Equestrian lifestyle expo focuses on education

60,000 square feet of holiday equine shopping!

With more than 50 hours worth of educational programming lined up, it's Dr. Robert Miller that has the organizers of the Chicagoland Equestrian Lifestyle Expo and Holiday Market most excited.

"Dr. Miller is 83 years old and an icon in the horse and veterinary world," said Joy Meierhans, expo manager. "We're just blown away that he'd come. At 83 he's as sharp and quick and funny as ever."

Miller retired after 30 years in practice to devote his full time to teaching horse behavior and providing scientific reasons why natural horsemanship techniques work in a non-technical, refreshingly easy-to-understand way. He is known as the father of "imprint training," the revolutionary system of training newborn foals now used all over the world. At the expo, Miller will guide attendees through understanding the horse's mind and explain how to use that knowledge to solve horse problems.

"He even draws cartoons and has written several books," Meierhans said. "He'll be speaking, and Saturday evening he'll do a book signing before we have to take him to the airport so he can get to another event in San Antonio."

Several other notable equine experts share the spotlight with Miller at the event, hosted by the Illinois Horse Council Nov. 19-20 at the Lake County Expo Center halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee in Grayslake, Ill. The lineup includes equine communicator Charles Wilhelm, three-time Olympic coach Jane Savoie and internationally known sports psychologist Ann S. Reilly.

"All together we have 32 presenters in two days offering about 56 total hours of educational opportunities," Meierhans said. "The main mission of the Illinois Horse Council is education."

Charles Wilhelm is known for his skills in communicating and motivating people and his natural abilities with horses. His relaxed, warm and amusing character has made him a great favorite at clinics and expositions where attendees take home solid, practical knowledge, enabling them to be successful with their own horses - seeing results right away.

Jane Savoie is an international competitor, author and highly entertaining speaker. As a member of the United States Equestrian Team since 1991, she has represented the U.S. in competitions in Germany, Holland, France, Belgium and Canada. She returns to the expo with new presentation topics after being rated 11 on a scale of 1 to 10 by packed audiences enthused with her presentations last year. Although a dressage coach and competitor, Savoie's approach crosses all breed and discipline lines.

Reilly has led the equestrian world in sport psychology training for more than 25 years. Through her applied work with riders, as well as athletes from all sports, she has developed the skills to assist riders in overcoming obstacles that have held them back from attaining peak performance in competition. In addition to her expo presentations on winning the competition mind game and overcoming fears, Reilly will be available for private consultations.

In addition to headliners, the expo features leading trainers, nutritionists, animal scientists, legal consultants, saddle fitting experts, veterinary specialists and researchers in the forefront of equine understanding such as the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine and Southern Illinois University's four-year equine science program. The event also features roundtables with intimate access to the speakers (think speed dating with your choice of experts).

Sunday's ProTrack seminar series for stable and farm managers will cover legal, environmental and marketing subjects in addition to sessions on worker's compensation and understanding client personality types and how to work effectively with each type.