Road Trip - Wellington

The Horseketeers traveled to the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center on January 7 to audit the final day of the George Morris Horsemastership Training Sessions, featuring rising stars in the hunter/jumper world.  We were sorry to hear that George Morris himself was under the weather and unable to be there, but it was a beautiful day and a fantastic learning experience.

The session was organized in a Nations Cup format, with four teams of three riders and a chef d'equipe.  Grand prix riders Kent Farrington, Christine McCrea, Beezie Madden and McLain Ward served as the chefs d'equipe, providing commentary and evaluation of the riders before, during and after the two jumping rounds.

The Horseketeers were treated to helpful insights about
- walking a stadium course
- developing a plan for your ride
- preparing your horse in the warm-up
- using your courtesy circle and "pre-buzzer" time to best advantage
- making adjustments during your ride
- proper body positioning 
- finishing your ride through and after the timers, and
- choosing and adjusting the best bit for your horse.

All those things will come in very handy for the stadium phase of Eventing Rally and of couse, at Show Jumping Rally! Plus, we got to see some very nice horses and very talented riders jumping 4' courses!

Before leaving the grounds there were some photo ops on the famous Equestian Bridge and in front of a life-size equestrian sculpture. Like all good Pony Club members, the Horseketeers were able to evaluate all the not-quite-correct elements of the sculpture: open-front boots on backwards, buckles on the wrong side, rider's leg not secure, just to name a few! 


Afterwards everyone browsed to their hearts' content at mega-store Tackeria and stopped at Applebee's for a yummy lunch.

If you want to see what you missed, the session is archived on the USEF Network.  Saturday was Day 5, and the other sessions are posted there, too. You can also see some photos online at The Chronicle of the Horse. 

Check out the Horseketeers photostream for some shots from the day, and keep an eye on the Horseketeers calendar for future road trip plans!

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