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Friday, May 15 2015 / Published in Weekly Feature

The Best Life Is Living Happily Ever After

Madeline Wright and Brookson, looking great at age 32. (Photo by Barbara Bower, www.barbarasvisions.com)

Madeline Wright and Brookson, looking great at age 32.
(Photo by Barbara Bower, www.barbarasvisions.com)

By Kathy Serio

As a horse lover, I like to go to the ring and cheer on friends, clients and my husband. Watching all the pomp and circumstance it takes to get a rider to the ring is often overlooked. During the 2015 Winter Equestrian Festival, I was watching a dear friend of mine competing in the Low Adult 2’6” hunter classes. This is the place to be. With a zillion entries and a zillion spectators, it feels like you’re watching the Olympics! They have such a terrific fan base and the spouses, parents and grandparents all line up in the spectator stands to video, take pictures and cheer on the horses and riders.

As I was waiting for my friend to walk into the ring, I noticed a gray, very sweet, smaller horse standing by the in-gate “parked out.” In fact, he was standing with his front feet nearly on top of each other and his hind feet stretched far, far apart. I immediately worried he wasn’t feeling well — colic, tying up or something. It wasn’t your typical stance. Horses were flying by him at the gate, warming up over jumps and cantering around and he stood there unperturbed, just hanging out.

I walked over to the lady holding him and quietly asked, “Is your horse okay? He’s standing a little oddly…” She smiled and said, “Oh, he’s okay, he’s 32 years old; he likes to stand like that.” I was intrigued and so smitten by him — he was darling. Nicole Wright, his owner, sent me his history. Her daughter, Madeline Wright, placed second and fourth over fences out of 32 in the Low Children’s Hunter 2’6” division during week two of WEF, and was Reserve Champion out of 28, winning over fences and the hack, during week three! He also packed around a different lady, who borrowed him in the Low Adults during week six of WEF, and was seventh and eighth over fences out of 66!

His name is Off The Cuff or “Brookson.” He’s a little Thoroughbred who used to be roan, now gray, and raced until the age of 4, winning a substantial amount of money under the name Goodtime Sunny. He was sold as a dressage prospect but ended up hating it and was later sold again as a hunter. As a young horse, he was a little naughty and liked to kick other horses — sometimes even running backwards to kick them in the hack class. Like all horses decades ago, he wore many hats — hunter, equitation horse and jumper. Since then, he’s done everything from the hunters and equitation to the jumpers. His first hunter owner, Ashley Grant, bought him for $3,500 as a 7-year-old when she was just 10 years old.

Ashley told stories of him fearlessly jumping anything that was put in front of him — regardless of distance and if she stayed with him or not. As Ashley grew out of horses, she gave him to someone that said, “I’ll keep him forever and he’ll retire to a turnout field in Massachusetts, living out his retirement years.” However that didn’t seem to happen for little Brookson since years later Ashley recognized him at a horse show in Old Salem with his new owner of seven years, Nicole. Brookson had apparently been sold to a local horse trader and, fortunately for him, Nicole saw him and scooped him up. This boy is a saint, and oh, the stories I’m sure he could tell. As he marched around the course at WEF with a nice loping stride, you’d never guess his age. Brookson’s story is such a wonderful one, with such a happy ending.

I share a similar heartwarming story about my very first pony, My Fair Lady or “Lady,” who was given to us as a Christmas gift — we were both 5 years old at the time. Years later, in 1996, I was just starting to get back into horses after taking a long break. I brought my young 2-year-old to Devon to do some in-hand showing. Standing at the in-gate was an old friend of our family that used to ride locally with us as kids; she was now a local trainer. We reminisced about school, life, family and marriage.

The conversation then drifted to Lady, who was notorious back in the day for her inconsistent performance under saddle. We could win every pony hunter class one day and the next day she’d run away with you on the outside pony courses, like a Thoroughbred at the track. By the time you made it back to the in-gate, you couldn’t see because your eyes were all glassy and teary from sheer wind forces. I said to my friend, “Gosh, I wonder what happened to Lady?” My friend laughed and said, “Oh she’s still around. In fact, I’ve had her for years in my barn. I teach lessons on her and she still tortures little children every now and then when she’s feeling naughty.” I was 31 years old; so was Lady. It was such a relief to hear she’d been cared for all her life.

I read this story to my horse, Chapeau. The only difference in outcome I’d like for his life story would be that it doesn’t take him until his 30s to start behaving. He told an animal communicator once that he “didn’t want to behave because then he would get sold.”

Kathy’s horse, Chapeau, being naughty as usual. (Photo by Kathy Serio)

Kathy’s horse, Chapeau, being naughty as usual. (Photo by Kathy Serio)

I told him the other night he had it all backwards … I said, “Let’s make a deal, Chapeau. If you do behave, I’ll never sell you, capiche?” He also told the communicator that, “he was in my life before my husband Tommy, so he likes to mess with him from time to time and be naughty.” This might be a long 30 years for all of us…

Double D Trailers Info

Tagged under: Amateurisms, Brookson, Chapeau, Kathy Serio, Lady, Madeline Wright, My Fair Lady, Nicole Wright, Off The Cuff, sidelines-magazine, wef, Winter Equestrian Festival

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Breeding season is underway at Iron Spring Farm! W Breeding season is underway at Iron Spring Farm! We're proud to offer exceptional modern Sporthorse stallions, with wonderful temperaments and quality gaits to North American breeders.
 
