GSCA Board of Directors 2021
President: Jean Harvey
Vice President: Cindy Schlener
Secretary: Avis Rosenfield
Treasurer: Neil Harvey
Director: Eric Wilking
Director: Connie Moses
Director: Terry Penny
Meet Former Officers and Hosts
GSCA Bylaws [.pdf]
Jean Harvey, President
Jean Harvey currently lives and operates a horse farm in Enfield, NH. Horses have been a large part of her life since her early teens. Now as a young senior, carriage driving is her passion both for pleasure and competing.
Presently Jean is an active member of GMHA, CAA, ADS, GSCA, and PATH Intl. As an instructor, she enjoys teaching and promoting the sport of carriage driving. Most recently she has become involved in harness racing!
Jean Harvey and her driving pony Pixie
Jean Harvey
Cindy Schlener, Vice President, Website Admin, Facebook Admin
Glider and Cindy
I grew up on a 60' by 100' plot of land on Long Island, NY and have loved horses all my life. I started riding as a teenager when I was given a lesson as a birthday present and then bought my first horse when I moved up to Massachusetts in my early 20s.
I was out of horse back riding for a while in my late 20s/early 30s but then got back into it in my mid 30s by buying a horse whom I named Kubla Khan. He was a big Thoroughbred/Hanovarian and loved going fast and jumping anything. Through a lot of hard work, I learned to ride Kubla safely and enjoyed lots of trail rides and hunter paces.
Even though I took hunt seat and dressage lessons, my real love is trail riding. Exploring new areas, long distance riding and horse camping are the things I look forward to. Thank goodness I discovered GSCA a few years ago which introduced me to horse camping.
Now you'll see me riding Apollo, a cremello Appendix QH and Glider, a bay OTTB.
Avis Rosenfield, Secretary
I have owned, raised, trained, shown & evented horses for over 50 yrs. My involvement with & passion for horses has been since childhood & I expect, like Queen Elizabeth, to be riding when I am 90.
I am currently a member of the Rockingham Riding Club, Essex County Trail Association, Southeast land Trust, Bear-Paw Regional Greenways and of course Granite State Carriage Association, where I assisted Cindy Schlener with marking trails for GSCA events.
My leadership experience includes serving as: Past President of the NH Horse Council, Secretary of the Derry Trail Riders for the past five years, Co-Chairperson of the Bear Brook State Park Planning Committee, member of the New Hampshire Horse Council trail committee, and Advisory Board Member for the NH Rail Trails.
I have continued to support the equine community to ensure as lands are transferred into conservation, the Land Trusts consider horses. Assisting the equine community with appropriate landowners to ensure trails remain open & accessible and/or new trails are created. Advising the NH Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) as well as NH Division of Parks & Recreation to consider the needs of the equine community, and I am currently working to have horse camping at Bear Brook State Park, and have better access for carriages with trail loops within the park.
I have traveled throughout the state to attend meetings to enlighten communities of the recreational value of horse owners to the GDP, and will continue to advocate for the horse throughout NH and as I travel to other states with my horses to camp. I will continue to learn their Best Practices for trail development and building relationships with other user groups.
I look forward to serving Granite State Carriage Association as Secretary and look forward to working with the membership.
Neil Harvey, Treasurer
As a new member of the Granite State Carriage Association, I wanted to share a little bit about my equine journey. Deb had a horse as a child. She always wanted to, again, own horses. When our last child went off to college, we bought an old farm in Deerfield. Our idea was that Deb would ride horses and I would restore the old barns. I knew nothing about horses, but gradually got interested. At the age of sixty, I brought home my first horse, a 2 year old quarter horse. We have been training and riding our horses for the last seven years, though Deb has always had an interest in driving.
We rode on our own, and with local friends and riding clubs. Then, a couple of years ago, we went on a couple of GSCA trips. We liked the people and destinations, so we joined GSCA as riders. Then, this past spring, a good friend lent us an older 36” mini that drove. He came with a couple of carts and two bags of harnesses. With help, I sorted through the driving gear and got him back into driving. Last summer, with help from the GSCA, we went out as drivers, and had a blast!
This past fall our little mini went back to his previous owner. So, I brought home a Newfoundland pony, which I am training to drive and skijor. Deb continues to drive her Morgan, and is also skijoring. We plan to continue our journey with horses as long as possible. We enjoy the GSCA tremendously, and hope that our participation (if, even in a small way) helps the group stay strong and grow into the future.
Connie Moses, Director, Website Admin
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Connie |
The Moses' Perch-Arab driving |
Connie has been a Granite State Carriage Association member since 1998 and a trail rider since 1992. Connie went from being horse show mom and trail rider to carriage driver. Having bred and trained two carriage horses, she and her hubby Rick drove their pair, sometimes in a tandem hitch, at many GSCA outings. Their favorite place for driving is Acadia National Park.
Connie served as GSCA President 2010-2014, helping since then with the club's printed communications, the GSCA Facebook group, and this website. Her background is in graphic arts and she enjoys photography and playing pickleball. Her other furry friends include a cat and a wonderful English Setter named Peaches.
