Top U.S. Riders Come to Aiken for Winter Practice

Fourteen riders, including Olympic gold and silver medalists and young developing riders, came to Aiken to train with U.S. Equestrian Federation eventing coach Mark Phillips last week.

Phillips, who helped Great Britain win the gold medal in team eventing at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, offered pointers in dressage, cross country and show jumping.

Preparations are well under way for the World Equestrian Games in 2010 and the London Olympic Games in 2012. The U.S. team has chosen Aiken as the venue for winter high performance and developing rider training sessions for the U.S. three-day event equestrian team. This is its first year at Three Runs Plantation.

“The facilities here are world class,” said Ite O’Higgins, an international dressage coach based in Aiken who organized this year’s event. “The support we’ve had, we can’t thank everybody enough.”…

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Date: 2-12-2009
By: chronicle.augusta.com