Home Care In Devon, PA

Devon, Pa.—Oct. 1

Serenade MF may only be in her first year of Grand Prix CDIs, but she’s continued to step up and show off each time Alice Tarjan canters down centerline.

After winning Friday night’s CDI-W Grand Prix at Dressage At Devon, Tarjan and “Shrimp” took home the CDI-W Grand Prix freestyle win under the lights in front of hundreds of spectators, scoring a 76.51%.

While the crowd may not have noticed, Tarjan was a little disappointed in her ride as she made a few errors, but she was able to smooth things over and show off Shrimp’s impressive collected work.

“It’s not something I ever thought was going to happen,” she said of her win. “I’m thrilled. I think the balance was more uphill [compared to the Grand Prix test]. I rode a terrible test. I was lost the whole time, poor horse. I have to be able to ride a bit better in my head, I think. It’s a freestyle, so it’s not so obvious! I think I got a bit flustered. Once I got into the rhythm of it, it was better. She did her job as usual.”

Her trainer, Marcus Orlob, put together the challenging freestyle for the 9-year-old Hanoverian mare (Sir Donnerhall—Duet MF, Don Principe).

“She’s a really cool horse and tries her heart out for you and is really on the aids so you can ride that freestyle, especially on such a young and inexperienced horse,” said Tarjan.

The mare is rarely fazed by the environment and stayed focused on her work.

“I’m still not able to get in the test what I get in the warm-up, and I think the idea is of course that you want to ride the test at the same quality,” said Tarjan. “That’s a continuing struggle, and I think that’s probably true with any kind of horse. The horse is young, so just holding a consistent balance in the test.”

Tarjan follows a “go wherever the horse leads you” philosophy, so while she’s gained some points towards the FEI World Cup Final, which will be held in Omaha, Nebraska, next year, she knows it’s a long road ahead with several top horses vying for points on the Florida circuit this winter.

“I’m not one to set goals like that,” she said. “I think that has too much to do with the outside influences, and you have nothing to do with that. All I can do is train my horses as best as I can and try to present them well in the ring.”

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Although she serves on the board of directors for Dressage At Devon, the magic of the show hasn’t been lost on Christina Morin-Graham.

With her own Mondlicht, she won the CDIAm Intermediaire I test with a 67.94%.

“It is such a gift and privilege to compete at Dressage At Devon. It’s just so special, and something even as a kid I dreamed to be able to do,” she said.

The 12-year-old Oldenburg mare (Sarkozy—Moonlight, Ravallo) was “totally nonplussed and down to business,” said Morin-Graham. “I’m working on just having a better connection and harmony with her and just riding better because she’s a little sensitive if you override her, but she can be a little bossy too. So you have to be the boss, but not too much or she gets a little feisty!”

The pair, who usually work with Silva Martin, got some help from Jim Koford in the warm-up this morning. “We worked on that a lot in the warm-up, just getting her really soft and over her back and topline, then I tried to ride a little softer in the ring, but still assertive,” she said. “Yesterday we had some bloopers because she was definitely letting me know she was not appreciating my overriding her. Today I think we hit the right note.”

Lisa Valone and Iggi Pop finished second in the CDIAm Intermediaire I.

Morin-Graham got into dressage about five years after a long break for her career and starting a family with her husband, Steve Graham. The couple work for Graham Partners, Inc., a private investment firm.

They have a farm in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and two sons, Grey, 16, and Gunnar, 14.

She’s had Mondlicht for about 1 ½ years after buying her from an amateur rider in Germany. “She is the most adorable curmudgeon of a horse,” she said. “She gets pretty attached to her people but also has very strong views about things.”

Balancing a job, riding and a family is a lot, but Morin-Graham “burns the midnight oil.” To fit it all in, she relies on her groom, Laura Murphy, to help at home. “She deserves so much credit. I’m just so grateful for everyone who makes it possible,” she said.

Kathryn Mills and Fabiano were third in the CDIAm Intermediaire I.

When Esperanto came to Silva Martin’s barn three years ago, he was a bit much for his owner, Christine Capano, but in Martin’s program, he’s settled into himself as a competitive small tour horse.

“He was a little bit of a wild child at first, and he wasn’t quite sure about being a dressage horse, but he’s really solid now,” said Martin of “Peanut.”

