16 The Chronicle of the Horse

16 The Chronicle of the Horse
NORTH AMERICAN JUNIOR &
YOUNG RIDER CHAMPIONSHIPS
Howard Simpson Helped The
Young Rider Championships
Program Take Root
With his endless enthusiasm and high fives, Simpson inspired
and entertained a generation of young riders at Tempel Farms.
BY LISA SLADE
H
e’s not a professional rider,
and he’s not a coach or a
trainer. If you try to give him
recognition for the work he’s
done, he’ll quickly divert it to someone
else. But without Howard Simpson, the
North American Junior and Young Rider
Championships program that is known
today as a thriving and well-organized
institution likely wouldn’t exist.
“Howard is the reason there is a
young rider championship in this
country,” said David Distler, who’s
served as show jumping manager at
nearly every North American Young
Rider Championships since 1992. “If
it weren’t for him—and I’m not saying
that lightly—there wouldn’t be one.”
Simpson helped host the championships at Tempel Farms in Wadsworth,
Ill., 14 times—giving the fledgling
program a home at a time it desperately needed one—and he served as
event director many of those years.
Simpson’s also been a tireless advocate for the sport as a whole, and he’s
Howard Simpson has been a major driving
force behind the North American Junior and
Young Rider Championships. “It’s not just
a big show; it’s about getting the riders
together with their heroes,” he said.
STOCKIMAGESERVICES.COM PHOTO
If you
try to give
him credit,
he’ll always
pass the
credit onto
someone
else.”
—GEORGE WILLIAMS
still serving on the U.S. Equestrian
Federation Board of Directors,
Executive Committee and Blue Ribbon
Panel.
He’s kept in touch with many of
the young riders who came through
the program at Tempel Farms, and
he still supports their careers, along
with continuing to volunteer at and
sponsor the NAJYRC. The USEF now
awards the Howard Simpson High
Five Trophy every year to the volunteer who “best exemplifies Howard’s
spirit of volunteering.” Simpson, now
65, received the trophy in 2004, its
inaugural year.
“In my mind, Howard is one of the
true great sportsmen in that he really
understands and values the importance of sportsmanship in the growth
of young people,” said U.S. Dressage
Federation President George Williams,
who worked as director of the Tempel
Farms Lipizzan program for 13 years.
“That always struck me as his real
motivation. He was really there for the
young people, and that’s what separates him from some of the others.
“If you try to give him credit, he’ll
always pass the credit onto someone
else,” Williams added. “Having worked
alongside him and from knowing
him for so many years, he really does
deserve a lot of credit.”
A Steep Learning Curve
Simpson’s involvement with the young
rider program started in the early
1980s, shortly after he married Martha
Smith, now Marth Smith Simpson,
in 1984. Martha owns Tempel Farms
along with her sister, Linda
Buonanno, and they’d been
August 5, 2013 • chronofhorse.com 17
YOUNG ENTRY
Former U.S. Equestrian Federation President David O’Connor presented Howard Simpson
(left) with the 2011 Sallie Busch Wheeler Trophy for distinguished service in equestrian
sport. SARA LIESER PHOTO
approached by Maj. Gen. Jonathan
Burton, Col. Donald Thackeray and
Capt. Jack Fritz about the importance
of starting an official young rider
championship in the United States.
“They talked about this program
that had started off as an eventing
challenge between the United States
and Canada,” said Howard, who also
has a day job as a long-range financial manager. “They wanted to make
it truly international and include all
three [Olympic] disciplines. Martha
and Linda are always interested in
18 The Chronicle of the Horse
youth and children, and they helped
put it together as a charity opportunity
they could support because they have a
horse farm.”
The first Fédération Equestre
Internationale-recognized championship for North American young riders
in all three disciplines was held in
Maple Ridge, British Columbia, in
1982. In 1985, Tempel Farm hosted
its first FEI-recognized young rider
championship with all three disciplines, though it was called the
American Continental Young Riders
Championships that year, and it didn’t
earn the full name North American
Young Rider Championships until
1988.
Linda Dreher, who’d started the Mill
Creek Horse Trials at Tempel, served
as the organizer and director with
Gordon Wallace the first year and for
several years after. Dreher attended
the 1982 championship in Canada with
her daughter, Lisa Kysela, and Dreher
and Wallace were inspired to bring the
program to the United States as well.
They helped develop a proposal for the
first year, which was then approved by
the Smith family.
“We already had a good start
on elements for the cross-country
course,” said Dreher. “The family was
very receptive and supportive of our
efforts.”
