| Anne Eriksson
came to the U.S. on a one-year college scholarship, having earned her Baccalaureate
degree in Gothenburg, Sweden. She intended to return to Sweden to pursue
a degree in journalism and a career as an author, but she met her husband,
David Gribbons. Anne's hobby became her career. The couple opened a facility
on Long Island and called it the Knoll Farm. Anne began to train and compete
a few horses - jumpers and Combined Training horses that were either grades
or Thoroughbreds.
Anne attended horse shows and watched the equitation classes "in total bewilderment." She explained, "I did not have a clue what they were trying to do. How can you judge the rider without judging the horse? That is not a concept we had in Europe and it has never really been taken on there. I didn't understand Hunter Under Saddle because the horses went nowhere and looked like they were in a coma. It was a whole new world." She did find that the Western riding style "made a lot more sense." Anne adapted, however, and not only began to teach equitation, but also to show in Open Working Hunter, jumper classes, and Combined Training. "My biggest claim to fame in Combined Training is that one year on Long Island we had a local championship and Tad Coffin, who was also riding on Long Island, competed in it. I was the Champion and he was the Reserve. Then he went right on to win the Gold Medal in the 1976 Olympics!" Combined Training was Anne's first love, but conditioning was difficult on Long Island because the land is predominately flat and she needed hills and natural obstacles to keep her horses fit. She trailered her horses to New Jersey and Pennsylvania to condition them and ride decent courses, which were also hard to find. After three years of hauling horses, Anne decided that she needed to change disciplines. "I couldn't deal with not having a place to practice every day," she said. "I still love Combined Training. It is the all-around best test of horse and rider together. There is nothing like a cross-country run on a good horse, and the satisfaction that you have afterwards. It doesn't have to do with winning; it has to do with companionship. And excitement. Dressage is never as exciting in that same way." Nevertheless, Anne decided her discipline would be dressage. Anne Gribbons Anne Focuses On Dressage Anne began to seek out dressage training and competitions, but it was a very limited scene in the early 1970s in the United States. Anne discovered a fellow Swede, Col. Bengt Ljungquist, had moved to Maryland and was working out of Potomac Horse Center. She calls him a fascinating man who not only became her trainer, but also her mentor. The colonel had competed in six Olympics - two in dressage and the rest in fencing "He had all kinds of Olympic experience in two different sports. He really took me under his wing." She lived in the dorms and trained with him in Maryland. Later on, when Col. Ljungquist moved to Linda Zang's Idlewilde Farm in Davidsonville, Maryland, Anne followed. She lived at the farm for weeks at a time and worked with the colonel. But she was not the only one; there was a whole group there who are now legendary names in American dressage - Kay Meredith, Sandy Howard, Hilda Gurney, Robert Dover, Linda Oliver, among others, and their hostess, Linda Zang. In 1974 Ljungquist became the coach of the USET Dressage squad. At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, which was held at Bromont in Canada, Anne was there to watch as Ljungquist coached the American team of Hilda Gurney, Dorothy Morkis, and Edith Master to a Bronze Medal. In 1974 Anne acquired her first 'real' dressage horse, an ex-racehorse Thoroughbred named Tappan Zee by Royal Charger. "He was gelded late, and he had two huge bowed tendons from the racetrack, but he was schooled to Prix St. Georges by Jordan Miller," said Anne. Lois Stevens owned Tappan Zee and had given him to Jordan to sell to pay for his college tuition when he was accepted at Princeton University. Anne was a friend of Jordan's and bought the horse from him. Jordan's father, Michael Miller, came to her farm to help train Anne. "Tappan Zee was my first leg up to an education. He was a wonderful horse - fabulous, forward, and honest; a horse that never said 'no' to anything, even when I fouled it up. He was such a patient teacher."