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The 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood (Jazz—Zamora B, Negro) gelding came to Devon off three wins at the Lexington CDI* (Virginia) this summer, and he and Martin took home the CDI3* Intermediaire I win today with a 67.52%.

Silva Martin and Esperanto won the CDI3* Intermediaire I.

Although he’s a relatively solid citizen now, today’s breezy, cold and damp weather had many horses on edge. “He was so awesome in the warm-up, and unfortunately I couldn’t quite keep that quality in the ring. He was a little bit nervous going in there, so there were a few mistakes. I can’t say this was my best ride, but it was good enough today.

“I love Devon,” Martin added. “It’s our home event, so it’s an honor to be here, and for me I was lucky there weren’t huge scores today. It’s always fun to win.”

At home in Cochranville, Pennsylvania, Martin rides her dressage horses on her husband Boyd Martin’s cross-country course, as well as on the gallop track and in their conditioning pond. Peanut gets to go in the conditioning pond once a week for 30 minutes in walk to build strength and muscle.

Christian Garweg and Excalibur RS finished second in the CDI3* Intermediaire I.

“I believe in all that stuff. I ride them on the track and go out in the cross-country field,” she said. “I think it’s important for dressage horses to do something other than dressage.”

Peanut will be ready for Grand Prix next season, and Silva hopes he’ll go back to Capano in the future.

“He’s had a big year, so he deserves a vacation,” she said. “Doing all this stuff with him is good because he’s finally taken a breath, and he’s pretty solid. I’m pretty confident that he won’t make a ton of mistakes. It’s fun to have a little guy like that where you can trust him and know he’s not going to let you down.”

Megan Lane and Zodiac MW finished second in the CDI-W Grand Prix freestyle.

Michael Bragdell and Qredit Hilltop had the crowd on their feet for their lively freestyle. They finished in third in the CDI-W Grand Prix freestyle.

Marley McCourt and Curious Christopher Robin took home the win in the CDIP Pony Individual test.

After winning yesterday’s CDI1* Prix St. Georges test, Shannon Dueck and Angelika MW won today’s CDI1* Intermediaire I test.

Abbey Simbrow and Estor finished second in the CDI1* Intermediaire I.

Results I Website I Live Stream I COTH’s Coverage I Schedule

We’re headed to Dressage At Devon this weekend to bring you news and photos from the historic and beloved competition. Check back at coth.com all weekend for coverage, and be sure to pick up the Oct. 24 issue of The Chronicle of the Horse for more from Devon.

Are you competing at Devon on a horse with a cool story? Email Lindsay at [email protected] for a chance to be featured.

Where's the best place to live anywhere in the United States? You can most likely drive there from wherever you're reading this within the Philadelphia region.

For the fourth-straight year, the suburb of Chesterbrook has been ranked as the top place to live in the U.S. by data company Niche.

The Philly suburbs pretty much own this year's ranking.

Montgomery County's Ardmore and Penn Wynne rank No. 3 and No. 5, respectively, on Niche's 2023 Best Places to Live in America list. Chester County's Devon also jumped from outside of the Top 100 last year to No. 9 this year.

The list was released Monday by Pittsburgh-based Niche, the website that claims to connect "people to their future schools, neighborhoods, and workplaces." Niche based the rankings on data from the U.S. Census, the FBI, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the CDC and millions of resident reviews. They account for school quality, crime rates, job opportunities, housing trends and local amenities in towns, cities and neighborhoods across the country.

Chesterbrook, located in Chester County, has a population of about 5,500, with a median home value of $350,200. It received an A+ designation for its public schools, health and fitness and suitability for families. Niche touted Chesterbrook's abundance of restaurants, coffee shops and parks, saying the area has "a dense suburban feel."

Ardmore and Penn Wynne neighbor each other on the Main Line just outside of Philadelphia's western city limits. The median home value in both towns exceed Chesterbrook, at $353,900 in Ardmore and $395,300 in Penn Wynne.

Devon was ranked the No. 1 place to raise a family in America, with Chesterbrook right behind it at No. 2. The median home value in Devon is much higher than the other local suburbs at $663,300.

Swarthmore (No. 30), Exton (No. 70), Berwyn (No. 72), Narberth (No. 73), Rose Valley (No. 92) also secured spots in the Top 100 and received an overall grade of A+.

