Michelle Gibson To Conduct Clinic

Michelle Gibson will be presenting a clinic at Ten Broeck Farm on September 23 and 24. Equestrians, especially those interested in dressage, will immediately recognize her name. Michelle Gibson and her Trakehner stallion, Peron, won the bronze medal at the 1996 Olympic Games held in Atlanta, Georgia. It was a landmark moment for the United States in Olympic dressage competition because Gibson’s 75.20% was the highest score an American had been awarded at the Olympics.

“Any time you can attend a clinic given by a world class rider and trainer right in your own immediate community is a very special opportunity,” said Orintha Silva, Ten Broeck Farm owner and trainer. “Michelle Gibson is an extraordinary talent, and the chance to learn from her should not be missed.”

Most recently, Gibson was a winner at the United States Equestrian Team Foundation Dressage Festival of Champions held this past June in Gladstone, NJ. Riding Lex Barker, a nine-year-old, 17.2-hands chestnut Hanoverian gelding, Gibson won the Intermediaire I Freestyle with a score of 78.700%. In fact, she made a clean sweep of three rounds of competition in the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Intermediaire I Championship.

Like so many aspiring young riders, Michelle Gibson spent her early years as a working student in her home state of Georgia. After high school graduation, she trained with Michael Poulin in Maine for a year and a half, and then went on to Germany where, with a lot of potential and a little bit of luck, she trained first with Willie Schulthels and then with Rudolf Zwilinger.

It was on a trip back to the States that Michelle and Peron connected. Once they both went back to Germany, the two became top level contenders in a country where American riders were not considered much of a threat. By 1996 the German dressage community awarded Gibson with their country’s Golden Rider award, which no other American had ever received. Shortly thereafter, she returned to America and her home state of Georgia, where the 1996 Olympic Games were to be held.

After the Games, Gibson decided to stay in the United States to be near her family and to become more involved in the American dressage community. Gibson quickly established an exemplary reputation as a trainer in Alpharetta, Georgia at Applewood Farm. To ride her system, Gibson says that one must get back to basics.

Today, Michelle Gibson trains full time at Diamante Farm in Wellington, Florida. To learn more about Michelle, visit her web site at michellegibson.com.

To reserve a slot, or to audit Michelle Gibson’s clinic at Ten Broeck Farm, call us at 978-877-6636.

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