The aptly named gelding snags his second consecutive series title with Mary Eufemia aboard.
Most riders have had a year, maybe two if they’re lucky, to bond with their green hunters before they head to the show ring. But Mary Eufemia and Unbelievable had an unusually long time to get to know each other since she and her husband Kevin raised and trained the Anglo-Trakehner alongside owner-breeder Paula Pell right from the start.
Their strong partnership helped them to their fourth consecutive second year green hunter championship at the Jacksonville A To Z, Jan. 28-Feb. 1, clinching the series title as well as the $5,000 Bruning Foundation High-Point Hunter award in Green Cove Springs, Fla.
“He’s such a neat horse,” said Mary. “He stepped right up in the second years. He’s one of those where you never have to pick up the reins. Riding him is an absolute thrill.”
Mary picked up a second series award at Jacksonville, riding Madison Miller’s Black Pearl to the green conformation title.
“I truly think that Mary’s the best-kept secret on the circuit,” said Pell. “I couldn’t ask for a better show rider. She and Kevin do an amazing job.”
During last year’s trip to Jacksonville, Unbelievable (Zarr—Rhapsody II) snagged the circuit championship in the first year division, the start to a fantastic season that included winning the U.S. Equestrian Federation reserve national championship and the Silver Stirrup Award.
Pell fell into breeding when a friend from New England asked if she would take on a retired event horse. That retiree turned out to be the perfect foundation mare for Pell, whose busy schedule as a pediatric emergency room physician keeps her from spending as much time in the tack as she’d like. She had to sit out most of last season to serve as president of the Southern Medical Association in addition to her duties at the hospital, but she and Unbelievable returned to the show ring at Jacksonville this year, earning tricolors both weeks she competed in the pre-adult amateur division.
“I get out as much as I can,” said Pell. “I know that Kevin and Mary are sick of hearing me say, ‘They put me on the schedule again.’ But they’re so supportive. Work is so serious, but it’s great to be able to come out and spend time with the horses.”
The Eufemias run Ravenwood Farm, an equestrian oasis amidst sprawling subdivisions in Palm Harbor, Fla. They work together to prepare their horses from the ground up, with Kevin breaking the babies and Mary taking over the reins later to put on the flatwork and get them show-ready.
“We do it all ourselves: we break them, we ship them, we longe them, we unbraid them,” said Mary. “It’s a lot of work, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It works out perfectly because Kevin and I each have our own thing: he’s great with the babies and nothing can faze him, and I love to horse show.”
In Her Family’s Footsteps
For Laura Pfeiffer, her performance in the show ring has always been about more than winning classes. Even though she’s only 16, Pfeiffer feels acutely aware that every time she steps into the show ring she represents her family’s farm, Fox Meadow Farms, which she hopes to help run one day.
“My grandma always tells me that nothing’s as old as yesterday’s blue ribbon,” said Pfeiffer. “She doesn’t want me or my brother to get a big head. This is our family business and that means a lot to me. You can’t just win one class one day and say, ‘Oh I’m done, I’m successful.’ ”
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Pfeiffer handled that pressure gracefully in Jacksonville, piloting Elliot to the top of the large junior hunter, 16-17, division three of the four weeks to take the large junior circuit title for her aunt Patricia Haines. The green gelding returned to the show ring at Jacksonville after an injury sidelined him for nearly a year, and Pfeiffer soon found she had her work cut out for her.
“He’s a little young, so I have to be sure I get him quiet, and in the ring I really have to work to keep his attention,” she said. “He’s fun. He jumps great, and he was just fantastic the whole circuit.”
Plenty of trainers have noticed Pfeiffer’s cool attitude, and she’s kept a full dance card in the junior hunter ring. She catch rode Walk Away for Don Stewart Jr. to three titles in the small junior division throughout the circuit and picked up blues for Terri Dandino on Foreign Encounter and for Douglas Mesker on Manchineel.
Pfeiffer, Temperance, Mich., hopes to follow in the footsteps of her aunt and trainer, Polly Howard, and her brother, Henry. While she celebrated a breakout season during the fall indoor circuit—Pfeiffer finished fifth in the Washington International Equitation Classic Final, sixth at the ASPCA Maclay Final and was in the top 25 at the Pessoa/USEF Medal Final—she hasn’t let any of that success go to her head.
