AlB—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 19,1982 Lehigh BY SHEILA MILLER NEW TRIPOLI What do you get when you put one 16-year-old girl together with one 6-year-old Morgan gelding and one 32-year old horse trainer and driving ex pert? The answer is a national champion And that’s just what happened when owner and trainer John Greenall of New Tripoli, Lehigh County, teamed his Morgan horse Thornyhills Donegal with equestrienne Tracey Picus The pair rode their way to the American Morgan Horse Association’s highest honors the national high-point championship tor Open English Pleasure Horses Tracey learned of her ac complishment just a few weeks ago However, the points needed to achieve this national recognition were earned in horse shows throughout the East fiom January 1980 until January 1981 According to Tracey, the competition bet ween the top two horses in the U.S. was “very close.” A justifiably proud Tracey comments that she is thrilled with the fact that Donegal has been judged the best of his class in the nation since it was a hard climb to the top. She explains, “It’s hard to show a Morgan in open competition and win because the judges usually don’t know what a Morgan is. They’re used to hunters and Donegal is usually the only sad dleseat in the class. It’s extra hard to do well because we’re so dif ferent.” What made the way a little easier for Donegal, claims Tracey, was his consitency. “He catches the judge’s attention because he’s always bridled-up he’s got a natural, flashy headset. At the same time, he makes it look easy consistently.” A seven-year veteran of the saddle, Tracey is an accomplished master of both English and Western riding and driving, with her preference leaning toward English saddleseat competition. Her aptitude for horsemanship acey poses year-v jrgan mare Loth Lea Ebonaire. Tracey won the mare In a N.J. Morgan Horse Club essay contest and had hoped to show her until the mare accidentally broke her leg last year. Bred to Dirrah Dandy Lion, the unfortunate mare may produce a future champion for her young owner. Co. Morgan wins nat'l honors was groomed right from the start by her instructor and coach John, which explains her admitted preference for Morgan horses. John, who has been breeding horses for the past 14 years, never runs short on praises for the “versatile” Morgan. Having grown up with various breeds as a child, John explains that he wanted a horse that he could perform well both under saddle and harness He chose the Morgan as the horse that •could do everything well ” Donegal, the 1981 national champion Morgan gelding, is a product of two of John’s best horses ihe stallion Sirocco, a national champion driving horse, and the mare Mayo Mist, winner of two reserve national riding and driving championships Open English Pleasure and Carriage Americana Mayo Mist is now owned by Tracey’s parents, Geralr and Mary Picus Following in his parents’ hoof prints, Donegal won the 1980 grant national championship for Carriage Americana horse, driven by Tracey as a single. The year before he was teamed with his full -sister to win the 1979 grand national championship for Carnage Obstacles with John in . the driver’s seat. The difference between the Americana and Obstacle classes in driving competition, explains Tracey, is the latter is an event based on the best time over a particular course while the former is a class where the horse, carnage, harness, and driver are judged This combination of horse and equipment is termed a “tur nout.” Donegal, who according to John has won more year-end cham pionships than any other Morgan in the Mid-Atlantic region, recently was part of a tandem pair in competition at the Devon Horse Show. In tandem hitches, the two horses are hitched one in front of the other instead of side-by-side. At Devon, Donegal was the leader while stablemate Ledge Hill (Turn to Page A 22) Thornyhills Donegal, a six-year-old Morgan champion in Open English Pleasure. Riding horse owned by John Greenall of Lehigh him to this national recognition was 16-year- County recently was named the American old Tracey Picus of Wescosville. Morgan Horse Association's highpoint At age fourteen, Tracey drove Donegal to his City. The previous year, Donegal took the top second national grand championship in the championship in the Obstacle carriage Carriage Americana division during the Grand competition, a timed event. National Morgan Horse Show in Oklahoma At the recent Gruber Wagon Works Cen- Dressed in appropriate driving attire, from top tenniai Celebration, John hitched his national hat to apron, John's turnout was the perfect champion Donegal, near side, with another picture of a bygone era. Seated next to John is Morgan stablemate, Ledge Hill Starfire, to one Tracey, with Sherwood Muth playing the part of his favorite vehicles, a shooting break, of groom. t
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