National Show Hunter Hall of Fame Induction

1. 24 The Chronicle of the Horse
INTHE COUNTRY
return to play guidelines, pressuring
helmet manufacturers to improve, and
educating people to wear their helmets.
SARA LIESER
USEF Names Land
Rover Eventing Team
For Aachen CICO***
The U.S. Equestrian Federation has
named the Land Rover U.S. Eventing
Team and an alternate for the Aachen
CICO***, July 14-16, in Aachen, Germany.
The following combinations will
compose the team:
• Matt Brown (Cochranville, Pa.) and
Blossom Creek Foundation’s Super
Socks BCF, a 10-year-old Irish Sport
Horse gelding
• Hannah Sue Burnett (The Plains, Va.)
and Jacqueline Mars’ Harbour Pilot, a
13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding
• Phillip Dutton (West Grove, Pa.) and
David Garrett’s Indian Mill, an 11-year-
old English Thoroughbred gelding
• Lauren Kieffer (Middleburg, Va.) and
Jacqueline Mars’ Landmark’s Monte
Carlo, a 10-year-old Irish Thoroughbred
Cross gelding
The following combination was named
as the alternate:
• Elisabeth Halliday-Sharp (East
Sussex, United Kingdom) and Deborah
Halliday’s HHS Cooley, a 12-year-old
Irish Sport Horse gelding
National Show Hunter
Hall of Fame Inducts
New Horses And
Horsemen
Humans and horses alike were celebrated
with induction into the National Show
Hunter Hall Of Fame on May 31 in
Haverford, Pa., during the Devon Horse
Show (Pa.).
Pam Baker, Leslie Howard, the
O’Connell family, Elizabeth Solter and Jack
Towell were the human honorees.
Baker, of Bealeton, Va., has spent her
entire life teaching horsemanship to riders
of all ages and levels. As a teenager, she
and her brother Jimmy Cantwell ran their
own lesson program in Virginia with 300
weekly students and 50 regular boarders.
She owns Pam C. Baker LLC and has
guided many students to championships
at major equestrian events, including
Devon, the Pennsylvania National Horse
Show, Upperville (Va.), the Washington
International (D.C.) and the National
Horse Show. She was inducted into
the Virginia Horse Shows Association
Hall of Fame in 2002 and earned VHSA
Horseperson of the Year accolades. She
also received the U.S. Hunter Jumper
Association Lifetime Achievement Award
in 2012.
Top jumper rider and trainer Howard
is based out of Redgate Farm in Newtown,
Conn. A winning equestrian from a young
age, she captured the 1972 ASPCA Maclay
Finals at age 15. In her senior career she
was a member of the gold medal-winning
U.S. Equestrian Team in the 1984 Olympic
Games in Los Angeles and then won
the FEI World Cup Final in Sweden two
years later. She was also on the silver
medal team at the 1996 Olympic Games in
Atlanta.
The late Joseph O’Connell Sr., his late
son Joseph O’Connell Jr., and the younger
O’Connell’s wife, Pat O’Connell, have a
75-year family history in the horse busi-
ness. Joseph Sr. ran a successful show
stable called Green Dunes Farm in
California in the 1940s and ’50s. Joseph
Jr. ran a show stable in California with
Carleton Brooks.
Hunter/jumper trainer and rider Solter
grew up on her mother’s Amberley Farm
in Maryland. A child star in the pony
ring, she made her name in the senior
ranks by winning innumerable champi-
onships with the great hunter Rox Dene.
She also enjoyed achievements in the
jumpers, winning the Grand Prix de Penn
National in 1994 and 1995 with Flirtatious
before contesting the Volvo FEI World
Cup Final in 1996 (Switzerland). She was
the first winner of the World Champion
Hunter Rider Professional Finals (Md.)
in 1994 and the American Grandprix
Association’s Rookie of the Year in 1995.
She died in 2014.
Towell owns Finally Farm in
Camden, S.C., with his wife, Lisa Towell.
Throughout his successful hunter/jumper
training career, he has won countless
awards and is the four-time trainer of the
overall World Champion Junior Hunter
Rider. He is also one of the few trainers in
the country to have clients win champion
or reserve champion in every division
at indoors. His son, Hardin Towell, is a
successful grand prix competitor, and
his daughter, Liza Towell Boyd, is a top
hunter rider and three-time winner of
the USHJA International Hunter Derby
Championship (Ky.).
On the equine side, Barbara Kearney’s
After jumping to first in the $10,000 National Hunter Derby during the
Showplace Spring Spectacular III (Ill.) on Mimi Rothman’s Calido’s Son, Doug
Boyd decided to honor the late Russell Frey (see his obituary, p. 112) in his victory
lap. Frey (right), known for his good sense of humor, usually did something a little
different in the prizegiving ceremony, as he did at the Equifest II Horse Show
(Ill.) in 2015, where he won the $5,000 National Hunter Derby on Nina Moore’s
Kodachrome.
