07/20/2006

Special to the Record-Eagle/Kevin Johnston
Summer resident Kayla Discher puts her horse Papparazzi through his paces at the Bay Harbor Equestrian Club.

Beyond the barn

Locals promote equestrian sports at national show

By
Record-Eagle staff writer

Special to the Record-Eagle/Kevin Johnston
Suzannah Simon of Petoskey, right, finishes saddling her horse as Bay Harbor summer resident Kayla Discher, left, looks on at the Bay Harbor Equestrian Club.

TRAVERSE CITY — In some rural areas, horses are considered "hay-burners" — good for nothing unless they earn their keep.

But a three-year-old national equestrian show in Traverse City is changing the way farmers and "non-horse" people in northern Michigan look at the animals, a local equestrian said.

"They see that horses are not only friends and companions to the riders, they're a partnership," said Mandi Stachon, assistant manager at Bay Harbor Equestrian Club. "It's good to see that horses are being looked at in a different (way)."

Stachon said horses are a passion for many riders at the club, a boarding and training facility modeled after upscale horse farms in Lexington, Ky., which caters to both locals and visitors. That's why she and manager/head trainer Alicia Byberg-Landman welcomed the arrival of Horse Shows by the Bay, a U.S. Equestrian Federation-sanctioned event that features the Olympic sports of Grand Prix Show Jumping and Grand Prix Dressage.

"We were excited to see it come up here," Stachon said. "It gives the kids something to work for. They get a kick going to shows and competing and they come away with a greater appreciation for what they need to work on with their horses.

"There's been a lot of pleasure and trail riding in the area, but it seems like the equestrian part of the industry has been slow in coming to northern Michigan up to this point."

Suzannah Simon is one of three girls from the club who will compete in this year's event, July 12-30 at the show grounds off U.S -31/M-37, seven miles south of Traverse City. A 14-year-old from Charlevoix, she'll ride in first- and second-level dressage events with her leased Dutch Warmblood, Sam I Am.

A French term meaning "training," dressage is a partnership between horse and rider in which a horse performs set movements, or tests, in response to its rider's subtle aids and signals. With six standard levels and four international levels, it takes patience to master, Simon said.

"You have to work your way up the levels, you can't just go to the highest level and win," she said. "It takes a lot more time and training."

A ninth-grader who is home-schooled, Simon has been riding since she was 6 and rides four or more times a week during the summer. During the winter, she also plays hockey for the Boyne Area Hockey Association to help strengthen her leg or "riding" muscles.

She said last year's Horse Shows by the Bay was her first big registered show.

"It's growing. It's getting a lot bigger and getting more publicized," she said of the $300,000-purse event. "People who were there watching last year are competing this year."

Bay Harbor isn't the only local equestrian center that competes in the annual show, which attracts hundreds of highly trained horses and riders from all over the country. Northern Pines Farm, a show barn in Maple City, is sending some 20 horses and about 15 adult and youth riders to this year's event, said manager Carol DeAngelis.

"We're really the only hunter/jumper facility in this part of northern Michigan that competes at this level," she said.

The 33-stall farm trains boarding students at The Leelanau School and competes in about 24 rated shows around the country every year, DeAngelis said.

"This is the only horse show that allows us to sleep in our own beds at night," she added.

Morgan Kennedy will represent the farm all three weeks in the High Jr. Amateur Jumper event. The 16-year-old from Petoskey will ride two horses: a Selle Francais named Galoupard and her Dutch Warmblood, Zaboomerang.

Kennedy has ridden at Northern Pines since she was 12 and is a two-time national champion. A high school senior, she transferred from Petoskey High School to The Leelanau School in her sophomore year to be closer to the farm.

Besides riding in about two shows a month during the summer, she travels to Florida for two months every winter, where she competes in weekend shows and keeps up with her classwork via the Internet and phone conversations with her teachers.

While last year was her first at Horse Shows by the Bay, Kennedy was champion two out of three weeks in the Jr. Hunter event, winning more than $5,000 toward horse boarding and show entry fees. Still, it's not whether she wins or loses but how she plays the games, she said.

"There's money involved, but the feeling of having a really great round with your horse, and the bond, is just a great experience for me," she said. "It's my life."