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Post by jtjedi on May 11, 2009 14:52:24 GMT -5
I host several clinics, with very different trainers, and I am looking at adding a few more to the line up. I host these clinics at a facility that would like to do two events per month.
What clinics would you actually pay to ride in? Which trainers, what type of clinic? The trainer can be from out of state and the type of trainer does not matter. Dressage, jumping, natural horsemanship, trail, driving, gaited, cutting, reining, showmanship, anything!
If I brought them in, would you attend as a participant, not an auditor?
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Post by cutiepiepmu on May 11, 2009 16:08:05 GMT -5
Craig Cameron - by far. I would absolutely pay to participate with him. Ken McNabb is also an outstanding clinician and I know he comes to the area. I would love to do a clinic with him as long as I have a horse that is relivent to the clinic at that point (cow horses!)
Sara
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Post by pnp4kidz on May 11, 2009 16:42:37 GMT -5
One that can give me back my confidence and balance.
:-)
good luck with that one.... but I am betting (and confirming my belief by saying this out loud)
that I am not the only 're-rider' who has some balance issues and just can't ride like I used to. The fear is there, but also the wobbles.
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Post by tireddog on May 11, 2009 18:55:50 GMT -5
Beth, I am with you 100%. Something happened with age and having children and I, too, have lost my balance and confidence while riding in tricky, unpredictable situations. (This is partially why you saw me on a pony last year.)
Jamie, I would love to attend a clinic held by you. Aside from you, I am a Craig Cameron fan, also.
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Post by luvmypaints on May 11, 2009 19:43:58 GMT -5
I'm with Sara, I'd love to ride with Craig Cameron, Ken Mcnabb, and I'd add Pat Parelli to that list! they are my all time fav's!! I love their methods and the fact that you can tell that they LOVE what they do!!!
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Post by pnp4kidz on May 11, 2009 19:58:48 GMT -5
Hey, Jaimie, are you coming to the TiredDog Campout in July?
if so, will you do us a little clinic for the meek and timid and off balance old ladies?
The teenagers can gallop off to a ride by themselves that afternoon!
:-)
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Post by tireddog on May 11, 2009 22:22:53 GMT -5
What a great idea, Beth! Pretty please, Jamie, with cherries on top? The round pen will be all ready to rock and roll in the upper meadow, and you will have those of us who have developed old-age fears we completely lacked in our younger years. This would be a blast!
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Post by shelberttk2 on May 11, 2009 23:53:23 GMT -5
OH my gosh! I thought it was just me!! To top things off, I sure as heck am not graceful and flexible like I used to be! I got off my horse the other day and my shirt hooked to the horn, flashing everybody who drove by....this is the second time this has happened to me! I got half way across the field, and my hip and knee was aching and my fat ol' Morgan was puffing and my saddle kept slipping back....so back to the barn I went, put a breast collar on and rode for 20 more minutes....It just didn't seem as fun as it used to, we were both sore by the time we were done....needless to say, the two of us are on diets!! This whole entire time, the kids are zipping around me running barrel patterns and going full speed ahead....whatever......
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Post by shelberttk2 on May 11, 2009 23:54:16 GMT -5
And parts of my body jiggle and wiggle that shouldn't.....and I had to go up a size in saddles because my butt was hanging over in places it shouldn't....I swear!!!
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Post by pnp4kidz on May 12, 2009 1:31:20 GMT -5
Oh I HEAR ya Chel... so, Jaime, are we on? sounds like some of us NEED this! LOL! (and Chel, you ARE coming, right?  ) |
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Post by cutiepiepmu on May 12, 2009 11:58:20 GMT -5
For balance and learning how to better sit your horse - somone local that would be WONDERFUL is Barb Apple. She is a certified level 1 centered riding instructor and is LOCAL! I know she is also booking clinics currently. Would LOVE to do a clinic with her!!!
Ohhh and on a side note - yes, as we age things are much different up there. Since i gained some extra junk in the trunk I noticed my boobs do things while I am riding that are seriously un-natural. At one point while trail riding with a friend, my big ol percheron lurched forward hard into the gallop and literally THREW my boobs up and out of my very tight sports bra.... lol! Kind of worried i might give myself a black eye!!!
Sara
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Post by michellep on May 12, 2009 12:46:49 GMT -5
I would like to ride with anybody that could teach me to sit down and just relax and enjoy the ride and not anticipate what bad things could happen. On a side note, I went riding this weekend and my little Turtle is the biggest chicken when it comes to riding around new horses. So he calmed down enough for me to feel comfortable jogging him in the arena, and wouldnt you just know something caught Turtles eye and he just about jumped out from underneath me. My foot slipped out of my right stirrup and Im still not sure how I managed to stay on (I got a great view of the clear blue sky when he went sideways). Of course I grabbed hold of his mouth to "whoa" instead of the one reign stop. I have the most beautiful purple/green bruises on my inner thigh. So anybody that could help get me to relax more would be most beneficial.
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Post by cutiepiepmu on May 12, 2009 14:20:42 GMT -5
Where are you located at Michelle???
