AMENIA — Spectators gathered at Keane Stud in Amenia Sunday, Oct. 6 to watch the $125,000 Grand Prix final at the Silo Ridge Masters showjumping competition.
Brian Moggre, of Flower Mound, Texas, took home the prize money and a champagne soaked jacket Sunday afternoon.
Moggre rode 15-year-old gelding Vivre Le Reve around the ring, receiving no penalty points in the first round.
Four riders competed in a tie-breaking jump-off: Sloane Coles of Virginia; Darragh Kenny, representing Ireland; Daniel Bluman, representing Israel; and Moggre, the champion of the weekend.
The show jumping competition was the first of its kind at the expansive Keane Ranch. Pedro Torres, owner of the farm and racecar driver, said the ring finished construction just days before the event started on Thursday, Oct. 4.
Torres said a horse show had been a long-time dream for him and Judy Garofalo-Torres, his wife. They built Keane Stud so Garofalo-Torres could train show jumpers. Torres said there are a lot of show jumpers local to the Northeast U.S. and there’s demand for more competitions in the region. Silo Ridge Masters also serves as a fundraising event for the Silo Ridge Community Foundation and the Amenia-Wassaic Community Organization.
Speckled colors on the ridges of the Amenia valley provided a scenic backdrop for the four-day long event. Visitors remarked on the location, saying the views from the top of the hill were breathtaking.
Anticipation began to build as representatives of regional press organizations were invited to Media Day on Thursday, Oct. 3. Reporters met riders and their horses, some from area and regional stables and others coming from countries whose flags circled the competition rink.
Caroline Mawhinney of Wellington, Florida, competed in the $125,000 Grand Prix class at Silo Ridge Masters on Carsey Z, an 11 year old Belgian warmblood. The rider ranked 14th at the international competition in the scenic Harlem Valley.Nathan Miller
The Silo Ridge Masters event marks the first year of a local equestrian center joining the competitive Hudson Valley Show Jumping circuit for their fall calendar. An equestrian training program led by Judy Garofalo-Torres is included in the programs at the Keane Stud Farm in Amenia. Silo Ridge served as a sponsor for the show jumping competition. The proceeds would benefit the Silo Ridge Foundation and the Amenia Wassaic Community Organization.
Student riders were the feature of the day on Oct. 3, putting their horses through their paces as they confidently jumped the obstacles and kept to good form. Many of the students’ adult riding coaches would be competing into the weekend, in preparation for the finals on Sunday.
This year the competition would be a 3-star show, explained Lindsay Brock, press officer, noting that shows can be up to 5 stars. The differing levels determine the height and difficulty of the obstacles being jumped and the size of the prize purse.
Warmblood horses are ideal for jumping events, due to their hardy nature and temperament.
Already planning for next year, Brock said that Silo Ridge would like to go to 5 stars.
Christian Coyle of Christian Coyle Show Stables, Sherman, Connecticut, originally from Ireland, had horses and riders competing in the event. He said that he has been involved with competitive show jumping for 40 years and was pleased that the Silo Ridge event was relatively close by.
One of Coyle’s riders, Camellia Ford was once a student at Kent School, studying under Michael Page. Ford said she would be riding 9-year-old Jetties. She added that all horses turn a year older each January, rather than being fussy about their actual birth month.
“It’s a matter of trust between horse and rider,” Ford said about building the essential relationship. “It’s a partnership with the horse, with another sentient being,” explained Tiffany Foster, competing from her home stables in Vancouver, British Columbia. She operates an equestrian training center and most often brings some of her students to compete in show jumping competitions.
A three-time Olympian, Foster is ranked as the world’s top female rider in the sport, although she said that she is ranked 21st among all riders. The 20 who rank higher are all men she explained.
“We’re all here because we love horses,” Foster said. “It’s a physical thing; it’s hard on your body,” she added in speaking about the demands of competitive show jumping.
Foster rode “Northern Light” during Sunday’s final Grand Prix competition.
Dick Hermans in the Oblong Bookstore on Millerton's Main Street in 1985.
A highlight of the event will be New Yorker cartoonists Liza Donnelly and Michael Maslin, who will create simple, impromptu drawings inside the main store.
