Great Lakes and Michigan Horse Sport News

Kids from 6 to 16 came from Lexington h/j barns with trainer Tim Goguen to compete at Traverse City's Horse Shows by the Bay. Not only did they show horses!

The kids were keen to discuss everything about their three weeks.  “After we’re done showing every day,” said Kaitlin Campbell, 15, “we go into town.  All of us including Daisy.” Daisy Farish is 6 years old. 

In a moment it was a verbal free for all, and every youngster at once spoke up about their favorite thing in Traverse.  “We go watersliding.  I love the bumper boating.  And putt-putt golf.  We just got back today from Parasailing. I went up 300 feet. Usually we don’t show on Monday and then we have a whole day to go do stuff.  We went tubing down a river into Lake Michigan.  What was it?  It was the Platte River.  And we get cherries everywhere.  Cherry shakes are delicious.”

I asked Daisy Farish, 6, who does short stirrup, how she fared at the show.  Daisy was shy so Kaitlin spoke for her, “She was Reserve Champion in short stirrup both the first two weeks.” I asked Daisy what she thinks about as she rides. Kaitlin tried to prompt the shy Daisy.  “What do you have to do at the canter, Daisy?  What do you check?” asks Kaitlin, “You check that your heels are down.”  Daisy smiled and nodded.  Kaitin continued, “Daisy’s pony is really quiet so you have to wear big spurs to keep him going.  What are you supposed to do, Daisy, to keep him going?”  Daisy spoke up, “Gallop.” 

Tim Hott, Course Designer, Horse Shows by the Bay III

Designer Hott’s main hope is to produce courses that teach a horse something at the end of the day. “I sure like it if everybody leaves and says that they think their horse is jumping better for jumping my courses this week.  Every good sized course you jump, every grand prix course you jump, that horse gets that much better.  So if they jumped your courses all week and they feel like the horse’s really come along then you the designer have done your job.  I’m setting something that helps trainers train their horses.  That’s the purpose for designing courses.  The best result is when everyone wins. They don’t have to go clean to win.  There were a lot of people who went out of the ring after their round with 4 faults and they had a good time in there.  I build riders’ jumps.  I rarely do little bending 3’s and 4’s.

“At the end of the HOF course," Tim said of Sunday's Hall of Fame course, "the oxer was two strides to the vertical – likein the Welcome. If you end over a combination coming home, it’s just such a test.  Your horse is done with the course by now.  He knows it’s the last line, probably.  He’s heading twards home and they all want to go there.  They will surely be more likely to knock it if it’s a vertical.

 “So I had the combination coming home but then in the Grand Prix the riders all knew the plank was coming up after.  All the horses had the combination figured out.  The plank jump just being 4 planks,  that didn’t get them going too fast.

“It was good for the spectators because they thought the horse was going to jump into their laps, the way that plank jump faced the tables and spectators.

Back to fundamentals, Tim said, “I think you got to put the right amount of jumps in the ring.  Even in the normal classes I tend to be more of a 1-10 or 1-11.  That’s enough, you’re not wearing them out.  You create enough places to be careful with a course that size - you don’t have to be trappy or build tricky distances.  I try to build on the stride and add a foot or two just to make it a forward line for most people or take a foot or two off.  I rarely deal with the half strides very often.  I’d rather the courses flow.  I think flow is a big part of it.” 

Traverse City's Horse Shows By the Bay drew over 1,000 entries during 3 weeks of Hunter Jumper and Dressage competitions. Some came from Texas, Minnesota, Canada, New York. Many Michigan riders participated from top professionals to first-time showers. They all came away with rave reviews of the new facilities up in Acme that will put northern Michigan on every rider's list of perfect venues for showing - and then swimming or fishing or jet skis or hiking or... just plain eating well, at the end of the day.

Henry Pfeiffer, 18, from Fox Meadow Farm in Temperance, Mi. wins HOF Jr/AO at Horse Shows by the Bay, Week III, August 1-5.

Henry Pfeiffer at 18 is a large man physically but he was euphoric like a kid because of his expertly ridden round in the HOF Jr/YR.  He took home the championship riding Sargent.  Henry said about his big, kind mount, “Sargent is about 10 or 11 years old.  He came to us to train.  He’s a Belgian warmblood.  We also won the lows on Thorstin, another Belgian warmblood. Thorstin won by 2 seconds.  I think that next year he’ll be in the HOF GP.”

Cindy Phibbs of Hidden Lane Farm, Ann Arbor, Mi. rides her 5-year old Chocolate Martini to win the YJC Qualifer 5/6 Year Olds and Champion Level 4 Jumpers.

Michigan's Erin Haas is a top jumper rider and a 2007 graduate veterinarian from MSU. Chelsea-based at North Face Farm with four competitive mounts, she sees the constraints of geography and time as jumps yet to be jumped.

Erin, you’ve been riding since you were 9 years old.

I began riding at 7 and started showing in the circuit at 9 years old.  I started with ponies. During my Junior career, I did mostly hunters and then my last junior year I got involved with jumpers.  Now, at this point – I’m graduating from veterinary school at MSU this year -  I primarily do jumpers.  My dad is the owner of the horses that I ride as an Amateur.   My sister Sarah is also into horses and has become a professional.  She has her own separate training and teaching business in Temperance, Michigan called Swept Away Farm.  

