2018 Farrah Green Clinics at The Trapper Creek Ranch, Shell – Wyoming

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2018 Clinic & Training Schedule

Mastering Equine Communication  

• Sections in On-Line/ Liberty/ Freestyle Riding for Levels 1-3.  Don’t know what level you are?  No problem. After this week you will find out and because of that you will know how to progress from there.
• Playing with a horse on-line teaches the horse to follow the “feel” of the rope, which will translate to following the “feel” of the rein. Whether you are teaching something new, reinforcing, or refining a concept to a horse of any age, playing with a horse on-line with one rein, or two improves your timing and focus.
• Take the skills that you have learned on-line and test your communication without a rope.  Is your body language clear enough that your horse can understand your movements and gestures without a rope?  When your horse has a choice, would he choose to be with you?
• Learn to ride with very precise aids so your horse can understand you without a bridle.  Move the different body parts in rhythm with your horse.  Teach your horse to do in his body exactly what you do in yours!  Learn to dance. Become a more balanced, fluid rider that is connected to your core.
• Use what you have learned with your horse out on the trail and see the beautiful Wyoming countryside.

Advanced Equine Communication – Level 4 and beyond

• If you are signing up for this course, it means that you are a confident rider ready to explore new depths in your horsemanship.  Even if you have not had any experience in the following specific topics, or if you have been studying them for many years, everyone will find new and valuable insights that will take their horsemanship to the next level.
• Learn more about Dressage/Cowboy Dressage. Positioning of the rider and the horse varying by an inch forward or backward can determine a movement that can build and strengthen a horse versus a movement that can break down a horse. This course will address the precision in a way that is guaranteed to be achievable by even a rider with no education on classical riding.
• Teach your horse to explore the big, beautiful Wyoming landscape and use all of things you have taught him in the arena to give him confidence and obedience on the trail.
• Go to the next level with Liberty, play with one horse, then learn how to ride and play with another horse at liberty!
• Learn to ride bare back, or bridle-less, or both at the same time!  Develop your feel and timing so that your horse can READ YOUR MIND.

Focus on Dressage / Cowboy Dressage

• Dressage literally means “high level animal training.” United States Dressage Federation defines dressage as “the art of training and riding a horse that develops obedience, flexibility, and balance.”  You will learn to become a truly balanced rider so that you can help your horse balance instead of you balancing on him.
• It is not necessary to have any dressage experience to take this course.  But even if you have years of experience, you will learn the scale of these movements to better understand how to build your horse gymnastically.
• Detailed instructions on how to accomplish all the lateral movements including shoulders-in/out, haunches in/out, leg yield, half-pass, pirouette.  You will understand exactly how to achieve them!  And how mastery of these movements will give you access to movements of straightness such as extended trot or jog, piaffe, passage, and lead changes.
• Teach your horse the basis of lead changes.  Learn sure fire ways to teach lead changes to ANY horse!
• You will learn how to ask for these lateral maneuvers on the ground with one or two reins, how to motivate your horse to do them at liberty, and how to achieve them with and without a bridle!  It is a myth that you need a bit to teach your horse dressage because true collection begins in the hind end of the horse, not the front!
• Practice the art of GARROCHA riding, otherwise known as pole dance with horses!  Learn about how to use the pole to make perfectly round circles, motivate your horse to move off a light leg pressure, and give your horse a fun focus and purpose.  Give your horse confidence with dragging an object and
• Learn about the beautiful movements of dressage and how applying them to your horse can cause your horse to be calmer and more elastic athlete in the arena and on some of the most beautiful trails you have seen!

Focus on Starting Young Horses

• Bring a young horse or learn how to begin training horses from the ages of 1 – 4 years.  This is not a school for bronc riders. Many clients are around the age of 60 and want to live far past that!
• Starting horses is not about being the gutsiest cowboy or cowgirl.  It is about being smart and answering all the horse’s questions before they have time to ask.  One the biggest questions that a horse has when you first sit on his back is……”When and how are you getting off?”  Seems like a reasonable request to me!  If you don’t give your horse the answer soon enough, he might help you off!  You will learn how convince your horse that he really wants you to ride rather than play on the ground.
• Teaching the horse to be a good citizen is sometimes more important than sitting on his back.  I have seen many people get bucked off just because their horse wanted to go home or with the other horses.  Horses easily become injured or start bad habits in life because they weren’t taught in the beginning to be patient or yield from pressure.
• Teaching your young horse to pony (or be led by another horse) is one of the single most valuable skills he can learn.  It is the easiest way to go on a trail ride with a young horse in a safe way and in a way that is easy for him.  You can expose him to water, bridges, logs, deer, and everything else he might see on the trail with very little risk to yourself.  In the process, he learns from example of your confident pony horse.
• Tying, hobbling, packing, and driving are all essential skills for any horse to have, and so many horses have never been exposed to these skills in their life time, and yet horses that can do these things are more thinking creatures and therefore safer to be around.

