Chips, who owned Surefire eventers Task Force, Syd Kent and Why Not, died a few weeks ago. We all miss him!

John Chapman “Chips” Chester, Diplomat and Equestrian

John Chapman “Chips” Chester, 80, died peacefully at home on July 9, having been diagnosed with brain cancer. He was born and raised in Milwaukee and Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, attended Milwaukee Country Day School, Phillips Exeter Academy, Princeton University, and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. As an undergraduate, he majored in German and English literature, participated in Théatre Intime and the Triangle Club, and was unanimously voted “Most Unconscious Member” by his senior class. Mr. Chester became an enlisted man in the Army in 1953. His division was set to deploy to Korea when the war ended and he was reassigned to occupied Germany to oversee war crimes prisoners. After marriage to Clara Paige Mills of Chevy Chase, Maryland in 1956, his career in the Foreign Service led him to stations in Germany, Yugoslavia, and Malawi, where he served as chargé d’affaires and received an award for “heroic services” from the Malawi government. A career switch in 1970 moved Mr. Chester to Capitol Hill where he worked for the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives serving under, among others, Peter Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), Clement Zablocki (D-WI), and Dante Fascell (D-FL). He was the staff facilitator of numerous House and Senate interparliamentary conferences with Europe, Mexico, and Canada, and undertook Committee missions to Asia and Africa in the early 1970s evaluating Peace Corp operations, a subject on which he was a recognized expert. He wrote an autobiography entitled From Foggy Bottom to Capitol Hill: Exploits of a GI, Diplomat and Congressional Aide. In addition to devotedly serving Princeton’s Class of ’52, Chester was an avid equestrian. After his retirement in 1987, he took horseback tours through many countries of the world, including Mongolia, Argentina, Latvia, South Africa, New Zealand, Iceland, as well as several European countries and US states. He was a member of the Fairfax Hunt, serving a term as President, and owned horses competing in international events. He is survived by siblings Marion Read and William Chester, by three children, John Chester, Isabelle Chester, and Charles Chester, by seven grandchildren, and four horses. Services will be at All Saints Church in Chevy Chase, Maryland at 2pm on Friday, July 16. Donations in lieu of flowers may be sent to the International Crisis Group (www.crisisgroup.org) or Lift Me Up! (www.liftmeup.org).

Chips, Jan and Task Force at The WEG

From Jan:

Chips owned Task Force, Syd Kent and Why Not for me. He also kept a couple hunt horses, Max and Clementine, at Surefire, and was a big part of the Surefire Horse Trials. Chips had always been an avid supporter of horses and the hunt, and he helped make my international dreams a possibility through his generous support. In 2003, when I was faced with selling my Advanced horse, Task Force, Chips bought him for me and supported us for the rest of Task Force’s career. He went on to compete at Badminton, Blenheim and Kentucky, was an alternate for the Athens Olympics and the highest place American horse at the World Cup in Malmo Sweden, won the 3-star at Jersey Fresh, and competed as an individual at the World Games in Aachen, Germany among other accomplishments.

After all we had done with Task Force, Chips bought Syd Kent for me in 2007, telling me that if I was going to go for it, now was the time because I wasn’t getting any younger! I might have been insulted, but Chips was right. Syd has had an impressive career so far, and his young horse, Why Not, bought for me as a five-year-old, is about to move to Intermediate after a very competitive lower-level career.

Chips never shied away from coming to watch his horses, and whatever the weather and no matter how far he had to travel, he was always there to cheer us on. He was a real character with a huge heart, and is deeply missed.

Mid-Summer Report

A lot of things have been happening at Surefire over the past month! First the Surefire Farm Horse Trials at the end of June, after that being inundated with Area IX Young Riders here to train for the championships at the end of July in Kentucky, my upper-level horses competing with Phillip, and of course my own riding, with therapy for my speech and hand fit in between all that!