So though you’ve been devoted to horses all your life, you’ve chosen to be a veterinarian rather than a riding professional.

I had a pretty good idea that I’d be a vet.  I always knew that I was interested in medicine and that I liked animals.  It was a natural progression to go into veterinary medicine.  I have the most interest in sport horse medicine and lameness because of experiencing problems with my own competition horses throughout the years.

I knew that if I went into vet medicine that I would like to do lameness work with horses.  Managing my own horses for so long as a rider made it possible for me to sense very subtle changes in movement and any slight asymmetries – which can be difficult for a lot of vets to pick up on.   I believe that my natural ability and experience as a rider may help me treat these subtle weaknesses before they become significant.  Ideally, I would be working with horses’ problems before something becomes a breakdown injury. 

You’ve been competing so long, enjoying it and doing well at it.  Can you give that up?  Or, ideally, would you like to compete jumpers and practice medicine, too? 

I hope that focusing on sport horse medicine will allow me to continue to travel to competitions as an amateur rider because that’s where a lot of the lameness issues arise and I would see them firsthand.   Going into that specialty I should be able to focus on sport horse medicine and also compete.  Lameness isn’t always as much of an emergency event as illnesses such as colic.  I hope this will allow me to make a schedule and have time to travel.

Can you give me an example of a subtle problem that interests you?

Two of my horses have required MRI’s for diagnosis of foot problems.  Both horses could have their pain localized to the foot, but radiographs did not show significant changes.  The MRI was the only diagnostic that illustrated the injury.  One of the horses had a lesion in the deep digital flexor tendon at the level of the navicular bone and the other had a lateral collateral ligament strain of the coffin joint.  After treatment and a lengthy rehabilitation program, both have returned to competition. 

And without the MRI?

Despite many diagnostic techniques, we could not have that level of documentation of the injuries without the MRI.  The MRI will give you images of all the structures through the entirety of the foot. A lot of acute soft tissue injuries do not show bony changes seen on radiographs.  Ultrasound can be used to evaluate some structures in the foot. However, due to the hoof wall, it is difficult to completely evaluate structure in entirety.  Nuclear Scintigraphy is another diagnostic technique, but it is used more to localize a problem to a certain area.  In my horse’s case, we had already localized the problem to the hoof.  Since the introduction of MRI into equine practice, we are finding that a lot of horses with chronic hoof pain potentially have soft tissue structures damaged in the foot.  

Explain that another way for us.

The problem with radiographs in some cases is that a certain portion of bony change has to take place before you can actually detect the changes with the image, even with digital imaging. The new technology of digital imaging has really increased what we can see but ultrasound applied by a very knowledgeable operator can detect with even more sensitivity.  The images created by ultrasound are much more difficult to interpret then radiographs.  You can only see a small window at a time so you have to create a picture in your head.  The ultrasound does not penetrate bone, so it only detects changes along the perimeter of bone structures.  However, it can show very subtle changes that you might not have seen on radiographs, including consistency of cartilage, joint fluid, bursas, and joint capsules.

Then there’s also nuclear scintigraphy.  With this technique, a vet injects the horse with a radioisotope that attachs where there are active bony changes.  The scan evaluates the radiation given off by the different parts of the body.  A location with increased bony changes will have higher radiation, since more of the radioisotope attached to the bone at that location.  This allows you can evaluate bone changes in places that are difficult to radiograph, such as in the pelvis or spinal vertebrae.  These areas are covered by so much thick muscles that you can’t really get a clear radiograph of a full-sized, fully grown horse.  The radioactivity is only temporary and the horse clears the radioisotope from his body before being released from radiology department. 

So, there are many different diagnostic techniques available for horses.  It is important to choose which technique or combination of techniques will provide the information you are looking for.  Each one has benefits, but also limitations. 

Each of these is a profession in its own right?

There’s so much new technology coming out that is more and more difficult to use.  That’s why I would like to specialize in diagnostic imaging of sport horses.  The more you focus on one topic, the more expertise you acquire.  The technology offered today is very advanced and demands a level of expertise.    

So you graduate soon!  What will you do next?

I’m going to do my internship with Dr. Brendan Furlong in New Jersey.  This summer after graduating I will go and spend one year training under Dr. Furlong.

That’s a great position!  I’ve often used Brendon for my horses when they’re out east.  He is an extremely well-respected vet who takes on a lot of national and international level responsibilities with our teams.

Yes, I am really honored that he asked me to work with him.  He has MRI, Nuclear Scintigraphy, Digital Radiography and Ultrasound, among many other diagnostics.  I first met him at competitions as an amateur rider.   I have traveled to various competitions outside of Michigan with current trainer, Aaron Vale and before that, Laura Kraut.  So I’ve had quite a lot of exposure to the equine industry as a rider.  I am hoping that this knowledge from competition will balance well with my work as a vet.

Does this mean we’re losing a great vet to the lure of the eastern seaboard and the international horizon?

