January 9, 2007 -- In an innovative weeklong clinic, several of the United States' top equitation riders will provide hands-on tutelage as "mentor grooms" to young riders at the George Morris Horsemastership Training Sessions, held at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club in Wellington, Fla., January 15-20. (Click here for more clinic information and the schedule of events).
The mentors will guide the young riders in the care of their horses and discuss aspects of barn management and horse care. The mentor grooms include:
Margie Engle
"Gutsy," "determined" and "relentless" are but a few of the adjectives regularly used to describe one of the United States" most successful show jumping riders of all time--Margie Engle. Engle has over 175 grand prix wins under her belt, has been named American Grand Prix Association (AGA) Rider of the Year nine times, and has been on more than 20 winning Nations Cup teams. In 1991, she was named AHSA Equestrian of the Year. In 1992, Engle was named the Rolex/National Grand Prix League Rider of the Year, a feat she repeated in 1993.
In 1999, Engle rode Hidden Creek's Alvaretto to the Team Silver medal at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada. At the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, Engle was the highest placed woman and the highest placed U.S. rider in the individual competition riding Hidden Creek's Perin to a 10th place tie in the Individual Show Jumping competition and a sixth place Team finish. Engle has so many "firsts" and records in her career; they are too numerous to mention.
Engle has persevered through serious injuries including a crushed leg in 1990, which she followed with five major AGA wins in 1991. She suffered a broken hip when a horse fell on her in 2004. Just three months later, riding her Olympic mount, Hidden Creek's Perin, Engle beat a field of 26 entries that included eight Olympians, to win the $100,000 Cosequin Invitational Grand Prix in Culpeper, Va. She came back with a vengeance to successfully compete in 2005, and in 2006 she has led the World Cup standings all year. Her performances on the U.S. team as part of the 2006 Samsung Super League tour have led to an Individual win in Aachen as well as a team second in the Nations Cup there.
Engle rode Hidden Creek's Quervo Gold in the 2006 World Equestrian Games to assist the United States in securing the show jumping silver medal.
Engle lives in Wellington, Fla., with her husband, Dr. Steve Engle, and is well-known for her incredible sense of humor.
Beezie Madden
Two fundamental accomplishments say it all about Beezie Madden's international success. She was the first woman--and the first U.S. rider--to ever reach the Top Three in the Gandini Show Jumping World Ranking list (achieved in 2004), and she was the first woman to pass the million dollar mark in earnings for show jumping. Originally from Milwaukee, Wis., Madden has been riding since the age of three and made her grand prix debut in 1985.
Four years of continued success followed, which included participation on winning U.S. Nations Cup teams, which led to her being named the 1989 United States Olympic Committee's Female Equestrian of the Year. So far in 2006, Madden has had multiple successful rides including her role in the Samsung Super League tour as part of the U.S. team that finished second in the Nations Cup in Aachen, aboard Authentic.
In the past few years, Madden has been a critical member of the United States Teams. Riding in six out of the eight competitions, she anchored the team for the 2005 Samsung Super League which the U.S., the only non-European team competing in the League, decisively won. Also in 2005, she won the million dollar CN International at Spruce Meadows in Canada on Judgement, and won the $200,000 American Invitational in Tampa, Fla., on Authentic. At the 2006 World Equestrian Games, Madden, aboard Authentic, clinched both the team and individual silver medals in show jumping.
In 2004, Madden breezed through the Olympic Selection Trials finishing in first place on Authentic with only eight faults accumulated for all six selection events. With her contribution of double clear rounds in the Athens Olympic Games, she helped the U.S. team win the Gold medal, while her success on U.S. soil earned her the American Grand Prix Association (AGA) Rider of the Year title in 2004. At the 2003 Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic, she was a member of the Gold medal U.S. team.