Eric Wilking, Director
Eric the Navigator, also
GSCA Auctioneer
My wife, Linda, has always been a horse lover. As a kid she was the typical barn rat doing anything to be able to ride. It was not until Linda was 42 years old that we were able to buy our first horse. Nashin was a 15 yr old Arab gelding that took our son Christopher to 4-H highest award, best in the state, and to the BIG E three times. We bought Clydascope "Clyde" for Linda, a Clyde/TB that rode and drove all over the place. Clyde was a wonderful horse that will never be replaced-- he passed away suddenly at the young age of 13 from colic, every horse person's worst fear.
We have since moved on with many other horses that we drive and ride but driving is our true passion. Spinnaker is our current driving mare, she is a Russian Warmblood/Appendix quarter horse. Spinny is a big-boned girl that gives her all, whether we compete at CDEs or pleasure shows or just hack on the trails. We have a standardbred that we are fostering for the NHSPCA, she is a great addition to the barn. The poor thing came to us so thin and afraid of her own shadow! Amazing what a little bit of love and food does for her-- now she loves her retired life.
Terry Penny, Director
My husband, Stanley, and I located to Kingston NH, after he left the Navy. Stanley kept bringing home all types of animals, geese, ducks, chickens, pigs and one day, A HORSE She was a beautiful golden palomino Quarter Horse from the west. He then found a 2 year old Quarter Horse/Morgan gelding, which we trained to ride (and without getting killed or maimed).
We out grew our home there and moved to Deerfield, NH; we were like grandy youkan's as we moved all the animals in trailers, on top of trucks, etc. We raised our two children on a homestead there, with the two horses and a Shetland named Black Beauty. She taught our son everything about STAYING on a horse. Stanley had a collar for her and rigged up a sled out of old skis and panels and she hauled logs and firewood out of the woods for him. She also hauled all the water to the barn for the rest of the animals (We had a small piggery and I won't mention how many other varieties of animals we had).
As our children's lives changed, unfortunately, we had to sell the homestead. We became volunteers at Live and Let Live Farm for many years. Stanley adopted our Morab Mare, Liver Chestnut with a white Blaze (when I was gone of course), named Aurora. We were too old, and still are, but she is our love. We have a foster, Seal Bay Quarter Horse that we have spent time, talent and treasure on for coming up for three years and have watched him get well, get healthy, and Stanley rides. him.
We live in Thornton, NH and are blessed with a wonderful neighbor who grew up here on a farm, and has loaned us the use of her field. Stanley always wanted to train Aurora to drive (he used that to beg me for her) and he has done that. She comes on the Morgan side, from generations of Park Driving Horses, and took to the harness readily. We drive her in the field. And, we hope to move her out of the field and out and about this year, 2021. Our Goal is to get her out and about this year and for future years.
Appointed Positions
Ginger Laplante, GSCA Newsletter Editor, Senior Advisor, Historian, founding and Lifetime member
Ginger's antique buggy and her Canadian driving horse, Punk
I sold my war bonds in 1953 to buy my first horse, a lovely six year old sorrel quarter horse/Saddlebred mare, for $150 when I was seventeen. I also bought my first antique vehicle that year, a lovely cutter for $15. Both were the first of many. I continued to collect antique vehicles and taught myself to drive a few years later using antique books on the subject and ever since have driven over country roads, at GSCA events and at a variety of interesting places such as Acadia National Park.
In 1978 my husband and I became two of the founders of the Granite State Carriage Association and their first event was held at our farm, Canterbrook, in Canterbury, New Hampshire that year. A few years later I began the newsletter and have been its editor ever since as well as serving in various office positions in earlier years.
I presently have two older mares a Canadian and a Standardbred but find that I am doing less driving as I get older. However, there is usually at least one GSCA event at Canterbrook each year to carry on the tradition.
Joanna Bligh, Publicity Coordinator
Joanna has been a GSCA member since 2017. In her career, she worked in pharmaceutical advertising as an editor and currently works at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth as a classroom scribe during the school year. Additionally, Joanna does freelance medical editing from her Piermont, NH, home.Regarding her background with horses, Joanna participated during her college years in the equestrian programs at the University of New Hampshire. Afterwards, she spent 40 years riding Thoroughbreds, mainly as trail horses and in competitive riding events. In 2007, she bought a young Morgan mare and started her in carriage driving. Since then, with her mare, Joanna has attended competitive driving events (25 miles in 4.25 hours) and carriage combined test events (dressage tests and cones courses). Joanna noted about her Morgan, “I have to say, I have never had such a wonderful horse as my Morgan mare. She’s easy to train, easy to care for, and always ready to do anything I ask of her. A perfect pairing for my retirement years!”
(the late) Sonja Cahill, Senior Advisor, Lifetime member (past President & has served in every other office)
Sonja and Bob driving Miss Breezy I have been a Granite State Carriage Association member for nearly 30 years. When I joined, I was a competitive long-distance trail rider and driver looking for some ‘pleasure’ events when taking a break from competition. GSCA was introduced to me as a recreational driving and riding club whose motto is to “Drive and Ride Just for the Fun of it.” And fun it has been ever since.
My husband Bob and I now drive and ride leisurely at the many wonderful outings offered throughout the year by GSCA. Since retiring from competition, we have been very involved with the organization which includes hosting many events ourselves especially the Chocorua, NH and Greenfield, NH drives and rides. From 1996 to 2002, I was president of the club and now serve on the Board. We truly enjoy and are committed to this wonderful organization and have met many like-minded enthusiasts who take pleasure in the well organized GSCA outings in some of the most beautiful New England locations one might not have experienced otherwise.
