Pawling Equestrians Win Awards at Dutchess County Fair

Exceller Farm manager Michele Oren would have been proud of her protégé, Orleander, as he and rider Patricia McCarthy were awarded Grand Champion in the Long Stirrup Division last week in Orleander’s very first appearance in a competitive horse show at the Dutchess County Fair.

Exceller Farm is the local facility of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. TRF is dedicated to the rescue, retraining and adoption of Thoroughbreds after their racing careers are over. These Thoroughbreds can be as young as Orleander, who is just four years old, and they are quite capable of retraining in the equestrian disciplines and serving as outstanding mounts for many years. Patricia McCarthy and her family adopted Orleander just a month ago from Exceller Farm. He has done some jumping in training, but he competed only in flat work in his first show.

Exceller Farm manager Oren said of Orleander while he was at the farm earlier this summer, “Orleander is a four-year-old gelding, and an all-around sweetheart. He is just phenomenal. We just started jumping him this week, and he acts like he has done it forever. He tucks his front feet right under himself. He has an awesome personality. He would rather be with people than other horses. He is a very fine horse. He is just four years old, but you would think he was much older than that. He is very settled and has no vices.”

Speaking of the adoption practices of Exceller and the TRF, Oren said, “Once it is a TRF horse, it is forever a TRF horse. The new owner can bring the horse back at any time for any reason. We tell the new owner exactly what we know about the horse, because if anything goes wrong, they can bring the horse back. We are completely open and up front about the horses we are adopting out. We also check out the owners carefully, to be certain that our horses will have outstanding homes and dedicated and loving care.”

For information about adopting a fine Thoroughbred from Exceller Farm, call Michele Oren at 845-724-3680.

Pam and Patricia McCarthy returned to the equestrian competition at the Dutchess County Fair after being absent for several years. Patricia has concentrated with her sister Caroline on the Holstein and Brown Swiss competition at the fair since 2002. Pam was absent while she attended The Millbrook School. Pam is now attending SUNY Morrisville where she is majoring in Equine Science and is in charge of the horses at the school.

Pam, Patricia and Caroline McCarthy were riding very nearly before they could walk, trained by their grandmother, Joan McCarthy on the family’s Cloverbrook Farm on Quaker Hill in Pawling. Joan McCarthy has trained and boarded horses for years, and she has trained riders for years, including her granddaughters. Pam was in her first competition at the ripe old age of eight months, in the Lead Line, where her parents led the horse around the ring. Patricia and Caroline began competing at the Dutchess County Fair in the summer of 2001, when they were eight and nine years old. Caroline rode Pam’s first pony, Puff, and Patricia rode Chinky, both of them winning awards in the Short Stirrup Division. That year, Pam was winning awards riding her Thoroughbred named Zack.

Results for Pam and Patricia McCarthy

Pleasure Division
    Patricia 4th place on Orleander
Family Class
    Pam on Six Pack and Patricia on Orleander 3rd Place
Beginner Hunter
       Pam and Six Pack 4th Place
Adult Hunter Over Fences
          Pam and Six Pack two 4th place ribbons
Adult Hunter under saddle
          Pam and Six Pack 5th place
Long Stirrup
       Patricia and Orleander
          1st place Walk Trot
         1st place Walk Trot Canter
       2nd place Walk Trot Canter Pleasure
       2nd place Over fences
        Champion Long Stirrup Division

Annie & Kiri Dolan

Kiri and Annie Dolan, just nine and seven years old, are already veterans in the Dutchess County Fair Equestrian competition. They placed second this year riding together in the Family Division. Kiri was riding Evinrude, and Annie was riding Painty.

Each of the girls earned one first, one third, and one fourth in the three events in which they competed as individuals.

For Annie, those finishes made her the Grand Champion in the Walk Trot Division.

Annie’s results:
Grand Champion in the Walk Trot Division
First: Walk Trot Pony Pleasure
Third: Walk Trot Ground Poles
Fourth: Walk Trot Equitation

Kiri’s results:
First: 4-H Seat & Hands Class
Third: Short Stirrup Jumping
Fourth: Short Stirrup Pony Pleasure

Kiri is in her second year jumping, and Annie will graduate to jumping next year. In Annie’s class this year, the ponies walk over poles lying on the ground in the “Ground Poles” event. This is a common elementary level of jumping that is used in the training of both riders and horses.

