California Riding Magazine • April, 2010

The Clinician Cometh
Greg Best’s Return to Gilroy

by Hollie Wilent

Spring is in the air and our thoughts turn to ... clinics! At WoodMyst Farms in Northern California’s Gilroy, spring signifies the arrival of Greg Best for the kick-off of our annual summer clinic series. This will be our sixth consecutive year of hosting clinics with the 1988 Olympic show jumping silver medalist and I still recall the anxiety I felt driving to the airport to retrieve him for that first clinic.

Six years later anxiety is replaced with anticipation – we count down the days to Greg’s arrival. I spend hours cleaning and prepping the jumps, organizing the groups and making sure everything at WoodMyst is set for our first clinic of the year. This year, in addition to the clinics at WoodMyst Farms April 30 and May 4-5, Greg’s first stop in the Bay Area includes the kick-off event for the Central Coast Equestrian Association May 1-2 sponsored by Vicki Rose, and a clinic at Natalie Rooney Pitts’ Four Star Farm in the Napa area May 7-9.

For Greg’s sixth trip, Donna Russo, owner of WoodMyst Farms and a very dear friend for many years, and I have compiled a list of the top 10 reasons we look forward to Greg’s return each year. Those of you who have ridden with Greg can relate to our list:

10. The stories: You can always count on several colorful stories from Greg each year. Embellished? Perhaps, but he tells them so well!

9. The lines: The dreaded long four-stride to short four-stride line across the diagonal (which we’ve all struggled with so many times).

8. The bag of tricks: Tacks on the cantle of the saddle and long, rubber bands around the stirrups. Torture? No, just a Greg Best clinic.
7. Interesting descriptive terminology: A wildly bucking horse is referred to as “cheeky!”

6. Working on those obtainable goals: ”I’m not looking for the perfect result, just the perfect ride.”

5. The thrills: The dreaded stirrups draped over the saddle. You want me to jump around a course when my stirrups are not attached to the saddle?

4. New trends: One year Greg had most of us try riding with a bitless bridle, so we adopted the mantra “Once you go bitless you never go back!”

3. The challenges: Being told to ride my recently purchased, green 5-year-old around a course with the reins attached to the noseband.

2. The inspiration: Successfully riding my green 5-year-old around a course with the reins attached to the noseband (and living through it!)
And the number one reason we look forward to Greg’s return:

1. Some of the most challenging and rewarding lessons we have the entire year from a man we proudly call “friend,” as well as some other carefully chosen words! (See reasons #9, #8, #5...)

WoodMyst Farms proudly hosts several clinics each year. In addition to Greg Best, this year’s clinicians include Linda Allen and Joe Fargis. Please check the website for additional information: www.woodmystfarms.com or contact Hollie Wilent at Hollie@WoodMystFarms.com.