses until they graduated from high school and college. But as soon as they could, they went in the search of the horses they longed for.
Teaming up with an owner of a riding business in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, they learned about horse care while taking other city kids on trail rides. They spent hours and hours in the saddle every day. They spent more hours after riding feeding and caring for the animals. And then, sometimes after the sun was down, they spent many more hours bringing in hay from the fields.
I grew up with intoxicating stories (at least for a horse crazy little girl) of the horses and rides they took. But one story I never got to hear was the one of my dad’s saddle. And probably, he didn’t know the story it had to tell. It was just the old saddle that he loved.
After my father’s passing just last summer, one of the last things I pulled out of the barn at my family’s farm and threw into a moving truck was my dad’s old saddle. It had sat there for a decade since the last time my dad was able to settle into its well-worn seat. Alzheimer’s took my dad away from his beloved farm, his memories erased one by one by the cruel and devastating disease. When I look at that old saddle, I can’t help but succumb to a swell of my own wonderful memories of my dad and all the early morning trail rides we often took. Up and down mountains and across mountain creeks, it’s out there with him that I truly learned to ride. It wasn’t the fine-tuned riding I would do for the show arena, but it was that kind of riding that made me a horsewoman: connected to my horse and the world around me.
Just a week ago, I pulled that saddle out of its Virginia storage and after dusting it off, I saw the name stamped behind the cantle, “H.S. Lebman, 111 South Flores St., San Antonio, Tex.”
My dad’s old saddle sits in storage
H.S. Lebman, 111 S. Flores St. San Antonio, Tex.
My dad’s old saddle sits in storage.
It would seem that Lebman was a well-known saddlemaker, but not necessarily because of the saddlery. Lebman was also a gunsmith. He was frequently asked by his customers to secure unusual weapons, including the Thompson submachine gun built by Colt, which at the time could be ordered through the mail and purchased at gun or hardware stores. Soon, Lebman began customizing Colt pistols and other small arms weaponry, including conversion into fully automatic weapons. Some of his famous, or infamous, customers included mobsters Baby Face Nelson, John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd.
Today a H.S. Lebman saddle is displayed in The Museum of the Horse. They are said to be rare saddles that are “bull stout, heavy and well made, but yet a pleasure to ride in.”
I have no idea what I’m going to do with my dad’s old saddle. But it is forever connected with the fondest of memories of my childhood and forever connected to the best man I ever knew. It will always have a home with me, and possibly once again on the back of a horse. They just don’t make them like they used to.
The Roanoke Valley horse community is mourning the death of local horseman L.M. “Sandy” Gerald, head coach of the Hollins University riding team.
Besides his work at Hollins, Gerald was a well respected course designer and USEF “R” judge; was awarded the Virginia Horse Show Association’s Susan H. Hagan Memorial Trophy; was a seven-time ODAC Coach of the Year; was inducted into the Southwest Virginia Hunter/Jumper Association Hall of Fame in 2006; was the VHSA Horseman of the Year in 2006 and 1992 (making him only the second person in the history of the VHSA to earn the honor a second time) and also was inducted into the Roanoke Valley Horse Show Hall of Fame in 2015.
Gerald also served as hunter/jumper manager for the Roanoke Valley Horse Show from 2009 – 2014. The Roanoke Valley Horsemen’s Association released this statement today:
“The Roanoke Valley Horsemen’s Association along with the Roanoke Valley Horse Show were shocked and greatly saddened by the sudden loss of our very dear friend LM Sandy Gerald. He has been a great asset to our association and show for many many years, but more importantly he was a very dear friend who was above all else a true Southern Gentleman. His absence will be felt for many years to come. Out thoughts and prayers are with His family, His Hollins family, his friends, and the hundreds of riding students he has impacted over the years.”
He is reported to have fallen while decorating a jump at Hollins and later died while in surgery to repair a broken hip.
The Great American Trail Horse Sale offered a variety of horses, from quarter horses and mules, to Friesian Sport Horses and Percheron crosses and ponies. There were horses with star-studded pedigrees, and ones with no pedigrees at all. Polka-dotted appaloosas and multiple shades of buckskin, dun, palomino and roan colored the choices. But for all their differences, what they did have in common is that they were broke, broke, broke. And because of their training, registration papers or not, several horses sold for more than $10,000.