In 1985, Greg Best and Gem Twist
won the individual young rider gold in
show jumping, then went on to team
and individual silver medals at the
1988 Olympic Games (South Korea).
“It was pretty scary, hosting all those
disciplines,” Dreher said. “We jumped
on the grass that year. Can you imagine
jumping Gem Twist on the grass? We
didn’t know any better then.”
“I was much closer to eventing, and
Martha was much closer to dressage,
so for my first jumping ring, I just read
the specifications, and then I got some
white rope and stakes and put up some
jumps,” added Howard. “It didn’t quite
make the muster. I got David Distler
to come help us shortly after that.
Linda Allen and Larry Langer spent
years helping us, and Linda designed
an 80- by 100-meter all-weather arena
that we built just for [NAYRC]. They
donated all their time and effort. Back
in the early days, the judges didn’t even
charge if we could get them there and
feed them.”
While Howard was involved with
the championships the entire time,
he stepped in even more around
1990. Martha and Howard were also
interested in the program because of
Martha’s children, Linda Leffingwell,
Jennifer Lueders and Larry
Leffingwell. Lueders (then Jennifer
Leffingwell) competed at the 1990 and
1991 NAYRC, earning dressage team
gold both years with Region 2.
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“We weren’t show managers; we
were people who owned a farm,” said
Howard, who grew up foxhunting
and served as MFH for the Mill Creek
Hunt (Ill.) when he was younger.
“These were our invited guests, and
we treated everyone that way. It was
literally backyard, and it was a great,
great community effort. We’d have
300 to 500 volunteers in the area who
would come and spend a day, a week,
a month.”
In 1997, Howard took over as
sole organizer when Dreher’s other
commitments grew too large for her to
make the yearly trek to Illinois from
Southern Pines, N.C.
“He loved eventing, but he didn’t
really know the other sports when he
came into it, but he was a quick study,”
said Dreher. “He really learned the
sports, and he became a very valuable
member for both the [U.S. Eventing
Association] and the USEF.”
While the championships received
some money from the federations and
through sponsorships, Howard and
the Smith family also provided financial support.
“There’s no doubt it wouldn’t have
continued without Howard’s financial
and personal support,” said Williams.
“Certainly the farm put a lot into it,
and it was also the Smith family’s
efforts. But Howard was really
the catalyst.”
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North American
Junior and Young Rider
Championships Fast Facts
ears the championship was
Y
hosted at Tempel Farms: 1985,
1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995,
1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002 and
2004
econd-most frequent host:
S
The Kentucky Horse Park (1977,
2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013)
ear the junior championship
Y
was added: 2006
Year reining was added: 2008
ear endurance was added:
Y
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August 5, 2013 • chronofhorse.com
19
He
just gets
satisfaction
out of
watching
everyone do
well.”
—DAVID DISTLER
Tempel Farms hosted its first North American Young Rider Championship in
1985, where a young Greg Best and Gem Twist won individual gold before
going on to Olympic Games success three years later. WINANTS PHOTO
High Fives For Everyone
But what most riders remember about
Howard from the NAYRC at Tempel
Farms is not his organizing prowess or
financial support—it’s his unceasingly
supportive attitude.
“He watched me grow up riding,”
said Allison Springer, Upperville, Va.
She grew up in Illinois and won team
gold in eventing with Area IV at the
1994 championships at Tempel.
“I think because I’m local and all
that, he’s followed my career a bit. He’s
been a wonderful person in my life,”
she said. “Not that I get to see him
regularly, but I look forward to seeing
him every year at Rolex [Kentucky
CCI****], and I always get the biggest
hug from him. He’s always watching;
20 The Chronicle of the Horse
he’s cheering everyone on. I remember
him from [NAYRC] just as he is
now—smiling, happy, enjoying the
sport and really just supporting. He’s
a really encouraging person, and that’s
wonderful to be around.”
Howard’s original goal for the championships was developing a pipeline
of future Olympic athletes, and for
some of the participants, the NAYRC
was their first exposure to the upper
echelons of the sport.
“My estimation would be that it’s
70 percent as a pinnacle destination, as far as those horse-and-rider
combinations go, and then maybe 30
percent have the ability and timing
to go further,” Howard said. “Karen
O’Connor came through the young
rider program, and she’s supported
it since, as has David [O’Connor]. It’s
not just about a horse show that offers
prize money—because it doesn’t—
and it’s not just a big show; it’s about
getting the riders together with their
heroes—trainers, coaches and selectors.”