I’m going to New Jersey to work and continue my education, but ultimately I would like to work in Michigan.  My family resides here in Michigan and I see the equine industry growing. I think that the industry here will increasingly need more veterinarians. 

I can hardly wait to call you to help me with my horses.  Hold on.  I guess I don’t really want to call you.  But if I need you, I’ll be very glad to find you only a few minutes away!

Where will you compete next?

I’ll be taking horses to Traverse City to compete in the Open and Amateur jumper divisons.  I plan to take my horses Quendo, All of a Sudden, Mir, Cameron, and Chianti 67.  When I go to New Jersey, I will let my horses have a rest period.  They know a lot and can take time off.  But I do have one, a young one – an 8 year old Hanovarian gelding, that has Grand Prix potential.  He should be continuing his education and moving up the levels.  So he’s for sale.  He is Chianti 67.

Scott Alder, judge, course designer, MHJA co-president

How do you prepare for winter showing?
I don’t do a lot of course work.  I prepare with gymnastics and flat work and poles on the ground.  I put gymnastics into play to prepare for the jumpers. We use the  poles on the ground to teach the rider to keep the horse between the seat, leg and hand, nice and soft.  The goal is for the pair to become one, to learn to work together. GO TO VIDEO

Why do trainers drill instead of create gymnastics?
I think it’s because juniors go straight into being professional riders right away.  When I was growing up, riders would apprentice for a couple of years with a trainer.  They don’t do that anymore so I don’t think they know how to actually train the flatwork and insist on slow preparation.  And kids don’t want to take the time to learn correctly either.  They just buy one horse after another. 

Do you train individual riders?
I don’t do a lot of individual training anymore because riders don’t want to develop a feel, understand the horse and prepare specifically for the different competitions.  Most kids want to come in and jump, jump, jump. 

But I do train some riders.  I have a young gal now who does a great job.  Her name is Laramie Fink. I trained her older sister years ago.   She’s 11 years old. Laramie is a nice kid and a good rider.   I saw she was at a level where she could handle what I could teach her.  We began working together last August.  It’s been a very successful relationship.  She was the MHJA 14-and-under Equitation over Fences Champion for 2006.  And she’s won lots of awards.  She does extremely well at the shows.  She has an older horse for jumpers and 3’6” eq, she has a large pony she does at the A and B shows.  She has some green ones, too.  She brought a green Dutch horse to the Hunter’s Run show in Temperance in November ahd they ended up Reserve Champion in the Baby Green Division and First Year Green.  That exceeded my expectations because the horse is green and a little hot.  You have to have a soft feel and work off your rhythm and Laramie did an excellent job with it.

What do you like best about the horses?
My interests are both hunters and jumpers.  I really enjoy bringing young horses along and seeing them put things together.  You do prep work at home and take them to the show and see if your training program holds up.

Who was your inspiration?
I have so much focus on the horse because of my Dad.  We had the barn here in Chelsea when I was growing up.  We trained and gave lessons and boarded horses.  I rode all sorts of horses, all sorts of problem horses when I was growing up.  My Dad insisted I develop trust and a partnership with spoiled or ruined horses.  We got lots of stoppers, for example.  All the area trainers said my Dad could really understand the horses.  I made a point of learning as much as possible from him.  Now that I’m on my own, I can really see how helpful he was to me.

I was also inspired by Gabor Foltenyi.  He came from the Hungarian Calvary School.  He had a stable up in Lake Orion.  He primarily did dressage and also jumpers.  I first hooked up with him because he was doing a Michigan Combined Training Association clinic.  I signed up and I borrowed a horse to ride in it so I could work with him.  I did that a lot, I borrowed horses from the barns where he was giving clinics.  Gabor was a good friend of of Bertelen deNemethy who was also Hungarian.  deNemethy did a junior jumper clinic at Bloomfield.  I didn’t have a junior jumper so I couldn’t ride in it but I volunteered to set jumps.  I asked a lot of questions, came home at night and tested them out.  Then I got up the next day and went to the clnic. I learned so much in that week.  I didn’t have any history with jumpers at the time.  I got to know both of these trainers. 

As a judge, you travel a lot and are often away from Stoney Ridge.  What are your plans for the stable here at home?

Jim and Sari Clapperton have joined my wife Mary and I in purchasing the property known as Stoney Ridge from my family.  We’re in the process of improving the faclilities to become a top area multi-discipline show facility.  Jim Clapperton was one of my best friends growing up.  Sari teaches but doesn’t judge.  Jim and I both judge. 

So our goal here in Chelsea is to have more and more breed shows as well as our regular MHJA/USEF hunter/jumper shows and the dressage shows.  I had the opportunity to judge the Grand National World Champion Morgan h/j division and I think that would be a good breed to show here at Stoney Ridge.  I will judge in Tucson the h/j phase of the 52nd Annual Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show.  They will have hundreds of horses.  This sort of judging opened my eyes to the many types of horses people love to show.

So our immediate goal is to continue to improve the facility. We put a new roof on the stables last year, for example. We’re going to build another sand arena in the back.  We want to offer more options and develop more space for warm up and classes.

Scott Alder: Gymmastic for the Green Horse video