Touched by Treasure sold for $16,000.
Some of the sale’s top sellers included:
Touched by Treasure, a 2006 AQHA gelding who was a grandson of Zips Chocolate Chip and Radical Rodder, sold for $16,000.
A 2008 APHA gelding, Firstrate Cutter Bug, sold for $13,000. He was also the winner of the obstacle challenge and it’s $1,000 grand prize.
A 2010 AQHA buckskin gelding, Sparetime Smokin Doc who had points in ARHA competition, sold for $15,000.
Bo, a 2008 Bay Roan pony gelding who would ride and drive sold for $15,000
JK Pat, an AQHA gelding, sold for $14,200.
Buckeye’s Dream, a 2012 buckskin Percheron/QH cross who rides and drives sold for $12,600.
Torned Hearts, a 2002 grey mare, sold for $9,500. She has been shown English, Western, over fences and in games.
A pinto pony.
This palomino did not sell.
Children ride a pinto pony.
A roan pony lies on the ground while a horse was sidepassed over him and a bullwhip cracked over his body.
An Appy mule sold for $3,700.
The sale was filled with sellers trying to demonstrate just how broke their horses were. Some had the help of children to ride their horses around the arena. Some stood up in the saddle. Others got the horses to lie down while cracking bullwhips around their heads. At this sale, being broke was much more impressive to the crowd than having good breeding.
Bidding for this 2011 AQHA buckskin gelding, High Brow’s Ace, reached $17,000 but it was not enough. He was also the Reserve Champion of the obstacle challenge competition.
While the sale captured good prices for many horses, there were also a large number that didn’t sell. One buckskin gelding reached a bid of more than $17,000 but the owner said they were no where close to what the horse was worth and shook their head for a “no sale.” Every mule except one that went through the sale didn’t reach the reserve set by the owner. The one that did sell went for $3,700.
This AQHA Cremello mare sold for $2,400.
That doesn’t mean there weren’t deals to be had. A sweet, quiet Cremello AQHA mare sold for $2,400. And a really nicely made Mustang mare who had placed fifth in a Mustang Makeover event, sold for $1,900.
Despite it being a trail horse sale, and the popularity of gaited horses among trail riders, there were only a few gaited horses in the sale and they didn’t sell for as high a price as the ranch-type horses. A little chestnut Rocky Mountain Horse sold for $700, and a “Single Footing Horse” sold for $2,800. A bay Kentucky Mountain Horse who was the crowd favorite in the rack-off the night before sold for $5,200.
If the Great American Trail Horse Sale shows horse owners anything, it should be that investment in training and giving your horse a job is worth it. Broke horses are needed and wanted.
An Appy mule sold for $3,700.FQHR Poco Cackles Bar, a 2012 AQHA mare, sold for $12,000.This mule did not sell after bidding reached $3,400. The owner was looking for $5,000.Bidding for this leopard Appaloosa did not meet the reserve of $6,500.A bullwhip is cracked next to quarter horse JK Pat, a 2010 Grulla gelding, as bidding continues. The 6-year-old sold for $14,200.A roan pony lies on the ground while a horse was sidepassed over him and a bullwhip cracked over his body.Bolena San, a 2002 palomino quarter horse gelding who was built like a tank, was seeking a bid of $4,000 but did not reach it.This palomino did not meet the reserve.This mule did not meet the reserve.This Friesian Sport Horse sold for $9,700.A pinto pony lies down on command. He sold for $6,000.Children ride a pinto pony who sold for $6,000.A 1999 Connemara/TB Cross mare sold for $2,300.A pinto gelding sold for $1,950.A palominoA greyhound sleeps through the bidding.A young new owner gets a hug after having her photo taken with her new horse.
The Franklin County Equestrian Club was presented the award for Equine Club of the Year at the Virginia Horse Festival on April 2. Pictured, from left, Terri Bentley, former club secretary; Michaela Bentley, member; Emma Brubaker, member; Nancy Brubaker, DVM, member; Patricia Wray, club co-founder and president; Tim Wray, club co-founder; Charles Brubaker, member.
