Only a few miles from the beach in Florida is not a bad place to be in January.
Throw in a unique opportunity to learn from and spend time with three top trainers and Road to the Horse alumni as they work with young and developing riding prospects, and you’ve got yourself a really good time!
Join your fellow sun-, fun-, and horselovers at the spacious and well-appointed Pioneer Trail Reserve in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, January 2-4, 2015. Host and TSB author Sean Patrick (2014 and 2015 RTTH Wild Card Contestant) welcomes Jim Anderson, reigning champion and overall winner of the 2014 RTTH competition, and Mary Kitzmiller, winner of over $55,000 in the Extreme Mustang Makeover events and the only woman to have been chosen to compete at the Road to the Horse’s Wild Card Competition in both 2014 and 2015, to his fabulous facility.
Sean, Jim, and Mary will provide in-depth instruction, explanations of their techniques, and up-close-and-personal insight over the course of 18 teaching sessions, featuring colt-starting, preliminary under-saddle work, and more advanced training and maneuvers. Symposium attendees are provided refreshments and a fully catered lunch each day at no additional cost. In addition, separate tickets are available for a VIP dinner on Saturday night, where guests can relax, interact with each other and all three clinicians, and enjoy live music and delicious meal in a beautiful ranch setting.
We caught up with Sean last week and asked him to tell us a little about the event and how it was conceived:
TSB: How did you, Mary, and Jim all meet?
Sean: At Road to the Horse 2014, there were eight of us selected to be competitors in the new “Wild Card” part of the event. It was such a nice group of individuals, we all quickly became friends. I’m originally from Canada, Jim is Canadian, and Mary desperately wishes she was, so we had that in common!
TSB: When did you conceive of the idea to hold the symposium? How did you come up with the name Three Amigos?
Sean: If I was to design the itinerary of a perfect 3-day clinic, this is it. I knew Jim was coming down to visit, and Mary had just been to our place for a clinic, so I thought about bringing us all back to the same location and offering a fun, in-depth look at how we each teach horses. I have three colts all needing a start right at that time (January), and this experience will be a wonderful way to get them going. In addition, we all have a gelding from the same ranch (the Four Sixes) and the same group (chosen for last year’s RTTH), so our horses Smokey, Guthrie, and Jack all know each other well. There will be three sets of “Three Amigos”!
TSB: What does each clinician bring to the table that is unique and/or different?
Sean: Jim is so well schooled by many top horsemen. He’s quite humble, so you won’t always hear about that part. His ability to handle and teach horses is first-class. His 2014 Road to the Horse world championship is proof of his abilities.
Mary has very different experiences than Jim and me. She has also ridden with top horsemen, but has spent time with a lot of tough horses and built her program around that. She’s a student of the bridle horse, gifted in gentling horses, amazing at teaching tricks, and an excellent cow-horse hand.
Then there’s me—I’m just along for the ride!
[Ed. note: Sean’s just being modest…he’s the author of the bestselling book THE MODERN HORSEMAN’S COUNTDOWN TO BROKE and the DVD set by the same name. Check them out and see what’s so special about this guy!]
TSB: Tell us a little bit about how symposium attendees will spend their day, and what you feel they will take away that they can apply to their own evolution as horsemen/women.
Sean: The round pen will be set up for the benefit of the three youngsters. Each trainer will spend one hour with each colt, on each day. Since we have three different horses, and trainers, the development of each style with each colt will be different. This is ideal for seeing how we all approach our plan. In the afternoon, topic-based teaching sessions will begin with the three-year-old geldings. The attendees are able to sit closely on the bleachers, ask questions, chat with trainers as they work, mingle with other industry experts, and spend time by the fire with them in the evenings. There is also a VIP dinner with all the trainers on Saturday night. We are encouraging a lot of crowd interaction and know the pace will move quickly and keep people learning and entertained.
TSB: If you could choose three words to describe the Three Amigos Symposium, what three words would you choose?
Sean: Intimate, enlightening, engaging.
TSB: Are all of you returning to RTTH in 2015?
Sean: Jim won the 2014 Wild Card event and then the championship title. He was invited to come back in 2015 to defend his title. So he will be at 2015 Road to the Horse against Chris Cox and this year’s Wild Card winner.
Mary was a 2014 Wild Card contestant and was invited back for 2015. I was also a 2014 Wild Card contestant, and like Mary, invited back to compete again.
So all three of us are heading back to RTTH in one way or another…it’ll be hopefully Mary or I who compete against Jim in the finals!
Don’t miss your chance to walk the beach in your boots and start your New Year with new insight into horses, starting them, and taking them that next step! Tickets for the 2014 Three Amigos Symposium and VIP dinner are on sale now CLICK HERE.
Airports near the New Smyrna Beach Pioneer Trail Reserve facility include Orlando (MCO) and Daytona Beach (DAB ). Hotel accommodations have been arranged nearby at the new “Hotel of Choice” Country Inn and Suites (with a special nightly “Three Amigos” rate of $69.00), and there are beachfront options for the family on the Atlantic’s beautiful New Smyrna Beach, as well! It is an easy drive to/from Daytona Beach, Disney World, Sea World, and many other major Florida attractions, so it’s no problem to make this a family “post-holiday” vacation, while you slip away each day to work with and witness the best in the horse industry!
A portion of the Three Amigos Symposium proceeds will be proudly donated to the “Hope Reins” Therapeutic Riding Program based in New Smyrna Beach at Marcody Ranch. For more information on the event or assistance with ticket sales, please contact the “Three Amigos” event coordinator at events@seanpatricktraining.com or 321-693-5551. Media passes are available.
Sean Patrick’s THE MODERN HORSEMAN’S COUNTDOWN TO BROKE book and the DVD SET are available from the TSB online bookstore, where shipping in the US is FREE.