The horse trials were a great success. I think this was the best year so far, despite the heat. We did run late on Saturday, but the course was the best yet and most everyone seemed to have had a great time As always, there are some things we still need to improve. I think we have to consider how to make the water better for the Training horses next year. We ran the course differently this time, and perhaps underestimated how much the vendor area, located right near the water complex, would hold the horses, causing the water to become a harder question than we thought it would be. A positive change was that we enlarged the show jump area this year, which made the courses flow better. Thank you to everyone who supported the trials. I appreciate everyone’s hard work as well-we could not do it without you! I’m hopeful that in the future we can add a fall date.

Some of the great new jumps built for the event this year by Trav Schick and his helpers, Josh Sylce and Joe Stylos.
Photos by Joe Stylos.

As far as my riding goes, I've done a couple cross-country schools on J.R. and Wyatt. I feel like I’m out of practice, but all in all didn’t do too badly. I’ve also jumped Anwar, Syd and Wyatt with Katie Prudent. I’m finding that it’s hard to get back into it and keep my courage up doing something at which I used to be good. I have to remember that riding does take courage, and Katie was not soft on me at all! The lines she had me jump with Syd were very complicated and it took a lot for me to do it well. I’m sure I’ll be better the next time. I’m lucky that I have really nice horses, which certainly helps.

I still have no feeling in my fingers on my right hand, but I’m getting used to that. The other day I had to ride a short roll back to the right, and that was really hard. Like anything, I just have to get comfortable with it not being the same as it was before. I think I can overcome not having feeling in my fingers, but I have to be really aware of it. It’s forcing me to be more precise in my riding, and use my leg and core for strength, not my hand. Figuring out the timing of giving or slipping the reins has been hard, though. For instance, a horse like J.R. requires a lot of release over the fence, and I’m a little reluctant to give him enough rein because it’s hard for me to be organized enough allow the rein and then shorten them back up when I need to.

I’ve been really busy with the Young Riders from Area IX, who are at the farm to train for the championships. We also have a 2-star rider, Meghan O’Donoghue from Area IV, who has been at Surefire since middle of June. Meghan has ridden with me for a long time and won the Young Rider Intermediate at Surefire last month. Having the Colorado contingent here (minus one rider who couldn’t make the trip out and is meeting us in Lexington this week), has been a lot of fun and I have great girls. I would say I’ve been a good help to them and they’ve been really supportive of me. I think through this whole thing—my accident and recovery—I’ve found out who my real friends are and these kids are no exception. On a side note, my one Area IX 2-star pair, Anisa Tracy and her horse, Tigger, were named to the Developing Riders list. Go Anisa and Area IX! We hope to have a successful Young Rider Championships, so watch out here we come, going for the gold!

This summer, Kendyl and Anisa Tracy have really stepped up to the plate and are helping me run things here at Surefire. Meghan O’Donoghue is helping out, too, and Nikki Smith has been filling in when we need her.

Meanwhile, Phillip has been helping me with my upper level horses by competing them. He was second in the 2-star at Stuart on Syd Kent. I joked with Phillip that he had the uncharacteristic rail in stadium because Syd didn’t want him to show his mom up! When I first got Syd three years ago, Phillip was out of town a lot so he really didn’t know the horse because I hadn’t been bringing him for lessons. So now Phillip i getting to know Syd better and is learning things like how careful you have to be with his left lead because sometimes Syd gets worried about your right leg, and how you have to be really tactful in dressage to get a good test out of him. Syd may not be a top horse in the dressage yet, but he’s such a phenomenal athlete, I’m sure Phillip appreciates that. Not too many horses can jump like Syd!

Phillip said Why Not was great at Stuart as well. He was third after the dressage and was great cross-country and in the show jump. Wyatt had been a little bit fresh at The Maryland Horse Trials, so Phillip went a little slow on cross-country. He was quite wound up at the beginning of the course, but very good by end, and was his best yet at water, particularly the second water. Wyatt’s going to move up to Intermediate at Millbrook, and Syd will do the Advanced.

