Millenium Challenge 2000:
Team Building for the Horse and Rider

Livestock Update, January 2000

Larry Lawrence, Extension Animal Scientist, Horses, Virginia Tech

The 2000 Virginia Horse Industry Seminar will focus on the whole horse and rider and the importance of a modern professional support team. The seminar will be held at the Embassy Suites in Richmond, Virginia on February 4th and 5th, 2000.

Knowledgeable experts from diverse disciplines focusing on primary goals for the horse and rider will be keys to success in the next millenium. The 2000 seminar represents a redirection of one of the oldest continuous horse industry educational programs in the country.

A team of professional horse sport advisors has been assembled to look at all aspects of equine athletics. Ever changing challenges and fluid interactive problem solving will characterize the future.

Dramatic changes in business have translated into one of the strongest economies in history. The term CEO has infiltrated our daily life. Many of these developments can be directly related to an explosion of "How to Succeed" books. One by one successful CEO's have penned these "self-help" guides.

Emulating successful horse and rider teams can be just as valuable in the horse world. The 2000 seminar will feature two highly successful equestrians at very different places in their careers. Carol Lavell is a celebrated equestrian. Ms. Lavell and her outstanding horse, Gifted, led the U.S. equestrian team to a team bronze medal victory in dressage at the Barcelona games. Ms. Lavell also placed sixth in the individual dressage final and won the 1992 Miller's USET National Grand Prix championship as the highest placing American in the Olympic events. Ms. Lavell and Gifted also won the team Bronze at the 1994 World Championships. Ms. Lavell has also received the prestigious USET Whitney Stone Cup in 1999 and was named 1992 American Horse Shows Association/Hertz Equestrian of the Year.

These tremendous achievements are only the latest in Ms. Lavell's long and distinguished career as an equestrian. Over the years, she has won countless major dressage awards even when confronted with what many would consider overwhelming adversity. Several years ago, Ms. Lavell rode and placed in international competition with a broken back. In 1989, Ms. Lavell and Gifted were double gold medallists at the North American Dressage Championships. In 1990, the U.S. Olympic Committee selected Ms. Lavell as the Female Equestrian Athlete of the Year. Ms. Lavell and Gifted became the first Americans to win the Grand Prix at the prestigious international competition at Goodwood, England.

Kimberly Vinoski is a "20 something" rising star. She was recently chosen to represent the U.S. in the Pan American Games. Kimberly Vinoski is one of the leading three-day event riders in the country. In the past year she has enjoyed considerable success at events here and in England with her advanced horse, Over the Limit, owned by Linda Wachtmeister of Scottsville, Virginia. In addition to a win at the Rolex Kentucky CCI*** Three Day Event and a close second place showing at the Blenheim Horse Trials CCI*** in England, Ms. Vinoski also won the Radnor CCI** Three Day Event on her intermediate level mount, Silent Partner, also owned by Linda Wachtmeister. Kim is currently training at Plain Dealing Farm in Scottsville, Virginia.

Both of these outstanding equestrians have valuable insight into the competitive horse world to share with you.

One of the most important advances in the sports world in recent years has been the recognition of the competitive mind set and the impact of psychology on athletic performance. Understanding relaxation and visualization, how your own self-doubt and fear holds you back can have dramatic effects on you, which you transmit directly to your equine partner. We are fortunate to have Dr. Gayle Davis at the 2000 seminar.

Dr. Davis is an internationally known psychologist and author of High Performance Thinking for Business, Sports and Life. Dr. Davis has worked with all levels and ages of athletes and coaches in a number of sports including World Class and Olympian contenders. Dr. Davis has been a staff member of the U.S. Figure Skating Association's Elite and Team USA Training Camps and Dr. Davis is a member of the U.S. Figure Skating Sports Science Committee. Dr. Davis will also be addressing the USDF National meetings this year.

A complete seminar must include critical consideration of the management of the horse to help you learn to better care for your horses. We have Dr. Catherine Kohn and Dr. David Kronfeld for 2000. Dr. Kohn will be discussing breakthrough research on advances in transporting horses learned from the Australian Olympics and Dr. Kohn will also help you learn to predict unsoundnesses in equine athletes.

Dr. Kohn is an Associate Professor, boarded in internal medicine from the Ohio State University. Dr. Kohn's research interests are in equine exercise physiology, specifically the effects of heat stress on the performance horse. Dr. Kohn served as the official veterinarian for the 1996 Olympics.

Dr. David S. Kronfeld, the Paul Mellon Distinguished Professor of Agriculture and Professor of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Polytechnic and State University in Blacksburg, VA, is board certified in two clinical specialties - veterinary internal medicine and veterinary nutrition.

Dr. Kronfeld and students from the Middleburg Agricultural Research and Extension Center will discuss recent developments in exercise and nutrition, optimal skeletal development in young horses and pasture and pasture supplements.

This will be the most well-rounded seminar to date! Don't miss this event. For more information contact Nancy Frank at 540-544-7471.

Registration form, program, list of speakers.

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