What You Can Expect When Attending A Clinic

Our clinics are designed to be informative, educational, fun and yet push the limits of your horsemanship. All clinics begin with an introduction, a short educational lecture and eventually progress into a session of groundwork.

Groundwork is a strong focal point for the participants in our clinics. Regardless of the participant’s training level, no one gets on a horse until they have adequately achieved the most basic of all groundwork – getting the horse to lower it’s head, lateral flexion, hindquarter disengagement, and backing smoothly. While there are certainly more groundwork exercises, these are the minimal requirements that you must perfect in order to ride your horse later in the clinic. No exceptions. Don’t worry if you and your horse don’t perform these minimal exercises well enough before you participate in the clinic. We will address these issues and confidently work our way through together. It has been proven time and time again that everyone is able to accomplish these simple tasks with their horses.

During the clinics there will be a lot of general horsemanship information given out in the hopes that you, or perhaps even an auditor, will grasp something and take it home. During the one-on-one sessions I will address all of your individual concerns in detail and work together to bring you and your horse through to a better communication and understanding.

Depending on time, we try to have a positive playtime at the end of the clinics. This time is a blast and will certainly put to use all the skills that you learned during the day. I the past, we have thrown big beach balls into the arena to play a rousing game of soccer – on horseback!!! We have had challenge courses filled with tarps, ground poles, jumps, squeezes, barrels, beach balls, and even a hanging split tarp/curtain for the horses to walk through and under!!! Usually we turn on some good music, crank it up and turn everyone loose to test their trust and communication with their horses. Participation while mounted is optional, but we encourage everyone do go through the challenge with their horses in hand.

This year we hope to have several “theme” styled playtimes! It will be exciting and tons of fun for participants and auditors alike.

If you have a question concerning your particular horse and whether they should, or should not, participate in the clinic, please do not hesitate to contact me at bbackriders@yahoo.com

Michael Gonzalez

Click here for descriptions of specific clinics already held during 2004.W.A.H.