28 SIDELINES JANUARY 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
e
By Holly Hugo-Vidal
I had the honor recently of judging the Foxfeld Medal Finals in
Westlake Village, California. Although it is barely two miles from
Los Angles’ bustling 101 freeway and developments, the rush of
modern life has not crossed the creek that separates Foxfeld from
the rest of the world.
I wanted to write about this amazing, wonderful place because
it is so unusual and completely unique. It is possible that readers
outside the West Coast might be unaware of Foxfeld even though
the 16 member drill team has performed at a long list of highly
prestigious events, including the 1984 Olympics, the National
Horse Show back in the Madison Square Garden days, the Devon
Horse Show and the Rose Parade, while using a round-the-neck
wire as their only artifcial aid.
Twin sisters Nancy Turril and JoAnn Postel and JoAnn’s
husband Bill Postel, have been the owners of Foxfeld since its
inception 45 years ago when they started their riding school.
Back then horse shows were mainly a social event and not many
were catering to kids. An overnight success blossomed and
suddenly JoAnn and Nancy were taking 50 kids to the shows.
Horsemanship, high moral values, camaraderie and mainly the
love of horses were the values that Foxfeld is based on. While the
horse show world has changed and become more sophisticated,
Foxfeld’s values remain the same.
In emphasizing horsemanship over ribbons, Foxfeld has lost
some intensively competitive riders. Meredith Michaels Beerbaum
left at age 12 to train and campaign with Karen Healy and Hannah
Selleck, a star of the drill team, went to train with Will and Nicole
Simpson, just to name a few. Though these riders’ pursuits took
them elsewhere, their hearts remained at Foxfeld. Meredith
brought her husband to meet the Foxfeld family remarking that
her days there were the best days of her life. They returned to
Germany wondering if such a place could possibly be recreated
Fame, Fun
& Foxfield
The historic Foxfeld drill team.
Photo by Holly Hugo-Vidal
Twin sisters Nancy Turril (left) and JoAnn Postel – the force
behind Foxfeld.
Photo by Debbie Correia
there.
Everyone at Foxfeld is on equal footing, whether they arrive in
a Hummer or a Honda, because they are all horse crazy. The kids
really learn everything about caring for their horses; there are no
grooms to tack up! Everything is for the love of the horses.
There is also a summer camp that the family runs, attracting
thousands of youngsters over the years. The list of well known
riders who have attended is long, from Meredith Beerbaum, to
Olympic dressage rider Hilda Gurney, to the children of famous
trainers such as Don Stewart Jr.’s, Erin.
The medal fnals that Penny Wahler and I judged are different
as well as challenging. The riders are required to jump into and
out of the sunken stoned-lined ring and the course is tricky over
beautiful jumps laden with fowers. The class is for two age groups
of adults that qualifed over the past year and there are two rounds
with the top 10 coming back for a work off.
Everything was wonderful including the fag carrying drill
team that started the day off. It was certainly a privilege to have
been asked once again to be part of this family run tradition and
spectacular horse show.
About the writer: Holly Hugo-Vidal is Sidelines California
correspondent and writes
the “West Side Story”
column. Holly is based at
AliciaSaxton’sOceancrest
Farms in Rancho Santa
Fe, California. Holly
specializes in hunters
and equitation as well
as adults. She is an “R”
USEF judge, clinician and
an author. Her most recent
book is Build Confdence
Over Fences.
Members of the
prestigious Foxfeld drill
team use a round-the-
neck wire as their only
artifcial aid.
Photo by Holly Hugo-Vidal