In the beginning, Grand Prix dressage was not one of Anne's aspirations, but she remembers distinctly when it was that she decided that she wanted her horse to be a Grand Prix competitor. A few days after she acquired Tappan Zee, a well-known professional dressage trainer called her to introduce himself and inquire about her purchase - in those days, FEI horses in America were few and far between, so 'everyone' knew who they were and where they were. The trainer told Anne that Tappan Zee would never make Grand Prix. "I said to myself, 'You just wait!'" recalls Anne. "That moment is when I decided, 'Tappan Zee is going to Grand Prix with or without me!' That really was a great inspiration - it was not intended to be, but that did it!" Anne trained Tappan Zee to Grand Prix and earned her USDF Gold Medal on him. He died at 19 years of age. Anne discovered him in his stall with a broken pelvis. "He fought like a tiger to get up but finally he put his head in my lap and died." She later schooled many more horses to that level, but Tappan Zee left an indelible impression on her. "I've been fond of Thoroughbreds ever since," she said. "Later on I schooled another Thoroughbred - his name was Adastra - to Grand Prix, but he wasn't nearly as generous." Mentors, Trainers, And Heroes Col. Ljungquist trained Anne for eight years, and then unexpectedly, in 1979, he passed away. "I was lost at sea for several years," said Anne. "I didn't know what to do because I thought for sure he was going to live forever and always be available." Anne continued to ride on her own and four years later in a clinic in Canada, she met two-time Olympic competitor, Harry Boldt of Germany, a man she calls one of her heroes. "He liked my horse, certainly better than he liked me," she said with amusement. She was riding a Swedish warmblood named Stockholm who had a lovely trot, piaffe and passage. Boldt agreed to take the horse and Anne in training, and she spent four months in Germany riding with him every day. "That was a great inspiration and excitement." Unlike today, when riders are continually seeking long-term training in Europe, in the 1980s it was not common practice for a rider to stay and train overseas. Instead, at Boldt's stable, riders came 'by invitation' and certainly not every day to ride their own horse. Anne, however, turned up at the barn every day to ride, which confused Boldt at first, but by the third day, he acknowledged her, "Oh, you're back again!" and she assured him that she would be there daily. "Then he really got with the program and lit into me, which was great. He did my riding a lot of good and my ego no good at all. There were many times when I thought I surely should take up another sport," said Anne wryly. "I didn't realize until I got back home how beneficial the training was and how much I had learned." Anne In The Limelight Of FEI Dressage Some of Anne's most notable accomplishments in the ring were as a member of the USET representing the United States in dressage at international competitions. The first time was in 1985, when she was part of the North American Championship Team in Prix St. Georges and Intermediaire I at the finals in North Salem, NY. She was riding a gray named Kristall, a horse she also rode on the team at that same level in 1986 at the World Championship in Canada, where the combination finished in a respectable 12th place. From 1992 through 1993, Anne spent a year-and-a-half training and showing in Europe. She trained with Dr. Volker Moritz of Germany and showed at Aachen, Schoten, Deek, Dusseldorf, and Falsterbo. Both her stallion Leonardo II and Metallic placed well in the large and small tour respectively. In 1994, Anne rode Leonardo in the World Championship Trials and placed seventh. The duo was invited to the World Cup League Finals that same year. "That was a great horse to ride. He was very expressive, elastic, but difficult in many ways. He was a breeding stallion, so he had all those features." In 1995, Anne and Metallic were on the Silver Medal Team at the Pan Am Games. Anne schooled Metallic to Grand Prix and had her eye on the 1996 Olympic Games, but because of a health issue, she could not try out for the team. Metallic, however, made the squad with Robert Dover as his rider, and they were part of the U.S. Bronze Medal winning team in Atlanta. Though being on a team was never her ultimate goal in riding, she admits that it was a 'carrot' and a motivation after 1986. "I loved it and was thrilled to compete for the U.S. and fulfill some of those goals, but it was not a driving force in my life. My overall goal was, and still is to make good horses and good riders. I'd rather know at the end of the road that I made a difference with horses and people, and not just that I earned a medal. I also know what you have to give up to get on a team and I have a great admiration for those who do it again and again."
