The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
PRIX DE VILLE HORSE SHOW PRESERVES COLLEGE HISTORY
Concord Twp. horse show draws spectators, participants from near and far
Anyone who thinks showing a horse competitively is as easy as driving in an auto race has likely never shown a horse competitively.
Just ask Mary Pardee, an assistant Lake Erie College professor and director of the school’s riding program.
“It’s like driving an Indy 500 car, but with a brain,” she said April 2 at Lake Erie College’s George M. Humphrey Equestrian Center in Concord Township shortly before the parade of teams event of the 49th Annual Prix de Villes horse show. “Seriously. A horse has its own temperament and personality and you have to take that into consideration.”
Her students agreed.
“I definitely think (competitive equestrians) deserve a lot more respect than we get because this is nowhere as easy as it looks,” said Maggie Brink, a senior equestrian teacher/ trainer student from Pittsburgh. “We’re working with another creature that has its own feelings, ideas and emotions.”
Those feelings, ideas and emotions become especially critical during hunter/jumper events like the team-jumper competition that began around noon April 2, in which riders and their horses navigate an obstacle course consisting of various jumps, to demonstrate their speed, athleticism, poise, control and command of their equine partners.
It’s a unique event, riders say, because in the world of
equestrian sports, teams rarely exist other than in the sense of a horse and rider being a team.
“I like the team aspect of it,” said Sarah Dwyer, a junior at Lake Erie studying business administration and equine entrepreneurship. “We don’t really get an opportunity to ride as a team and we really count on each other. It’s cool to get to do that at something other than an intercollegiate show.”
The 3-day event also offers an uncommon social component by way of a reception at the Victor Manor House on the equestrian center’s property. Pardee said it’s a unique opportunity for the student equestrians, who come from all over the country to learn at Lake Erie College, their families, college faculty, equestrian-industry stakeholders and others to connect and socialize in a relaxed, low-key setting.
Pardee said the Prix de Ville dates back to a time when influential jumper Bertalan de Némethy, Lake Erie equestrian studies founder Laddie G. Andahazy and others involved in the equine sports arena wanted to offer a worldclass horse show to enthusiasts in the Midwest.
She said both men were instrumental in bringing “Olympic-caliber” showjumping to the U.S. and nurturing its growth in Northeast Ohio.
In its earlier days, the Prix de Ville was a big show with a national draw but has since become more of a local show, thanks in part to the many venues in Florida offering similar formats this time of year.
“The demographic has changed,” Pardee said, adding that the Florida shows cropped up and started influencing the Prix de Ville’s personality about 25 years ago. She said it’s still a strong event for the college, however, and is an important part of budding equestrians’ lives from across the country.
“It’s still an important event,” she said. “It offers a very unique opportunity. And we feel it’s an important tradition to maintain, both to keep the history of the school alive and to expose young equestrians to this level of competition.”
It’s apparently meeting those goals, according to some of the event’s participants.
Take first-time Prix de Ville contestant and junior equine facility management/therapeutic horsemanship student Sophie Clymer of Stow, Vermont, for example. Pardee said it’s taken three years for her to prepare for her involvement in the Prix de Ville.
“For Sophie, this has been a very aspirational
thing. She’s worked really hard to earn the right to ride on one of our horses,” Pardee said, adding that it’s not just anyone who makes the team. “She’s definitely put in a lot of work. It’s been three years in the making, but now she’s trained, prepared and ready.”
Clymer agreed it’s not something she took lightly.
“I don’t have a lot of competition experience,” she said. “But it’s really cool to see what all the prep, all the aftercare (of the horses) that I’ve learned come into play here. It’s really cool to be able to put it all into practice now.”
Likewise, sophomore equestrian teacher/trainer major Lissy Naber from Buffalo, N.Y. said it’s an honor to be able to participate in the show and that all the hard work and training she’s been exposed to has helped immensely, adding to her enthusiasm..
“It’s really exciting for me to be a part of Prix de Ville and to be part of the Lake Erie College team, especially in my first year (in the show),” she said. “I’m excited about all the opportunities that have been put in front of me here, like being able to ride and be exposed to that level of competition. You don’t often get to do that.”
She said she’s also appreciative of the camaraderie aspect of her involvement.
For Sophie Sahatske, a senior from Detroit, Mich., there’s something special about working with the school’s horses that makes the competition extra special.
“There’s a stereotype that comes with school horses — that they’re old and worn out and can’t do much,” she said. “And the best part is that we come out and we compete with these amazing school horses that we know and love.”
Pardee agreed, adding how close of a relationship these horses and riders tend to form with each other.
“There is a really strong bond between these horses and riders,” she said. “And
that’s also true between the riders on the team.”
But the secret to success in the horse-show arena has as much to do with how the horse looks and feels as is does for the rider, said Ketki Hotaling, who hails from Minnetonka, Min. and was helping out behind the scenes Sunday.
“I’m not on the team for the event today but I got to work with the riders yesterday,” she said, adding that she was busy attending to the needs of the horses and their riders outside the arena because, as she pointed out, the riders sometimes forget to eat.
“Being able to be behind the scenes, in a school environment, before you go out to do it professionally, has really given me a kind of building-stone for me before I go out this summer and do it as a job,” she said. “And there is so much that goes on behind the scenes — how are they doing? Do they need anything? Did they remember to eat today? How about the horses? How are they doing? Do they need anything? That’s important because, for a horse to perform its best, it needs to feel its best, too. And the less the riders have to worry about things like that, the better for everyone. So everybody really supports and helps each other.”
Likewise, for a horse show to be its best, lots of factors come into play. In the case of the 49th Annual Prix de Ville at Lake Erie College, they all merged well and resulted in a great show, Pardee said afterwards.
“I think it went great,” she said, adding that her team, called Mary’s Party, took top honors in Sunday’s show.
“I think that it did what we want it to do, which is to bring great-quality competition to this community,” Pardee said. “(There were) good footing, great jumps, a good course and lots of camaraderie. All of the people there experienced a firstrate competition and there were a lot of happy people and a lot of happy faces.”