“I thought there was going to be more pressure after doing so well at indoors, but coming into the circuit it all comes down to riding,” said Pfeiffer.
| A New Partnership Pays Off For Vale
When Aaron Vale walked into the ring aboard Tarco for the jump-off of the $35,000 Outback Steakhouse Grand Prix, he knew that he had his work cut out for him. If he could manage a clear round faster than Wilhelm Genn’s, Vale could win not only the blue in the class, held Feb. 1 during the Jacksonville A To Z, but also the tight race for the $10,000 Reynolds, Smith & Hills High-Point Grand Prix Rider bonus award. But aboard a new, willful mount, over a jump-off course that had rails hitting the dirt left and right, neither check looked certain. So when Tarco left all of the jumps up and stopped the timers 2 seconds faster than Genn and Chantal, Vale was ecstatic. “He went great in the jump-off,” said Vale, Ocala, Fla. “The jumps were unrelated in a lot of ways. It was a hard course to ride fast. If you did try to go clean you’re going to end up quite slow.” The victory marked Vale’s third during the Jacksonville circuit on as many mounts, with Genn placing second once before. Though he just took over the ride from Joe Fargis two months ago, Vale has already logged two top-10 finishes aboard Tarco, owned by Joan Kalman, at their first two grand prix together at HITS Ocala (Fla.). But Vale readily acknowledged that the Belgian Warmblood by Darco isn’t the easiest ride in his barn, and his first round didn’t feel as smooth as he’d hoped. “He’s got a ton of jump, so I’m looking forward to meshing with him,” he said. “He’s a bit of a handful; he’s a big powerful horse, so it’s a matter of getting the power to go in the right direction and starting to work as a team. Hopefully, I can improve that over time.” |
While she’s been winning in the hunter and equitation rings—after four weeks of showing she has already checked off qualifying for the Pessoa/USEF Medal and ASPCA Maclay Finals—Pfeiffer is most proud of moving her high junior jumper up to the grand prix. She and Thorstin posted a clear round their second time out to finish fifth in the $25,000 Marco Family Grand Prix.
“My brother did his first grand prix when he was 16, so part of me wanted to beat him and get in there when I was 15,” admitted Pfeiffer. “You have to ride every single fence. In the lows and even some of the high [junior jumpers] you can have bobbles and mistakes and get away with it from time to time, but once the jumps go up you can’t. My Aunt Polly is so good about getting you ready for the ring. She makes you feel like you have a shot every time you walk in there. She’s been a great inspiration for me.”
Coming Full Circle
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Last year Anna Rea faced huge disappointment when she traveled to Jacksonville to kick off the show season only to have her mount go lame right at the start.
So rather than compete, she drove to the show grounds from her home in Ponte Vedra, Fla., every weekend to try new mounts, finally stumbling upon the perfect partner, a dark bay Oldenburg named Narew, just as the circuit
wrapped up.
This pair’s partnership came full circle this year at Jacksonville, as Rea and Narew clinched three children’s hunter, 14 and under, championships to take the overall children’s title for the series.
“Last year was so disappointing here, so it was just incredible to come back and have everything go so perfectly,” said Rea, 14. “We’ve always done fine, but this is the first time that everything has gone so well—he was on and I was on pretty much the whole time. He threw a shoe on course [on the last day], but he felt fine and it didn’t bother him at all. He’s amazing.”
According to Rea, Narew got his start as an event horse but showed more aptitude for the hunter ring than for
galloping cross-country. He’s found a perfect niche with Rea, and together they contest children’s hunter and equitation classes throughout the Southeast.
Rea, an eighth grader, considers herself lucky to live in Florida, where a plethora of shows means she can get to plenty of competitions with a minimum of travel time. She partnered up with trainer Keith Alaimo two years ago when she started showing more seriously, and they meet twice a week for lessons. Under his tutelage she’s started campaigning more seriously.
“I went from a 12.1-hand pony to a 15.3-hand horse to this big guy so quickly,” she said. “It was a big change, but Keith has been really helpful and so fantastic.”
Jacksonville Tidbits
• Franklin’s Tower topped the large pony hunter division for three weeks and took reserve honors once on the way to the Jacksonville pony hunter series championship. Don Stewart Stables catch rider Taylor Ann Adams picked up the ride throughout the circuit for Meg O’Mara.
• Samantha Schaefer capped off a successful month in Jacksonville with a pair of circuit awards, riding Brittany Warden’s Tycoon to the small junior hunter series championship and earning the junior/amateur-owner jumper series award on Perle for Chloe Reid. Schaefer, 15, also saddled up Perle for the $35,000 Outback Steakhouse Grand Prix, Feb. 1, the second grand prix of her career, where she finished seventh.
• Keri Guanciale and Quincy forged a successful new partnership during the Jacksonville circuit, earning the amateur-owner series award during their first four shows together. Guanciale took time out of her busy schedule as a student at Frostburg State University (Md.) to show. “My dad [trainer Ben Guanciale] has liked him for a long time, and we clicked from the first time I rode him,” she said.
• Chloe Reid’s two mounts Snowbird and Blue On Blue took turns winning small titles all four weeks, and her medium pony Benlea Aristocrat took tricolors two other weeks. Reid, who trains with Kim Stewart, got her start thanks to her uncle, Chronicle 2008 Driving Horseman of the Year Chester Weber. “When I was visiting, he and Lauren Hough put me on a pony in the round pen and that was it,” she said. “Trying to control four horses at the same time like my uncle is way too hard, but he got me hooked on riding.”