Anne describes her 'specialty' in dressage as 'doing it the hard way' because she considers herself to not be a 'natural' rider. She points to one of her trainers, Herbert Rehbein, as an example of a natural rider. But because she knows the pitfalls of riders who are not 'instinctive', she considers herself a better teacher. In fact, she says that some very good teachers on the ground may not be great riders, and that there is no guarantee that a great rider will also be a good teacher. According to Anne, the key is being able to articulate and communicate. "If the rider isn't getting it, then saying the same thing over and over or louder is not going to help," Anne explained. "You must be able to communicate the message in many ways until the student understands. That is entirely another skill." With her background in journalism, public relations, languages and psychology, Anne is an educated communicator. In addition to her degree from Sweden, Anne also earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in English and Psychology in the U.S. Though she planned on attending journalism school twice, horses took priority both times. Although she didn't pursue journalism in academia, she has become a noted equestrian journalist. Anne has published articles in Dressage & CT, Dressage Today, and is in her seventh year as the dressage columnist for The Chronicle of the Horse. She is especially pleased that she received a Press Pass for the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain. "I love to write," says Anne. "It's tied in to teaching." Anne also has a career as a judge. She has been a National judge with USAE (formerly AHSA) for 25 years and an FEI judge since 1990. She says that while most riders don't like the judging box, she enjoys it because it is totally different from the other parts of her horsewoman's life. "I stop teaching. My job is to criticize and complain but in a positive way. Good judging is what keeps the sport going, when it is derived from honesty, thought and knowledge, you have to judge what you see." She adds that competitors are aware when the judging stems from another agenda, and cites the current judging practices in ice-skating as an example of where dressage should not go. American dressage judges are on the right track, according to Anne, who also pointed out that U.S. judges are the best educated in the world. "We have a designated path, clear steps to follow." That path includes an extensive program of seminars and tests that is now being emulated by the FEI. "I was privileged to run the National Judges Forum with Axel Steiner in 2002," said Anne. "We had 125 very motivated judges attend." I have been lucky to have had the opportunity to judge at top shows in Europe on many occasions, which keeps you sharp and aware of the current 'state of the art'." adds Gribbons. Everybody Has Disappointments Along with her success, Anne has known her share of disappointments, mainly the frustration when a talented horse with years of training develops a physical problem and his career is ended. Her own health has also been a glitch in the program at times. But Anne considers herself lucky. "I've had no absolute disasters." She points out that it takes so long to train a dressage horse, and just one split second for an injury to happen, so "you're always holding your breath." In Anne's opinion the relationship between the dressage horse and the rider is the closest of all the sports because it's so long term. "It's not like other riders don't love their horses as much, but theirs is a faster sport. The horse advances and learns quicker what he has to do and then retires sooner. But the dressage horse from four years old can be with you until he's 19 or 20. That's a lot of years!" Anne is philosophical about her life experiences that didn't work out. "All my colleagues, at some point or other, had a disappointment on the road if they have been following a parallel path, so it doesn't happen to just me. It happens to everyone who pursues this for a long time, sooner or later. I do believe that all of us in this are in it with a passion. Because of that, we always get up in the morning with a mission, unlike many people in this world. If we think we have a moment off, some horse will see to it that we don't. Life has gone by very, very fast!" And as counterpoint to the times when things didn't work out, Anne can point to a great deal more times that did. When she looks back at her collection of photos she is reminded of all the successful people and horses that she has touched. She has trained 12 horses to Grand Prix on her own and numerous other horses and people to FEI levels. She can also name a half dozen of her former students who are now professional riders and make a full time living in horses. "They are all my products," she said. "And I'm very proud of that. I can look back and say, I did make a difference in some people's lives." Anne Gribbons Anne's Special Horses Anne points out that she has a new special horse named Aureate. "He's totally different from the others, but it's the first time since Metallic and Leonardo that I have that special feeling when I ride him." "Every horse you train, you learn something from," states Anne, who is currently working on two new Grand Prix horses. Yes, she definitely has had favorites she says emphatically, and she names three who were special to her. Metallic she mentions first, noting that he did so much for her. "He was not an easy horse. He's the smartest horse I've ever been with and I've been with a lot of smart ones." Of Leonardo, her stallion, she said, "I just adored him. I rode many breeding stallions but he was the only one I really bonded with. He was the 'Cowardly Lion' - he was very much a stallion but he also liked to have me around to protect him." And she also looks back to Tappan Zee, her very first dressage horse. "I never really realized how wonderful he was because I was too ignorant. Those three are my favorites." But she concludes they are all special because when a trainer spends so much time with a horse, each one in turn becomes a favorite of that moment. She likens it to mothers who say the same thing about their children - they don't have a favorite but on one day they like a particular one the best, and another day it's a different child. "Horses become part of your life and you don't think of them like, 'Oh I like riding this one but I don't like riding that one' but rather you just like them all for different reasons and they each make your day in their own way." Anne has currently taken over the ride of Leoliet from Shannon Dueck. When Shannon decided that she needed to be in Europe this year to concentrate on Korona, her Grand Prix horse, she realized that Leoliet’s career might not fit into her plan, so she gave up her ride on him. Anne had ridden Leoliet, who is owned by Judy Bernier, when he was six years old and was offered the ride on him then, but did not accept. But as fate would have it, Leoliet (by Zeoliet) came back to Anne’s barn and while she was trying to figure out who should take over his competition career, she rode him. “Somehow we started to like each other. And so far, we really have a little romance going. You never know how long the honeymoon is going to be. But one thing that I know from riding stallions – you have to suck up to them,” said Anne, and added with a laugh, “So there’s plenty of sucking up going on!"