Inmidair competed at Maryland and won his Preliminary division. J.R.’s become such a great cross-country horse, it’s just so easy for him. Phillip is competing him at the Gold Cup CIC3*W at Rebecca Farm in Montana. Sharon White picked me and J.R. up in her trailer and took us to the BWI airport, where Emma (Phillip’s groom) met us with Syd and Wyatt in my trailer, which they had been using to transport my horses for Phillip to compete. I’ve flown horses overseas a fair amount, and the plane used to get the horses to Montana was quite a bit different! Instead of a lift to load them, the horses walked up a huge ramp into the plane. As they loaded two by two, stalls were built around them, and then two more horses were loaded, and more stalls built, until all the horses were in. It all worked out fine, though, and the owners of Rebecca Farm, the Broussard family, generously helped subsidize the cost to fly the horses. So J.R. left for Montana, and Syd and Wyatt came back home.

I’m taking all three to Waredaca in August to do the Training. Then, my plan is to compete Wyatt at the AECs in the Preliminary, but I’m still taking it one day at a time and I’ll see how I feel. The plan is also to have Phillip take Syd and J.R. to Fairhill, and hopefully that will work out. My hope is that I'll be the one competing my horses next year. The Surefire babies, Star, Allie and Anwar, will be back competing in August, too.

Jumping Again and Horse Trials Preparations

First of all, great news—I have been given the okay to ride. I had an MRI and MRA that showed my artery is completely healed and the blood supply is normal, so I have started riding more seriously. I got on the first day and walked, trotted and cantered and it felt great! I’ve been riding Syd, J.R., Waterfront, Wyatt and Max now for two weeks and I’m getting fitter all the time. I’ve even jumped Syd, Wyatt and J.R. a bit, and that feels great as well. I don’t have very much control of my right hand so I have to be really aware of holding onto the reins—I have to look down to see myself holding them because I can’t feel the reins at all. When I was on Wyatt I actually jumped a jump and let go of the reins—luckily he was very kind to me and pulled up!

I’m not ready to go to an event tomorrow, but the fact that I can ride and feel comfortable is great for my morale. Right now, three feet seems really big! My flat work is fine, but jumping will take me a little bit longer as I have to get used to having no feeling in my right hand. Some people thought I would have a hard time jumping because they equate my stroke injury with a brain injury, and they thought my timing would be affected. My timing is great to the jump, the problem is I can’t count the striding quickly enough in my head, and counting is how I always kept my rhythm. Now I have to feel the rhythm and that helps me out.

My foot is completely healed and I have also been given the go-ahead to exercise. I can’t run yet, but I’ll be able to in a couple weeks and I’m really looking forward to getting back into shape.

As far as everything else at Surefire goes, we’re in full swing preparing for the horse trials on the 26th and 27th. Kendyl and Anisa Tracy, Courtney Olmstead and now Meghan O’Donoghue have been really great staining, painting, roping and weeding. Ann and Hanna Krueger have arrived at the farm and they’re going to help out as well as get some lessons and compete. My nephew, Zack, will be here to help and my parents, Dick and Jo, as well as Helen Murray and Jill and Kelty O’Donoghue are coming to pitch in.

We have some good course changes this year for our event and quite a few entries and hopefully everything will go as planned. I’m really looking forward to everyone having a great time. Course builder Trav Schick and his helpers, Josh Sylce and Joe Stylos, have been here for a week and Tremaine Cooper, the course designer, arrived last night. And of course Tom has been a huge help all along—he built our new bank and organized the setting of all the dressage rings. I feel like I’m living in a frat house—usually there are a lot of girls around here but right now it’s all boys!

On a sad note, my dear friend, Chips Chester, is actually not doing very well as he’s been diagnosed with a brain tumor. He’s coming out to the event and hoping to see his horse, Why Not, run with Phillip. Chips is a really a special person to me and I am so fortunate to have him as a supporter and friend for so long.

