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The Professor is supported in part by donations made to the Georgia Equestrian Foundation.  A 501(c)3 charitable foundation.

PRESS RELEASE

Volunteers return “Secret Weapon” to Roswell

In a remarkable show of grass roots support, volunteers from Roswell, Georgia began the process of bringing Michelle Gibson back to her home at Applewood farm.  In 1996 Michelle Gibson and her equine partner, Peron, won Olympic bronze for her performance in dressage.  Dressage is the equine sport best known as the art of dancing horses.  There are only a handful of horse/rider combinations in the world that can successfully compete at the Olympic level.   Every winter Gibson packs up and travels to West Palm Beach, Florida to join the winter horse circuit and in the spring she returns to her home in Roswell.

“Training for the Olympics is a year round process and she is convinced she can win gold this time” said David Gower, an Atlanta Neurosurgeon. Gower and his wife, a pediatric ENT surgeon took time from their busy schedule to drive to Florida and return with the camper trailer that Michelle uses there in the winter season. “My wife and I respect her commitment and are just a small part of the support group that helps Michelle move trailers, horses and to raise money for her Olympic bid”, he said. “She didn’t get a chance to compete in the 2000 Olympics because she did not have a horse, my wife and I as well as dozens of volunteers are not going to let this happen again,” said Gower.

Gibson still holds the all time high score for an Olympic qualifier in dressage making her one of the most talented riders in the world. We call her “America’s secret weapon” said Brad Thatcher, owner of Applewood Farm in Alpharetta. If we are going to compete with the type of government sponsorship that the other teams have, we must have this type of local volunteerism.

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