| Contact: Robby Johnson, Arkansas
(501) 416-2516, robbyjohnson@comcast.net; Erin Hofmann, North Carolina
(801) 597-4694, erin.hofmann@zimmer.com BLYTH TAIT SCHEDULED
FOR MARCH CLINIC JUNKET IN NORTH AMERICA Little Rock, Ark. and
Charlotte, N.C. – 1996 Atlanta Olympic eventing gold medalist and two-time
World Champion Blyth Tait will travel from New Zealand to North America to teach
two clinics March 9-13, 2005. The first clinic will be conducted at The Ark near
Charlotte, North Carolina, on March 9-10, 2005, and the second will be conducted
at Pinnacle Valley Farm in Little Rock, Arkansas, March 12-13, 2005.
(Blyth and Eze are pictured at the right below jumping the fence in the water
at the Lion Bridge, Burghley Horse Trials , 2003.) In 2003,
Tait, who retired from international eventing competition after the 2004 Athens
Olympics, returned to his native New Zealand from England, where his eventing
operation had been based for nearly twenty years, and established a successful
racehorse training barn. His veteran campaigner Ready Teddy, on whom Tait took
the gold in Atlanta and again at the World Equestrian Games in Rome in 1998, has
also returned to New Zealand and joins Tait in retirement there. Arkansas
clinic organizer Robby Johnson said, “I had the fortune of meeting Blyth
when I was covering The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event for the official event
website in 2000 [the year Tait won aboard Welton Envoy], and he agreed to teach
a clinic for me in Dallas in 2002. His ability to accurately assess a horse and
rider combination and develop an appropriate exercise program saw each of the
riders greatly improve by the end of their session.” Johnson
and Charlotte clinic organizer Erin Hofmann pursued Tait because his knowledge
and skills were developed over a lengthy tenure within the traditional, “with
steeplechase,” three-day event model. “For individuals
interested in preserving the heritage of the three-day event, it’s critical
we take every opportunity possible to learn from modern masters of the sport,”
Hofmann said. Hofmann can be reached at (801) 597-4694 or via email
at erin.hofmann@zimmer.com; Johnson can be reached at (501) 416-2516 or via email
at robbyjohnson@comcast.net. Space is limited and early entry is encouraged.
# # #
| 