10/30-31/2010 Melanie Smith Taylor Clinic in Plantation, Fl (spots going fast)

Auditors welcome!!!

Melanie will be back this year for her second clinic held in conjunction with Heritage Horse Shows. October 30-31, 2010. Call Butch at 954-347-1799 as he will arrange your spot. Price is $260.00 each session but this does include your stall, food, beverages, and you can ship in on Friday. (We are tentatively setting a session for Friday afternoon (Oct 29) but it is limited to 5 riders and only those that jump 1.40m and above. Ideally it is an opportunity for the higher level jumper riders to have some special time with her. If you are interested, please advise Butch)

Why should you clinic with Melanie?
Just one week after our clinic Melanie will be judging the Maclay Finals in New York. She is one of the founders and majority participant/clinician of the Emerging Athletes Program sponsored by the USHJA which is a program designed to help young up and coming jumper riders hone their skills. It is by application and invitation only. This gives you an ability to see what type of clinician she is before entering that program should you wish.

Last year, participants of our Clinic were accepted to EAP and moved forward to EAP Level II. It was a wonderful opportunity to get a head start.

And of course, because she is amazing with horses and riders. See her Bio below.

Melanie Smith Taylor

Melanie Smith Taylor's show jumping achievements are well known. From an early childhood on a farm in her home state of Tennessee, she went on to gain international recognition as both a competitor and a trainer

While training with George Morris in the early 1970s, Melanie was successful in amateur/owner jumper classes before graduating to the Grand Prix level. In 1978, she earned the American Grandprix Association's Lady Rider of the Year title, and she was also named the AGA's overall Rider of the Year. Her wonderful record that year convinced the AGA that women could perform on completely even terms with men, leading to a decision to discontinue the separate Lady Rider award. To cap off her year, Melanie's mount Val de Loire was named AGA Horse of the Year.

Melanie became one of only two riders ever to win the "Triple Crown of Show Jumping" by winning the American Invitational, the International Jumping Derby and the American Gold Cup. Melanie was part of the USET's Gold Medal team at the 1979 Pan American Games in Puerto Rico.

At the "Alternate Olympics" in 1980, Melanie won the individual Bronze Medal aboard her beloved horse Calypso. She also placed second that same year in the World Cup Final. She was named the United States Olympic Committee Sportswoman of the Year after winning the World Cup Final in 1982. Riding Calypso, she capped her show jumping career with a team Gold Medal in the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984, a year in which she was a finalist for the Sullivan Award which is given to the nation's top amateur athlete.

Melanie retired from active competition in 1987 and continued to serve the horse world as a television broadcaster, course designer, judge and trainer of young riders. She was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1982.