Elkhorn, NE Clinic

Well I still haven’t done anything with my horses. DH is still gone and the daylight must have followed him. The colder temps are starting to come more often as well. I’m just not ready for winter yet.

This past weekend MIL and I went to watch a CA clinic in Elkhorn, NE. It was nice to watch compared to a tour. There were 18 horses there Sat. when we showed up but by the end of the clinic only 16 were there to receive certificates.

I would really like to do a CA clinic so it was nice to see the format and what to expect. My goal is to do a CA clinic on Cat in 2010. Hopefully by then I have the $$ and she’s had a little bit of riding (she’ll be a 3 yr. old then).

I was amazed at how many participants had no clue and how pushy/disrespectful some of the horses were. One horse constantly charged and tried to attack the other horses so CA put Krista on her and every time she’d pin and try to charge another horse Krista would whack the horse between the ears hard with a crop. At one point CA got another horse and “tempted” the grumpy horse but the horse just pinned her ears instead of attacking so CA said they had found their starting point.

This horse also refused to go in a straight line. During the passenger lesson she zigged and zagged all over the place trying to lose Krista. By day two the rider was riding her all over the place in a straight line. It was cool to watch the transformation.

There was a beautiful OTTB that was spooking at a corner so Krista got on him and did some rollbacks and circles. This TB was very athletic and turned before Krista and Krista fell off. CA of course informed Krista what she did wrong and she re-mounted and continued. I felt bad for Krista but it did make me feel a little bit better about my past incidents. We are all humans and shit happens to the best of us.

There were two girls there who you could tell had practiced the methods. One I was told was on the waiting list to be an apprentice but wasn’t old enough yet. She had a nice cow bred filly that reminded me of Lu. Ears back when she backed her and when she’d change directions. The other gal had a nice grey horse. It was great listening to CA explain to them how to refine things.

MIL had a few epiphanies and she’s pumped to work with Sis now. I learned a few things in regards to refinement that will be nice to put into practice if I ever get the chance to work ponies again.

I would highly recommend auditing a clinic if one is near you.

P.S. – if you are a club member I was told by an “inside” source that 2009 would be an awesome year for members and that the discounts would be even better.