Olympic Showjumping Gold Medalists meet their fans in Syracuse

We were privileged to see the US Olympic Gold Team medalists when they appeared together for the first and only time at the Syracuse Invitational Show on Oct.31.
They discussed their passion for horses, early riding experiences and answered questions from their fans. McLain Ward mentioned his mental preparation for the Games, working with a golf sports coach to improve his ability to deal with pressure.
Laura Kraut talked about the bond she has with her horse Cedrik (he would live in her house if she could...) and the fact that each horse's personality is different and you have to adapt to them.
Will Simpson told a funny story where after winning the Olympics, he had to spend an entire trip in a trailer with his daughter's pony, because the pony doesn't like to travel alone.
When asked what advice she would give to young riders, Beezie Madden said "work hard" and mentioned that the four Olympic team members didn't come from privileged backgrounds but had to rise through the ranks with hard work, riding all the horses they could get their hands on.

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Comment by Patricia at ECOGOLD on November 14, 2008 at 9:13am: They also raved about the Olympics. Everything was top notch from water sprays to help keep the horses cool, beautiful barns to the first class athletes' village. They all said they were the best Olympics they had ever been to.
Also, Laura Kraut mentionned that being in Hong Kong instead of Beijing was much better. It made them the #1 attraction and generated a lot of excitement.
Someone asked Beezie about the individual final and jumping over that bush to gain time. She said McLain got the idea when walking the course, checked if there would be anything illegal (there wasn't) and went for it. When she saw she could gain valuable time with that strategy, she went for it as well and ended up with the bronze.
Regarding "advice to give young riders", McLain mentioned not to get discouraged and keep doing what you love. At 11 years of age, he was told by a judge that he wasn't very talented and that he better try another sport....