Esther and Charlie ready for action in Florida
Esther Palmer got in touch with us to tell us about a trip she recently took to Ocala in Florida. Esther is in the process of launching a new business called Gees Louise in the American market (including some fabulous equestrian wellies we’ll be giving away soon to our 4* members) and she decided to combine business with pleasure. Here she tells us a little about eventing life in the USA
“I met Clayton Fredericks at a clinic here in Melbourne last November where I heard about his property in Ocala, Florida. Ocala is one of the horse capitals of the world and, as I was heading there on business, I thought I would have some horsey fun too.
There are a few very ambitious riders from all over the world that reside at Clayton’s property, including 2* eventer Sable Giesler from Canada and Zunee Van Der Linde from South Africa. Both girls have left their homes to train here with Clayton in an attempt to be shortlisted for the Olympics sometime in the future for their countries.
The property in Ocala has an amazing cross country course facility and I took daily private lessons from Clayton on his super horses while I was there. I was privileged to ride some remarkable horses that were imported to the USA from Europe; Clayton’s business imports mainly German Sporthorses and continues their education, aiming to sell them to top pro-riders who are looking for their next 4* ride.
Kyle Carter training with Clayton
I also watched some training sessions at the property where the Canadian National Equestrian team came to get private lessons from Clayton in preparation for the coming Rolex Kentucky 3 Day Event. I was able to watch Kyle Carter riding Madison Park, the top ranked horse in the USA, and also watch the very talented Selena O'Hanlon and the charismatic Jessica Phoenix (below) in training.
During my stay I also managed to take part in the Southern Stars Jump X Extreme, a new concept created by Clayton who has trademarked the idea in America. The concept is basically all show jumps set out on an undulating cross country track complete with ditches and water! It creates quite a challenging course and was well attended by high level eventing riders. One of the reasons for that was the great prizes on offer; the Mini Grand Prix prize was a $5000 Southern Stars Saddlery package and the the lucky winner of the Grand Prix, Michael Pollard, won a Harley Davidson motor bike!
No, Clayton, you didn't win this one ........
The rules were that there were no penalties for knocking poles but there would be time penalties. At the end of the course was the joker fence which was an optional fence another six inches higher than the rest of the course. If you cleared the joker fence you would get 40 seconds deducted from your time but if you knocked a pole from the joker fence you would get 40 seconds added to your time. Each rider had two rounds on their horse and were ranked on the combined score of both rounds
As well as staying with Clayton I attended The Rocking Horse 3 Day Event in Florida – an event with a very picturesque backdrop and some interesting fences! Anyone in Australia interested in eventing would find it maybe not too dissimilar and really worth a visit to see what’s happening on the US eventing scene”
Esther Palmer
The cross country at Rocking Horse (above) and event stabling, Florida-style (below)
