We arrived in Ocala on February 1 and it has been full steam ahead. I have been lucky to take advantage of many forms of training since I’ve been down here. First and foremost, I have been receiving dressage training from Leslie Law, thanks to USEF and my position on the USEF Developing Rider List. I have also received XC lessons from Phillip Dutton when he’s in town. I have been show jumping with Karen O’Connor and also got a XC position tune up from her- as one of the most effective XC riders in history, I couldn’t pass that up! Lastly, USEF invited me to a lesson with Peter Wylde at the new World Eqestrian Center yesterday, which was very cool and fun. Talk about a dream team of trainers!!

We brought around 35 horses to Ocala for the month of February and part of March and it’s been busy but so successful thus far. Ocala is such a great way to get a jump on the season and we’ve taken full advantage. COVID has provided us one good thing- the ability to work from home and online school allowed more people to come to Ocala for the winter to train. We’ve had some riders complete their first Starter level horse trials and we’ve also had others do their first competitions on new horses. We also have a group of Young Riders gearing up for the new Youth Team Challenge series.

At Ocala HT, we took part in the new Interscholastic Eventing League. With the team of Kenna Jensen, Brooks Searcy, Camdyn Rahe, and Chloe Johnson, “Team Garth” won the first leg! Huge congrats to these ladies- Garth and I are proud of you!