Oh good, you found me. I have been waiting for you to visit this old barn.
Your friends have shared some stories with me. You know stuff they’ve heard around the barn and around town. Grab a chair and a chunk of cheese and let me tell you what I have heard…
Parties, Parties, Parties, as the circuits close they pop up all over the place this year’s no exception.
At Ocala, this year’s party was at Apple Wood Farm belonging to Penelope Ayers, the beneficiary was the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals- Equine Fund.
More than 150 HITS Ocala riders, trainers and invited guests enjoyed an evening of dining and dancing to the music of the Rudy Turner Band all under the stars. Well, really under a party tent and not a drop of rain dared to fall.
Edwin Sayers the President and CEO of the ASPCA was there and spoke of the need to begin, once again, to tie the ASPCA Maclay Medal closer to the ASPCA. He noted that horsemanship is more than just riding. He brought the notion that the participants in the Maclay need truly understand all aspects of caring for a horse, from cleaning out a stall; to grooming; to the financial aspects.
I think he is right on here, about time we got back to the basics.
Oh, by the way, my buddy “Buzz”, you know him, “the fly on the wall”? Well, he says to check out www.ASPCA.org and let your voice be heard on Congress’, Horse Slaughter Ban…it is in trouble.
More partying going on in Wellington where CN’s Chief Executive Officer, E. Hunter Harrison and wife Jeannie, hosted, “Dance Floor Madness”, a white-attire event at the Palm Beach Polo and Equestrian Club. Harrison’s daughter Cayce has been riding at WEF for most of the winter.
Everything was white, even the Palm Trees. The guests really got into the party theme. Rodrigo Pessoa and Jimmy Torano came to the party with white hair. Atlanta based entertainment group, Party-on-the-Moon, provided the entertainment. Many of the Riders left early since they were scheduled to compete in the $150,000 US Open Jumper Championship the following day. The Championship event is sponsored by CN.
Parties make the world-go-round. Indio held their party early, Tom Struzziere and the HITS crew, unveiled the new Desert Equestrian Center scheduled to be built in Thermal, CA. Big dollars are being spent for the project. Regular Indio goers see it as a huge plus in that the present Indio site is growing tired. Nice to find a partner with vision, as well as, money to invest. They are prepared for the Thermal jokes so send me your best shot.
OK, so now back to the rest of the story…US Television is taking more interest in the horse community. Animal planet recently telecast a six part series that followed some of last year’s Maclay participants all the way to the finals. The brainchild of Animal Planet’s, Maureen Smith, their General Manager. At age 41 Smith spent 16 years at Fox before coming to Animal Planet. She is a mover and a shaker and has placed her focus on the younger generation, particularly young women. With the exploding interest in Hunters and Jumpers, she feels she is on target.
Not to be out done, NBC is shooting a special at the Rolex Three Day Event in April. The Network is allowing a webcast of the Rolex Three Day Event. Buzz says the event runs from April 27-30 and will be called “Live at The Lake,” the webcast will run all day on Cross Country Day and be available free on the Event’s official website, www.rk3de.org. Equestrian Events, Inc. (EEI), who is the producer of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day-Event, received special permission from NBC, to webcast this event
BUZZ in the Barn.
New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg has purchased a vacation home in Wellington Florida. He purchased the 12 acre Villa abutting the Polo Grounds from Vanessa Symmons Redfern. The villa with barn complex, pictured left, should provide a great training facility for his daughter Georgina. I heard that Redfern will winter in the area but expect to see her back in New England for the summer.
Paul Valliere once again made headlines in his home state. The article in Rhode Island’s Providence Journal -Sprots News centered on the “grass roots” horse community being unable to forgive and forget. Liz Ireland, a horse owner and trainer in Athens Ga., launched a petition against those involved in the horse killing incident, titled, “No Reinstatement for USEF Horse Killers. She petitioned the United States Equestrian Federation (“USEF”), the United States Olympic Committee (“USOC”), and the Federation Equestre International (“FEI”). According to Tom Mead, the Journal’s sports writer who authored the article, she did it to demonstrate to the USEF and the U.S.Olympic Committee that there are large numbers of equestrians who believe that reinstatement of any of the so-called horse killers is not in the best interest of equestrian sport and is unbecoming to the national governing body, whose charter was violated. Ireland has more than 3,400 signatures on her petition.
Well, Buzz and me, we have to get back to work reading my emails. Let us know what is going on in your barn, who’s getting a new horse, who’s coming and who’s going; who’s seeing who, you know…the buzz. Catch you later.
Liz Ireland’s petition did not show both sides of the reinstatement issue of Paul Valliere. She got a lot of sympathy signatures from people who are not even horse people just because she called him a horse killer and did not tell the whole story. Paul has more than paid his debt in so many ways. No mention of the details of that was ever made.
Lessonlady - March 25th, 2006 at 11:45 amRumor has it that Beth Conjul (spelling??) is building a large new Equestrian facility at the former site of Canalside Stables in Pittsford, NY. Her family owns the Carousel Mall in Syracuse and has a gigantic expansion planned for that mall. I would love to know if all this is true!