Hands Up For Frey
ANDREWRYBACKPHOTOGRAPHYPHOTOS

2. July 4, 2016 • chronofhorse.com 25
GG Valentine won everywhere: Devon,
the National, Washington and the
Pennsylvania National, as well as claiming
the USEF National First Year Green
Hunter Horse of the Year honors with
Jennifer Alfano riding. The mare, now
22, even has her own Breyer model. One
of her career highlights was winning the
$100,000 National Horse Show Hunter
Championship at Madison Square Garden
in New York in 2001.
Osczar, an Oldenburg stallion (Alla’
Czar—Antrim, Antritt) owned by Dawn
Fogel, had a celebrated career in the
regular working hunter division with
Rick Fancher in the irons. The pair made
history scoring the first perfect 100 in a
regular working hunter class at the 1997
Capital Challenge Horse Show and was
named the Chronicle’s Show Hunter Horse
of the Year that year. He also accrued
many accolades with Fogel in the amateur-
owner hunter division and retired after
winning the grand amateur championship
at the National Horse Show in 2001. He
died in 2015.
HALEY WEISS
Hester Announces
Uthopia Will Remain At
His Yard
After weeks of uncertainty following the
sale of Olympic gold medalist Uthopia at a
public auction, Carl Hester announced via
his Facebook page on June 28 that the stal-
lion will remain at his yard.
“Apologies for the long wait, but it
has been worth it,” he wrote. “I can now
confirm that Uthopia has been secured
and will stay at home where he is much
loved. Those involved wish to remain
anonymous, and I hope everyone will
respect that—suffice to say I am enor-
mously grateful to them.
“Thank you all for your support,” he
continued. “It has been overwhelming to
know so many people care. A very happy
ending to a stressful time and will make
my birthday celebrations tomorrow extra
special!”
The 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood
(Metall—Odelia, Inspekteur) was sold
May 27 for $241,056 to an unknown buyer.
The sale came about after Sasha Stewart
and her father Derek Harrison, former
owners of the stallion, filed for bank-
ruptcy. Hester, who rode “Uti” on the gold
medal-winning team at the 2012 London
Olympic Games, stated at the time that
he’d hopefully arranged enough money to
keep the stallion.
LISA SLADE
The Chronicle Wins 17
AHP Awards
The Chronicle of the Horse, Untacked, coth.
com and their contributors won 17 awards
for excellence in equine journalism in the
2016 American Horse Publications awards
contest. The awards were presented
during the annual AHP seminar, held in
Orlando, Fla., June 16-18.
Notably, The Chronicle of the Horse and
Untacked writers swept the personality
profile single article category in its circula-
tion section.
The awards include:
•1st service to the horse industry: “The
Cult Of Calm” by Lisa Slade, published in
the Chronicle
•1st freelance writer “Urban Legends” by
Kelly Sanchez, published in Untacked
•1st personality profile “All The World’s
His Stage” by Marsha Hayes, published in
Untacked
• 1st editorial event coverage: “Smith
Scores An Emotional Fair Hill CCI***
Win” by Lindsay Berreth, published in the
Chronicle
• 2nd personality profile: “Living Legend:
Michael Poulin” by Jennifer Calder,
published in the Chronicle
• 2nd editorial event coverage: “Dujardin
Matt and Stephanie Petersen
welcomed their first child,
son Briggs, on March 25. Matt
plays polo with the St. Louis Polo
Club, while Stephanie (shown) is
a trainer at Dragonfly Farms, a
hunter/jumper barn in Ladue,
Mo., and they wasted no time
introducing their son to horses.
Stephanie “is hoping Briggs will
ride, as evidenced by the photo,”
said Matt.
Briggs’ mount, Miniature
Horse Lilly, is owned by
Dragonfly Farms. The Petersens,
of Foristell, Mo., “will be looking for minis and a string of ponies,” reported Matt.
“Hoping to have a show circuit rider soon. Leadline at Devon!”
Starting ’Em Young
PHOTOCOURTESYOFSHEILAL.WILKINSON
Brings The Crowd To Its Feet In Vegas”
by Kimberly Loushin, published in the
Chronicle
• 2nd news reporting related feature:
“Remarkable Rosie Does It Again At
San Juan Capistrano” by Jennifer Keeler,
published in the Chronicle
• 2nd breaking news single article:
“Cambridge Dies At Devon Horse Show”
by Mollie Bailey, published at coth.com
• 2nd editorial series: columnist Jody
Lynne Werner, published at coth.com
• 2nd freelance writer: “How Da Vinci’s
Brainchild Became The American Horse”
by Tania Evans, published in Untacked
• 3rd service to the horse industry: “On
The Hunt For A Couch To Call Their
Own” by Erin Harty, published in the
Chronicle
• 3rd news reporting related feature: “The
Top Two Are 19 Years Young In The
Longines FEI World Cup Speed Leg” by
Molly Sorge, published at coth.com
• 3rd personality profile: “Undefeated” by
Jennifer Calder, published in Untacked
• Honorable mention personality profile:
“Chester Weber: Overall Horseman of the
Year” by Jennifer Calder, published in the
Chronicle
• Honorable mention personality profile
“Rita Mae Brown: The Rabble Rouser Of
Feminism And Foxhunting” by Jennifer
Calder, published in the Chronicle
• Honorable mention editorial event
coverage: “Jenny Carol Is Conquering
The ‘Pony Problem’ ” by Jennifer