The award was presented at the Virginia Horse Council’s annual meeting and luncheon during the Virginia Horse Festival in Doswell, Va., on April 2.
“The Virginia Horse Council received nominations throughout Virginia and FCEC is honored to have received this award,” said FCEC Founder and President Patricia Wray. “FCEC is proud to be a part of the Virginia Horse Industry and the Virginia Horse Council. Not only is it a great honor for our club and its members, but it’s a great honor for our county. Without the dedication of its members and the support of our local businesses and community, this would not have been possible.”
The club, which is open to all riders and disciplines, hosts many horse shows and activities throughout the year and has more than 100 members. On April 30, the club will holdits Spring Fling Horse Show (re-scheduled from April 9). Jeff Cox is the judge for the open show that includes classes for Hunter, Western, Games and Gaited horses. It will be held at the Ginther Farm (3128 Sontag Road, Rocky Mount) in Rocky Mount, Va., and begins at 9 a.m.
The club holds competitive trail rides as one of its many events through the year.
The club, which is going on its sixth year, also has scheduled in 2016 a Turn and Burn Series, a competitive trail ride at Fairy Stone Park in July, an annual open horse show in August and the Franklin County Fair Horse Show in September plus much more.They also sanction other shows such as the Cross View Show Series at Green Hill Park near Salem.
While for now the club uses Ginther Farm and other venues for its events, the club has been working to develop an arena in Franklin County. Earlier this year, the Franklin County Board of Supervisors voted to contribute up to $5,000 toward the club’s efforts to build a new arena on county-owned property along Sontag Road in Rocky Mount. That money is expected to pay for an application for a commercial driveway permit as required by the Virginia Department of Transportation and determining whether a turn lane should be installed based on traffic patterns in the area. The club said it will pay for the construction of the arena on the property.
The Amercian Competitive Trail Horse Association (ACTHA), which has been going through financial difficulty for some time but has promised they were back on track and would have rides again this spring, has taken down their website and disconnected their phones.
One member says on Facebook: “According to the buzz on the FaceBook, ACTHA Ride Host Network Group, the website is gone, the people are gone and right up to the last minute they were automatically renewing memberships and taking people’s money for rides that were still on the books, but never going to happen. A class-action suit is possibly coming. An organization that is 8,000 strong would survive if the people in charge had been up front about the problems. Word on the street is that ACTHA tried to sue Equine Trail Sports and lost, costing them a fortune. I don’t know if this is true, but that is gross mismanagement of funds, as members were never told about it, and we thought funds were going to pay the ride hosts and the horse charities. Money, pride, and corruption, once again ruins a very good organization.”
While those rumors are not confirmed, the organization’s Facebook page, which has more than 50,000 “likes,” or people following it, shows post after post of people complaining that their credit cards were being charged for canceled rides and for annual membership fees. Many were also complaining of their inability to get in touch with anyone at the organization.
Another member posts on the ACTHA Facebook page: “Total Scam. They have charged my credit card two times without my authorization. I had a one year membership. I have emailed them and called them. Now their phone is disconnected.
I bet there are more people that they have done this too.”
The website’s disappearance and disconnected phones leave little hope that the organization will be returning to the trails anytime soon.
Two great Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) equestrian team coaches will be recognized for their service and contributions to college riding and the horse industry on Saturday during the 44th IHSA National Championships, May 5-8, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington: the late James T. ‘JT’ Tallon (Southern Seminary, Randolph Colleges) and Lori Cramer (Miami University of Ohio).
JT Tallon is remembered as a pioneer in the development of college riding in Virginia, spending two decades coaching at Randolph-Macon Women’s College before retiring in 2011, and after nearly a decade coaching Southern Seminary (for Women) became the winningest hunt seat coach in its IHSA history. IHSA executive director Bob Cacchione has pledged a Zone 4 scholarship in the name of the former equestrian director, who will be remembered for coaching perhaps the most successful IHSA team of all time – Southern Seminary for Women in Buena Vista, VA, first as assistant to Russ Walther and later as head coach, taking ‘Sem’ to eight IHSA National Champion team titles in the 1980s, a streak that remains unmatched to this day. Tallon was a true fixture of the Virginia and college horse industries as a coach, trainer, course designer and judge. “Hunter courses are like Muzak in an elevator,” the posthumous recipient of the 2016 IHSA Pioneer Award once said. “You know it’s there but it should never call attention to itself.”
