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January 2007 Clinic
In
all our clinics, we continually work on improving our groundwork. At
this clinic, we focused on understanding how the way we ask our horses to move on
the ground translates to the cues we use under saddle.
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This little pony
decided to show us what else we could do in a clinic – use
a cone to rearrange the sand in the arena! for everyday hoof maintenance
or if she might get tangled in some wire.
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As we moved to
under saddle work, this Thoroughbred mare presented indications
that something was physically wrong when her owner was saddling
her. Kay Dunn, an equine tension release specialist who was attending
the clinic, was able to show us what the likely problem was and
suggest a possible course of treatment, which started with immediately
resting the mare for the remainder of the clinic.
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Under saddle,
we concentrated on exercises designed to help us develop straightness.
At first, we used the fence (at a walk, trot and canter) and gently
used an on-off pressure on the outside rein to help our horses maintain
that straightness.
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It's never too
early to start learning the basics properly!
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From the fence,
we progressed to using cones in the centre of the arena. Working
between cones makes it more difficult for the horse to judge whether
he is straight. It is also harder for the rider to maintain good
balance and not interfere with the horse.
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At the end, we
pulled it all together in some basic formation work, followed by
a good game of sortija!
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