Featured Article (September 2007)

As that "evil birthday fairy" makes her yearly visits I have begun getting more proactive in putting some of my dream trips into reality. I am a huge tennis fan and have always wanted to be at Center Court at Wimbledon, the cathedral of tennis. I have also wanted to have the opportunity to participate in one of the training vacations I have so often seen outlined in Cross Country International’s brochure.

Last July 2006 as I watched Roger Federer win his fourth Wimbledon I decided to take action and make our plans for Wimbledon 2007. In April of this year as I made my final payment for the trip I decided to realize my next "vacation desire" and contacted Cross Country International.

I had decided on the training sessions at Gleneagles, Scotland as it looked like the perfect compromise for my husband and me. My husband is a novice rider who enjoys riding but also likes the comfort of a lovely hotel with great food and services.

After leaving London having endured the worst rain delays in the past 30 years in the history of Wimbledon (as well as unprecedented security measures because of the two car bombs threats in London and the car bomb explosion at Glasgow’s airport) we flew to Edinburgh. We picked up our car and sweated those first few hours of driving a right hand drive car and driving on the wrong side of the road. Those first few roundabouts were chilling.

Gleneagles is about and hour or so (if you know where you’re going) north and west of Edinburgh. Just watch for the sheep.

We were greeted at the entrance to this resort which resembles a 19th century baronial manor house right out of "Pride and Prejudice." Our beautiful room overlooked the "munros" and glen of the countryside of Glen Eagles. A basket of apples and shortbread added to the warm welcome we received. (And mercifully, it wasn’t raining).

Cross Country International had put together a mini vacation for us as we could only be there for four nights. The package included our room, breakfast and dinner (exclusive of beverage) and three hours of lessons per day. For the non riding companion one has the option of a round of golf each day. One could arrange to ride while the companion played golf. Since my husband rides, it worked out perfectly for us. There is a full service spa (be sure to book any appointments in advance of your trip) and a fantastic health club with two Jacuzzis, an indoor, outdoor, and lap pool. There are a multitude of classes like spinning, yogi and Pilates. There are beautiful tennis courts and a falconry center.

Our first day riding we walked over to the equestrian center to check in for our lessons. The facility is impressive! There are two indoor arenas. One is enormous, with high vaulted ceiling and a state of the art carpeted viewing area complete with comfortable sofas, chairs, chandeliers, a full service bar and an espresso machine.

At promptly 10:00 a.m. (the appointed hour for our first lesson) our horses were brought into the small indoor arena for our introductions. Each horse was meticulously groomed. We met our instructors and thus began our three wonderful days, three hours each day of riding.

The horses were terrific and well suited to their jobs. Most of them were warm bloods. Others were cob or shire crosses. Every instructor was respectful of the horse, knew the horse’s strengths as well as any quirks or weaknesses and structured the lesson so the both horse and rider were successful.

The quality of teaching was outstanding. I rode a total of nine times, riding the same horse only twice and had two of the same instructors twice. Every instructor taught as though we were their most prized students. They gave us 100% in our lessons. There was the same common element of instruction and expectations in each lesson no matter which instructor was assigned for our lesson and each horse was suitable for the task at hand.

Every instructor instilled us with the confidence needed to meet the objectives of the lessons.

Gleneagles Equestrian facility comes under the auspices of the British Horse Society. All instructors must be certified by the BHS to teach at the level at which they qualify. Certification must be maintained through continuing education training and BHS Stages of exams. Therefore if one hangs out a shingle as a certified BHS instructor at international level 1, the potential students (parents of students) will know how to measure the expertise of the instructor.

Certification of trainers in the US has been under discussion for the number of years. I know it is very controversial. However if trainer certification would create lesson programs through the various levels of riding skills that had a unanimity of quality teaching then when a rider moved to a new area of the country or for some reason moved up to another division (or changed trainers), there would be an assumed level of education which the rider had received. One wouldn’t always be "reinventing the wheel."

If my experience is any indication of what the requirements of a certification program brings to the student/client then I would say that this would be a winning situation for everyone. A parent would know her child was in capable hands. A horse owner/rider would know they were training with a person who was capable of helping them to advance in their discipline as well as be qualified to care for their horses. My husband, Cliff was learning to post on the correct diagonal and to sit the canter when we arrived at Gleneagles. Each instructor structured his lesson in such away that Cliff had lots of "little successes" and was never discouraged. At the end of the three days, he was beginning to really sit the canter and was picking up the correct diagonal.

For our last lesson at Gleneagles, we opted for a driving lesson. "Heather," our driving instructor was the essence of a pony club DC. She watched over the daily barn management like the chatelaine of a grand chateau! (Actually her father had been the head ghilly, estate manager of the last laird of Gleneagles. It was right out of "Monarch of the Glen," the beloved BBC series of the struggles of the aristocracy in the modern era).

She wanted us present before the lesson to learn how to put on the harness and then hook up the pony to the cart. We learned how to get in and out of the cart and how to manage the reins ("our knitting") properly. The actual driving took a great deal of concentration as one must learn how to handle the reins by effectively using the hands. Voice commands are very important. Driving is definitely another challenging aspect to our sport.

As the sun doesn’t set until about 11:30 p.m. a lovely dinner can be capped off with a walk on the grounds of Gleneagles. On the dinner menu, there is always a selection of lamb, salmon and trout that just come from the rod of someone fishing at one of the beautiful rivers nearby. (I know the lamb probably came from one of those pastures across the road but I don’t want to think about it!). Because of Scotland’s historic alliance with France, there is a wonderful blending of cuisines.

Scottish traditions are further in evidence when a bagpiper who was right out of "central casting" entered the dining room playing to honor a guest’s birthday.

Captain Mark Phillips is returning to Gleneagles this November to give a clinic in which "we mortals" could participate. Check it out at Cross Country International’s website, www.equestrianvacations.com. If you are not going to Florida this winter maybe this might be an interesting alternative.

I think our next Grand Slam tennis event will be the Australian Open. The worst that will happen is a very hot day and there are retractable roofs. We will do a ride, either a biking trip or a riding trip. For me this is a great way to visit a country and get to meet the "locals," both equine and human!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer.

If you are a tennis fan check out Grand Slam Tennis Tours at www.grandslamtennistours.com.