COMMUNICATION & OBSTACLES WORKSHOP

TEACHER’S AIDE AT THE WORKSHOP

Today Cearra (aka: AQHA Toimpressivetonotice) was the “Teacher”s Aide” and demo horse at the Communication & Obstacles Workshop hosted by the Golden State Horsemanship Club. She worked with the instructor on the ground and under saddle. She is ALL the exercises in the review below and gave 100%. Very proud of how far this mare has come in such a short time. By the end of the day she was pretty tired but had a great attitude through it all.

Communication & Obstacles Workshop: A Review

A day like today takes COURAGE because it creates CHANGE and CHALLENGES the participant to STEP UP their skills and STOP being ineffective. The process takes focus and dedication. If you really want a better connection with your horse, you have to be willing to CHANGE and face the CHALLENGES needed to take it all to the next level.

Or you can simply accept mediocrity. Those that participated today chose not be mediocre and brought their focus and hard work. The reward? A MUCH better level of communication with their horses, GOOD FOOD and lots of FUN!

We had a GREAT workshop today! Really got to help folks improve their awareness, understanding and application of clear communication skills. From the round pen to the leadership walk to the trail and obstacle course the participants pushed themselves out their comfort zones and recognized how much they had “muddied the waters” prior to the workshop. Everything from being out of position to the use of pressure and release was covered. Lots of WINS in the round pen for everyone.

Then we moved to doing work on the line. We covered several critical exercises that would be used later in the workshop. Getting the horse moving well off halter pressure and having control of the major body parts was focused on. Not as easy as it sounds! Next was the Leadership Walk where participants worked on the trail course and obstacles helping their horse (and themselves) build a stronger bond, clearer communication and lots of well-earned confidence!

We had more than 10 obstacles laid out on a really fun and challenging trail course to play on. Horses and humans had their hard drives filled. So to digest the lessons of the morning session (and because everyone was hungry) we broke for lunch!

TACO BAR with all the fixings was on the menu. It was darn tasty!

After lunch we saddled up and got to work! A little ground work to make sure everyone was ready and then we did some riding exercises to ensure that we had good communication with our horses and control of the body parts. Then we hit the trail and obstacle course. The GOAL was to use leg and seat cues more than hands/reins in helping the horse navigate the variety of obstacles and terrain. Again, not as easy as it sounds! Everyone worked really hard and showed real improvement during the ride. Very proud of everyone!

There was even a handout!

If you missed it, being a little sad is okay.

We will be hosting another one in late February/ early March.