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.
Olivia Wickwire, no. 2, tags out a runner at first base. The Webutuck Warriors varsity softball team beat the Germantown Clippers 14-7 at home Friday, April 25.
Yelling from the dugout is apparently just as important to the game as throwing. Webutuck players cheered and shouted at their teammates on the field the whole afternoon. Photo by Nathan Miller
The game started off with an early lead from Germantown. The Clippers scored three runs in the first inning.
The Warriors responded in kind with a run of their own in the bottom of the first. The real magic started to come in the second inning, when Webutuck held Germantown with no runs and managed to rack up five in the bottom, brining the score to 6-1 at by the end of the second inning.
Abby Keefer, no. 8, waits at third base for an opportunity to run to home plate. Photo by Nathan Miller
On the mound, Webutuck pitcher Madison Kruger, no. 10, showed great skill dispensing of batters. Kruger struck out 16 batters through the game.
In the fifth inning, Germantown’s batters managed three more runs, spurring the Warriors back into action in the batters box. Webutuck responded with six more runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Germantown managed another run in the sixth, but Webutuck scored two more, brining the score to 14-7 going into the top of the seventh.
Webutuck Warriors pitcher Madison Kruger, no. 10, racked up 16 strikeouts during the game.Photo by Nathan Miller
A few hundred feet away the varsity baseball squad played against the boys from Germantown.
The Warriors won that matchup 4-3 after a tie-breaking run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Webutuck pitcher Troy Brazee led in strikeouts with six. Zach Latrell had two and Pearse Williams had one.
Tim Middlebrook, President of the Columbia Mid-Hudson Valley chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, left, Amenia Town Supervisor Leo Blackman, center, and Amenia Historical Society President Betsy Strauss unveiled a new historical marker at the Old Amenia Burying Ground on Saturday, April 26. The marker commemorates revolutionary war veterans buried at the cemetery where the Red Meeting House once stood on Mygatt Road.
The gathering at the old burying ground on Saturday, April 26, began with Middlebrook, president of the Columbia Mid-Hudson Valley chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, talking about the process of acquiring the sign from the Pomeroy foundation. He thanked the Burke family, longtime neighbors of the burying ground, for the work they and their father, Bill Burke, had done with the cemetery.
Bill’s son, Stephen, said he and his father spent a lot of time mapping and cleaning the burying ground. “Putting the stones back up,” he said. “Putting them back up again.”
Stephen said his father had completed a map of the burying ground with the identifiable plots. That was part of Bill Burke and Betsy Strauss’s work with the historical society to find revolutionary war veterans and attain historical recognition for the cemetery.
“It’s pretty impressive, it’s all this poster board that he put together,” Stephen said. “When I first saw it I said ‘wow.’ Then my sister Karen said ‘Oh we’eve already translated all that and into this.’ I thought I had found a hidden gem.”
Tim Middlebrook of the Sons of the American Revolution and Amenia Historical Society President Betsy Strauss told the crowd of neighbors and historical society members about the centuries-long history of the Old Amenia Burying Ground and listed the names of the known Revolutionary War veterans in the cemetery. Photo by Nathan Miller
After Middlebrook’s remarks, the crowd moved into the burying ground for snacks and mingling, where the graves of revolutionary war veterans had been marked with American flags.
Betsy Strauss had lists of the names for visitors:
Col. William Barker
1740-1820
Daniel Bartlett
1755-1837
John Bates
1756-1801
Maj. Simeon Cook
1726-1811
Maj. Robert Freeman
1727-1798
John Garnsey
1734-1799
Robert Hebard
1737-1798
Capt. Job Mead Sr.
1735-1819
Job Mead Jr.
1761-1838
Capt. Abiah Palmer
1758-1834
Capt. Elijah Park
1744-1795
Capt. David Parsons
1748-1812
David Rundall
1757-1848
Samuel St. John
1752-1785
