Wellington, FL – February 16, 2011 – G&C Farm is pleased to announce that six-time Olympian Nick Skelton will be the new coach for the farm’s riders, including Pablo Barrios. G&C Farm is based in Wellington, FL, and owned by Gustavo and Carolina Mirabal of Venezuela. Barrios, who competes for Venezuela, is also based in Wellington.
Gustavo Mirabal said, “We are very excited to have Nick join the G&C Farm team. Our goal is to continuously improve our position in the very top level of the sport, and we believe that Nick can help guide G&C Farm and Pablo in this endeavor.”
“I have always admired Nick,” Barrios said. “Now that I am working with him, I feel that I’m gaining invaluable experience. It’s a great situation and I look forward to learning more from him this year.”
Nick Skelton is a legend in the sport of show jumping. He represented Great Britain six times in the Olympic Games, has won five medals in World Equestrian Games competition and seven medals at the European Championships. Skelton won the 1995 FEI World Cup Show Jumping Finals and is a four-time winner of the prestigious DuMaurier/CN International $1 Million Grand Prix at Spruce Meadows.
Having amassed over 60 major grand prix titles and wins in more than 2,000 classes, Skelton has the experience to help G&C Farm improve and reach their goals in 2011. With Pablo Barrios poised in the top 30 of the ROLEX World Rankings (26 in the world), G&C Farm would like to better their ranking to be in the top 10. Barrios will also compete for the first time at the FEI World Cup Finals in Leipzig, Germany, in April.
G&C Farm is currently competing at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival, where Barrios and Skelton are competing side by side, and each have won a major grand prix class early in the season.
G&C Farm is the title sponsor of week 8 of the FTI WEF, the CSIO week, and the presenting sponsor of the $75,000 FEI Nations Cup on Friday, March 4. Barrios will be the anchor of the Venezuelan team in the Nations Cup.
G&C Farm will continue showing during week 6 of the 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival, and they are the sponsor of Sunday’s $50,000 G&C Farm Palm Beach Jumping Derby.
Please visit www.farmgc.com for more information on G&C Farm, their riders, and their horses. You can also find out more by visiting the G&C Farm page on Facebook or follow G&C Farm on Twitter.
G&C Farm brings exceptional horses and top Venezuelan jumper riders to the highest levels of competition. Their state-of-the-art, full-service facility is located in Wellington, FL.
The vision of G&C Farm is to improve the instruction and training of their top jumper riders and horses in order to seek a place on the Venezuelan team for all high level tournaments and top competitions, including the World Equestrian Games and Olympic Games. G&C Farm sponsors top grand prix rider Pablo Barrios of Venezuela, as well as other up and coming riders. The technical advisor at G&C Farm is Olympic Games course designer Leopoldo Palacios.
For more information on G&C Farm, please visit www.farmgc.com.