Focus on TrailRiding / Competitive Trail Riding

• Develop your horse’s confidence on the trail.  Your horse will learn from other, seasoned trail horses to explore new environments and trust in you as his leader.
• Learn the positive warm up exercises that can determine your entire day or week of riding.
• Teach your horse to wait patiently when tied so that you can eat lunch or take a bathroom break on the trail.  Teach your horse to be hobbled, so he can becalm in dangerous claustrophobic situations, or just enjoy lunch too!
• Adding depth to your ride – Competitive trail riding (CTR) is an equestrian sport where riders cover a marked trail for a distance that is usually between 6 and 40 miles per day. The goal of the competition is to demonstrate partnership between horse and rider. Unlike in endurance riding, factors other than speed are considered. It may be timed, or it may only be a judged trail ride. The horse is evaluated on performance, manners, and related criteria.  Experience your first competitive trail ride.
• Motivate your horse to negotiate obstacles while on the ground, or in the saddle.  You and your horse will learn how to open and close gates properly, side-pass over logs and poles, pick your way through tight spaces with confidence.  Learn to handle a rope and drag on obstacle.  Present a bridge and or water to your horse in a way that feels like it is his idea to cross.
• Learn how to negotiate obstacles you find on the trail, while seeing some of the most beautiful country in North America!

Trick Horse training/ Liberty/ and Driving (no riding)

• If you are looking for something different and fun you have reached your destination!  In this course, you will learn how to teach your horse a variety of tricks including but not limited to:  Spanish walk, bow, kneel, smile, hug, fetch, sit, say yes and no, stretch, rear.  You will learn how to shape a behavior and also how often to repeat a behavior to maximize learning.  Also how to motivate different “horsanalities” to WANT to perform.
• Play with horses who already know these behaviors.  Feel what it feels like to ask with subtle cues to get extreme results.
• In liberty, learn the skills that make any horse want to stick-to-you like glue!  Teach your horse to come to you on command, to stay until you call him.  Motivate him to negotiate different obstacles without you pushing him to do so.  Allow your horse to ask the question, “What Happens when I go further away,” and learn to answer his question forever!  Have others help teach your horse that the best place to be is with you!  A confident liberty horse is a horse that is also confident in you as his leader.  He will be a safer horse to be around in general.  Learn to play with a herd of horses at liberty, communicating with each one individually.
• Teach your horse to drive with one and then two reins!  Driving is a very valuable skill for any horse.  It increases confidence and control from behind the horse.  If you hope to play with your horse at liberty, if you have a strong connection from behind your horse, the chances of him “leaving” are much reduced.  Learn how to introduce the shafts of a cart and pulling something behind.  Practice driving with trained driving ponies!  You will get the chance to hold the reins of a horse in a cart.  Learn what to do to calm your horse down on in the arena, or on the road.

English to Western Riding

So what is the difference between English riding and Western? Of course the saddle is very different, but what are the other things that are different between the two styles of riding? Good horsemanship is good horsemanship no matter what saddle you ride, but often English riders ride with contact all the time, and are skeptical, even hesitant to ride on a loose rein.

What is the benefit of riding on a loose rein? Riding on a loose rein, or what is called freestyle riding is a true test of a rider’s independent seat, and a horse’s self-carriage. Not only do you have to use your core instead of your reins to balance, but you must also learn to use the rest of your body, such as your weight, seat and legs before you pick up the reins. There are also different patterns to teach a horse to carry themselves on the ground and move without using the reins. You will learn these, as well as differences in tack and posture.

It all comes down to great horsemanship and an instructor that has experience in both these disciplines as well as the ability to teach and translate the differences. Farrah Green, our trainer lives in both worlds and understands your challenges very well. As a Parelli instructor she is trained not only to communicate and teach horses but is also a professional in instructing people. Sign up and experience riding in a traditional Western fashion, with the highest level of professionalism and ability to translate and integrate from English riding to Western.

You can also visit Farrah Green’s website at sittinghorse.wildapricot.org.