Clinic with Olympic Eventer Boyd Martin!
Alix and her horse Avatar flying over a big ditch!
On Monday October 25, we joined a clinic with Olympic Eventer Boyd Martin! Thank you to our friends at Bayboro Equestrian for putting on a top notch event and inviting MRC to be part of what was a truly amazing day!
We invited MRC members to join us as either auditors or riders. Thank you to Ericka Rose for mounting 6 of our riders on her fantastic crew of hunt horses. We also had 3 of our horse owning members trailer in their own horses to join our MRC groups at the clinic.
The day started bright and early at 8am, thankfully there was coffee and bagels waiting for us! As we grabbed our refreshments and hiked up to the XC field we were in awe of the beautiful October morning and the great facility chosen for the event!
To start the day off with as much action as possible, the first group were training/ prelim level and jumped some pretty amazing obstacles! These exceptional riders and their horses were inspirational to watch and provided some good visuals for us to take away for our own rides. Seeing the boldness, techniques, riding positions and how these riders approached jumps was really helpful and inspirational for those of us riding later in the day.
Alana and Pepper taking a big leap!
Boyd shared so much wisdom from how to line up jumps, set speeds, deal with tricky horses and get things done. “Whatever it takes” “Make it happen” “Keep trying” “You’re nearly there” "Just pop over it" were common phrases for some of the more challenging jumps and horses! Although simple support phrases, coming from him, they really sent a zing of bravery and perseverance through riders.
With most of the other riders there on their own horses who they know well and ride often, it was a different experience for us. One of our riders was on a horse she had never ridden before and three others were on horses they had only ridden a couple times, cheers to them for their bravery! All of our riders and horses were truly amazing and had some great rides, congrats team!
At the end of the day we filled our horses' deserving bellies with treats and headed over for an MRC exclusive social with Bayboro and Boyd! Nestled in one of the beautiful barn isles with bales of hay, pumpkins, flowers and cute market lights, it was the perfect setting for us equestrians. We all enjoyed some delicious cheese from around the world, yum, and wonderfully paired wines to go with. Everyone got the chance to chat a bit with Boyd and the Bayboro team about what a fantastic day we had and everything else horses. When it was finally time to leave we had spent almost 12 amazing hours at the farm and enjoyed every second. We all left with bags of horse treats and boxes of goodies, thanks to Purina!
Can’t wait for the next one!
Huge Thank You to:
-Bayboro Equestrian
-Boyd Martin
-Ericka Rose
-Jen Kostiv (photography)
-Skylar & Kailie Nolan (photography)
-Purina
-InterSource, distributor of artisanal cheeses (Cypress Grove, Sartori, Cowgirl Creamery, Fratelli Pinna, Vermont Creamery)