World Cup Weekend at the Sacramento International Horse Show is well underway, and organizers have once again put together a full day of equestrian activities that are free to the public at the Rancho Murieta Equestrian Center.

A Variety of Clinics

Beginning at 1:00pm, a full slate of clinicians from a variety of disciplines will present riding demonstrations and Q&A sessions for spectators. These free, 50 minute clinics always prove popular with the local horse community, who flock to the Rancho Murieta Equestrian Center each year to cheer on riders in the $55,000 Land Rover Grand Prix of Sacramento World Cup Qualifier. 

Julie Goodnight is back this year to present her methods of horsemanship and teaching ground manners in and out of the saddle. Julie’s popular and engaging clinic will feature a horse with ground manners issues, and a pony looking for help with ridability. As host of Horsemaster TV and on cable channel RFD-TV and a busy clinician who teaches all over the country, Julie enjoys a large following of enthusiastic horsemen who use her methods to improve the relationships between them and their horses. 

Andrew Coates
Trainer and rider Andrew Coates is known for his lifetime earnings of upwards of $600,000 winnings in the Western discipline of cutting, as well as the trainer of football legend Joe Montana, who rode cutting horses competitively for many years. Andrew will demonstrate the art of cutting with three horses in various stages of training. Although time constraints prevent Andrew from bringing live cows, rumor has it that a certain grand prix rider will be participating in the cutting demonstration with one of Andrew’s horses. A native Australian, Andrew’s Southern Cross Ranch is based nearby in Esparto, California. 

Hope Glynn
Local hunter rider and derby star Hope Glynn is well known to most on the West Coast; in the last two years she’s risen to fame by regularly sweeping hunter and derby competitions from San Diego to Sonoma. Fresh off a strong finish in the $500,000 HITS Hunter Prix Final in Saugerties, NY, Hope will break down hunter riding for the audience, showing how a rider can correctly progress from the basics all the way to successfully navigating the technicalities of a top level hunter derby course. Hope and her husband Ned operate Sonoma Valley Stables from the beautiful Sonoma wine country. 

Rich Fellers
2012 has been an unforgettable year or Wilsonville based Rich Fellers, who returns to the Sacramento International Horse Show as the 2012 Rolex FEI World Cup Champion, and a 2012 Olympic Veteran. As the highest placed American show jumper at the London Olympic Games, Rich has experienced a level of success this year that is more than most riders get to see in their lifetime.
Rich will host a rare Q&A session with the audience that is billed as part spoken autobiography and part insight into how his unique brand of training helped the great Irish bred stallion Flexible reach the top of the sport in such a spectacular manner. 

Bernie Traurig
Last but certainly not least, Olympic legend and trainer Bernie Traurig will give a mounted demonstration of the American System of Forward Riding. Assisted by grand prix rider Mandy Porter, Bernie will talk spectators through the mechanics of successful hunter and jumper riding. Before Bernie founded EquestrianCoach.com, which produces lessons on video by nationally known jumper and hunter riders, he became one of the only riders in history to reach the top of the sport in all three Olympic disciplines.