These photos are from Winterwind Farm, also in Grand Prix Village, Wellington!

Recent installation at Salamander Farm in Grand Prix Village, Wellington.

Salamander Farm, Grand Prix Village

This video exemplifies how our rings hold up after a heavy rain.  Notice the pooling of water outside the ring!

Mikela Gundersen on her CLOPF® ring!

Glynnie Walford (our Martin Collins partner) is currently making the rounds down in Florida & had the opportunity to visit clients Mikela & Henrik Gundersen.  Mikela is a Danish International Dressage Competitor and Trainer who has shown on the Danish Team and her husband is an International Show Jumper!  Thank you to the Gundersons for this positive endorsement of our product:

” I went over to Tuny Page’s Stillpoint Farm to train with Lisa Wilcox and every time I went there my horses were ‘flying’ and moving better.  One day one of my clients said: “is it just because you ride better with Lisa or does it have something to do with the footing that makes the difference!”.  At the time I was quite happy with my sand at home but I had to admit there was a big difference riding on Tuny’s surfaces.  So I decided to call Martin Collins and installed their CLOPF(r) fiber into my sand surface at home.

My husband Henrik is an international show jumper and both he and I are really impressed with the way our horses move on the CLOPF® footing and it works perfectly for both of us.  We consider it a great investment.”

We’ve completed another installation at the Asselin’s private farm in the Wellington area.
Enjoy the photographs of their beautiful new outdoor ring featuring Martin Collins Clopf® fiber!

Sharn had a stellar weekend (November 19th) at Fox Lea Farm in Venice, Fl., taking the top spot on UpperClass in their 25K Grand Prix and also placing 5th on Corino!  Thanks to our friends at Fox Lea for allowing us to use these great photos & for a show well done!

From Jennie’s Chronicle of the Horse Blog……..

I had an interesting week down in Wellington, Fla., for my winter vacation, and I have to say that although it was a very horsey vacation, I think it was the best break I’ve yet to have.

Going to see my good friend Rachel Dwyer was long overdue, and if you’ve been following my blogs here on the fabulous ChronofHorse, you’ve heard about the life changing experience that Rachel recently went through. I didn’t quite know what to expect when I went to see her, knowing that she would be working at a jumper show there for Sharn Wordley all week, but since it was the only time I could get away, I went for it.

Needless to say, it was quite the adventure, with some of the highlights being driving a Porsche, dancing in West Palm Beach and riding (not “driving,” as I am told that is incorrect biker lingo) on the back of a Harley… And though all those things were great, getting to see one of my best friends and catch up after such a long time was the best of all.

It’s ironic that show jumping used to be Rachel’s Achilles heel, and now she’s is “running the show” at Sharn’s place. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see her jump, but from the sounds of it, the difference is amazing. Even though I went down there to visit her, and most people would think it’s a bit strange for a professional rider to go to a horse show for vacation, I think I was the one who got the most out of the trip.

I spent a long time chatting with Scotty Keach about the differences between how eventers show jump and how actual show jumpers ride. And since it’s been a long time since my California jumper days, after sitting and having Scotty talk to me about different styles and technical aspects, it made me go back and look at some of my videos from events where I thought I had pretty good rounds.

My reaction: “Wow… I really, really, really need to get a whole lot better.”
It’s a shame that our eventing and jumper worlds are so separate that we rarely surround ourselves with the people who show jump so well. As Scott said, “Monkey see, monkey do.” And though I know we do three sports in one, I think it would be time well spent to get into that environment for more than a week or two.

I was lucky to receive a USEF grant last spring to ride in Wellington, but I have to say I think I would really love to, at some point in my career, re-focus on my show jumping for an extended period of time. (After I save a whole lot of money and figure out how to create more time in a year!) I left Wellington completely wired and ready to get back to competing and get better.

