Gladstone, N.J. – August 8, 2016 – “A rising tide lifts all boats.” These were the words that Guy J. Torsilieri, chairman of the board of the Far Hills Race Meeting, used to describe the attitude of the Somerset Hills, New Jersey community’s support of local equestrian events.

This spirit of cooperation came about through a 2015 Gladstone Gathering cocktail party – the brainchild of United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation President and CEO S. Tucker S. Johnson and Gladstone Equestrian Association (GEA) President James C. (Jim) Brady III. Brady is the great-grandson of James Cox Brady who built Hamilton Farm, the longtime home of the USET and current home of the USET Foundation. Hamilton Farm is one of the nation’s most iconic venues and in August will host the reinvention of one of the nation’s longest continuously run horse shows, the Monmouth County Horse Show, now Monmouth at the Team.

The picturesque Somerset Hills area of New Jersey was home to some of the most historic equestrian events in the United States but in recent years, a number of these events had fallen by the wayside. The local community, however, is rallying together to bring them back in an effort to revitalize equestrian sport in the area. One such event, The Essex Horse Trials, formerly held at Hamilton Farm and last held in 1998, will be making its triumphant return in 2017 at Moorland Farms, home of the popular Far Hills Race Meeting.

Continue reading

By Nancy Jaffer, originally posted on http://nancyjaffer.com/2016-07-31.

Monmouth is New Jersey’s oldest horse show, but at the same time, it is also the newest.

Next month, a re-invented version gets under way at the sixth venue in its history, and the second outside the county where it was founded 121 years ago.

Entries close Aug. 1 for the multi-ring fixture that most recently was presented at the Horse Park of New Jersey in Allentown. It has been repurposed for competition in a single, prestigious arena at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation headquarters in Gladstone, Somerset County.

Continue reading

By Nancy Jaffer, originally posted on http://nancyjaffer.com/2016-07-10.

Hundreds of horses over 100 years had taken a toll on the unique U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation stable in Gladstone. While the 12-foot box stalls still were serviceably sound, they looked worn.

Shortcomings generally were evident just on close inspection, but even the most dedicated efforts to care for the stalls could only do so much.

Scrutiny revealed wood that was no longer shiny, some of which had rotted; stall floors showing their age, iconic pale green paint chipped off the metal bars and feed bins, walls that were marked and scratched.

“Any time you have a facility that is coming up on 100 years, there are clearly some capital improvements and maintenance that need to be done,” observed Bonnie Jenkins the foundation’s executive director.
Continue reading