U.F. equine vets honored with Spirit of the Horse BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer Two icons of the state's horse industry were honored on Jan. 28 at the 50th annual New Jersey Bred Equine Breeder Awards dinner in Freehold. The lives of Dr. David Meirs II and Dr. S. Perrine Dey II have mirrored each other in many ways. Both equine veterinarians live in Upper Freehold Township, both are active in the standardbred breeding industry, both have large farms in the Farmland Preservation Program, and both have sons who are following their career choice as equine vets. The two men also received the second annual Spirit of the Horse Award from the Rutgers Equine Science Center (ESC) in New Brunswick. ESC director Dr. Karyn Malinowski said the award is given to those whose lives have been dramatically impacted by horses. Last year's Spirit of the Horse honoree, Sandy Denarski, of Crosswicks, presented Dey and Meirs with their awards. When photos taken of both men throughout their lives were shown to the audience at the dinner, Denarski noted that the young Dr. Dey resembled movie star James Dean. Denarski said that both Dey and Meirs are emblematic of Winston Churchill's famous quote "There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man." Meirs started his career in a mixed veterinary practice, until he "inherited a dysfunctional dairy farm," which is now known as Walnridge Farm. Along his career path, the famous Dancer family became his clients and the mixed practice faded as he began to concentrate solely on horses. Meirs, who has long served on the Board of Trustees for the New Jersey Sire Stakes, recalled that a horse driven by Ron Dancer was the Sire Stakes' first winner. Dancer now represents Meirs' district as an assemblyman. Of all the horses that have stood at stud at Walnridge Farm, Meirs said Direct Scooter was his all-time favorite. "He was a great sire with a tremendous personality, and absolutely gentle and easy to manage as a stallion," Meirs said. "More important, he was highly profitable. "Horses have been good to us," he added. "We try to be good to them." Meirs said he and his family have placed 550 acres into the Farmland Preservation Program. Meirs' son, Dr. Richard Meirs, now runs the Walnridge Equine Clinic his father established in 1965. Meirs' other son, David Meirs III, owns the Concorde Stud Farm in Upper Freehold. Dey, who has put about 500 acres into farmland preservation, observed how much his and Meirs' lives have mimicked each other. However, he pointed out that he has two sons, Stephen and Gregory, who are following in his footsteps as equine vets. Both Dey and Meirs serve their community in various ways. Dey has long been the chairman of the Upper Freehold Board of Health and also serves on the township's Economic Development Committee, as well as on the Board of Trustees of the Horse Park of New Jersey in Upper Freehold. Meirs serves as chairman of the township's Vision/Scenic Byways Committee. While both men were aware that they would be receiving an award at the dinner, another local honoree was not. Rick Wills, the founder and owner of Rick's Saddle Shop, with stores in Upper Freehold, Englishtown and West Chester, Pa., became very choked up at the announcement that he received the Governor's Award for Horseperson of the Year. "Somebody could have told me what was going on, but nobody did," Wills said. "Nobody gave it away." Assemblyman Dancer, who presented the award to Wills, said it has been a very busy time in Trenton lately, but all 120 members of the joint Legislature paused in their deliberations to pass a legislative resolution acknowledging Wills' achievements in the equine industry. A modest Wills said the award could have gone to anyone in the room. "If you're involved with horses, you're pretty good people," he said. Wills said he has no intention of retiring and hopes that someday his grandchildren will have a good time with the business. Other local winners recognized at the dinner were 2-year-old pacer filly of the year Artcotic, bred and foaled by Perretti Farms in Cream Ridge; 3-year-old trotter colt of the year Enough Talk, also bred and foaled at Perretti Farms; and 3-year-old colt pacer of the year Artistic Fella, owned by Joseph Alborano, of the New Egypt section of Plumsted. Jacques Roszel, also of New Egypt, and chairman of the applied arts department at Allentown High School, received a Superior Achievement Award for his 9-year-old half-Arabian gelding Foolish Premise. Roszel said that this past show season the horse was the unanimous champion under all three judges at the Region 15 championship show in the Half Arabian Adult Amateur, Western Pleasure 40-plus division. He won both Half Arabian Western Pleasure classes at the New Jersey Bred Horse Show in September and was also awarded the 2006 United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Region 15 Half Arabian Western Pleasure Open Championship, Region 15 Half Arabian Adult Amateur to Ride (AATR) Western Pleasure Reserve Champion, and Region 16 Half Arabian AATR Western Pleasure Reserve Championship. Roszel said that Foolish Premise is the son of USEF National Champion Half Arabian Western Pleasure mare Foolish Fan Jetta by Premise EF, and that he was foaled at Walnridge Farm. "We plan on showing him again this coming show season in both Region 15 and 16," Roszel said. "That will be from New York to Virginia and everything in between." He continued, "We will also be showing at Halter and breaking to ride his 3-year-old full sister (JCF Leap of Faith) this year. "We hope that she will be as good of a Western horse in the future as he has been," he added. Denise Williams, of Birch Creek Farm in Upper Freehold, is the breeder and owner of Tarantella, a 2-year-old filly who won a Superior Achievement Award as a New Jersey Hunterbred. Among the Oldenburg filly's accomplishments was the USEF Zone 2 Champion 2-year-old, and USEF fifth national 2-year-old. She was the New Jersey Bred Hunters Association champion 2-year-old filly, as well as the Pennsylvania Hunter Breeding Association champion nonthoroughbred filly.