FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES DECEMBER 2012 65
“Pegasus Therapeutic Riding, which is about fve minutes from
our farm (North Salem, New York) took over The Rider’s Closet
two years ago,” said Georgina. “I used to do it all myself, kept the
clothes in my mother’s garage. I really enjoyed opening a box of
clothes and reading the letters. I loved doing it; but I was on the
circuit and for The Rider’s Closet to help the people I wanted to
help, I had to let it go. Pegasus built a big room like a closet and
they get the clothes out so much faster.”
Pegasus handles requests and donations: all gently used
equestrian clothing and boots are accepted (exception: used
helmets). The donation of new items and helmets is greatly
appreciated. Both juniors and adults may submit requests. For
forms/info: www.pegasustr.org/trc
Georgina’s jumpers include Radio City, Prince de Bonneville,
Perfect de Coquerie, and South Street. She’s also very excited
about bringing along three new young horses. In October, at
Princeton Show Jumping 2012 in New Jersey, Georgina and
Radio City, owned by Gotham Enterprises, claimed top honors
in a feld of 38 in the $10,000 Welcome Stake. “That’s my biggest
win since I’ve been back,” said Georgina. “I’d like to make one
more really good run at this sport. I’ve put so much time into it and
I love the jumpers. That time off made me come back stronger.
I want to make the horses myself. I like to develop my jumpers
myself. If it takes longer to get back on the board again, so be it.”
One big infuence has been Michael R. Bloomberg, the Mayor of
New York City. Georgina stated, “My father taught me that if you
believe in yourself and what you can accomplish, the possibilities
are endless.”
Georgina and her
dogs, several of them
rescues.
Photo by Geoffrey Tischman
Georgina Bloomberg and Catherine Hapka have co-authored
a series of young adult novels about the adventures, trials,
tribulations and growing pains of junior horse show riders.
The
A Circuit
(available in paperback, suitable for readers 12 & up)
kicked off the series in May 2011, followed by
My Favorite
Mistake
(February 2012) and in November,
Off Course
. The
main characters are Tommi, Kate and Zara.
Working student Kate drives herself into borderline
meltdown mode about everything. She’s dedicated and reliable,
but wracked with anxiety. She lives for the horses and the barn
provides safe haven from a bleak home life where her mother
suffers from OCD. Kate has to contend with Fritz whose wealth
and privilege egg on his ego as a ladies’ man. In fact, he gets a
bit carried away and scares Kate badly, then does a 180, trying
to be the model boyfriend. He comes very close to breaking
Kate’s heart because of a horse in
Off Course
.
Tommi and Zara summon up “names” in the real news. Even
though they might be composites, it doesn’t take the IQ of a
rocket scientist to fgure out that part of Tommi’s character
is based on one of the authors. Tommi’s father is a big wheel
in New York City fnance who isn’t sure about his younger
daughter’s passion for horses and desire to turn professional.
When her father offers a testing business challenge in
The A
Circuit
(book 1), Tommi steps up to the plate.
Zara, the daughter of a rock star and singer mother, acts “born
to be wild” and manages to cause more than a few problems
for herself and people around her. In
Off Course
it’s obvious
that she has started to develop a conscience: how that comes
about isn’t totally clear in the second or the third novel; but
Zara does act a bit more human and less, well, entitled. We’re
already looking forward to the fourth installment in this horsey
teenaged tale. Stay tuned: Creative Artists Agency is in the
process of developing a television series based on the novels.