Many thanks to Shannon Lilley for bringing all of us around Eventing Nation right into the California training sessions. Last month, Shannon brought us four days of coverage from David’s first High Performance Sessions. (Click here to read Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4.) Today, she brings us a brief report from Tuesday’s lessons on March 12th. Thanks again Shannon and thank you for reading.
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From Shannon:
I think I have to apologize about my last reporting of the training sessions. Apparently, some people took offense to my comments about the green knowledge of the Eventing 25 group. By no means was I trying to belittle anyone, but rather stating that we, as trainers, have failed in educating the future generations effectively. That being said, I cannot believe the improvement and overall talented riding demonstrated by our riders Tuesday at the training session in Gilroy, CA hosted by Flying Tail Farms.
David O’Connor had a very busy day lined up for him, predominantly dressage until 3:30 when he started the jumping lessons. Both were equally as educational for the students in the lessons and the spectators. If there is one thing David has mastered, from his time as the USEF President, it’s speaking!
I watched from 8 am to 5:45 pm and found each lesson to be unique to the individual horse and rider combination. Each horse and rider showed great talent but under the tutelage of DOC really mastered the craft of being excellent. Some of the rider who were at the previous training session were Teresa Harcourt and Zachary Brandt, who were elected to the Eventing 25 group. Their riding, both on the flat and jumping, has improved tremendously; showing that they have been hard at work. The attendees of the clinic were extremely flexible and accommodating while demonstrating amazing riding skills including Matt Brown, Kelly Pugh, Brynn Littlehale and others.
Everyone had a great day of lessons and the spectators learned in a day more than most do in a month. Thank you to all of you who came and keep up the good work! The attendees really showed the best of the community and hopefully the West Coast will start to dominate the leader boards!!
Thank you for listening!
Go Eventing!