While many riders have lists of sponsors and actively pursue more to help finance their goals, Anne has never had a sponsor, though she's had several offers. She said that at times she considered finding a ready-made horse and enlisting a sponsor, but her husband always warned her to look around and see what happens to so many sponsorships - it's not always easy. He told her, "The only sponsor you'll ever need is me." "My husband is my greatest supporter. He has always encouraged me. He has never said, 'You can't go there to train' or 'What do you mean you're going off judging all over the world?' He has absolutely always said, 'Whatever you need to do, you do'. I took off for a year-and-a-half to Germany in 1992 to work with Dr. Volker Moritz. David never hiccupped." Financially, David and Anne made their own way, but she states that there have been many people who have helped, mainly her teachers. She points to Col. Ljungquist as not only a teacher but also a mentor who was totally supportive. Anne also calls Dr. Moritz a friend as well as a mentor. Anne described her experience with Dr. Moritz 10 years ago when she had three horses in Germany that he helped her train. Dr. Moritz, who is not only a world-renowned judge, but also at that time was a director at a huge company called Mannesmann, came every day after work to coach her. He also brought her to dozens of shows he judged. She was allowed to sit with him and listen to him judge while watching the best horses in the world perform. "That has done 'globs' for my judging and has been the most wonderful experience." Anne's Current Goals Anne continues to work with from four to eight horses every day and is still an active competitor. She has some very good horses that she is currently competing. She notes that although her days as a competitor are due to end at some point, she will remain active in the horse world as a judge and trainer. She continues to thoroughly enjoy teaching and laughingly says, "You can still do that sitting down in your old age!" Anne especially likes working with the Young Riders. Her student of six years, Leslie Eden, was the Individual Gold Medalist and a Team Gold Medalist in 2001 at the North American Young Riders Championships. "She was not a trained rider that I just dusted off a little bit," explained Anne. "She was mine from the beginning. The horse was five and she was 15 when I met her. We worked diligently together. At the Intermediaire I Championship against the Adults at Gladstone this year, she placed 10th. I'm very proud of that." Anne also plans to write a book, not necessarily about horses. "It would be fiction. I always wanted to be an author and I still want to do that. That is my hope and one of the things I haven't finished yet." Traveling is a big part of Anne's life. She was part of the FEI World Challenge in October 2002. She travels all over South America and South Africa to judge and teach.
An Active Leader Anne has been on, or is currently on, almost every dressage committee at USAE and USET, as well as serving for eight years as chairman of the USDF Competitors Council. She was co-chair of the USAE (formerly AHSA) Dressage Committee with George Williams for several years. She presently chairs several committees in the USAE; one of them is the Athletes Advisory Committee, which is for all disciplines. She also chairs the USAE Junior Sub Committee and was instrumental in developing the National Championship for Juniors. "That was actually my brainchild!" she says with pride. "And it has really taken off. That's where we will get our next generation of dressage riders." As Chef d'Equipe for the Juniors at the Paxton Farm show in Ohio in 2001, Anne recalls how remarkable it was to work with young, talented riders. "Two weeks before, we were at Gladstone and the riders were pretty weak, but somehow they got it together at Paxton, and those same 12 kids were brilliant and won with flair." Gribbons is also the Chef for the 2003 USET Representatives for the Dressage World Cup Finals. "They've kept me humble, without being a pushover," said Anne of her life with horses. "They really teach you good lessons every day and they keep you grounded because you realize that things can and will change." She added that she also enjoyed the excitement and even the risk that horses brought into her life, especially in Combined Training. Dressage is not entirely safe either, she points out, noting that she knows of riders who have been killed or maimed by dressage horses. But she also notes that riders as a group stay mentally and physically healthy longer. She knows of riding teachers she had in Sweden who continued to ride in their nineties - one who fell off his horse in the snow and died of a heart attack at age 95! Anne points out that one of the qualities that draws her to horses is that they are very good 'equalizers'. "They don't care where we are in life. They're not impressed with looks or brains or bravery or anything else. They just expect you to communicate with them in their way. That is one thing that makes people of all walks of life fascinated with them. A horse doesn't