The U.S. Equestrian Federation has announced the 11th annual George H. Morris Horsemastership Training Session will be held at The Stadium at Equestrian Village, the home of the Global Dressage Festival, in Wellington, Fla., Jan. 3-7, 2017. The training session is designed to identify and develop the next generation of top U.S. Equestrian Team talent through instruction in a variety of aspects of horsemastership.

Past participants have gone on to represent the United States on recent Nations Cup teams, including Lillie Keenan, who produced a clear round in the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup Show Jumping Final (Spain) in September to help the U.S. team secure the bronze medal; Ali Wolff, who placed second with the U.S. team at CSIO**** Coapexpan (Mexico) in April; and Tori Colvin and Kelli Cruciotti, who were on the gold medal-winning Young Rider Team at CSIO Wellington (Fla.) in March.

The 2017 Training Session will feature intensive mounted sessions led by internationally acclaimed U.S. athletes, as well as daily instruction on all facets of horsemastership from experts in their respective fields. In the barn, training session barn manager Colleen Reed will guide the participants as they complete all of their own horse care throughout the training session. 

In the saddle, clinicians Anne Kursinski, Beezie Madden and Laura Kraut will work with the participants in sessions focusing on flatwork, gymnastics, and courses, respectively. Similar to last year, the program will conclude with a Nations Cup-style session on Saturday, Jan. 7.

Kraut, who also led the final session in 2016, said, “Teaching young riders to ride on a team is crucial for our future success in international competition. Last year, we introduced the Nations Cup format, and I really felt it was a valuable addition to the Training Session. I am thrilled to return in 2017 as this program provides an incredible experience for our up-and-coming athletes.”

The following 12 athletes will be invited to participate:

• The young rider and junior individual gold medalists at the 2016 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships (Colo.)

• The individual gold medalist at the 2016 Neue Schule/USEF National Junior Jumper Championships (Pa.)

• The winner of the 2016 Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals—East (N.J.)

• The winner of the 2016 Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals—West (Calif.) 

• Two riders from the 2016 USHJA Emerging Athletes Program National Training Session (Ohio)

• Five riders chosen from wild card applications

Athletes interested in wild card applications should contact Casey Easley, USEF show jumping director of high performance programs, at ceasley@usef.org. Applications will be due Monday, Nov. 21 by 5:00 p.m. eastern time. 
The public is welcome to audit all mounted sessions at no charge.