Tricia Booker

As a lifelong hunter/jumper rider and the daughter of a neurologist, I grew up wearing a helmet with a harness at a time when such headgear was the exception rather than the rule.
   

We received a record number of submissions for this year’s Junior Gallery of artwork, poems and essays. So I thank these young horse lovers (and their parents) for taking the time to submit their works for all of us to enjoy. I read each poem and essay submitted and was once again amazed by the talented young writers we have as subscribers.

After making the difficult decision to sell my horse this winter, I’ve since embarked on a search for a new partner. I’ve spent ample time reading the Chronicle classifieds, surfing the Internet and watching lots of videos on YouTube.com.

The road to the Olympics has always included many twists and turns for athletes striving for the top of the sport, and this week’s Look Back “Team Selection And Training Has Always Sparked Discussion And Controversy” (p. 58) provides a glimpse of a few memorable articles published in the Chronicle over the past 60 years.
   

Although the man behind HITS Inc. has built an empire, he didn’t start out with that goal as a driving force.

Times were tough in the early 1980s. The decade started with double-digit inflation, and hostile takeovers and leveraged buyouts were the norm. At the time, a young entrepreneur named Tom Struzzieri was embarking on a new adventure as a horse show manager.

This year’s annual Horse Show issue is our biggest ever, with 1,088 photographs of champion hunters, jumpers and equitation riders from throughout the country. From our U.S. Equestrian Federation national champions to regional and local associations, this issue celebrates horses and their talented riders from leadline to grand prix.

With a little help from her friends, she rides to her second victory in the featured hunter class on the CN Winter Equestrian Festival circuit.

Even though Liza Towell Boyd and Fiyero wore the winning cooler and championship sash during the victory gallop of the $42,800 AHJF Hunter Spectacular of Palm Beach, there were really two winners on the evening of Feb. 23.

A number of years ago, I was interviewing a legend in the hunter breeding world after his colt had earned a major best young horse title. As a young reporter, I was eager to find out all about how this lifelong horseman selected his horses, which bloodlines he admired, and what really mattered to him when choosing a promising youngster.

His words surprised me: “A good horse is a good horse, no matter what his papers say or who his parents were.” It turns out he didn’t even consider the horse’s pedigree when he selected him.

Will Simpson traveled across the country from California to contest the Olympic selection trials, and his journey may be only beginning as he topped the $100,000 Zada Enterprises LLC Masters Cup, the second of five rounds in at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, Fla.

Astute readers may have noticed that one of the Chronicle’s original Between Rounds columnists, George H. Morris, has put his writing on hold. His last column appeared in May of 2007, and not long after it was published he called to say that his training schedule and responsibilities—including his duties as the U.S. Equestrian Team’s show jumping chef d’equipe—weren’t allowing him enough time to write.