Q & A with Joe Fargis

Cynthia Hampton: We are here with Joe Fargis to talk about this Coronavirus pandemic and his impressions of it, what he's doing about it and how he thinks it will affect the sport in the future. 

Joe Fargis: Although our business, our commerce, and all the things we do is interrupted, I think this is wonderful break for the horses. I'm in Florida right now. I live in Virginia and I can't wait to get home and deal with the horses in a very steady, normal way as opposed to going to horse shows, getting ready to go here and getting ready to go there. I think it's time for all of us to go back to basics and treat our horses as they should be. Now, I'm not saying we don't treat them as they shouldn't be, but it'll be a nice downtime for them.

Hampton: Do you see this changing our sport in the future? 

Fargis: Yes, we have a big check here and I think we're going to slow up, slow down and rethink things. As far as changing our sport, it will probably ramp up again, but it will have a nice slow start. Again, I'm going to, stress is going to be nice for the horses. Who knows what the future will bring. If I had to give any advice to all horsemen, it wouldn't be to work on their flat work. Improve their flatwork, improve the condition of the horses. Do what we do, try to do it even better. And that's my advice. It's a funny thing. Life has changed. When I first started show jumping maybe 40 or 50 years ago, the horses naturally had a break. There were no Florida circuits. There were indoor shows and then the spring shows, and the horses seem to last a lot longer.

Hampton: How should somebody approach this break? 

Fargis: All horses need to stay in work. They need flatwork. Because I know as an older person, if I take a break, it's not easy getting back to what I was doing. But younger horses, there's no reason why they can’t have a break because it's quite easy for them to become physically fit very quickly. So it depends on the age of the horse. That's what I would say. If people had to make a dietary change that could make it simple. When we're on the road, we do a lot of supplements, a lot of additives, and maybe it'd be a good time for the horses to just clear their systems out. Who knows? I'm not a vet, but I don't see why we couldn't have just the plainest diet possible. 

Hampton: Well, thank you very much, Joe. Thank you for being with us today.

Fargis: You're welcome. I’m glad to be here. I'm glad to talk.