Gentry
January, 2003 |
Inside the Menlo Charity Horse Show
During the course of the past 31 years the little horse show
called “A Day on the Green” has grown into a world-class, top-ranked,
weeklong competition with an “AA” rating. At the helm of this charity
fundraiser has been one of the Peninsula’s hardest working volunteers –
Betsey Glikbarg. Gentry reports. At 5 a.m. on an August morning,
the air is still cool at the Menlo Circus Club. The fog is just beginning
to lift off the hills to the west. A golf cart trundles over wet grass,
down the length of the polo field, past a long line of horse stalls --
Strideaway Farms, Willow Tree, Monarch International, Wild Turkey,
Dearborn Stables, Charlebois, Northern Run, Bridgeport Farms.
Along the alleys between the stalls, the manes and tails of horses are
being braided for competition. Grooms put studs in the horses' shoes to
prevent slipping on the grass. Riders check their tack. Trainers pace the
aisle, checking schedules, a horse's leg, a rider's mood. Ring crews set
fences for jumps in three arenas where, over six days, more than 550
horses will compete in 180 events at the Menlo Charity Horse Show.
Thirty-one years ago, it began as "A Day on The Green," a one-day event
with a "B" rating from the American Horse Show Association, raising $3,000
for charity. Today, the Menlo Charity Horse Show is a world-class,
top-ranked athletic competition with the highest possible "AA" rating.
Last August, more than $280,000 was raised for the Peninsula Center for
the Blind and Visually Impaired in a weeklong series of events.
This premier athletic competition -- horses that can cost as much as the
new Enzo Ferrari, equestrian athletes at the top of their game, many of
Olympic caliber, and top-notch, star-turn trainers -- has been run for all
of its thirty-one years by a steely-eyed, perfectly put together suburban
housewife and inveterate volunteer named Betsey Glikbarg. In another time
and place, she might have run a television network, so carefully attuned
is she to entertainment value and the bottom line.
Every day, two to three thousand spectators arrive to watch the
competition in Olympic-style show jumping. More than $95,000 in prize
money was awarded in special classes -- from the $500 Pony Jumper Classic,
a purely athletic test of speed and endurance, in which the rider and pony
are judged solely on their ability to jump a series of fences from 2'9" to
3' -- to the $10,000 Grand Hunter Challenge, where Champion and Reserve
Champion thoroughbreds are judged on the pace and style in which they
complete a round of 12 fences, up to 4-feet in height.
And every day thousands of ribbons from first place royal blue through
twelfth place lavender are awarded in classes for pony hunters, children's
hunters, adult amateur hunters, and equitation and medal classes, in which
the rider, not the horse, is judged on form. Over the six days of the
show, more than 8,000 ribbons, trophies and award prizes are handed out in
class competitions, division championships and special presentations. On
Alfred Hitchcock Day, there are even polo shirts, watches, and, for the
horses, wool coolers all bearing the unmistakable profile of the master
filmmaker. The Menlo Charity Show is the only show in California where
second and third place winners are awarded prizes -- coveted jars of
Goelitz Jelly Bellies and Mrs. Pasture's Cookies for Horses.
The competition culminates in two highly anticipated and demanding
contests set in the jumper ring, with its boldly styled jumps bearing the
logos of sponsors like Tiffany & Co., jumps whose standards feature
5'-tall versions of its trademark blue boxes. On Friday night, local
professional Guy Thomas of Willow Tree Farms took first, second and third
place in the $10,000 Maple Leaf Farm Ryman Memorial Speed Jumper Class, an
electrifying competition conducted at breakneck speed. Then, on Saturday
evening, the $35,000 San Jose British Motors Grand Prix took place. The
Grand Prix is the highest form of an equestrian contest, an exacting match
of speed and technical accuracy over a course of 12 to 14 jumps that can
surpass 6 feet in height.
Glikbarg would be the first person to tell you that none of this would
happen without her 140 tireless, cheerleading committee members. And they
do deserve credit. Most volunteers sign on for an event, not a six-day
acclaimed equestrian competition and a weeklong series of events --
beginning with Tuesday's poolside spaghetti dinner for 500, through
cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and wine tasting on Wednesday, Thursday's Iron
Gate Restaurant dinner, and Saturday's banquet honoring the World Champion
Hunter Rider Award winners.
