We were thrilled to have a visit from Courtney and her husband Jason last weekend at the Michigan farm. Courtney had spent the morning with the US Team as they made final preparations for WEG, and then flew into Grand Rapids on Friday evening. She had not been to the farm for a year, and more importantly she had not seen Grandioso since her riding accident in March. Her visit was intended to be low-key and more of a show-and-tell than a formal clinic, but Courtney asked for the microphone during the first ride of one of our young horses and began to teach just as she has done so many times before at HGF. Maria Lithander rode four horses for her on Saturday, and three rides on Sunday. Additionally we worked several of the colts and fillies whose progress Courtney has followed since they were weanlings.
Courtney's first priority was to see Grandioso and his work with Maria, who has been keeping him tuned since the horse came back to us from Courtney's barn in mid-March. She coached Maria through all of the Grand Prix work, and she was very happy to see that the horse had not lost anything in the time she has been off of him, and that he was relaxed and happy in all his work under the interim rider. Grandioso also appeared extremely pleased to see Courtney again--in a stallion kind of way--and we had to make sure that he didn't knock her off her feet with affection!
Courtney has informed us of her plans to go to Wellington this winter, to assist Jen Marchand with the training of all of the horses in Courtney's program and also with the hopes of starting to ride again at some point over the winter. She also will be overseeing the training of Grandioso until the point that she can take the reins again herself. But her main occupation will remain her road to recovery, and she is fortunate to have Jason to keep her on-track and focused with all the distraction of her enthusiasm for getting back around the horses!
On another note, it's WEG week and we are there! If you are unable to attend, find the Hampton Green Forum on Facebook and follow along with us as we post our experiences and impressions. And as much as we love and support our US Team, we are also fans of the wonderful Spanish horses who are coming--Fuego, Norte and Gnidium--and we'll be watching them and wishing them all good luck in the games!
[nbsp]
[nbsp]
[nbsp]
[nbsp]
[nbsp]
[nbsp]
Hampton Green farm - Sponsored Program
