Tara Bostwick put Tuesday's Masterclass in perspective by referring to the featured guests as the LeBron James and Kevin Durant of the eventing world for their Olympic gold medals.
As vice president of the Horse Park Foundation, Bostwick helped organize a class for more than 300 spectators at Stable View Farm. Leading the class were horse-eventing Olympians Boyd Martin and Phillip Dutton, who have both won gold medals.
Having Olympians in Aiken teaching a class on how to train horses is huge for the equine community, Bostwick said.
"These types of events are the backbone of our equestrian work here in Aiken," Bostwick said.
The class included instructional demonstrations on horse training, and a question-and-answer session for audience members to make inquiries. Martin said he and Dutton tried to cater to the large crowd by talking about the basics of training.
"We wanted people who were new to the sport to understand what we were doing. But we also wanted people who were there to learn to get an insight on what it takes to train horses," Martin explained. "Some of the horses didn't actually perform well, which was a good thing because we were able to talk about the process with the people."
Many of Tuesday's training tasks were met with applause from the large crowd, including praise from Amy Hebert, owner of Aiken Saddlery. Already a member of the equine culture, Hebert was a student Tuesday evening and spoke about having two Olympians lead the class.
"We have people from all walks of life who do different things with horses, so it's huge to have them here at Stable View where everyone can take a little something away from it," Hebert said.
Proceeds from the event went to benefit the Aiken Horse Park Foundation and Equine Rescue of Aiken. Also, Stable View Farm matched what was raised to further benefit the charities.
Cynthia Olliff, owner of Stable View, said she and her husband were approached about hosting the event and immediately knew it was a great idea.
"It's great to be able to help some of the local foundations," Olliff said.
Martin added, "Phillip and I were blown away by the interest in Aiken. It was an entertaining evening, and I feel like Aiken provided a wonderful atmosphere."
Derrek Asberry is the SRS beat reporter.