Allwyn Court’s Katherine Newman Excels Under Tutelage of Todd Minikus
Equestrian News Release
Wellington, FL – May 16, 2006 – After a successful Winter Equestrian Festival at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club in Wellington, Florida, Katherine Newman of Allwyn Court ups her ante in the show ring with guidance from show jumping professional Todd Minikus. Newman, who also trains with her parents Kathy and Gerry Newman, has incorporated the knowledge of Minikus into her training program. Newman began working with Minikus extensively during the Winter Equestrian Festival and has since earned impressive wins in the Junior Hunter divisions, the Junior Jumpers, and the equitation arena.
“He’s a really good trainer,” explained Newman. “We just sort of click. He knows how much I can do and how good I am at certain things, so he points out if I’m not doing as well as I can. I really like him helping me because he’s a really great rider and trainer. It’s nice to be able to train with someone who has that much experience and knows exactly what the horse might feel like that day.”
“He helped me a little bit when I was showing my small pony because he knew my parents, so he would watch me and give me tips,” she related. “He’s helped me throughout the years, but this is the most consistent training I’ve received from him. I used to be a little intimidated, but now I know him better and it’s more exciting. He knows so much, and it’s exciting to be able to learn from someone that good.”
When asked about training Newman, Minikus replied, “Training Katherine is easy because she’s very talented. I’m trying to get her to come out of her shell a little bit because she’s so polite and sweet. She has a good feel for the horse, and I think she can ultimately be one of the top, top junior riders. She’s been doing a fantastic job with her junior hunters and is very good in the equitation. I think she just needs to let herself go a little more and be more of a risk taker in the jump-offs.”
He continued, “She’s still a young girl, and she’s got a bright future. She’s ahead of the curve compared to other juniors and certainly has enough show mileage at this point. She has ridden many horses throughout her riding career and has the lucky opportunity to ride a nice string of horses. A lot of the kids don’t get the opportunity to ride four, five, six horses at a horse show, and she’s had the luck of that experience for years now. She adapts to different horses quite well.”
Newman competes with Allwyn Court’s horse Corvet Z in the Small Junior 15 and Under Hunters, and Castleton, who is owned by Pamela Dudley, in the Large Junior 15 and Under Hunters. Timeless, Gran Cru, Royal D’Or, and Barcelona, are all piloted by Newman and owned by Mimi Abel-Smith.
Kathy Newman revealed, “I think, for as good of a rider as Todd is, that he is amazingly articulate. Sometimes the good riders can ride well, but they can’t express what it is that they are doing. Todd can see what’s wrong, explain the problem, and get on and show Katherine what it is. Then he can have her get back on, and she knows how to do it. I think that’s really helpful in terms of educating the student.”
Minikus recently rode Tracy Topping’s horse Elton for the very first time at the Kentucky Spring Horse Show and won a 1.40M class in the Johnson Arena. Topping also rides at Allwyn Court and trains with Kathy and Gerry Newman.
Allwyn Court will compete at the Kentucky Spring Classic Horse Show and Newman will continue to train with Minikus. During the Kentucky Spring Horse Show, held May 10-14th, Katherine Newman won high placings in the Small Junior 15 and Under Hunters, the Large Junior 15 and Under Hunters, and earned first place ribbons in the WIHS Hunter Phase, the WIHS Jumper Phase, and the USET Show Jumping Talent Search.
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