Among our stallions are Cum Laude and Kaiman. Cum Laude (Apache x Weltmeyer) is a winning FEI horse and sire of quality dressage horses, breed show champions, and offspring scoring 9.0s on gaits.
 
Kaiman (Dark Pleasure x Gribaldi) earned high scores at his stallion testing and in the young horse classes. He's also the sire of a Licensed Oldenburg stallion. Kaiman's first North American foal crop is arriving now and they are gorgeous!
 
If you're looking for top international bloodlines please check out our 2023 stallion collection, now available fresh, frozen, and by the dose.

Among our stallions are Cum Laude and Kaiman. Cum Laude (Apache x Weltmeyer) is a winning FEI horse and sire of quality dressage horses, breed show champions, and offspring scoring 9.0s on gaits.

Breeding season is underway at Iron Spring Farm! We're proud to offer exceptional modern Sporthorse stallions, with wonderful temperaments and quality gaits to North American breeders.

https://www.ironspringfarm.com/biolink/

@iron_spring_farm 

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❗️George Williams column❗️ The FEI World ❗️George Williams column❗️
The FEI World Cup Final in Omaha is coming up quickly. That means that it’s starting to heat 
up as the end of the qualifying period for both the Western European League (WEL) and the 
North American League (NAL) nears. I started to write this column before the Amsterdam CDI- W, and I was using the FEI Ranking List from January 15 as a reference. As I sit down to finish 
my column, I’m now looking at the results from Amsterdam. While the list of the top contenders 
for the WEL hasn’t changed, they’re definitely moving around on the ranking list. The WEL has 
three more legs, as they’re referred to: Neumünster February 16–19, Goteborg February 23–26, 
and ’s-Hertogenbosch March 9–12, and they could change things dramatically.
Looking at the top 12 athletes from the WEL as they were ranked on January 15, there are five 
from Germany, three from the Netherlands and one each from Great Britain, Denmark

➡️Read Georges's full column by clicking the link in our bio, and never miss an article by subscribing to Sidelines Magazine 🦄 

#horse #horses #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horseriding #equine #pony #pferd #equestrianlife #horselove #dressage #horselover #instahorse #love #cheval #showjumping #horselife #photography #nature #pferde #horseofinstagram #caballo #riding #horsebackriding #pferdeliebe #caballos #horsepower #horsephotography #instagram #Sidelinesmagazine
Lisa Goldman-Smolen and Ivaro N strike gold in Gre Lisa Goldman-Smolen and Ivaro N strike gold in Great American $300,000 Grand Prix at HITS Ocala!! 🏆🥇

Crowds filled the stands at the HITS Ocala Grand Prix Ring on Sunday afternoon to watch the world’s top athletes compete in the Great American $300,000 Grand Prix. The day concluded with a thrilling five-horse jump-off featuring athletes 
representing four countries. In the end, it was Lisa Goldman-Smolen (USA) and Ivaro N who produced the only double clear effort of the day, claiming one of the biggest wins of her career. Scott Keach (AUS) and Noble De La Chapelle earned the second-place prize with the fastest 4-fault jump-off, while Aaron Vale (USA) and Obi Wan placed third as the day’s pathfinders.

“I'm still on cloud nine, I still can't believe it – I’ve used up all my luck for the year,” smiled Goldman-Smolen after her win. “I've been knocking on the door a long time in these bigger classes. I am so proud of my horse – he gave every ounce of effort.”

Sunday’s Great American $300,000 Grand Prix marked the conclusion of the 2023 HITS Ocala circuit. HITS CCO Joe Norick concluded, “We are so excited about the new HITS, with 2023 as the launch. New footing, many new arenas here, and a lot of our facilities across America are getting a lot of love and new footing. Our partnerships with Worldly Martin and others across America including our footing leader Bart Poles overseeing our operations – it really makes a big difference for us. Today is about Ocala and these three riders sitting next to me who supported us this entire winter. We want to be a proud destination for our exhibitors and our friends. We know we have to provide them a beautiful showplace to work from that's horseman friendly, and that's our go goal. 

Congratulations to all of the riders, horses, owners, and groom who participated in this prestigious class!!! 🎉
📸 @esi_photography 
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It's #STUDSunday and today's featured stallion is. It's #STUDSunday and today's featured stallion is...

 ✨PF'S DIAMO BLUE✨
Diarado-Diamant de Semilly- Chacco Blue
17.0hh, Oldenburg International Hunter Derby/ Jumper Stallion
An outstanding Pedigree- Chacco Blue and Diamant de Semilly
WBFSH/ Rolex top ranking Jumping Sires 2017 thru 2022
Standing at Ryan Pedigo Sport Horses, in California

For more information, you can contact 
🖥Ryanpedigosporthorses.com
🖥Ryan.p.f@hotmail.com
☎️(714) 357-2714

You can find ALL of the stallions featured towards the back of the magazine in the equestrian gallery. Keep a look out EVERY Sunday for a new handsome STUD muffin🧁 and don't forget to subscribe to get your very own edition of Sidelines Magazine, the magazine for horse people, about horse people 🦄

@ryanpedigosporthorsespf_

#stallion #horse #horses #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #equine #dressage #pferd #equestrianlife #mare #hengst #horseriding #instahorse #cheval #pferde #equinephotography #horselove #dressagehorse #pony #horselover #caballo #foal #quarterhorse #aqha #arabianhorse #sidelinesmagazine
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