It was also interesting to hear Sharn and his business partner Craig Martin, who run Wordley Martin Equestrian together, talk about footing. They’re the ones who did the footing in our new outdoor jump ring at Phillip’s, and they also have their footing in the warm-up for the main arena at WEF now. I got taken on a ride to see some of the arenas they’re doing over in grand prix village, which is literally right next to the show. It’s so interesting to hear about how they create footing and each element that goes into making it just right. It was seriously eye-opening.  FULL ARTICLE

Chrissa Frith-Hoffmann is an International Grand Prix rider, holding the United States Dressage Federations Bronze, Silver and Gold medals.   She trains horses and riders through the most advanced level of dressage, riding at the Grand Prix level.  Chrissa has received multiple high score and year end awards and has been decorated with award winning medals as a result of her hard work and determination.

Chrissa began riding on a Wordley Martin surface when she purchased Overlook Farm, which has been re-christened Glenfield Farm, located in the heart of Ocala horse country. The farm is a top of the line training facility with 24 stalls, 2 tackrooms, 8 large paddocks, and a recently constructed 200×200 sand/fiber Wordley Martin ring!

Wordley Martin appreciates Chrissa’s professional opinion and enthusiastic feedback regarding her daily training surface and we wish Chrissa the best in her competitive endeavors during the upcoming competitive season!

“Wordley-Martin footing is by far the best footing out there on the market today! I absolutely love it and so do my horses. I am lucky to have it in in my ring and will never have anything else!!”

-Chrissa F Hoffmann
International Grand Prix Dressage Rider and Trainer
USDF Bronze, Silver and Gold Medalist

Tuny Page, International Dressage Rider and owner of Stillpoint Farm in Wellington, Florida has been riding on both MC Ecotrack® and Clopf® Fiber since their new installation in 2010, and is an avid ambassador and supporter of our products.

“The goal for Stillpoint Farm is to provide dedicated riders a venue that inspires excellence.  To that end we focused on the three main points: the comfort of our horses in their stables, comfort for our horses on the riding surfaces, and comfort for our riders and trainers.  My dream was that by creating such a facility I would attract like-minded colleagues to complete the vision.”

Stillpoint is designed to provide the best possible environment for developing top sport horses and riders and is home to several other powerhouse trainers such as Robert Dover, Susie Dutta and Oded Shimoni.

We had the opportunity recently to catch up with Tuny and to chat about her facility, students, horses and competition season.  As always, Stillpoint Farm remains the hub for owners and trainers who are serious about their horse’s soundness and training programs.  During the busy winter months, it is typical for 60 horses to be in full training board and the facility buzzes with the activity of other top competitors shipping in for training or lessons.  Last year Stillpoint acted as home base for the Canadian Dressage team when Robert Dover coached them in 2010, and Captain Mark Phillips utilized the facility to coach the US 3 Day Event Team!

Tuny points to the successes of several riders who have trained at Stillpoint and emphatically believes that their competition achievements are due in part to their horse’s soundness while training on her choice in riding surfaces.   “Christina Vineos, who has 3 lovely young horses who earned top placings at the East Coast Championships at Lamplight, trained at Stillpoint.  Susie Dutta, who trains all winter at our facility, has had multiple Grand Prix and Freestyle CDI wins while training on our surface……and of course Lisa Wilcox, who has moved to begin her own facility, also enjoyed multiple wins while training at our facility.”

Tuny has 3 upper level competitive partners,  Alina, Ice Cup and Wild One have enjoyed consistent soundness while training & conditioning on the Martin Collins surfaces.   Notably, Wild One, her 15 year old competition partner who was off for 2 years due to a career ending injury, has been able to come back into work and qualify for Gladstone on the Martin Collins surfaces!  “He was able to return to his prior competitive fitness levels through careful preparation on our really great footing! His 10th overall finish at Gladstone gives me the green light to train more aggressively for next season.”

As Martin Collins continues to establish their name in US barns and show venues, American riders grow more aware of the importance of training daily on an appropriate riding surface.  Tuny reiterated how crucial it is to invest in your daily surface and to chose venues for competition that do the same.  Additionally she mentioned that her choice in Martin Collins was also due to the expert relationship that she has with Glynnie Walford, head of Martin Collins USA, who has been with the company for 18+ years.  “Stillpoint’s competitive success is due largely in part to our choice in Martin Collins Surfaces”, and according to Tuny, “If you want to know how top international riders can ‘go for it’ on their surfaces, call Martin Collins to find out why!”

Photo Credits Susan J. Stickle