Spring Horse Trials Report

First, I have to brag about my students for a little bit. Jessica Hampf, who rides for Canada, did her first Rolex Kentucky with her horse, High Society III. I’ve been helping Jessica for a while, and this year she stayed at Surefire for two weeks prior to Kentucky and worked with me. I was happy to be able to be at Rolex and help her, too. They had a great performance for their first four-star. She did have a stop on cross-country, but all in all had a great competition from start to finish. I was especially impressed with how well both Jessica and her horse handled the pressure, and feel they came out of the event for the better. It was really fun for me to not only coach her, but also to work with David O’Connor, the Canadian team coach, who was very impressed with the job I’ve done with Jessica, one of their listed riders. The Canadians had a great performance at Kentucky, and I think it’s due to all of David’s hard work.

To brag some more, another student, Anisa Tracy and her horse, Tigger VIII, were 2nd at the CIC 2-star at Fairhill in April and won the CIC 2-star at Chattahoochee Hills. Her sister, Kendyl, won her Preliminary division at MCTA and was 3rd in the CIC 1-star at Fairhill with her horse Ever So Lucky. Congratulations!

After getting back from Kentucky, we took J.R. and Syd up to Phillip’s so that J.R. could get ready for Jersey Fresh and Syd for Chattahoochee Hills. Phillip basically gave Silva Martin a schedule for them so that she could work with them on the flat. Silva’s been a huge supporter and good friend since I first met her and does an incredible job. Phillip just jumped the horses when he needed to, which I don’t think it’s the easiest job for him because doesn’t get to ride the horses very often. Phillip’s worked with me to make it affordable, and so has Silva, which I appreciate so much. They are a really nice combination for both Syd and J.R.

I didn’t go to Jersey to watch, but I know Phillip was disappointed with his dressage, feeling the trot work was very good but that J.R. fell apart a little in his canter work. In support of Phillip, the horse is not broke enough on the flat yet, and you almost have to get lucky in your warm-up with J.R. to time the whole thing just right for a good test. As far as show jumping goes, he was his normal brilliant self. Phillip now refers to J.R. as his little buddy. J.R. was on a little bit of a holiday after Jersey, and has just started back hacking this week. Plans are up in the air for him right now. Phillip and I are going to come up with a plan A for him and a plan B for me, but right now we’re just taking things one day at a time.

I did get to go to Chattahoochee Hills to watch Syd’s first competition back with Phillip riding. First, I went to have my hand operated on by my hand surgeon in Augusta. He had suggested I have the Carpal Tunnel operation to give me the best chance to regain more feeling in my right hand. My mom was kind enough to go with me. We drove down Wednesday night, I had the surgery Thursday morning, and then we drove down to Chattahoochee Hills, where I helped Anisa on the flat so she could have a lesson the day before she competed.

Phillip thought J.R. was the bee’s knees until he rode Syd at Chattahoochee! It was fun to see Syd out—he seemed so happy to be at a competition again, doing his job. He didn’t have the best score after dressage, but the test was actually really good—I feel he was better than his scored reflected. Phillip and I decided to let the Syd run around cross-country slowly because it was his first time competing since last July. He gave his usual unbelievable effort, and really tested Phillip at one point, spooking at a jump in the water. He almost jumped Phillip out the tack! When Phillip was done and I asked him how it had gone, he said, “The other horse (J.R.) is good, this one is great!” In show jumping, Syd was unreal. There were two clean rounds beside his; he was amazing! He was just jumping out of his skin. We forget how much our horses like this sport. I think if Syd were a person, he would have been smiling the whole weekend.