care how much he cost, he's not going to perform for you because you paid a lot for him or because you have great expectations." The Knoll Farm ... And the Next Farm Anne and David Gribbons operated the Knoll Farm together for 30 years. For the first six years, David was not at the farm full time because of his career as a hospital director, but he spent every off-work hour he could helping Anne build the facility. "We literally built most of the stalls in the main barn ourselves when he was home during the evenings and weekends." David rode Western as a child and still foxhunts. He is a member and has his colors at the Smithtown Hunt. "He's a good rider, especially over jumps, but not, thank God, a competitor! One competitor in the family is plenty," said Anne. Though David's family members (all lawyers) were "horrified" when the couple started a horse farm, Anne says that many of them are now "pretty surprised and pleased" at what the Knoll Farm became, that it was a successful business and that Anne and David had fun doing it. She describes the Knoll Farm as a 'Ma and Pa' operation that they ran 24 hours a day, non-stop. The only reason Anne was able to go away to judge and compete was because David stayed home to take care of the business. Without this kind of relationship and partnership, it never could have happened states Anne. "He was the ground force, and I was on the fly. He was always 100% supportive. Absolutely wonderful." Anne and David sold the Knoll Farm in May 2001, and are now building a new facility in Orlando, Florida. "We used to have as many as 85 horses on 17 acres and now we have 22 stalls on 50 acres. So that's an improvement in lifestyle," she laughs. The new farm will be for horses in training and sales horses. It will be quite different from the heyday of the Knoll Farm, which Anne describes as a bit of a four-ring circus with boarders, lesson horses, state programs, riding for the handicapped, and horse shows. The Knoll Farm was also very much involved with breeding at one time. They stood 15 stallions over the years and briefly had brood mares. Anne and David were the founding members of the Trahkener Association and also worked closely with the Swedish Warmblood Association to get them established in the United States. Anne was the Swedish Warmblood Association representative for eight years. The Knoll Farm can also lay claim to a few firsts in the industry. They had the first dressage ring on Long Island and were the first to import warmbloods. "We were laughed at plenty," Anne said, amused. "People would come over and point fingers at the letters in the dressage ring and those big, ugly horses! In many ways we were pioneers, in on the ground floor, not because we were so clever but because of timing." Anne had grown up with warmbloods, while David had no idea what they were when she first expressed her desire to purchase one. In the beginning, they bought Trahkener weanlings that were available in the U.S., and then eventually they imported Swedish horses and other breeds. "Whatever you could do on a horse farm, we did it. We've done it all," she reflects.
Saddles: County. "It fits most horses, doesn't hurt their backs, and doesn't take years to break in. And the people at County are pleasant to work with." Supplements: Max Flex by Farnam. She starts her horses on it when they're young and has found that it keeps them happy and their joints in good condition. She doesn't believe in feeding masses of supplements, so she uses easy ones such as corn oil and electrolytes. Clothing: Aristos, a line of Canadian breeches that she finds fits her figure very well. She likes an American line called Aanstadt Das made by Sonya Bergstrom, who is often available at horse shows. "She has made some wonderful lightweight breeches." Hobbies: "Reading, writing, dancing, and opera." Anne speaks four languages - Swedish, German, French, and English - and she studied Latin for six years. She is determined to speak some Spanish, and is preparing for her FEI World Challenge Tour of South America, by listening to Spanish tapes. Favorite Books: Anne has "masses" of favorites and said that every time she reads a good book it becomes her favorite. Some of her special authors are Isabell Allende from Chile; August Strindberg from Sweden; Alexander Solzhenitsyn from Russia; and Gore Vidal from America. Superstitions: Anne said she probably has some superstitions she doesn't even admit to herself. The fun ones she has are from Sweden such as spitting three times when she sees a black cat cross a road, and never passing salt from hand to hand at the dinner table. She says she's been in a few humorous scenes involving throwing saltshakers around the dinner table because of this superstition! Favorite Drink: Jack Daniels Presbyterian. "It's made with soda and ginger ale." Favorite Movie: Gone With The Wind ("I know it by heart.") Favorite Vacation: Lake Louise in Canada for Christmas. Favorite Possession: My horses. Favorite Expression: "There's no free lunch." Written by Mary Hilton for DressageDaily.com Related Links
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