Ashlee Bond’s wild-card bid to the Nations Cup in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last fall was an “incredible, amazing, totally surreal” experience for the young Californian. Capturing the gold on her first U.S. team was thrilling, but Bond said the educational experience was the most memorable part of her trip.
   
“[Chef d’Equipe George Morris] told me, ‘I like your program and don’t want to change it, but there’s little things that I have to have, so we just want to fuse it all together,’ ” Bond said. “I wasn’t sure I’d really like the fact that he’s so meticulous, because I’m so not that type of person. I’m really laidback.”
   
But Bond did acknowledge that she needed to polish up her raw talent, and she said thinking about herself as a representative of her country instead of just an individual rider made her surprisingly sentimental.
   
“It opened my eyes to that whole other side of the sport, which I loved,” she said. “Everyone needed to be all dressed for the walk with our gloves on and our boots all shiny and clean, and George would be there in his suit.
   
“It’s very intimidating when you see that confidence the USA exudes,” she explained. “We’ve won the gold in the last two Olympics, and we’re representing such an amazing country. It’s a lot on your shoulders, but it’s also such an honor. You really just want to live up to that name. It was so great.”