Phillip and Syd Kent at Chattahoochee

My friend, Scotty Keach, rode Why Not for me at Plantation in the Preliminary, where he won, and also at Virginia. Virginia was very slippery on cross-country because of the rain, but Scotty said Wyatt was really good. Scotty has put a lot of time into Wyatt, but unfortunately for me, he has a job this summer in New Hampshire, and so Phillip is taking over the ride. I told Phillip to ride Wyatt to see what he thought of him, and that we would take it from there. I told him, “Wyatt’s better than you’d think.” After riding him, Phillip said, “You’re right, the horse is amazing.” He’s a funny horse; you have to get to know him a little a bit because he doesn’t trust people very much. Phillip’s going to ride him at Waredaca this weekend, and I think we’ll try and get him qualified for the 2-star at Fairhill this fall.

I sold Jack (Walstraed) to a girl named Julia Ennis, a student of Kim’s. They went to their first competition at Virginia and won their Training division. Congratulations! I’m so happy Jack has his own person who loves him. Kim says they’re like two peas in a pod.

I do have sad news that my groom, Lizzie, has left after taking such good care of me for the last two years. We’ll all miss her very much.

As far as I go, I’m still taking things day to day, which is all I can do at this point. I’m continuing with speech therapy and I’ll be doing that for a while. I also have hand therapy three times a week. Sometimes it feels like therapy is taking over my life, but if I want to get better I have to keep at it.

My foot is coming along after my surgery to fix the bones that were broken last summer that didn’t heal correctly. I have a boot on it now rather than a cast to keep it supported. I go back to that doctor on the 10th of June and should be able to start some real aerobic exercises after that. Hopefully, I will also start really riding after that as well. My plan is to start some light riding at the end of June and see how it goes. It seems like my hand is going to be the one thing that holds me back because I still don’t have feeling in some of my fingers.

I’m so thankful for the support I get, from my parents to Tom to Phillip and all my great friends. I couldn’t do it without all of them. I continue to get such nice e-mails and cards from people. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that because this isn’t the easiest road, that’s for sure. I’ve not gone a day without crying since my accident, but sometimes they are tears of joy as well. And I’m getting good at being an owner—at least one way I can still be a part of my sport and profession.

Update from Jan, May 4th

A lot has happened since I got home. First of all, I can now talk well enough to dictate my updates, which is a huge improvement. I can tell you that this has not come without a lot of work! Something you never want to have to do is to learn to talk again. People take speaking for granted, how to form all the letters and words and sounds with their mouth as I’ve been relearning to do for the last ten weeks. I still don’t sound like myself yet, and I’m not sure I will sound like myself when I get done with this—the doctors say that in about six months to a year I should be about as good as I’m going to get. That’s very hard for me to accept, but just like riding, I have to be patient.

I do outpatient physical therapy for my hand three days a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and I have to work my right hand for ten minutes every hour to regain the flexibility. I don’t have feeling in my hand yet, but they think that it will come back. I hurt my median nerve when I fell and that is what allows a sense of feel in your first three fingers: thumb, pointer and middle. I have speech therapy Tuesday and Thursday and I practice that four times a day on top of the talking I do teaching or just speaking with people. My staff has been incredibly patient with me, as well as my mom, dad and Tom. I think I’m very lucky to have them. The hardest thing for me is that I can think about what I want to say and do, but getting it out of my mouth is so incredibly frustrating.

I do have more bad news—my foot, which broke last summer in a fall, didn’t heal correctly and I have not been able to wear normal shoes since. I have a bone protruding out of my foot that the doctors are going to cut off and I’ll be in a cast for six to eight weeks. I’m hoping I can get everything taken care of, so that by July I’ll be back on two feet with two hands and a horse! We all take these things for granted. I just have to deal with what I’ve been dealt.

On the horse side of things, I've been riding Chip Chester’s horse, Max. My mom or the guys in the barn go with me, at the walk only. It’s so nice to sit on a horse you can’t even imagine it! I’ve been teaching since I got home, too. I’m lucky because most people who ride with me know me well enough to understand what I'm saying, so I think they’ve gotten a lot out of our lessons. They seem happy to have me teaching them anyway.

