After a year of consistent competition, Craig Thompson and his horse Orion, which is recovering from an injury, are aiming toward competing at Blenheim CC**** in September. Craig feels lucky to have a strong contender in Orion considering that top event horses have to be ridiculously sound, possess an amazing athletic talent, and command a strong level of desire. Craig lives in Aiken, S.C., with his girlfriend and partner Sarah Heffron and when not riding or training, he loves to go fishing with his father and contemplate trout.

Sidelines: How did Wash Bishop, Mike Plumb, David O'Connor, and Phillip Dutton influence your training methods?
CT: Wash was a great rider and coach. I was lucky enough to ride with him at a time when he was helping several ambitious young riders, among them Missy Ransehousen and Mara Dean, who are still at the top of the game. More than anything, he gave us the confidence to believe we could do what we set out to. That ability to inspire is a huge part of being a coach and a huge part of my coaching.
Mike Plumb taught me not only to ride, but how to train horses, though I'm pretty sure he thought teaching me was an impossible task! He was exacting and demanding to a fault, which is probably why he was just inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame. I owe my equitation to him; the basics that underpin my riding and training go back to him. David is a modern master. Not only does he understand how horses think, he understands how riders think. He has an expression, "Let the easy things be easy." I lean on this concept every day, not just with horses and riders, but with the world at large. No one has had a bigger impact on the current group of top event riders in this country than Phillip Dutton. He is our Tiger Woods. The key to modern eventing is to have a horse that is both brave and careful; no one understands how to produce horses with these key components better than he does. Further, his willingness to learn and his willingness to teach are both inspiring and without parallel.

Sidelines: What principles do you stress in your training and in your clinics?
CT: I try to teach the same principles that have resonated with me. We have to first be able to keep a line and a rhythm. Then we have to learn to see a distance. These are the basic skills that we need to jump effectively, either in the ring or out across the country side. I am also a firm believer that no matter what the sport, we have to keep in mind that horses generally do what we tell them. Sometimes we just don't realize what it is we're telling them.

Sidelines: There have traditionally been injuries and fatalities in the sport. What rules do you believe should be enacted to make the eventing a safer sport?
CT: We need to improve safety on three tracks. First, we need to develop a true amateur version of the sport. In my mind this means amateur divisions separate from the professional divisions with cross-country courses designed appropriately. Secondly, we need to tighten the qualifications for moving up from one level to the next. Riders need to show a consistent track record at one level, with consistent jumping rounds and a mastery of the skills that go into producing clear rounds, before moving up. And third, we need to develop cross-country course construction methods that allow for mistakes and avoid rotational falls. I believe the frangible pin is a great asset and needs to be used more widely, but there also have to be other engineering answers that have yet to be developed.

Sidelines: In your opinion, what changes would you like to see in the sport as they pertain to professional event riders?
CT: Professional riders need to have a voice in their own sport. The USEA has done a great job of becoming a grass roots organization. Unfortunately it has done so at the expense of professionals. At the moment only one member of the USEA Board of Governors is an active, upper level professional. As a result we have very little input both into the governance of our sport and the public perception of our sport. Given this, I believe we as professional event riders need to develop our own advocacy organization and take an active role in the direction of upper level eventing. No on is going to do it for us.

Sidelines: How did you get the inspiration for the Event Horse sale?
CT: The short answer is too many glasses of wine! The longer answer is that the Aiken Event Horse Sale had less to do with me than with my girlfriend and partner, Sarah Heffron. She did all the hard work. I just set up a few jumps and planted some grass. Fortunately for us the moment was right for just such an effort. I can't imagine an opportunity to see 75 event horses all for sale in one place over two days other than the Aiken Event Horse Sale.