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C H R O N O F H O R S E . C O M FA L L 2 014 55 A Perfect Stunt, A Public Stage Halpern had plenty of ingenious ideas to promote the National, but her Central Park Mini-Show was prob- ably the most ambitious. Just 23 at the time, she was undaunted when tasked with reversing a trend of declin- ing ticket sales. e job was a natural fit for Halpern, a lifelong horse lover who as a teenager often took three buses from her home in Providence, R.I., to get to a lesson barn. roughout her childhood she obsessively entered the annual Kentucky Club Pipe Tobacco Derby Day Contest to name a race horse, convinced her submission would be picked and that she'd win the grand prize: her own horse. "I always made my pediatrician buy this Kentucky Club tobacco so I could send in my entry blanks, and every year, I wouldn't win," recalled Halpern, who's now 65 and an avid competitor in the adult amateur hunters. "And I'd curse the man who ran the contest, thinking he must be terrible." Just a few years later, as she entered a PR office On Sept. 18, horses and riders from around the world will converge on the Trump Rink in New York City's Central Park for the first annual Central Park Horse Show, presented by Rolex. is four-day festival, the first of its kind held in Manhattan, will include exhibitions of various horse sports, matinee performances with ticket giveaways to local children's groups, Sunday Polo in the Park, a live televised $200,000 grand prix show jumping feature and a "USA vs. e World" freestyle dressage competition showcas- ing some of the top combinations in the world, all set against the beautiful backdrop that is autumn in New York. For more information or to purchase tickets to the event, brought to you by e Chronicle of the Horse, visit CentralParkHorseShow.com. Left and center: The Central Park Mini-Shows, designed to pro- mote the 1973 and '74 National Horse Shows at Madison Square Garden, brought equestrian sport to the masses. Right: Legendary horsemen Victor Hugo-Vidal (left) and William D. Steinkraus donned their dapper street wear to emcee the Central Park Mini- Show on a crisp autumn day in 1974.