Lessonlady - March 25th, 2006 at 11:48 amlessonlady- heard that too
mst - March 25th, 2006 at 10:48 pmI apologize for using names on Max’s site. I thought I was writing to Max to ask if he had heard anything about these rumors. I did not know everyone would be able to see them! I tried to erase 2 of my comments but they are un-erasable! So all I can do is apologize to the people mentioned.
Lessonlady - March 27th, 2006 at 5:11 pmif you are the lessonlady than you should know better than to ever use peoples names on the internet gossip.
toulouse - March 28th, 2006 at 9:06 amYes Toulouse! I would never intentionally do that! I thought I was simply sending questions to Max! Now they have added an “Email Max” so it is no longer confusing. I tried to get the posts removed but can’t seem to do it. I sure wish I could. I feel badly.
Lessonlady - March 29th, 2006 at 9:21 amThank you HJN for removing my posting boo-boos!
Lessonlady - March 29th, 2006 at 4:31 pmWhen is this column going to update?
Lessonlady - April 4th, 2006 at 9:46 pmThe plan for expansion of the Carousel Mall in Syracuse is indeed true. I don’t know anything about the equestrian facilities in Pittsford.
Jane Burke - April 11th, 2006 at 11:19 amI have the same question as Lessonlady. When is this column updating and are you going to write daily news articles?
ginnyg - April 14th, 2006 at 7:40 amI think this column is looking for leads from the readers… The news is updated everyday but here anyone can e-mail max with great stuff that is ging on in the horse world and more…The key is to e-mail max and it will be part of the column.
Lauren - April 14th, 2006 at 6:52 pmSomeone told me that Beth Conjuel (sp?) was going to use the Pittsford farm (formerly Canalside Stables) for her ponies. Sure enough, the former boarders seem to have moved and the pastures are now full of ponies! Has anyone heard more about this?
Lessonlady - April 20th, 2006 at 7:56 am“Paul has more than paid his debt in so many ways. No mention of the details of that was ever made.”
As one of the people who signed the petition, as well as part of the “grass-roots movement” mentioned, I can tell you that many of the signers of the petition have thought long and hard about what Paul has done: both killing Roseau Platiere, and the actions he has taken to “pay his debt.” No one denies that his attempts to redeem his name were not noble and worthwhile. But the question left in our minds is, “To whom is he paying the debt?” To society? Yes, he has done worthwhile things. To the USEF? Yes, he has proven his expertise in training; but he has also violated the “Horseman’s Code” by abusing a horse in the worst way possible. To the riders and trainers and horse people everywhere? How can he atone for taking the life of one of the beautiful creatures around whom our sport and passion is based? And to Roseau Platiere, whom Paul had killed? This is not a debt that can be paid.
Those of us who signed Liz’s petition believe that Paul Valliere violated the “Horseman’s Code” of the USEF as well as the unwritten code that horsemen everywhere follow. This sport is not about the people, it is about the horses. You see it in the name: equestrian, deriving from Equus: horse. We, as horsepeople, owe our participation in this sport to the horses. When Paul Valliere had Roseau Platiere killed, he denied the horse his deserving role in the sport and treated him as an object, rather than the beautiful athlete that he was. To those of us who love our horses as siblings, or children, what Paul Valliere did was equivalent to homicide.
Many people are saying that the No Reinstatement movement is centered around Paul Valliere. This is simply not true. The No Reinstatement movement condemns all of the horse killers and is actively trying to educate horse people everywhere about all of the killers. The buzz around Paul’s name is simply due to the fact that he was the first of the killers to be eligible for reinstatement; thus, his name came to be connected. I repeat: the No Reinstatement movement is not about Paul Valliere. It is about all of the horse killers. More than that, it is about decency and morality and, above all, the love for our horses that makes us say to the deaths of these horses: “Never again.”
renn/aissance - May 15th, 2006 at 4:27 pmThank you, Rannaissance! I signed the petition (and by the way I AM a horseperson) and I found Lessonlady’s flippant remarks extremely disturbing. The guy killed horses, for goodness sake. To reinstate him or any of the other killers would send a horrible message about our sport.
PotBelliedPony - May 16th, 2006 at 6:14 pmYes, Paul had a horse killed. He admits it and regrets it. He has done everything possible to atone for his act of rash desperation. Is he going to go out and kill another one? Absolutely not! He even drove semi loads of food and supplies down to the equine victims of Katrina! To deny him a second chance at the only profession he knows is simply not fair. I can hear you saying now “well the horse never got a second chance!” and that is true. But I thought eye for an eye was outdated! Paul is not an evil man. Give him a break.
PotbelliedPony, I’m sorry you think my remarks were flippant. I was simply stating that there is more to the story than he killed a horse and a lot of people don’t know the whole story. It was not fair to ask people to condemn him without knowing both sides.
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