Teaching Maggie Sharpe; lesson assistant Jo Byyny with Jan

I’ve been very lucky to have J.R. and Waterfront competed by Phillip, which has been mostly good, and sometimes not so good. As most of you know, Waterfront went to Kentucky. He was okay in the dressage, but had run out to the left at the coffin on cross-country. Phillip had been held for Ollie’s fall, and as we could see on the monitor, he borrowed a cell phone and dialed a number. We all thought he was calling me, but he was calling Evie to have her ask me what I wanted him to do. I told him it was up to him. He opted to retire Waterfront from the course. Everybody knows the rules—if you’re held you can’t use a cell phone at all or you will be eliminated. The more important point of this is about my horse running out to the left again at this level. If it had been me, I would have blamed myself, just as I did at Pau last year when I was kicking myself that Waterfront had had a run out and I didn’t feel I knew to get it done on him. He’s so tricky about the left rein and ducking out. Phillip said he gave him a really good ride, and that the horse just didn’t want to do it, because it was actually harder to run out than jump the fence. So I think this summer, I’ll use Waterfront to get back into my riding because he’s so nice and quiet, and then I’ll lease him to somebody to get miles at the two- or three-star level. He’s been a great horse for me—he’s been second at four three-stars and has won a couple of Advanced horse trials. He’s a great three-star horse, but as we all know, not every horse is cut out for the four-star level.

Meanwhile, Phillip has J.R. for this week so he can get him ready for the three-star at Jersey. I feel it’s good that Phillip’s keeping my horses going in their careers so they can do what they like to do. At this point, I’m not thinking I’m not going to ride again, so I want to have my horses on track for me when I’m back at it. Also, being an owner is a new perspective for me, and it’s kind of nice to see your horses go with someone else. It’s a really nice way to be involved in a horse sport—I hope everybody reading this gets the hint!

Also, as J.R. is getting ready to do Jersey Fresh, I have more exciting news—Syd Kent is going to do the Advanced at Chattahoochee Hills the weekend after Jersey. From an owner’s perspective, I was thinking I would wait until July or August to start Syd, but I think it’s better for him to run sooner and more fun for Chips and me to get him back out. Meanwhile, Jack and Wyatt are going to go to Plantation this weekend with Scotty Keach. Scotty and I traded stalls for rides so I could have someone to compete those two. I’m hoping Courtney will start competing Jack and Wyatt in June. And of course Lizzie and Courtney will be competing my three five-year-olds. All the youngsters are for sale, so anybody who wants a nice horse might want to look them up on the website while you’re here, and then come see them at the farm.

Between Jersey, Chattahoochee, Plantation and my foot operation, wish me good luck!

Update on Jan, March 23rd

After a very positive check-up with Jan’s doctors on the 15th, we left Aiken and drove home to Virginia. We arrived to stacks of cards and beautiful flowers that had been delivered to the farm, and Jan wants to be sure that everyone knows how much she appreciates people’s thoughtfulness, concern and offers to help. The support shown is truly amazing and brings tears to our eyes!

Jan is improving every day and in the last few days has begun speaking more and more words, at times stringing them together into short sentences. She’s even given Courtney riding lessons a few times! We put together a list of common expressions used in teaching riding that Jan points to and I then say out loud, and along with some pantomiming and a word spoken by Jan here and there, we get the point across. She also still uses her alphabet chart to spell out words for me to then say to the rider.

We all went to Vicky’s birthday party a few days ago, and Jan was able to “talk” using her alphabet chart, a few spoken words and charades. It’s been great to see dear friends and ease back into being around people.

We’re cautiously optimistic that Jan will continue to progress in her recovery, and are really encouraged by the improvements she’s shown lately. Her thought processes are fine, the articulation of those thoughts will slowly return with time and therapy. Physically, though her fractured arm is still in a cast, Jan is fully independent and able to take care of herself and go about daily activities without much assistance at all. She’ll begin speech, physical and occupational outpatient therapy this week, but just going about her day, interacting with others and being on the farm is all therapeutic and beneficial. Anyone who knows Jan knows that she’s working as hard as possible to regain her speech and get back to riding and teaching!

