A few weeks ago I had and watched some great jumping lessons by a friend in Cave Creek, AZ. Some of the comments she made have been stuck in my head and I have been having a difficult time picturing the position and the best way for me to teach the ideas to my students. After pondering the points for a while, I remembered how close Thermal, California is. This time of year up to 2000 horses meet in Thermal to compete in the HITS horse show there. 5 days a week, they compete in up to 10 rings of hunters and jumpers with the top horses and trainers attending. So, my mother and I packed an overnight bag and took the short 3 hour cruise and watched hundreds of horse and rider pairs negotiate jumps for two days. What a trip! The Grand Prix on Friday had 54 starters and 13 in the jump off! Beijing silver medalist won the Grand Prix that day with Special Ed. Wish you could have been there!