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R-rated judge conducts clinic at Greystone Farms
TripleCrown By BEN BAUGH Staff writer
(As published in AikenStandard.com April 11, 2011)
Beth Nielsen's drive was apparent from an early age, but her prescience in becoming an R-rated judge, a distinction she's held for the past 35 years, is among the number of things that sets the horseman apart. She conducted a clinic Saturday at Sharer Dale's Greystone Farms.
"Shari and I are old friends from Cleveland," said Nielsen. "I'm here to judge the SCHJA show in Camden (Progressive Show Jumping's AA rated Camden Spring Classic Carolina Circuit week No. 2) next week."
The horseman has been riding since the age of 4 and lived in England as a young child.
"I got the bug, and no one else in my family has the bug," said Nielsen.
Renowned for her flat work, Nielsen believes that jumping a jump course of obstacles is very much like doing a dressage test, with a few of the strides being over jumps.
"It's important for the horses to be balanced, quiet, straight; all of the things that are important to the equestrian disciplines," said Nielsen. "I'm kind of a perfectionist. I like for people to learn to be perfectionists with their horses and themselves. I like to give them homework. I'm here for only a short time, and I like to give them exercises to do at home."
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Green horses get ready for winter season
by Ben Baugh
(As published in AikenStandard.com Nov 29, 2009)
While shoppers may be contending with long lines, getting a parking space close to a store front or less-than-friendly fellow consumers, the exhibitors at Progressive Show Jumping's Just For Fun Hunter/Jumper Schooling Show were getting their green horses ready for the upcoming winter season.
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Sharer Dale brought two horses to the show, Numero Uno, ridden by Mary Guynn, and Landclassic, who is returning to competition after an injury. She saw Saturday's show as a great way of preparing her horses for the future.
"It's good and quick, inexpensive and easy," said Dale.
An opportunity to compete in a Hunter Hack class at Highfields Event Center and spend time with her daughter Sarah served as the impetus for Cathy Chambers to exhibit two horses at the show.
"My daughter did sidesaddle for the first time," said Chambers. "We have a Dutch warmblood and a Selle Francais with us today. ... They both do the hunters; we were at the Aiken Hounds and Why Worry Hounds Opening meets."
Lauren Allen made the sojourn from Camden to exhibit at this weekend's PSJ show because of the low-key, friendly atmosphere and the low-expense show and found it as a great way to get experience and exposure for the horses. Allen brought her warmblood and her friend's Thoroughbred from off the track to the show.
"We're preparing for the hunters, but we did the jumpers just to give them something different to do," said Allen. "My other horse - it was her first horse show, and she was a little excited. She handled it well, and for her it was a good experience."
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Sharer Dale, Antares win Mini Prix at Highfields
by Ben Baugh (As published in AikenStandard.com)
A strong field of 17 entries made up Sunday's PSJ Aiken Winter Classic $10,000 Mini Prix at Highfields Event Center.
A total of 12 riders qualified for the jump-off. The first-round course designed by J.P. Godard featured 12 1.25-meter high obstacles and 15 elements.
Sandy Gregory, in the irons on Calimba, selected the B option and decided to stay in the ring after her first round. She jumped double clean, with a jump-off time of 34.256, and was the class' early leader but wound up placing fourth.
Two locally based riders placed first and second in the class. Sharer Dale and her bay gelding Antares won with a time of 28.025, nearly 6 seconds better than DFG Stable's Daniel Geitner, who rode CDS Stable's Neville and stopped the timer at 33.844. Finally Farm's Liza Towell-Boyd placed third on Tula, with a time of 34.074.
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Dale qualified two horses for the jump-off - Gerry 79 and Antares. She had a couple of rails down with Gerry 79 but entered the ring second to last of the riders who qualified for the jump-off. The second-round course designed by Godard featured five obstacles and six elements.
"It was real disappointing (Gerry 79), but every round I went
I was having a little error here and a little error there. I was just not on my game," said Dale, who directed her focus toward a clean jump-off round with Antares. "I just took a breath, and I needed to get into the zone because he'll give
it to me. I just needed to believe in him and trust him."
Dale was confident after going clean over the first three obstacles with Antares in the jump-off.
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"As soon as I had that (the first three obstacles), I kept pressing and pressing to the corners," said Dale. "It was pretty exciting."
The opportunity to go late in the order in the jump-off gave Dale additional perspective, as did her previous ride earlier in the round.
"It becomes a run, but a lot of the riders had a rail, and that's what happened with Gerry; I tried to go to fast," said Dale. "It gives you a little bit of an advantage (going late in the order) because you'll know if you have to go fast or be conservative. I knew if my first three jumps were good, I was going to press on. He (Antares) stepped it up."
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Clinic participants get to meet the pros
by Ben Baugh (As published in AikenStandard.com)
A professional can make a real difference.
Saturday's Meet the Pros Clinic was held at Sharer Dale and Drasius Arkus' Greystone Farm at Steeplechase Equestrian Communities and gave people an opportunity to interact with a number of skilled professionals encompassing a variety of disciplines.
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Clinic participants had an opportunity to learn how to walk and critique a course for their horse with world renowned course designer, Olympic Silver medalist and Aiken resident Michel Vaillancourt.
Arkus, a professional hunter/jumper rider, clinician, trainer and instructor, conducted three training sessions. More clinics will be held in the future as the forums are a way to generate more interest for equestrian activities and sports, he said.
"We decided to conduct the clinic primarily as an educational resource for those taking part in the sessions," said Arkus. "We wanted to offer a perspective whose emphasis is on the European riding school. We asked Michel if he would participate in the clinic, and he provided his input as far as the differences between European and American courses and about the different levels of courses. But our primary emphasis is on education. We want to introduce more people to equestrian activities."
Estrella Equine's Dr. Sarah Thompson's presentation on emergency protocol covered a number of topics, and she fielded questions during the educational forum. Among the topics Thompson touched on were coughing, wound and laceration care especially if the injury is near or impacts a joint, colic, ophthalmology issues and foreign bodies in the feet.
"For me it's always about being able to inform the client," said Thompson. "It makes my job easier if the client is informed. If they call me and they have an emergency, and I can ask them certain questions that they can give me the answers to, then I'll be able to make a better decision if I should drop everything that I'm doing and head their way right away or if I'll be able to finish what I'm doing at that moment with the client that I'm working with and address the other problem as soon as possible. It gives clients a little more control over their own situation to know that they have these resources to fall back on."
Creative Culinary Creations Chef Dan Bullington created a virtual cornucopia of gastronomical delights for the clinic participants.
Contact Ben Baugh at bbaugh@aikenstandard.com. |
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The Aiken Horse Blog: Sharer Dale is Jumping Higher - February 2, 2009
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