There’s also a new addition to Surefire Farm—as if we didn’t have enough to think about—a Lurcher puppy named Talisman.

Jan is so grateful to everyone who’s pitched in to make this all work, especially Lizzie, Courtney and Miguel for keeping the barn and horses going, and to Scott Keach and Phillip Dutton for stepping in and competing her horses. And a special thank you goes to Tom, for everything he does and his support.

Jo Byyny

March 23, 2010

Update on Jan, March 9th

We wanted to let everyone know how Jan is progressing since her fall at Pinetop, and to thank everyone for the incredible support we’ve received.

As a result of her accident, Jan’s carotid artery was dissected, resulting in a minor stroke that caused damage to the language area of her brain. This has affected her ability to speak but not her comprehension, so that she is fully aware of what is going on around her and communicates with her doctors and us using a variety of non-verbal methods. You can imagine how frustrating this is for her!

On Monday, she underwent surgery to repair her fractured arm, which required lots of screws to hold everything together. She’ll be in a cast for about six weeks. Jan’s working hard at speech and physical therapy, and will be moving to Walton Rehab for the week before heading home to Virginia and outpatient therapy.

We and Jan are so thankful for the expressions of concern and well-wishes from friends, supporters and the eventing community. We’re especially grateful to Lizzie, Courtney, Miguel, Anisa, Kendyl and Maggie for taking such good care of Jan’s horses and barn in Aiken, and to Christy for managing everything at home in Virginia.

Dick and Jo Byyny

March 9, 2010

Update on Jan, March 4th

Jo and I, Jan's mother and father, want to update everyone on her condition. Jan had a serious fall at Pinetop Horse Trials on February 28, was unconscious for about two minutes and suffered multiple contusions and a fractured right forearm. She was transported to the hospital in Augusta for evaluation and care. She is still hospitalized, but is stable, alert, oriented and walking. Her horse, Jack, is fine. Many have been concerned about Jan and she greatly appreciates all of your thoughts and prayers. We will try to keep you informed about her progress as things develop. She knows many of you care about her and wish her the best and we all thank you for your concern and support. Cards can be sent to Surefire Farm, 20490 St. Louis Rd., Purcellville, VA 20132 and we'll make sure she gets them.

Richard and Jo Byyny

March 4, 2010

Aiken

The Surefire crew is now in Aiken and like just about everywhere, we haven’t been blessed with great weather. But, the footing here is sandy enough that after about nine in morning, it’s soft enough to ride. The horses and Surefire crew settled in really well, no thanks to me but lots of thanks to Lizzie, Courtney and Miguel—I’m very, very lucky to have such a great staff. The only unfortunate news to start off 2010 is that I had to put Echo down, which was incredibly sad as she was a great dog and I miss her every day. Other than that, things are good. We have a nice addition to our team this year—Courtney Olmstead, Lizzie’s husband, has joined us. We miss Nikki Smith a lot, but she’s got a great position working for Buck Davidson and loves it.

As far as the horses go, I had some really good lessons with Oded Shimoni in mid-January. Will Coleman and I split the cost of bringing him up from Florida for a couple days—an expensive undertaking—and I had four lessons each day on Waterfront, J.R., Jack and Wyatt. Being able to ride all four was incredibly beneficial, and it was especially nice because I was able to ride Waterfront with Oded, who got on him before me both days. Because Waterfront doesn’t look the same as he feels, it helped that Oded understood what I was experiencing. He felt that Waterfront has balance problem but agreed that you can’t tell by looking at him. He was thrilled with all my other horses, and felt they had progressed since the last time he saw them.

