Jane’s Horse and Home

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day. I was invited to attend a dressage clinic as a spectator.  Anything “horse” is always of interest, so I said “why not”? My horse America and I enjoy time on the trail, and time working in the arena, along with time together at lunch, or maybe just ambling through a day of thinking. Some of my best thinking is done when we’re together…it seems like he always has something to teach me. All that said though…I have to say that when it comes to dressage, America and I are innocent bystanders. I’ve always appreciated watching it and am impressed by its grace and athleticism. So, yesterday my friend Kerry and I went to see what sounded like a bit of an unusual event. It was a natural horsemanship clinic for dressage riders. We drove to Lisa Caloia’s Freestyle Farm in Oxford Michigan on a sunny-crisp fall day with our coffee and sat in the arena to watch and learn. Freestyle Farm is a facility mainly for amateur adults and offers boarding, lessons and clinics for the sport and art of dressage.  The instructor for this event was Duane Valerio.  His approach to working with horses is parallel to that of Clinton Anderson and other top natural horsemanship clinicians and trainers. Duane says that true horsemanship, no matter what the persuasion, is about cultivating the willingness within your horse.  If you do not have trust and confidence in your horse, it’s pretty safe to say he or she hasn’t developed that connection with you either.  The program is designed to help to build or rebuild a solid foundation for a relationship that you and your horse will share for a lifetime, no matter what discipline is pursued.  He trains with respect and gentleness. It was incredible to watch Duane transfer some natural communication skills to the riders who in turn showed obvious success in the arena.  Each horse and human is treated and trained as an individual. It was unusual to say the least to see traditional dressage practiced in the arena with Duane, dressed in cowboy hat and fringed chaps. Natural horsemanship and English saddles…I loved seeing these two worlds collide, bringing a new perspective resulting in amazing successes in the ring.

The next day, I tried some of the techniques I saw with America.  We started with some new cues for backing up, and did some exercises for stopping, etc. that I witnessed at the clinic.  I can’t say he’s ready for the dressage show ring, but he’s definitely a winner!  Our natural lessons continue next week…

More later on that…

-Jane

This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 10:17 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.