A Night to Remember; The Summer of 1983
Last night I strolled down memory lane.
Too cold to ride- Jan 25/07 and well below freezing on the Fahrenheit scale, I was cleaning up my house. I stumbled across a VHS tape entitled “Quadrille”. HMM I thought, could this be the famous quadrille that 4 of us performed at Barcrest Farms in Milton, 1983? Sure enough, when I popped in the tape yes it was 1983, but I had totally forgotten its contents.
There I was, as large as life on my new wide screen T.V., at Genn Equestrian Farm (now Blacks in Hamilton). I was riding Déjà vu- my old mare albeit quite young at that time in the Young Rider Team trials for the Ontario Dressage Team. It was kind of rough around the edges, but a clean ride. Oh, the howling winds that day. It was enough to make the microphone on the camera scream in discontentment. Then, in came Maria Little and Okay from IESS (now RCRA in Newmarket). That little horse trucked around the arena, even throwing in a little Piaffe before the walk-canter transition. Lee Tubman was next aboard Between Friends. Between you and I, his mare looked a little uneven, but non-the less, she did her job. Martina Pracht and Mozambique entered the ring next. Her elegant black mare performed to the mark.
Next, waiting for the quadrille with baited breath, was another Team Trial at IESS in the indoor arena. Again, the same riders, but looking around there was Walter Zettl (my coach at the time, and the team coach) sitting on the mounting block in the corner of the arena, watching our rides with keen interest! I could see Major Rethy and Captain Wagner judging.
Eventually after watching Joanne Mintz and My Sailor, Bev Rodgers (from the US) on Billericay- a horse that was at the stable where I trained in Michigan, my quadrille appeared.
The wind was howling again at Barcest, the dust was flying in their brand new dressage ring, and my father was handling the video portion of things again. You could see the wilderness of Milton in the background not yet scarred by development. I could see our team; Lynda Cooper on Chico, Gayle Kragten on Parnell, Jacquie Dowell on Eridanus, and myself again on Déjà vu. I had lent my extra top hat to Jacquie. The turn out looked amazing! We rode to a selection of Hooked on Classics. It brought back memories of practicing at the farm in Binbrook, with my mom at the helm in our living room with the house speakers pointed towards my riding ring. Pre-8;00am practice rides weeks before the competition, trying to beat the scorching heat of the summer. Neighbours wondering if we were “partying” at the crack of dawn with the music blaring though the stagnant air!
There was Chico and Wanda (Déjà vu’s stable name). They were bookends from the front with their big white blazes, Danny and Parnell, holding up their end of the performance almost matching in color and markings too. It brought a tear to my eye to see this ride; we were almost flawless- synchronized in movement and music. Just the way we had planned it. Even a couple of wooopsies in time to the music from Chico, when he heard the Monty Python theme in the lengthen stride at canter. Libby McMullen the judge, gave us 82%. Those were the days!
After the quadrille, a few more faces that I have not seen in years. Marina Genn and Warrior in the Intermediare 1. I appeared in that class also. I had totally forgotten that I was riding that test in ’83.
In came Sandra Zarn and Faisal. Another forgotten name. Peggy Berard on Kublai Khan. So sad she could not get over her show nerves.
Again, another surprise……..the Glanbrook Cadora Grand Valley Dressage Show at Genns’. Who do I hear announcing in the background, but Susan Anderson! Wow! She was doing a great job back then!
My father had managed to tape the one and only Grand Valley Dressage Derby. As I can recall, we only had 5 minutes to get used to the horse we had randomly drawn to ride. I picked Roger Seegerts' horse Cyrano owned by Kilbryne Farm. Pat Jamieson read for me.
Marina Genn had drawn Lorraine Stubbs’s gelding Gregor. Roger drew my mare. I still remember him telling me that she was no easy ride! Jane Williamson rode Genns' horse Flavius (who had no interest in cantering). Lorraine rode Janes’ horse Manuscript.
So, everyone had to ride a Prix St. George level test minus the canter pirouettes! Interesting to say the least. You could see everyone who rode get a chuckle out of it. Lorraine…the reader said canter left on the centerline before your final halt!
It was no surprise that Marina won the class, Roger rode my mare for second place, I came in third with Rogers’ horse, Lorraine was fourth on Manuscript, and Jane was fifth on Flavius. We even received prize money, thanks to the Westfalen Association of Germany.
At the end of the tape, my father panned across the announcer and scoring table. Susan was thanking everyone for attending the show. And she then announces a big Happy Birthday to whom else? Don Barnes!
Pictured is me on my mare DejaVu with my coach at the time Walter Zettl in the background.