Howard, who graduated from
Babson College (Mass.) with a degree
in finance, recalled just how many of
the riders’ heroes were present at some
of the championships at Tempel.
“One year, Jessica Ransehousen got
up and sort of grabbed the microphone
from Nigel Casserley,” he said. “I’m
kind of a control freak, and everything has to be written down and on
the schedule, but she just popped up
and said, ‘Everyone who has represented your country at an Olympics
or a World Equestrian Games, please
come up.’ Out of the officials, 28 people
went up and got on that stage. It was
unbelievable to me. Wadsworth, Ill.,
doesn’t have those kinds of luminaries,
Did You Know?
H
oward Simpson served
as a member of the U.S.
Air Force from 1969 until
1972. He was a paramedic and
member of the flight surgeons
office, and his time included a tour
in Vietnam.
YOUNG ENTRY
and for all those people to just show up
and volunteer their time for the kids—
it was a really poignant moment for
me. And it surprised me that all those
people who’d represented the country
were there, but the young athletes
already knew who all of them were.”
Better Athletes And
Better Citizens
For Howard, it was imperative that all
the disciplines supported each other,
and he organized the Tempel facility
and schedule so that would happen.
“The main dining area was a tent
right next to the dressage ring, where
you could also see the show jumping,
and the start box for cross-country
was probably 200 yards away,” said
Howard. “We timed it and scheduled
it so that there wasn’t any dressage
or show jumping going on during
the cross-country. Each discipline
had its finals when nothing else was
happening.
“To see young people start to recognize and respect other disciplines
was so important, and it was so much
a part of the young rider program,”
he continued. “We wanted to build
respect between the disciplines and
put a safety net under these talented
people doing such difficult things. I’ve
been at shows where young people
have said, ‘Mom, you didn’t bring my
boots,’ and you never heard that at
[NAYRC]. It was their responsibility to
bring themselves and their equipment.
The maturity level was much higher
for their age group. They’re held to a
standard few young Americans are
held to, and I think that makes a much
better citizen.”
But Howard also wanted riders to
have fun at his championships, and he
hosted infamous parties.
“In the later years, he got a very good
DJ for the Saturday night party,” said
Williams, Middlefield, Ohio. “Howard
is very mindful that the kids had
competition the next day, so he didn’t
want things to get too out of hand.
The year before, the kids had started
to dance on the tables, and the tables
just slowly disappeared, sinking into
the ground. The next year he told all of
us, ‘No matter what happens, the kids
can’t dance on the tables again.’ The
party got going, and the kids started
getting on the tables. We were like,
‘Howard, should we tell them they
can’t do that?’ He just shrugged and
said, ‘No, don’t bother.’ He really liked
the kids, and for him that’s what it was
all about.”
Katherine Poulin, 33, who won
dressage team gold with Region 3 at
NAYRC in 1999 and 2000, remembers
getting thrown into the lake by Larry
Leffingwell at Tempel Farms in 1999.
But she also recalls how the program
helped shape her career.
“It was during the golf cart competition, and we were all having a great
time. Getting thrown in the lake was
quite a moment,” said Poulin, Chagrin
Falls, Ohio. “Back then I didn’t realize
how important it was to ride there, but
I do now as an adult. Unless you make
a Pan American [Games] team or an
Olympic [Games] team, that’s going
to be your only team experience as a
professional. That’s all you’re going to
get. It really should be cherished. A lot
of my friends today are people I did
young riders with. We still talk, and
that’s a lifelong friendship. It’s really
special.”
People still approach Howard with
memories about NAYRC at Tempel,
and he’s enjoyed seeing many of
them rise through to the professional
ranks—including top riders like Kent
Farrington, David Marcus, Buck
Davidson, Springer, Todd Flettrich,
Will Coleman, Chris Hickey and
McLain Ward.
“He didn’t want anyone to leave
without having gotten something out
of it,” said Distler, Norwalk, Conn.
“You ask almost anyone who’s been to
several locations, and they’ll tell you
Howard’s was the best.
“He’s a really good guy,” Distler
added. “He didn’t get anything out of
it except self-satisfaction. It’s not like
he trains somebody or sells horses or
something. He just gets satisfaction out
of watching everyone do well. That’s
him.”
Helen Krieble, then the owner of High Prairie Farm in Colorado, handed the North American
Young Rider Championships flag back to Howard Simpson in 2000. JOHN STRASSBURGER PHOTO
August 5, 2013 • chronofhorse.com 21