The highest-ranked neighborhood within the Philadelphia limits is Fitler Square, according to newsgathering partner Philadelphia Business Journal. The community located along the eastern bank of the Schuylkill River across from University City ranked No. 47 among all Philadelphia-area neighborhoods.

In New Jersey, Princeton Junction ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 14 in the country. The top-ranked town in Delaware is Forty Acres, a neighborhood in Wilmington, which landed the No. 217 spot nationwide.

A woman who started filming OnlyFans content with a man she met on Tinder says they’re now married – and he’s now her personal assistant. Carmen Divine, 33, and her husband initially starred in content together.

But he took a backseat and supports her as her househusband and admin assistant while she earns up to £10,000 a month, she says. She said she and her husband - known as Mr T - are known to their neighbours "as the ones that do porn".

They were engaged just six months after meeting and are now married - despite her partner initially thinking her online job was a "red flag" she claims. Carmen, from Exeter, said: “The first time he came round I rang my friend and said ‘I'm going to marry this guy’, I just had a feeling.

“I needed a man to shoot boy-girl content with – I needed someone close by and he was a bit of a stallion and fit the bill. We ended up spending more and more time together and came to agreement he would be my ‘stuntman’ so to speak.

“We met in February 2022, and he proposed to me six months later in August – we got married in July this year. He works for me now just as my PA and doing admin stuff. He’s a househusband with the kids and he maintains both our bikes also as he used to be a bike tech.

“I've never been happier, I feel amazing, but I’m still hungry for more and am very driven – we both stick out like sore thumb, we’re both covered in tattoos so everyone knows us as the ones that do porn.”

Carmen says she first started creating adult content in December 2020 when she found herself relying on food banks to feed herself and her three children, now aged 4, 13 and 15. She took the leap and started an OnlyFans account in January 2021 saying she wanted to be her genuine self.

And within six months, Carmen, says she was making five figures every month. She splashes out on top-of-the-range mountain bikes for herself and her partner, treats for her kids, as well as a Mercedes campervan. And while using Tinder to advertise her account, she swiped right on her now husband.

After a tentative start, the pair began filming adult content together – and within 18 months they were happily married. Now, Carmen’s husband takes care of admin and looks after her house and kids – although she says they still film content together.

“I was on benefits and really struggling – it was awful, I was having to go to food banks, and I was on my own with three kids,” said Carmen. I had always been intrigued by OnlyFans but never knew what to do so I started off by camming in December 2020.

“I started my OnlyFans in January 2021 and I’m just myself on there – I'm very genuine, I check on my subscribers daily and will message them to see if they’re OK. Now I spend my money on whatever I want – I ride mountain bikes, I don’t wear makeup and I’m always away in my camper whenever I can be.”

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Devon, Pa.—May 24

The Ferris wheel is up, and the 122nd running of the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair is underway. Juniors take the center stage this weekend in Pennsylvania, and competition kicked off today with equitation and junior jumper classes.

Alexandra Worthington and her Outshine did just that in the equitation ring, taking the top call in the Dover Saddlery/USEF Hunter Seat Medal Section B and the WIHS Equitation Classic – Jumper Phase Section B. Watch below to see her seamless Medal round courtesy of USEF Network.

Daisy Farish also had a day to smile about as she and Great White bested a field of 24 to take the top spot in the $3,750 junior jumper speed class.

Watch her untouchable trip, courtesy of USEF Network.

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Make sure you scroll through for behind-the-scenes-photos of the day including more from the top-placing juniors.

McKayla Langmeier took second place in the $3,750 Junior Jumper class with Durosa W. Photo by Mollie Bailey.

California-based Brookway Stables decked the halls for Devon. Photo by Mollie Bailey.

Isabella Bleu Baxter and Jahil took third in the $3,750 junior jumper speed class. Photo by Mollie Bailey.

Coco Fath and Class Action earned the blue in the WIHS Equitation Classic – Jumper Phase. Photo by Laura Lemon.

Touch The Sun and Sophia Fox enjoying their first trip to Devon in front of the flower wall. Photo by Mollie Bailey.

Elli Yeager and Copperfield 39 won section B of the Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Medal and third in section C of the Dover Saddlery/USEF Hunter Seat Medal. Photo by Laura Lemon.