Cramer will become the 23rd recipient of the IHSA Lifetime Achievement Award, presented since 1993 to recognize the longstanding commitment of its coaches. Cramer is an IHSA alum of the University of Findlay who went on to coach Findlay to the IHSA Collegiate Cup team national title in 2001. Originally from New Jersey, she graduated from University of Findlay with an undergraduate degree in Business and Equine Studies and Master’s in Business Administration and later became director of English Equestrian Studies there, coaching the University of Findlay team during her four years there to the national title and two reserve national titles, as well as never finishing out of the Top Five. She coached the Ohio State IHSA hunt seat team to first in their Region and a rally at Zones; and served (for the first six years of her tenure) as head coach for the Miami Equestrian Team before currently serving as adviser to its coaches in addition to heading renovations and building projects at the stables. She is an IHSA Zone 6 Chair, sits on the USHJA Board of Directors and in December was recognized with the USHJA Presidents Distinguished Service Award.
Groundshaker is a great-great-granddaughter of Secretariat and the last racehorse bred by Secretariat’s owner Penny Chenery. Photo by Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation
The second annual Virginia Horse Festival is being held April 1-3 near Richmond, Virginia, at The Meadow Event Park in Doswell, and this year the festival will welcome a equine guest with a special tie to the park.
Groundshaker, a great-great-granddaughter of the legendary Secretariat, will be on hand for a special birthday celebration for the Triple Crown winner, who was born at The Meadow Event Park in 1970. Efforts are underway to eventually welcome Groundshaker as a permanent resident at The Meadow.
Penny Chenery, Secretariat’s owner and daughter of Meadow Stable’s founder Christopher T. Chenery, said it was only fitting for Groundshaker to play this role in the ongoing preservation of The Meadow’s heritage.
“Groundshaker needed a new job and a new home,” said Chenery. “She is the last horse I
bred and raced, so her stay at The Meadow will bring our story full circle. As we mark the 80th anniversary of my father’s founding of Meadow Stable in 1936, Groundshaker will be a living, breathing, beautiful thread to that treasured past.”
Her link to Secretariat comes through her dam, Cotton Anne, who is a granddaughter of Terlingua, one of Secretariat’s best daughters and the dam of Storm Cat. Groundshaker is 5 years old.
The Secretariat birthday celebration will include autograph signings with Secretariat’s biographer, Bill Nack; Otto Thorwarth, who portrayed Secretariat’s jockey Ron Turcotte in the Disney movie; former exercise rider Charlie Davis; and Kate Chenery Tweedy, daughter of Penny Chenery, who owned Secretariat. There also will be narrated tram tours of the farm, a “Paddock Party” to welcome Groundshaker and a “Memories of The Meadow” anniversary party with the Secretariat team.
The paddock party and Meadow anniversary event require separate tickets, which can be purchased on the horse festival website until 11:59 p.m. March 27.
The Meadow will soon launch a fundraising campaign to build a functional barn and pasture fencing for Groundshaker, and to eventually restore the 1930s-era Meadow Stable barns listed on the state and national historic registers.
Other notable events during the horse festival include a Colt Starting Challenge, during which eight trainers will gentle and ride a previously unridden horse. As they work with the horses Friday and Saturday, they will explain to audiences how they are gentling the colts. On Saturday night during the finale, the trainers and horses will navigate a judged obstacle course to determine the winner.
The festival will also include the Southern States Parade of Breeds, which highlights different breeds of horses, including draft horses, mules, Paint horses, Paso Finos, Rocky Mountain horses, Tennessee Walkers and Thoroughbreds. The parade will be held Friday night.
The festival features more than 100 clinics, demonstrations and seminars, and over 60 retail vendors offering shopping and food.
Festival hours are 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
The Meadow Event Park in Caroline County, Va., is the birthplace of Secretariat and home to the State Fair of Virginia. The Meadow is owned by Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, which is committed to preserving Virginia’s rich agricultural heritage and ensuring that the property thrives as a regional event and equine venue.
