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.
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Exterior of the Linde Center for Music and Learning.
“We have been thrilled and humbled to see the Tanglewood Learning Institute embraced as a year-round destination for a breadth of exceptional programming, including classical, jazz and family-friendly events,” said BSO President and CEO Chad Smith. “Our 2025–26 fall, winter and spring season reflects our deepening commitment to engaging the vibrant, year-round Berkshires community and to fully exploring the potential of TLI as a space where BSO programs make thought-provoking connections between music, art and society.”
TLI is once again presenting its Chamber Concerts series on Sunday afternoons, with small ensembles of BSO musicians performing familiar favorites and classic mainstays, as well as new music by contemporary composers. There are upcoming chamber concerts scheduled for Feb. 22, March 8 and March 15.
Interior of the Linde Center for Music and Learning.Hilary Scott, courtesy of the BSO
New this season is the TLI Jazz series, which continues March 20 with the Sullivan Fortner Trio, led by Grammy Award-winning artist and educator Sullivan Fortner, whose eponymous ensemble won the 2024 DownBeat Critics Poll for Rising Jazz Group. “Soul-sax sensation” Nick Hemp brings his free-blowing blend of “barroom excitement and modern jazz finesse” for a rousing night of soul jazz April 10. Rounding out the jazz series, and back by popular demand, is Grammy Award-winning trumpeter and singer Jumaane Smith, who brings his repertoire of jazz and American Songbook standards to the Linde Center on May 9.
Another season highlight comes April 12 with an animated live concert screening of the 3D stop-motion adventure film “Magic Piano.” Produced by the Academy Award-winning BreakThru Films production company in Poland, the film will be accompanied by a screening of “The Chopin Shorts,” a collection of animated films set to Chopin’s etudes, performed by pianist Derek Wang.
All performances take place in Studio E, the Linde Center’s 4,000-square-foot multiuse room that serves as TLI’s main performance and event space. It features retractable seating, acoustic and technical systems, flexible configurations, and is accessible and comfortable for all patrons.
The entire Linde Center for Music and Learning is worth a visit in itself. The complex, which also includes the informal Cindy’s Cafe (seasonal) for a quick bite, is conceived not as a single building but as a cluster of pavilion-like spaces connected by an outdoor covered walkway and arranged around a century-old red oak tree. The center promotes a welcoming and serene sense of place and continuity with the rolling Tanglewood lawn and surrounding woodlands.
Smith said, “This ongoing work is also a passion project for our musicians, who form deep ties to the area and are eager to remain active in the Berkshires beyond the summer months. We look forward to welcoming new and returning audiences to experience all that TLI offers — all year long.”
The Tanglewood Learning Institute is located at 3 W. Hawthorne Road, Lenox, Mass. For more information and to purchase tickets,
visit bso.org/tli.
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