You have to love the vendors and the style at Devon. Photo by Mollie Bailey.

From jumpers to equitation, Madison Goetzmann held her own. She first took the blue with San Remo VDL in Section A of the Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Medal and then earned fifth in the $3,750 junior jumper speed class with Prestigious (pictured). Photo by Laura Lemon.

Looking for information on where you can watch and when your favorite riders or classes go? We’ve got it all in one place for you.

Find all our coverage from the show here, and check here for full results.

Make sure you’re following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well.

On a perfect autumn day, students from University of Pennsylvania’s Introduction to Digital Archaeology class honed their digital field mapping skills at Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, Devon, PA under the guidance of their instructor, Archaeologist, Dr. Jason Herrmann, Kowalski Family Teaching Specialist for Digital Archaeology of Penn Museum’s Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials (CAAM). Students had the opportunity to collect data using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), a non-invasive technique ideal for locating buried materials, including unmarked graves, without disturbing sensitive remains.

Mt. Zion AME in Devon, founded in 1849, is the first recorded African American congregation of any denomination on the Main Line (Overbrook to Paoli transit line), and the oldest continuously operating African Methodist Episcopal Church in the Philadelphia region. Despite its rich known history, the locations of some of the burials and other key elements of the cemetery’s landscape may have been lost to time.

With support from Penn’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships, CAAM’s course in digital archaeology is considered an ‘Academically Based Community Service’ course, enabling students learn skills in archaeological methods as they work with the cemetery communities. This format puts CAAM’s emphasis on applied learning toward community engagement, as students use digital recording and analysis tools common to archaeological research to document African American cemeteries in greater Philadelphia.

This work is done in collaboration with Pennsylvania Hallowed Grounds, an all-volunteer organization based in Steelton, PA, whose mission is to preserve and raise awareness of Pennsylvania’s African American cemeteries, and to honor the burial sites of Pennsylvania’s United States Colored Troops (USCT), veterans of the African American regiments who fought in the American Civil War. The group supports the conservation and maintenance of cemetery properties, assists in building capacity of cemetery caretakers, offers training and youth education, and interprets and honors the story of the USCT through commemorative events.

As part of this partnership, the class received background information on Pennsylvania’s historic African American cemeteries from three members of PAHG; Bertha Jackmon, Mt. Zion’s Church Historian, Sheila Jones of Eden Cemetery in Collingdale, and Barbara Barksdale who is Chair of PAHG.

When Jackmon asked two students “How are you all feeling about doing this (GPR) survey so far?” Chris Lamack said “Well, I have personally learned a lot even just in the short amount of time we’ve been out here… A cemetery is sort of the perfect place to deploy this method just because it already has a sort of order, it’s also very flat, it’s very open-end. You know there is something meaningful about the data that we’re collecting because you’re finding evidence that potentially is invisible from the surface, but in a respectful way without having to do coring or dig or anything like that without having to be disruptive or disturbing to anything. Cemetery’s really an interesting place to do this, I think…It’s exciting.” Chris’ survey partner, Miranda Souza responded “This is my first time doing any of the surveying and I think it is really the perfect place, it’s a perfect day to do it and we’re learning a lot.”

Students participated in working with the ground penetrating radar (GPR) equipment and reading measurements on its computer. Upon their departure, Dr. Herrmann continued the survey with assistance by Jackmon. Visitors from the neighborhood and local historical commission stopped by to watch and learn about GPR and why it was being done.

The GPR survey at Mt Zion AME Cemetery follows documentation at the same cemetery with three other subsurface survey techniques carried out in January of this year by Dr. Herrmann, beginning with an aerial photography survey with a drone map the surface conditions, trees, headstones, and other structures. The maps created with the aerial images guided a magnetic gradiometry survey that measures the strength of the Earth’s magnetic field as it is impacted by things around it, and an electrical resistance survey which shows how easily an electrical current travels in the soil below.

As the GPR was in use, some interesting readings appeared in several unmarked areas of the cemetery. The church will receive a report written by Herrmann and his students at the end of the term. This would mean processing and interpreting the data and situating those interpretations into their historical and archaeological context. Early results will be presented at PAHG’s Annual Virtual Meeting will be on Saturday, October 23, 2021.