Mentor, Ohio—Nov. 12  

“We’re all talking that today might be our best second day of all the clinics that we’ve done,” said lead clinician Peter Wylde after the last of the four teams rolled up their stirrups. “Of all eight years, this might have been the best second day where the horses and the riders were really awesome. They did great exercises. Great work. Good riding. The horses went well. We had very few problems. It was impressive so I was excited about that.”

Mentor, Ohio—Nov. 11  

So often, connection is drilled and drilled into many young riders’ heads as they practice their equitation on the flat and their handiness over fences. But what does connection really mean and how is it done properly?

Peter Wylde sought to answer this question—a question perhaps many of the participants at the USHJA Emerging Athletes Program National Training Session didn’t know they had.

The U.S. Hunter Jumper Association has announced the 16 riders and five stable managers selected to participate in the 2016 USHJA Emerging Athletes Program National Training Session. Lake Erie College (Ohio) will host the National Training Session, as well as the Horsemanship Quiz Challenge Nationals, which runs concurrently, Nov. 10-13.

Last year, Carly Williams won the Emerging Athletes Program Training Session, held at the University of Findlay (Ohio), on a difficult horse. This year, she was back again, but in a different role: this year, she acted as the assistant to lead clinician Peter Wylde during his training sessions with the young riders selected to participate in this year’s program.