Movers and shakers in the hunter/jumper community are excited about the Trainers Symposium coming to San Juan Capistrano Sept. 10-11. Sponsored by the United States Hunter Jumper Association, the sessions offer a rare opportunity to participate in practical training sessions and round table discussions with top professionals in the industry. USHJA stresses that these sessions are open to everybody, not just trainers.
Melanie Smith, Geoff Teall and Louise Serio are the featured trainers, and the host is the Oaks Blenheim Exhibitions venue.
Melanie was a top USET show jumper in her day. In 1978, she retired the American Grand Prix Assn.’s Lady Rider award because the association concluded that a separate award for women was no longer relevant as Melanie and her sisters in the sport were increasingly holding their own, if not beating, the guys. She won the World Cup Finals in 1982 and capped her career by earning team gold in the 1984 Olympics. Geoff Teall and Louise Serio are Melanie’s equivalents in the world of hunter and equitation riding, training and coaching. If there were Olympics for that, they’d have gold medals, too.
The USHJA first held these educational symposiums last fall in Florida. The schedule offers two days of hunters, equitation and jumpers. Each of the disciplines is broken into sections: i.e. Junior Hunters, Intermediate Equitation and Junior/Amateur Owner Jumpers. The sections will have three to four demonstration riders for the clinician to work with and explain different techniques, exercises and tips for various levels of riders and horses.
This is a great opportunity for professionals and members to exchange thoughts and ideas on training exercises, training aids and business practices.
Instructor Shelby French, of Virginia, had this to say about her participation at last fall’s Florida symposium. “Two of my fellow instructors at Sweet Briar and I made the 20 hour drive to Palm Beach and to say that it was worth the time is truly an understatement.
“While we certainly brought away new exercises and insights from the experience, we all agreed that the most important benefit was the reaffirmation that what we believe and are teaching is in harmony with the teaching and training philosophy of some of the top professionals in our sport. The chance to ask questions of the clinicians and to network with professionals from across the country was an amazing bonus.”
For more information and to register for the Symposium, visit www.ushja.org

Malibu Win Could Impact Many
Shouts of joy may not have been audible throughout the state on July 9, when Malibu Valley Farms won a long-sought development permit from the California Coastal Commission, but this good news stands to have a strong ripple effect.
As was detailed in last month’s column, the private Thoroughbred breeding and training facility has been seeking approval from the CCC for almost 10 years. The Farms’ problems began when the fires of 1996 destroyed their barn buildings, and efforts to rebuild ran afoul of CCC regulations at various points.
“This was not just a victory for our farm,” says owner Brian Boudreau. “It was a victory for California’s equestrian and agricultural community over a Commission staff that has a history of hostility toward horses and farming and has openly sought to shut down facilities up and down our state.”
Supporters traveled by bus from Malibu Valley Farms to San Louis Obispo, where the latest CCC hearing was held. Theirs were among 40 “speaker slips” filed in support of MVF’s application. Among the most persuasive speakers was Mayisha Akbar, executive director of the Compton Jr. Posse. The non-profit program uses horses to help under-privileged kids lead better lives. MVF has regularly hosted the Posse, giving its riders access to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. This is just one example of many ways MVF has opened its doors to the community.
In its approval, CCC vice chair Bonnie Neely reminded fellow commissioners that its 100-foot setback (between stabling areas and streams or creeks) was a recommendation not a set-in-stone rule. Set at the corner of Stokes Canyon Road and Mulholland Highway, the 31-acre property’s hilly topography made a 100-foot setback impossible. A 50-foot setback is feasible and, combined with an extensive water run-off mitigation system, MVF has been acknowledged by many local government agencies as a model of environmentally sound horsekeeping practices. In recent years, MVF presented studies demonstrating that its activities were not polluting the water supply, yet, until now, the reports were not given due consideration.
“The applicant is a victim of his own good deeds,” stated CCC Commissioner Dave Potter. “I don’t want to set the precedent of punishing someone for improving his property.”

Pebble Beach Stays Put
In other Coastal Commission-related news, the CCC’s June 14 vote against Monterey County’s Measure A made statewide headlines because its biggest impact involved projects backed by Clint Eastwood and Tiger Woods. However, there was an equestrian angle that didn’t get much mention: the future location of the much-loved Pebble Beach Equestrian Center.
San Francisco-based staff reporter Kathleen Burke provides this report:
On June 14, the California Coastal Commission voted 8-4 against Measure A, a voter-approved coastal program that would have included a new Pebble Beach Equestrian Center (PBEC). Measure A was approved by 62.5 percent of Monterey County voters in 2000 and was designed to reduce single-family housing development in Pebble Beach in favor of a new golf course, a relocated equestrian center and other improvements
One bone of contention during testimony was the proposal that 42-acre Sawmill Gulch, set aside in 1984 as a conservation easement as part of the coastal permit for developing Spanish Bay, be the site of the relocated equestrian center.
The good news is that the folks at PBEC are happy to stay put in their established, comfortable surroundings. Their barn is one of the original buildings in Pebble Beach and the facility is surrounded by the beautiful Del Monte Forest with 27 miles of marked equestrian trails. It was unclear what sort of trail access the new location would have provided and the proposed redevelopment plan would have affected nearly 600 acres of the forest.

HITS Judging Committee
Horse Shows In The Sun, the New York-based show management company that runs the big hunter/jumper circuit in Thermal, has created a Hunter Judges Advisory Committee to give exhibitors’ representatives input on who officiates in this division during the winter circuit that starts in January. The West Coast committee is comprised of these top trainers: John Bragg, Shelley Campf, Archie Cox, Erin Duffy, Lori DeRosa, Christa Endicott, John French, Karen Healey, Mary Manfredi, Peter Pletcher, Susie Schroer and Joe Thorpe.

The Gallop welcomes news, tips and photos. Please contact Kim F. Miller at 949-644-2165 or via e-mail at kimfmiller@msn.com.