[/caption]Haverford, Pa., June 3, 2010 -- If ever there were a perfect place to honor the past, it's the Merion Cricket Club, where dozens of the show world's biggest names gathered this week at the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame induction dinner to pay homage to their own.
Set in one of the leafy suburbs along Philadelphia's Main Line, just a few miles from the Devon Horse Show grounds, this venerable sporting and social establishment offered the right backdrop for the annual dinner. Green lawns and walls lined with oil paintings of past club presidents set the mood for remembrance and a tribute to the horses and riders who are the legends of the hunter world.
Presiding over the evening was Hall of Fame Chairman Jimmy Lee, the Virginia trainer and judge who has made the organization his special cause and a highlight of each year's Devon experience.
He and I talked about the background of the 15-year-old Hall of Fame, and why it's so important.
Listen: Jimmy LeeThe traditions on which today's hunter industry are built were highlighted by many photos and the emotional speeches that went with them. What impressed me about those being honored, especially the people with whom I was not familiar, was their dedication to the horse itself. Not just to showing or other pursuits, but to the generosity and nobility of the animal that gives so much to humanity and has shaped countless lives.
Some of those cited at the dinner have names that bring instant recognition. Others may not be as easily identified, but on a special evening we learned about all their contributions and their place in the industry that is far more than a business.
I was extremely touched by Betty Oare's presentation on behalf of Noel Twyman, the Virginian who was a "consummate" horseman, with accomplishments in the fields of racing, showing and fox hunting.
Noel "did almost everything a person could imagine doing in the horse world," said Betty, a Hall member herself. The photos of Noel, whose late father, Delmar, is also in the Hall of Fame, showed him in a classical position on all his mounts, and that's the way he always rode.
Sadly, Noel had been very ill in recent months. Though he hoped to make the dinner, he died on May 2, but Betty, who was his cousin, and Jimmy went to his home to present him with his plaque shortly before he passed away. He was buried in his hunting pinks, ready to follow the hounds through eternity.
Another inductee, Eileen Beckman of Virginia, died on the same day as Noel. A board member of the Virginia Horse Shows Association, she also was a founder of the Virginia Pony Breeders Association, and many outstanding ponies came from her Otteridge Farm. Characterized as "a true horseman and a lady," she spent her life teaching others to appreciate horses the way she did.
Eileen's relatives, like Noel's, were on hand for the ceremony. Though there were tears, there was also inspiration. Her daughter, Laura Beckman Rodes, told the guests that in her last letter to her family, her mother said she never gave up and advised "you who follow to do the same."
Mary Braga, helped to the microphone by rider/trainer Patty Heuckeroth, recalled her first riding experience 86 years ago when she was put aboard her mother's statuesque Irish hunter. That was the start of a lifetime devotion to horses. In the years since, she and Patty worked at developing many young prospects.
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- Judy Richter (left) toasts Hall of Fame inductee Carol Molony.
- © 2010 by Nancy Jaffer
Carol Altman Molony, a founder of the Hall of Fame, was rightfully inducted for her many contributions to the sport. I watched her win both the Maclay and the Medal finals at Madison Square Garden in 1962 (they were held on consecutive days at that time). I was only a tot then, of course, but what would have made the performance even more outstanding, had I known it, was the fact that her mount was a borrowed horse that she had competed previously only in a hunter trials the previous weekend.
That tidbit was told to us by her friend Judy Richter, a Hall member who introduced her. Carol rode with Gordon Wright, who also was one of George Morris' trainers. She earned numerous championships, including at the National Horse Show, and also gave advice to Mary Mairs (Chapot) on how to win the equitation finals on a borrowed horse. After a 1969 accident that ended her riding career, she turned to teaching, working at Bennett College, the Ox Ridge Hunt Club and other stables along the way until settling in at Stony Creek in North Salem, N.Y. All the while, she has been "a real doer...who quietly gets it done." She has contributed to the industry by being a leader in the U.S. Equestrian Federation (USEF), the Professional Horsemen's Association and the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association, as well as having involvement in the intercollegiate program and judging national equitation finals.