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Post by michellep on May 12, 2009 14:49:21 GMT -5
Im out in Graham, only 5 minutes from Frontier Park (Graham Fairgrounds) Part of my problem is that I know that Turtle gets nervous with other strange horses and he did relax and settle down, I wasnt as relaxed as I would have liked. We dont ride in the arena a lot so it was new for both of us and a simple jog was as fast as either of us was comfortable in going. My husband wanted to see me galloping as fast as Turtle would go,but in all honesty I have never galloped him. Not many trails that we go to that I would ever have that opportunity to do so. If the arena would have been quieter and less horses I might have attempted to go faster but another problem I have is that Turtle has a big trot so the faster he goes either I learn to post correctly or I get a teeth jarring ride. My old gelding (RIP) that I had had two speeds stop and fast, so I learned real quick to anticipate his moves and knew his body language (god hope that made sense). Turtle finished the ride great though, he was relaxed and we were working on the one rein stops pretty good. Now that the horse knows the concept of one rein stopping I guess I need to re-teach myself.
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Post by pnp4kidz on May 12, 2009 16:44:04 GMT -5
I have a clinician down here, Gail Ivey, who has given me some great advice on working with Bob Marley to keep his 'mind' with me... and to keep his thoughts on the job at hand... and methods to gently redirect him to that...
if his thoughts are with YOU , and your work, then he should not SEE other things, nor react to them.
Now... operationalizing that is more difficult for ME...
perhaps I can get some lessons with her....
:-)
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Post by michellep on May 12, 2009 17:12:28 GMT -5
I should also ad that three weeks ago when we rode at the same place I did my longing thing with Turtle for 10 minutes and then we hit the trails. I was completely relaxed and very comfortable on him. We even went by the horse eating children strollers and no problems, there were also other horses there. The only difference being was that my husband was ridding his horse and this past Sunday he didnt due to his horse being slightly lame. Turtle was okay getting away from his buddy, no calling out or anything, so Im thinking my problem is more with me than the horse itself.
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Post by pnp4kidz on May 12, 2009 17:46:14 GMT -5
Gail would say that you are letting Turtle's thoughts wander from YOU...
and his feet follow his thoughts.
I kept that in mind when riding Charlie this weekend, and when he looked elsewhere I made him 'adjust' or do some small move so his thoughts came back to 'me' and I directed him to 'think' about the upcoming barrel or pole...
when his thoughts were 'too much' on the pole, I redirected him to 'think' about a different line we were taking...
Maybe it's all hoo-ey, and I'm making it up, but it did make me 'feel' better... LOL!
I get nervous when they are looking at something...
Gail says that is because I can feel their thoughts going elsewhere, which DOES make them at risk to have the feet go there too! (or away from there!)
so, at home, I rode along but when his thoughts (and his ears) looked at the horses in the pasture, and I worried he might wanna go run and buck with them... I just did a big circle then... and voila! he looked away, tipped his ears back to me, and I could feel him not thinking about reacting to them any more! he was all about 'ME' and I didn't feel him tensing up to react to them at all!
I need to go take lessons from her. She is kinda far, but hey... might be worth it...
mta: she felt bad for Bob Marley tho, saying that with the fear reaction like he has, it will be hard to overcome that and keep his thoughts with me... and not on his memories of what used to be asked of him there... but it was possible...
and she gave me some techniques for slowly working him while redirecting his thoughts, but know that if he can't 'think' about me, it's time to move to somewhere else to ride,
which is my inclination with him anyway... get out of the arena when it is not going well... :-)
Charlie is not at all nervous, I was just practicing with him...
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Post by cutiepiepmu on May 13, 2009 5:52:10 GMT -5
ok - this is just a thought of course - but when I have had a horse that i felt nervous on - watching someone else ride them out and put them through their paces did wonders for me. Have you thought about having someone who is qualified and soft handed get on turtle - ask for the gallop, canter, ect ? I also am a HUGE fan of find a JOB - which means - don't ust ride down the trail - find little jobs along the way to focus on - This could be - ride over to that tree and touch his nose to it - Back over the little log, step sideways over the creek, move hindquarters over to let another horse go by, turn 360 degrees without going forward or back on the trail - make up things - it doesn't have to be formal training or even something that makes sence. Remember when you were a kid and would ride??? I bet that in your mind you were doing something silly (I was a jockey! LOL - on a cow ranch riding a roping horse of course lol) But, you did stupid stuff that you made up and you didn't have fear - you just played. Try to go back to that. There is a time and place to be formal and ride proper, but IMO when yo sort of let go - let your imagination regain a little spot in your head and play lets pretend with your horse - so many other things go away. Don't worry about your seat or your hands, don't think about what other people are thinking, don't worry about what direction youa re going - just do something stupid and fun(be safe about it mind you - but you know what I mean!) The best trained horse is still going to stress you out if you are overly concerned about everything. If you need a reality check on your horse - have a kid ride turtle! LOL I bet they imagine that they are in a grand prix show or riding hte black stallion on the beach or something else wild.... and in return, your silly horse joins the party, relaxes and has fun too  Just a thought Sara |
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Post by michellep on May 13, 2009 10:19:03 GMT -5
Thanks for the suggestions, I think Im over thinking the "what ifs" and not giving Turtle the credit he deserves as he has come a very long way. The day we just rode the trails was so great as I just enjoyed the day, the beautiful weather and I didnt even think once of things that could scare Turtle. I wish that Sundays ride could have been like that but again I was thinking "oh jeez he could possibly spook at that" and didnt just go with the flow. I do remember being a kid and being fearless and riding bareback wide open along side Thun Field racing the airplanes as they took off. Neither of us knew any better or thought about the dangers, I was fearless and so was my horse, geez those were the days....
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