Kandee Dolan, their mother, said the girls don’t just ride the ponies, but are also responsible for their care: “They care for the animals every day when they come home from school. They have to muck the stalls and they water, and they can hay and feed them. They can turn them in and out of the fields. They can brush them and tack them up, which means get them all ready to ride, put the saddles on themselves. We keep the ponies at home on our own property. They really enjoy the riding, and taking care of the ponies. The competition at the Dutchess County Fair is great, and they have a wonderful time there.”

The girls were both three years old when they started riding, and Kandee Dolan has been riding all of her life. She does not train them herself. Once a week, Kandee and the girls take the ponies for training with their friend Helaina Riccardi at her training facility in Wappingers. They then practice what they have learned at home, under the watchful eye of their mother.

The family is already looking ahead to when Kiri outgrows Evinrude. Kandee Dolan said, “We are bringing along a young pony that travels with us. The girls are not competing on her yet, but she still travels with us because we are trying to get her going. She is five this year, so she is starting to get into the work that Evinrude does. When Kiri outgrows Evinrude in a couple of years, the newer and larger pony will be ready. So, now we are taking two ponies everywhere so the newer one learns the ropes and gets used to everything. Her name is Cricket. She and Evinrude are both Welsh Cross Ponies. Evinrude is eleven, and Cricket is only five years old, but she is larger, about as large as a pony can be.”

Robin Nelson & Kerry Pinelli

Robin Nelson and Kerry Pinelli are close friends, and have been riding together at the Dutchess County Fair for years. Robin took a few years off while she was earning her Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Nelson was riding British Agent, the Thoroughbred she obtained years ago while working at the Akindale Farm in Pawling. She learned to ride at a very young age from her mother, Judi Nelson, on their property in Holmes: “The family has a photo of me in a show at the age of two, and actually, my mother was riding up to the time she was eight months pregnant, so maybe you could say I began riding then with my mother.”

Pinelli was riding Judi Nelson’s horse Cree at this fair, an Appaloosa/Thoroughbred cross who was in just his third competitive show. Her own horse Mismarked (“Marky”) has recently foaled, and as Pinelli said, “Marky is at home and is doing fine with her foal. He was born June 14th and looks just like his mom. We have named him "Makers Mark" for his show name and are calling him "Whisky" for his pet name. Hopefully I will have her back and ready to compete next year, and in three or four years Whisky will make his debut.”

Of her own road to competitive riding, Kerry said, “I started riding when I was ten years old on a horse that was owned by a friend’s mom. I got my own horse shortly thereafter, but did not ride competitively with him. I took some lessons here and there, went to "horse camps", and did a lot of trail riding on my own. I did not start competing until I was around 13 or 14 years old.”

Judi Nelson is content to have Cree for riding trails around the family property, but she is amenable to Robin and Kerry training Cree for equestrian competition if they are so inclined.

Robin said of Cree, “British Agent is 20 years old, so he may have only one or two years remaining in competition. I may begin training my mother’s new horse, Cree, so that I can begin showing him. He is an Appaloosa/Thoroughbred, and I will probably end up riding him. Kerry rode him this year, and he did very well, particularly because he was in just his third horse show. At home, he does some small jumping, but I may begin training him. My mother has had him for a year, and he is about six years old.”

Kerry is optimistic about Cree’s future in competition, and said, “Judi's horse is named Cree. He is an 8-year-old Appaloosa that was just broken to ride last year. Even though he is a little older, he is the equivalent of riding a 3- or 4-year-old horse because he does not have any experience under saddle. I have put in many hours this summer working with him. This was his third show as a riding horse. I took him to two shows earlier in the summer. His previous owner did show him, but they used him as a Halter Horse, meaning they showed him in hand and did not ride him. Even though he does not have the experience and ability that Marky has, he is still a fun horse to ride and work with. As of right now he is still a work in progress with a lot to learn. The next step with him is to start working on some jumping. Hopefully next year we will be ready to compete in some of the beginner classes over fences.”

Robin Nelson Results
Reserve Champion Local Hunter
First: Open Road Hacks
Third: Pleasure Horse
Second: Local Hunter Under Saddle
Second: Local Hunter Under Fences

Kerry Pinelli Results
Reserve Champion for the Pleasure Division

Wednesday
5th Local working Hunter Under Saddle
2nd Open Road Hack
2nd Open Pleasure
1st Ladies Pleasure
1st Adult Pleasure Riders 29 and over
Thurs.
1st Adult Equitation on the Flat
Friday
6th Adult Hunter Under Saddle
3rd Open Road Hack
5th Open Pleasure Horse
1st Bridle Path Hack
3rd Pleasure Stakes