Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

8/9/2009 - Fun At The Fair

The first thing you noticed about these majestic creatures was their incredible grace.

As the horses entered the main ring at the $50,000 Sussex County Grand Prix Saturday night at the New Jersey State Fair/Sussex County Farm and Horse Show, one couldn’t be more impressed with the style and precision movements of these 1,500-pound beasts, especially a novice like me.

It was my first time covering the event and I didn’t really know what to expect, but when it was all said and done, I was duly impressed. It also didn’t hurt that the winning run didn’t come until the last rider and that the winning margin was less than a second.

But nonetheless, it was a flawlessly run event and I could see why people filled the grandstand a couple of hours before it started to get the best view possible.

For all the years I have covered sports in Sussex County, I never attended the Horse Show. When I was at The New Jersey Herald we had a superb equestrian writer in Michelle Bloch, who supplied us with outstanding stories, so there was no need for me to go the Show.

That changed this year as I covered the Grand Prix for Mugs Media and I was exposed to the world of competitive show jumping and it was an eye-opening experience.

The folks in the horse world are a different breed and that is a compliment. It seemed that everyone knew each other, from riders to trainers to owners, making it a very friendly atmosphere despite the fact there was a $12,000 first-place purse on the line.

The fact that I was a newcomer didn’t bother the people, either, as I asked basic questions in preparation for the event. How basic? Well, think of a person asking how many outs there are in an inning when you watching a game at Yankee Stadium. That is the level of ignorance I had about show jumping.

However, everyone I dealt with couldn’t have been more accommodating. And to be honest, my first guess was that everyone involved would be a snob because show jumping isn’t exactly a cheap racket. Wow, was I wrong.

Once I picked enough brains I was ready for the Grand Prix and I found it to be mesmerizing. There were 26 entrants and there was a final jump-off of eight horses that had cleared the course cleanly in the first round.

The final eight put on a show as Kyle King and his mount RMW San Friese looked like they were going to take home the grand prize before a rising star in the horse world Brianne Goutal of New York City capped the event with a perfect run and nipped King by less than a second, gaining a standing ovation from the crowd.

And a cool 12 grand.

Goutal rode Ralvesther, an 11-old Dutch-bred mare out of Clover Leaf Farms in Colts Neck, N.J., to her second Grand Prix win this summer and it was Goutal’s third Grand Prix win at the Fairgrounds in her young career.

The 20-year-old Brown University student, who was extremely gracious in victory and has an extremely bright future ahead of her, won two junior Grand Prix events a few years back in the same ring.

After Goutal cleared the last gate and the event was finished, our cameraman Chuck Mills, turned to me and said, “That was pretty cool, huh?” and I couldn’t have agreed with him more.

And pretty cool would be a great way to describe my week at the Fair. Now for complete disclosure, I have never been a fan of the Fair and hadn’t attended it in over 20 years. Nothing against the Fair, but rides and animals have never been my cup of tea.

But doing segments all week for our special fair shows for Service Electric Cable TV (a side note, Tyler Atkins did an amazing job putting those shows together under extremely tight deadlines) my view of the Fair has changed.

Now, I not going to run out and buy a goat or start show jumping (What a mental picture that conjures up, huh? Frightening at best.) But I have a new appreciation for all the people who are involved and make it a success every year.

The people I interviewed couldn’t have been more friendly and willing to talk, especially to a guy who was new to the Fair. Robin Casper of the 4-H, the hardest working woman at the Fair, was incredibly kind and patient with us despite the fact she was being pulled 20 different directions.

Alan Henderson, the President of the Fair, was a gentleman in the first degree, and was a great help.

Then there were the contestants. To see the pride they took in their chosen event was great to see. It was no different than watching kids score goals in soccer or field hockey or scoring a touchdown in football.

In fact, competing at the Fair was like playing for a league or state title for these kids. The 4-H competitions drew the best-of-the best (it would be too easy to say cream of the crop with it being a Fair and all) and these kids put as much time getting their prize animals ready for a show as do kids who play football, baseball, etc.

And the faces of the kids’ parents were just the same as parents at a high school sporting events, living and dying with every move until the judges made their final decision. Just some real good stuff.

So with my first Fair in the books since Ronald Reagan was president (God, I’m getting old), I can honestly say, it won’t take another six presidential elections for me to return to the Fair. And I have the people who run it to thank for it.

That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines. Or at the Fair next year.

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Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

8/9/2009 - Fun At The Fair