The UGA Dawgs made quite the splash at the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships at the end of May. They were easily recognizable thanks to their spiked football pads, bulldog onesies, and overall amazing display of team spirit. Well before the Intercollegiate Championships, I caught up with the University of Georgia Eventing Team to see how a clinic with five-star eventer Matt Brown of East West Training helped them prepare for their biggest event of the year.
Julia Baumohl and Playground at the Matt Brown clinic at Stable View. Photo credit to Alaina Carroll
I spoke with Julia Baumohl, Charlotte Merrill, and Anna Stooksbury. Julia rode Playground, a 6-year-old off-the-track thoroughbred that she’s had the ride on for the last two and a half years. Together, Julia and Playground came in second place in their Novice division at the Intercollegiate Eventing Championships. According to Julia, Playground is “just a really fantastic athlete and loves to work and loves his job.”
Charlotte manages to juggle life as a working student at Full Circle Farm, being social media manager for the eventing team, and being a full-time student. She’s currently leasing a mare named Zara, who is adjusting to life with just one eye after she had an enucleation last September. Despite the challenges of losing an eye, Charlotte and Zara still competed at the Intercollegiate Eventing Championships and came in 12th place in their Beginner Novice division.
Last but not least, Anna Stooksbury joined us for our conversation about the Matt Brown Clinic at Stable View. Anna rode Foxbury’s Finale, a very special Connemara pony that had never done a recognized event before she got the ride on him in 2023. Together, the pair came in fourth in the open Beginner Novice division at Championships, which is especially impressive when you learn that Anna’s previous ride was 17.1 hands– a whole three hands higher than her current one. But that’s not the only award Foxbury’s Finale is competing for. “He’s actually sitting in first for USEA Pony of the Year right now. So hopefully he keeps that because he’s really really cute. He deserves it.”
As the clinic chair, Julia was in charge of organizing the clinic. She and the team chose Matt Brown as their clinician. Having competed up to the CCI5* level, Matt has studied under well-respected trainers including Derek DiGrazia, Volker Brommann, and horseman and rancher George Kahrl. In 2017, Matt finished sixth at the Rolex Kentucky CCI5* with Super Socks BCF and was the USEA Gold Cup Advanced Champion at the American Eventing Championships with BCF Belicoso.
Charlotte Merrill and Zara at the Matt Brown clinic at Stable View. Photo credit to Alaina Carroll
Matt pulled from his extensive career and training experience to discuss everything from practical exercises to horse and rider confidence to mental resilience with the UGA Eventing Team. Each rider came away with different takeaways from their group lessons.
Matt developed unique exercises for each group of two or three riders, based on what the riders and horses were working on and where they were at in their preparation for championships. Julia’s favorite exercise involved placing both reins on the outside of the neck and then riding a 20 meter circle made of four poles at both the walk and the trot. “So that was a really cool exercise, especially for the young horses, to really understand without having any influence from that inside rein, what the outside rein was requesting them to do and then how that ties into jumping and/or flatwork,” said Julia.
Charlotte’s biggest takeaway was more metaphysical. Because of Zara’s recent loss of her eye, they’ve both struggled with confidence issues, particularly over fences. Matt was able to help Charlotte not only feel more confident, but better understand where her horse was coming from. “Personally, one of the things he helped me realize was how much my horse is looking for me to trust her and for her to be able to trust me. So I realized the more that I gave her confidence in me, the better she went,” Charlotte said.
Like so many equestrians, Anna struggles with being too much of a perfectionist when it comes to riding. Her lightbulb moment came after she missed a distance into a line of three fences, which caused her to overthink and “screw up” the entire line. According to Anna, “Matt said, ‘You need to get rid of that mentality. No, everything’s not going to be perfect because are horses perfect? No.’ I liked how he discussed it. Riding is mostly a mental game, even though it’s a physical sport. We need to think more about the mental side of things.”
Anna Stooksbury and Foxbury’s Finale at the Matt Brown Clinic at Stable View. Photo credit to Alaina Carroll
Matt’s instruction wasn’t the only beneficial part of the clinic. Julia had strategically chosen Stable View to host the clinic to help the team prepare for the Intercollegiate Championships, as the atmospheric arena and venue offers a competition environment. “I think it was really great that we had the opportunity to go to such a large venue like Stable View for our clinic. It helped all of our horses get more experience with those larger atmospheres as we got closer to champs,” Julia said.
But it wasn’t easy getting the clinic hosted at their dream venue. The entire team had to work together to make the clinic a reality. “We’ve done a ton of fundraising all year long, our fundraising chair has worked really hard,” said Julia. “That’s how we were able to make a clinic happen at Stable View with such a big clinician. What we put in for dues and what we get from the school is not enough to make any of that happen. So the fundraising and the sponsorships and how everybody does their part– that’s what makes it all happen.”
The team’s hard work paid off. Stable View got rave reviews from the team members I spoke to. From the footing to the stabling, Stable View was an essential part of their preparation for Championships. Thanks to the venue’s stellar footing, the riders were still able to participate in the clinic despite the pouring rain. “It poured for two hours before my ride and we were worried about what the footing would look like, but it was just absolutely perfect,” said Anna.
The fact that they could all board their horses together at Stable View was also a big benefit. Like most collegiate eventing teams, the Dawgs board their horses at several different barns in the area. Most teams won’t have the opportunity to have all their horses and riders in one place, including overnight, until the championship event. The Matt Brown clinic at Stable View gathered most of the riders and horses together for some peak team spirit building. As Julia puts it, “The ability for us to have all of our horses at the place where we were riding over the weekend was great. It allowed us to spend more time together as a team. Stable View had it all for us.”
The UGA Eventing Team at the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships.
Matt Brown and Stable View gave the UGA Eventing Team the confidence they needed to get the results they were hoping for at the Intercollegiate Eventing Championships. The top-placed UGA team, “UGA Top Dawgs,” was made up of Julia Baumohl, Lauren Meyers, Anna Stooksbury, and Ansley Carroll. The Top Dawgs came in fourth place out of 23 teams.
According to Charlotte, the team walked away from their clinic at Stable View with a renewed sense of confidence and positivity. “Matt was just really good at inspiring the team to be successful at champs. The clinic gave us more technical exercises to work on at home and just overall positivity that benefitted the whole team.”
This article was sponsored by Stable View, the Aiken gathering place for all things eventing. Check out their upcoming events here.