Hermans is the daughter of Oblong co-founder Dick Hermans, who opened the store in 1975 with a vision of creating a welcoming space for lovers of good books and music. With a $10,000 loan, he and founding partner Holly Nelson opened their first 400-square-foot shop on Main Street — now home to Demitasse.
As the business grew, Oblong expanded into Harold’s Apparel – now Cottage+Camp – in 1981, and eventually purchased its current building, then an antiques store. The staff walked the books across the street by hand during the move. Oblong Jr., located next door in what was once a shoemaker’s storefront, came later, as did a second location in Rhinebeck.
Dick Hermans, left, and Suzanna Hermans pose for a picture together in the Oblong Bookstore on Millerton's Main Street.Photo provided
Today, Suzanna Hermans is a second-generation owner of Oblong Books. Her parents met at the bookstore, and she has fond memories of going to preschool in the mornings and spending afternoons roaming the shelves with her father, always with a book in hand. As soon as she could see over the counter, Hermans would assist customers, recalling how exciting it was to finally be old enough to take credit card payments. “My dad was smart enough not to push me into it and let me come back to it naturally,” she said of taking over the family business after college.
A lot can happen to a local business over the course of half a century. Navigating shifts in technology, consumer behavior and the broader economy, it’s no small feat that Oblong has not only endured but become an iconic fixture of the community. “Bookstores have had ups and downs over the years, and we’ve been there to see most of them,” Hermans said.
In the 1990s, the rise of big-box chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders contributed to a steep decline in independent bookstores across the country. According to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the number of physical bookstores in the U.S. dropped from 13,136 in 1992 to just 6,448 by 2016.
The emergence of eBooks and Amazon further disrupted the industry. “They devalued books and taught consumers that books mean nothing,” Hermans said, adding, “Amazon will continue to be a challenge for us on a national scale.” Oblong has compensated for that by offering online purchasing and a digital storefront.
More recently, bookstores are facing the threat of censorship and efforts to limit access to books. “Today, things are crazy, and there are a lot of communities that are working very hard to ban books — including queer stories — from stores and libraries,” Hermans said. “We’re seeing a lot of freedom of speech and freedom to read issues as our next challenge, but I hope we’re shielded from that here in Millerton.”
Through it all, Hermans said it has been the support of the local community that helps Oblong weather these industry-wide changes.
“One thing that spans the whole length of it is our incredible staff that has worked for us over these last 50 years,” Hermans said. Since its founding, Oblong has employed more than 200 people — many of whom have stayed for five to 40 years. “Folks tend to stay a long time, which is an incredible testament to their admiration for bookselling,” she said. “But we also work really hard to be a great place to work.”
Even a casual walk through the store reveals the passion of its booksellers. Handwritten staff recommendations known as “shelf talkers” and colorful hand-drawn displays embody the charm and personality of an independent bookstore while a diverse, up-to-the-minute selection reflects the store’s commitment to a high-quality bookstore experience.
“Our staff picks are truly special,” Hermans said. With 24 booksellers across the two locations, each with their own distinct tastes, the result is a diverse and unique collection of recommendations. Hermans said the store’s “shelf talkers” are among Oblong’s most popular features. Some recommendations sell 20, 50 or even 100 copies — books that are often overlooked elsewhere.
Over the decades, Oblong has also become a destination for top-tier literary events featuring celebrity authors, local favorites and emerging voices. “We love our authors,” Hermans said. “We’ve built up a reputation that you can send your best-touring authors here to the Hudson Valley and they’re going to sell their books at our events.”
She adds that there is an “incredible depth” of literary talent in the region. Oblong now participates in approximately 150 events per year, an impressive number for an independent bookstore.
Though much has changed, the heart of Oblong Books remains the same: books, music and community. Originally called Oblong Books and Records, a section for vinyl and CDs can still be found in each location — a nod to the store’s musical roots.
“A lot of our shoppers are hardcore music lovers and people who like the novelty of buying a record or an LP,” Hermans said, noting that while music doesn’t drive profits, it remains part of the store’s identity. Her mother is a musician, and her father, “in all of his spare time,” she jokes, is a DJ for a folk radio show on WKZE.
Fifty years in, Oblong remains a cultural cornerstone of the Hudson Valley — not just a store, but a gathering place, a literary sanctuary and a celebration of the written word.
Dick Hermans is a member of the board of LJMN Media, publisher of The Millerton News.
