Insights From Lilo Fore And Hans-Christian Matthiesen

Take a deeper look at lessons from the Adequan/USDF FEI-Level Trainers Conference and USEF Judges Forum.

- Beth Baumert

The annual Adequan®/USDF FEI-Level Trainers Conference was, for the first time, combined with the USEF Judges Forum this Jan. 16–17. Sponsored by Adequan and Gardy Bloemers, Wealth Management Advisor of Merrill Lynch, and graciously hosted by Mary Anne McPhail at her High Meadow Farm in Loxahatchee, Florida, the event was perhaps the most highly attended Trainers Conference yet.

By combining trainers and judges, it was hoped that the situations presented by demonstration horses and riders might bring about enlightening discussions among the experts. On Day One, the conference, although enlightening, followed its standard format, so it didn’t fulfill the original vision of a combined conference for judges and trainers. Day Two was a different story, as trainers and judges shared ideas to help riders improve their performances for better scores. On the second day, Lilo Fore partnered with the trainers and Hans-Christian Matthiesen partnered with the judges, and they took turns welcoming comments from each very knowledgeable group. Of course, Lilo and Hans-Christian weighed in with their own sound opinions, too.

Trainers who have been to this event year after year felt that the quality of demonstration horses and riders was quite high this year. Nora Batchelder of River House Hanoverians in Williston, Florida, kicked off each day, riding her own Fifi MLW, a 7-yearold Third Level Hanoverian mare by Fidertanz. This horse-and-rider combination was a model of relaxed yet powerful, cadenced confidence. It was hard to find fault with them, and the experts agreed that Fifi would get an 8 for gaits on a bad day.