It was probably in the middle 1960s. I had met Jack Rockwell who then had a stable on Taconic Road in Greenwich and he asked me to run a one day Local AHSA horse show for him, which I did. I was already running the Greenwich horse shows so it was an easy and fun assignment and the show went off very ell and was quite successful. His stable was called Tri-Color Farms and it was beautifully located..I never asked him any questions about his farm but I would suspect he was leasing it . I knew very little about Jack or how long he had been there as I had only been working on horse shows for a couple of years myself at that point, but enjoying every moment of doing the horse shows. Not long after that I learned there had been a terrible fire at Tri-Color Farm and the whole place had been destroyed in the fire. I never knew whether he had also lost some of the horses. Sometime later I learned Jack had leased a small farm in North Salem, N.Y. and was told it had originally been a chicken farm and it perched on the side of a hill. The borders had to ride up the hill where there was flatter land to ride on and his boarders were very loyal to him. And he also had many friends. If that farm already had a name I dont know what it was but when Jack leased the place it was known as The Hill. Again I dont know the timing of events but some time after that Jack rented what is now known as Old Salem Farm. I believe when Jack leased it, it was known as Salem View and George Morris had been there but it was quite new. Jack changed the name to the Hill and the name stayed The Hill for many years after while Jack was there and Jacks business grew over time, and as laid back as Jack was, he did pretty well there. Jack was quite a silent fellow but always very genial and he rented out parts of the barn to several different trainers. Everyone got along very well and it seemed like a friendly and fun place to be. Jack was a pretty good rider and he gave lessons along with selling horses to his clients and he was becoming pretty well known in the horse world. As he became more established he asked me again if I would run some simple horse shows for him and of course I was delighted, and I did run a number of fun Local shows there for Jack. The horse shows then were usually quite casual and not as crowded and much more of a family affair, with whole families showing in different divisions. Or children showing while their parents acted as grooms and trainers, and they were always fun. And these shows were mostly in the winter so they were held in the large indoor ring....no hurry or bustle, lots of laughter and comraderie, and most people knew a lot of the other people at the shows. It was almost like a huge party that lasted for twelve to fifteen hours with the participants changing over the hours. It was long before the improvements were made on the barns and indoor rings. The building was made of concrete blocks and therefore whenever anything happened in the indoor ring it was like having a microphone that magnified the sounds coming from the indoor ring. The viewing room with its large glass window was NOT heated and it was often VERY COLD up in the viewing room in the winter. There was also an open balcony on either side of the viewing room for the really hardy viewers who chose to sit perched over the ring for better viewing and food and sodas and coffee were available to buy as the hours were LONG. The entry desk was on the side of the viewing room which was on the second floor, reached by a wide concrete staircase that hu g off the concrete walls...with a railing....and added to the noise level if anyone dropped anything heavy on the staircase....also echoing throughout the building. From the entry desk...a big old wooden table with two fold up chairs and a well located huge metal garbage can beside it for discarded food....I couldnt see the indoor arena...but I could hear everything. And the thing I remember almost the best was when one of the riders in jumpers were tossed off their horses into the concrete block walls a cry would ring out as though from a well rehearsed choir in a church....Is that Jay Shuttleworth or Barbara Meyers (Niles)? as it usually was one or the other in a jumper class. They would inevitably get thrown INTO the concrete wall and the sound not only echoed loudly throughout the whole building, but the second floor would also vibrate! I am happy to state that neither Jay or Barbara were ever hurt while I was there. But I will never forget the sounds echoing throughout that building as they were hurled into the walls, at almost every show at The Hill during those times. One very early morning in December right before Christmas I arrived at The Hill at 6:00A.M. in the pitch dark all by myself, loaded with the box of the old fashioned round exhibitors numbers, programs and schedules, masses of pens, entry blanks, my own huge shoulder bag filled with various and sundry items that might be needed by the exhibitors etc. It had snowed the night before and in order to park and carry my necessary items through the aisles of stalls, up the concrete steps and to the entry desk, the only place I could find to park was right beside the manure pile. I think the heat from the steaming fresh manure had melted a small space of snow just the right size to park my car by a side door into the barn. Huffing and puffing I managed to get myself down the long aisle and up the many concrete steps and to the viewing room, and finally to the entry desk, no mean feat at that early time in the pitch black, with not another soul in sight when I was unloading all of my papers, judges cards, etc. I noticed, sadly, that a beautiful gold and sapphire bangle bracelet my mother had just given me for Christmas was missing from my wrist. I was horrified and the first groom I saw I asked to follow my trail back to my car to see if he could find my beautiful Christmas bangle. While he went in search I got myself a steaming hot cup of coffee and sat down behind the entry desk to check and make sure I had everything I needed. Yes, I had the entry blanks,the judges cards, the exhibitors numbers, pencils and pens, programs and schedules, scissors, a small sewing kit,safety pins, bobby pins, combs, Band-Aids and many other small items I had learned to carry. And Jack had once more placed the giant shiny huge ribbed silver garbage can without the lid, directly to the left of the entry desk. Except I was still missing my beautiful gold and sapphire bangle the groom had not been able to find. It was sooooo cold I had not removed my big gray Australian fur coat but I started to settle myself waiting for the first exhibitors to arrive while watching the sky lighten into silver and red dawning colors while I sipped my still steaming coffee, warming my icy hands with the coffee. I was still the only one in the vast viewing room with the concrete floors which kept it colder and kept the room frigid longer. I sat back half daydreamg while waiting for the onslaught as I KNEW everyone would arrive at once and be in their usual hurry hurry mode, always the same at the beginning of every show. I gradually became aware of a pitiful high screaming coming from far away and as I strained trying to decipher the sound it kept coming closer...and closer...until it was coming up the long cement staircase towards me. Almost upon me and still no one else was up with me in the viewers room. Now the scream was piercing and running as fast as it could came a tiny Jack Russell Terrier , its tiny legs spinning like wheels, still screaming in terror. And running right behind its tail was a Huge Long haired St. Bernard closing fast on the little dog. Without thinking I stood up yelling and determined to save the little dog that was clearly facing death, I took a step forward and fell, upside down, head first INTO THE SILVER RIBBED METAL GLEAMING GARBAGE CAN with a horrendous crashing noise as the metal can...with me tucked neatly inside....started to roll noisily along the concrete floor, bumping on each rib noisily as it rolled across the floor. I managed to extricate myself and quickly looked about to see if anyone had witnessed this embarrassing episode. Fortunately no one had, and at the same time I realized BOTH dogs had quietely vanished. I knew that my plunge into the garbage can had made such a tremendous noise it had stopped the death chase and both dogs had run back downstairs which was a vast relief. I also realized I had broken my left arm. But I could still write with my right hand so I didnt say a word to anyone , and got the show started. After a while I saw Lloyd Le Valley and called him over to explain the situation. LLoyd had helped me out at several shows so he knew how to run the desk and he took over for me. As I made my way through the crowds back to my car I spotted my beautiful bangle lying on top of the manure pile, retrieved it, crawled into my car and drove myself to the Greenwich Hospital. That show was one of only two shows I had to leave over a 25 year period. But even at that time, I knew that it was a funny incident and I would write about it some day. And so I have.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 06:05:18 +0000
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