Pictured: Gail Hulick with Becker College beginner walk-trot-canter rider Jayme Hibbard at the October 23rd Williams Show. Hulick and husband Ed Paro have coached Becker since Fall of 2002.

REMEMBERING GAIL HULICK

The IHSA lost a Coach who had done a very good job of improving a small program at a New England college when Gail Hulick passed away suddenly on February 8th. To most observers, Hulick and Husband Ed Paro were simply a husband-and-wife Coaching Duo who stressed the fundamentals and doubled the Becker College point total from 75 points in 2002-03 to 156 last season.

However it turns out that Hulick had an extensive riding background that stretched four decades. Involved in the horse world literally from the cradle, Hulick was both a gifted rider and instructor who had overcome adversity and health issues at almost every turn.

Raised in Sterling, Massachusetts on her parents’ Saddle River Farm, Hulick competed in shows along the east coast as early as age five. At first, Hulick received instruction from her Father and as a junior was fortunate enough to learn under Victor Hugo-Vidal and George Morris. Gordon Wright hosted clinics at Saddle River Farm around this time, which were also influential.

Initially achieving success on a pony named Driftwood, Hulick became an A Circuit rider and won trophies and medals at Devon, Ox Ridge, Piping Rock, Fairfield, Old Newbury, Harrisburg, Lake Placid and Washington International. In the 1970's, Hulick was twice a champion at Madison Square Garden. Many of these championships were won aboard Good Boy Dee, a horse Hulick said won at least one blue ribbon at every show in which he partipated.

Hulick in her youth, showing at Farmington (Photo courtesy Ed Paro).

However Hulicks' competitive career was cut short when she discovered she had diabetes. Later she experienced a hemorrhage in her eyes while at a horse show in Florida. The prognosis was loss of 80% of her vision, leaving her legally blind. After attending the Perkins School for the Blind to learn how to live with near blindness, Hulick's fortunes turned for the better, as a friend sponsored eye surgery that returned nearly 70% vision to one eye. Hulick later received a scholarship and financial aid from the institute for the blind and worked part time making crafts under a magnifier to fund her college education. She struggled with her vision and with managing her diabetes but was able to obtain a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and a master’s degree in education from Framingham State College.

And during all this time, Hulick continued to ride. Health problems related to her diabetes eventually limited her riding, and in the early 1990's proved life-threatening. In the final stages of beneficial dialysis, a 1992 kidney transplant gave Hulick a new lease on life.

Gail earned her license as a riding instructor, equestrian judge and NARHA certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor. She wanted to give back to struggling equestrians and, along with Paro, focused her time and energy to provide equestrian experiences to emotionally disabled and needy children. Paro and Hulick also offered competitive instruction from their farm in Winchendon during this time.

A year after Hulick and Paro began coaching at Becker College, the school hired Kenneth Zirkle to be President. Zirkle had championed Equestrian while serving in the same position at the University of Findlay. Following fall 2004 negotiations involving Zirkle, Hulick and Paro, the plan was (and still is) to take the Becker Equestrian Program to the next level.

The Becker Team posed for this photo during the March 5th Mount Holyoke Show. Hulick's husband Ed Paro (far left) will handle all Becker coaching duties for the near future. IHSA Founder and Executive Director Bob Cacchione (far right) will sponsor a memorial page for Hulick in the 2005 IHSA Nationals Show Program.

"Gail was a very accomplished Equestrian and I personally always admired her super strength to overcome all the issues in her life's path," says Paro. "She was and inspiration."

When asked to comment about Hulick, Becker intermediate flat/novice fences rider Diane Ashton was at first taken aback. "She made very good Nacho Dip." was Ashton's intitial remark, which brought a laugh from much of the team and even Paro prior to the start of the March 5th Mount Holyoke Show. Then Ashton got serious. "No matter how bad you think you did she would try to explain what you did wrong or right. She was very positive."

What surprised this writer most is the way Hulick was able to hide her vision difficulties. Paro explained that the two of them would often work out a system involving either strides or sounds when Hulick was in the ring. "She could see everything up here, but not below here or to the left or right," says Paro, gesturing that Hulick had what amounts to straight-ahead vision in one eye. Hulick remarkably was able to jump fences with her limited vision.

The February 26th University of Massachusetts at Amherst show was dedicated to Hulick, and Becker responded by scoring a season-high 28 points. "I told (the team) that Gail was riding the back of the saddle with them," said Paro of his team's UMass show performance.

Along with Paro, Hulick is survived by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hulick of Sterling, MA and Wellington, Fl; her aunts and uncles Mr. and Mrs. Andre Pugliese of Scarsdale, NY and Mr. and Mrs. John H. Palmer of New Milford, CT and many cousins. Her brother James H. Hulick passed away in 1999.

A trophy class in her name will be provided by Zone 1, Region 3 and a memorial page in the 2005 IHSA National Program will be sponsored by Robert Cacchione, Executive Director and founder of the organization. In addition, a memorial fund, which will hopefully grow into an endowment, is being started to benefit future equestrian students with the same inspiration and fortitude instilled in Gail. For more information, write Gail Hulick Fund, 298 Hale Street, Winchendon, MA 01475

--Steve Maxwell, with help from Ed Paro