Oded was pleased with my progress as well, but encouraged me to push for next level—no rest for the weary! Luckily, I thrive on that. Sometimes getting to that next level can be a little frustrating, and I might have shed a tear or two riding J.R. as we worked on collecting his canter. A bit of a lack of communication and frustration with myself may have gotten to me a little. J.R. is very difficult for me to ride because the half-halt is still unconfirmed, so in my effort to achieve collection and have him stay through in his back, I was confused about exactly what Oded was asking me to do. Sometimes you don’t know until you’re trying to do something that you don’t understand how to do it! And sometimes, pushing through the frustration of that is the best thing you can do. When you get to the other side, you can appreciate how educational the process is for you and your horse. Both J.R. and I learned a lot, and I think Silva Martin would be very proud of everything she’s helped me learn.

Toward the end of January I had a little break from reality and went to Hawaii for a week with Tom and my folks. It was great to see everyone and so worth taking the time to spend with them — you only have one family! Lizzie, Courtney and Miguel held down the fort and did such a great job that I came home, went to Full Gallop, and won on three of my horses! Everyone from Surefire got a ribbon except for my lovely young mare Allie (Twice a Star). My superstar “babies” Walstraed and Why Not won Training A and Training B (Wyatt on his dressage score of 23.2). The Surefire homebreds—Anwar, Star and Allie—all did their first event. Maggie Sharpe has an exciting new horse—she’s leasing Shared Dreams—which has been an education and pleasure for all of us. Maggie has great horses and with “Whitey” added to her string, I’m sure she’ll learn so much and gain lots of confidence. It’s so nice seeing the horse that made my career every day, happy as a little clam.

Full Gallop was extremely fun, and not only were my “babies” Wyatt and Jack superstars, the Surefire homebreds—Anwar, Star and Allie—all did their first event. Julia Spatt and Tazzmania came from Colorado to try and qualify for Young Riders (she’s the one on the cover of last issue of USEA magazine). It’s been really nice for us having her in the barn and educational for her. John Staples and I both try to help the Colorado kids as much as we can.

We moved quickly on from Full Gallop and four days later competed at Sporting Days, where everyone moved up a level. As you all know, some days are diamonds and some days are stones. I didn’t come home with all the blue ribbons this time, though the rest from the farm were very competitive. Po Tatham came down from Virginia to join us and compete her horses and was second on My Security Blanket in OTA and won TH on Astaire to the Future. Maggie Sharpe won the Young Rider Preliminary division on Shared Dreams and was second on Terryberry in OTB and fifth on F.I.S. Almighty Bruce in ONB, and Kendyl Tracy won the dressage in that division and finished fourth on Ever So Lucky.

As far as I go, I have to keep things in perspective when looking at the scoreboard. My horses were actually much better than the scores reflected, and I think that we’ll see a different result the next time out. Why Not was still a little worried about the water and my homebreds only learned from the mistakes they made on course. Jack deserves kudos as he was fantastic. He’s not ready to run for time, and even though it might be a little old-fashioned, I believe in waiting till they’re ready and moving up when it’s easy for them. Sunday afternoon I was scheduled to ride in the High Performance training session but decided it was just too much to try and fit in. I did ride J.R. Monday morning with Mark and then Waterfront with Oded.

With Mark, I had the half-halt lesson I’ve has for the last five years—if you feel like you’re repeating the same thing over and over again in your riding, I can give you all hope. Every time I think I’m doing it right, someone shows me another way to make my horse understand the half halt better. We dramatically pushed J.R. by slowing him down to really capture his hind legs. On my own, I haven’t been that aggressive getting the point across. I worked at really pushing the half-halt by changing pace in order to carry the hind legs back and forward again. Waterfront was excellent with Oded. He made me push the envelope as far as movement goes, and made sure I had a good connection on the outside reins—all great stuff to go home and practice and that’s what this is all about.

Last but not least, I’m pleased to report that Syd Kent is happy, fat and up to trotting for 15 minutes. We have a lot going on in a very short amount of time here in Aiken and I’ll try to keep everyone up-to-date. That’s all for now!