Wellness Wednesday - GumBits Sweetens Winter Equestrian Festival Ride & Learn Clinic with World Champion Hunter Rider Sandy Ferrell

Wellington, FL - GumBits, made by Gambit Atlanta, Inc., has supported the USEF community for over a decade. This month, GumBits sweetened a “Develop a Winning Hunter Ride” clinic by sponsoring the event and supplying its participants and guest instructor— 2008 World Champion Hunter Rider Sandy Ferrell— with GumBits gift samples. The clinic was part of the weekly Ride & Learn Series being hosted by the 2015 Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida.

“It was really helpful to have a product like GumBits available today,” said clinician Sandy Ferrell, of Bel Air, Maryland. “If a horse's mouth isn't 'rideable' or 'adjustable,' it makes our job as a rider more difficult. Communication is key to the results you need to ride well.” GumBits are loved by horses for the palatability of their all-natural, FDA-approved ingredients, and by horse trainers since the round treats promote chewing and encourage salivation. The treats help soften the mouth, relax the jaw and discourage the teeth grinding that can occur during intense competition and training of high-performance sport horses.

Before the horses at the clinic were given their packages of GumBits to try, Ferrell coached them to achieve their best in the hunter ring. Ferrell’s own accomplishments include being named Leading Hunter Rider and tying for Grand Champion at the Capital Challenge Horse Show in 2011. In 2010, she rode Krista and Alexa Weisman’s Westfalen gelding, Showman, to Horse of the Year and induction into the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame.

The 2015 Ride and Learn Series is presented by the Palm Beach Riding Academy each Tuesday afternoon during the Winter Equestrian Festival. Each week features a mounted riding clinic instructed by an industry professional at various venues and arenas in the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center.

Among the top riders and trainers whose horses get GumBits are 2014 USEA Lady Rider of the Year, Lauren Kieffer; Olympic riders Steffen Peters (US) and David Marcus (CAN); US Pan American Team Gold medalist and international Grand Prix rider Susie Dutta; Australian Olympic Long Lister Nicholas Fyffe; World Equestrian Games German Team Bronze Medalist Christoph Koschel; 2010 USEF Dressage Youth Coach Jeremy Steinberg; Australian Advanced International Eventer Kate Chadderton (vying for 2016 Rio Summer Olympics); and Dressage New Zealand Small Tour and ESNZ High Performance Accelerator squads rider, Britta Anna Pedersen.

Shereen Fuqua founded Gambit Atlanta, Inc. in 2005 with the support and encouragement of prominent FEI Judges and international competitors like Steffen Peters and Courtney King-Dye. GumBits are sold through retailers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. To learn more about GumBits and find a retailer near you, visit www.gumbits.com.