Consider just some of the logistics involved in a production of this
magnitude. The thousands of prizes from leather bridles and Baccarat
crystal to groom boxes and silver champagne buckets are coordinated so
that there is no chance any entrant will win two of the same prize. More
than 200 signs for parking, information and directions are printed and
posted. More than 600 stalls must be delivered, erected, provisioned with
electricity and stocked with feed and bedding. Each of the 550 horses
produces 50 pounds of manure each day, so 27,500 pounds of manure must be
carted away and disposed of every night. Ninety potted plants in the VIP
tent and 200 in the arenas need to be watered daily. Parking must be found
for more than 100 horse vans and trailers in the middle of Atherton. And
each day, 54 snacks and lunches are delivered to the 18 show judges, 500
dinners are served to trainers, exhibitors, spectators and grooms, 300
buffet lunches are provided in the Club, and countless hot dogs and
smoothies are sold from vendor stands.
And remember -- Betsey Glikbarg, for one, never forgets this -- that the
bottom line of all this entertainment is that the Menlo Charity Horse Show
is a fundraiser for the Peninsula Center for the Blind and Visually
Impaired. The Center, founded in 1936, serves more than 1,000 clients in
San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, with optical aids, mobility training,
daily living skills instruction and Braille classes. They receive 100% of
the proceeds from sales of the horse show program and the Friday night
dinner dance and auction, which this year featured a luxury suite for an
Oakland Raiders game, a canal cruise through France, and a horseback tour
of Ireland's Connemara trail. Two pre-show events -- an evening at Ralph
Lauren at Stanford Shopping Center and Breakfast at Tiffany's, a
delightful morning of croissants and jewelry shopping -- benefit the
Center, as well.
Chief among Glikbarg's secrets of success are her horse show managers,
Walter and Debbie Haub, and the five other founding members of the show,
who continue to serve on the committee -- Jane Yates, Nancy Robinson, Nan
Chapman, Phyllis Fletcher and Nancy Parker. To a woman, though, they
describe Betsey Glikbarg herself as the real secret to the stellar success
of this event.
But all six of them contribute mightily to its seamless production,
sharing an attitude that assures its continued success -- they're not
afraid to spend money to make money and they never forget who their
"customers" are: the exhibitors, the sponsors and the Peninsula Center for
the Blind and Visually Impaired.
Each morning and evening, a golf cart visits the long line of stalls,
carrying coffee, juice, donuts and cookies for the grooms, as well as any
nearby children. Exhibitors receive goody bags from San Jose British
Motors filled with Mother's Cookies, horse shampoo, a commemorative mug,
mints, Jaguar hats, and notepads. Trainers are honored with a
commemorative gift -- a silver box adorned with a Menlo Charity Show
medallion. And in Saturday's lead line competition for the youngest
riders, every child who shows up receives a blue ribbon and a teddy bear.
Sponsors like Deutsche Bank, Ann Fay Barry, BFI, Maple Leaf Farm, Pat
Hitchcock O'Connell, San Jose British Motors and Wild Turkey Farm are
feted at two pre-show receptions. The event holds such cachet that both
the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers are sponsors. And every
morning, at 5 a.m., you'll find founding committee member Jane Yates at
the VIP tent, making sure the donated prizes are displayed to their best
advantage -- piles of Tiffany & Co.'s signature boxes, Baccarat crystal,
framed Hermes scarves, silver picture frames from Ralph Lauren, luxe
surprises from Wilkes-Bashford and big boxes from Bloomingdale's. Each
award is beautifully gift-wrapped and when the winners open them, they
find a card inside with the name and address of the donor, who, a week
later, should receive a thank you note.
The Peninsula Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired receives a check
-- this year for more than $280,000, with a personal note from Glikbarg,
as does every participant in the show. That personal touch is integral to
the event and belies another aspect to Betsey Glikbarg, which is harder to
glimpse behind all the effort and success -- her warmth. It's explains her
knack for getting people involved and keeping them on the team and it's
the reason that everyone involved with the show acknowledges her as a
leader and prizes her as a friend. At 5 a.m. on an August morning, she's
the lady driving the golf cart, making sure everything is on course.
For more information about the Menlo Charity Horse Show, contact Nan
Chapman at 650-701-0543 or go to www.menlohorseshow.com. For more
information about the Peninsula Center for the Blind and Visually
Impaired, call 650-858-0202 or visit www.pcbvi.org. |
