Blog

2012- Just Around the Corner

clarkmontgomery@mac.com (Clark Montgomery) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:42:28 +0000

It has been a really busy few weeks around here. I have been to Texas and back to see some family, which I don’t get to do much of during the season and taught a great group of people at Christie Tull’s Greenwood Farm while I was there. Glen and I have been named to this spring’s High Performance B list which is a huge honor and allows us access to additional funding and support from the USEF and the USOC. We just returned from the convention yesterday and while it is always fun to see friends and catch up by night, there was a lot of business to take care of by day. On Friday morning at 7 all high performance riders reported to the mandatory fitness testing for the USOC. This was my first time to be evaluated and I have to admit it’s pretty rigorous. The squats, plank test and the run each require strength but there I was surrounded by my peers who were pushing themselves to the limit and it quickly became obvious that the evaluation was mostly about stamina and who could gut it out the longest. Needless to say we’re a pretty competitive crew and while I do carry the lowest percentage of body fat, I’ve got a ways to go to catch some of the others in the squats and plank test. After the fitness evaluations we had one on one meetings with the strength trainer, nutritionist and the sports psychologist all of which were informative and mapped out short term and long term plans for us to follow. I had a chance to talk one on one with Mark Phillips about his expectations for me next year and while it is a pretty tall order, I have come away from Nashville feeling energized with a plan in mind and a real sense of support from USEF’s High Performance. Now it’s time to put my head down and get to work. Glen and the other horses have started their light conditioning canters in preparation for their first recognized event in February. It’s going to be here before we know it.

Ripped to Rest to Rolex Part 1

clarkmontgomery@mac.com (Clark Montgomery) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:54:22 +0000

We typically get such an early start that morning television news shows are rarely something that I get to watch during the competition season. Recently with most of the horses in the stables on rest, I was around the house and caught an interesting story line on Good Morning America called Fit 2 Fat 2 Fit. It's about a guy that is a professional personal trainer who has apparently always had the body of Adonis and has decided to embark on a blog fueled personal journey. It started with a six month corn dog and junk food bender which quickly packed on 70 some off pounds and now he's chronicling his slide back down the scale and back to personal fitness. Since my brain is wired for all things to lead back to horses, it got me thinking about the physical journey that they take throughout the competition season. It specifically got me thinking about my Loughan Glen horse. Since early September when he was in the best fitness shape of his 8 years of life for Blenheim Palace CCI*** he has had virtually 8 full weeks of rest and relaxation- and my how he has blossomed. I am sure because he is an Irish Sport Horse with Hanoverian bloodlines he is somewhat genetically predisposed to being portly. I thought it would be interesting and fun to chronicle his road back to peak fitness and ultimately Rolex next year. The journey begins this week with walking under saddle and light flat work. Stay tuned for upadtes on Glen's progression back to buff...

Show Jumping with Loughan Glen at Bromont

cris@pro-epic.com (Jess Montgomery) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:24:00 +0000

Clark competing in show jumping at Bromont in Canada, riding Loughan Glen. First place finish.