Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Photo Filled Clinic Overview - Oreana Spring 2016


The 2016 spring Oreana clinic was three very full days. We had a very diverse group of students and horses. Students ranged from experienced riders with literally thousands of competitive miles to comparative beginner riders. The horses ranged from sensitive hot blooded horses to the extreme opposite; cold blooded lazy horses! There were a couple of features of this class that I found particularly interesting. This class was more than typically engaged with each other. They interacted with each other and with the clinicians in a very proactive way. I thought that was neat and several participants indicated that the group discussions and class time were especially helpful for them. Another trait was - working overtime! On Saturday morning I arrived at 7:15 and Ted was already working with a student and her horse. 

Here are a few shots of morning class/discussion times.


Here Lynn and her horse get some one on one instruction on roundpenning, and several other students took advantage of the opportunity to observe and listen.

Practicing without the horses.  



Participants worked in pairs for this phase of the clinic. We do this to prepare for several common scenarios that the students will encounter as we move through the exercises. More than one student has commented that this is an interesting and helpful exercise. I observe that it definitely highlights the importance of body language and the simple fact that it is our job to speak the horses language. It is also good fun, some folks can act a very convincing naughty horse!






Following are a few favorite shots of each participant. 
Steph with her newest addition, an off the track Standarbred named Willie. 

An 'exception' occurred at this clinic. We do not normally allow mules at clinics but special arrangements were made and Linda was able to follow along with her mule. Thus she was "somewhat part of but not entirely part of" the clinic. Matt made this possible by making himself available as a dedicated instructor for Linda for the duration. 


Lynn White and Mike the Morgan




Sally Tarbet brought out her 'new girl'.











Debbie Grose, she brought the most auditors.
















David joined us for a second clinic, these first two photos show an awesome student.











David was probably the participant who loved the cruising the most.






Carol Smith joined the group with her mustang.



















Merri Melde, many time clinic observer, joined as a participant for this one.














Michele Unsworth, with us for her second clinic.
















Kamelia worked so hard all weekend she almost forgot to have fun. Not quite, just almost!

Kamelia had a great support system with her. She was accompanied by her husband as helper and had three daughters along for the weekend too. One of the many nice things about the Teeter place is the family friendly environment. Everyone's welcome at the crick!
















Ken Baker returned for his second clinic. This time he used our horse, Cowboy. Cowboy is a great match for Ken and he will soon become Ken's horse.











Carol and Pyrite











Beth Skaggs was an absolute pleasure to have. We are so glad she won the clinic spot given away at PNER convention! She dedicated two weekends in a row to studying (and practicing) horsemanship knowledge and skills. (She audited the Parma clinic and then participated in the Oreana clinic.)



















Next post will be a true update on 'everything going on here' - there seems to be a lot!

~ Leni














































































































































































Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Parma Spring Clinic - 60 Photos of 8 Participants

I love taking pictures. I love capturing a still memory of a moment in time. Well moments really, lots and lots of moments! I love scrolling through pictures. Pictures of people learning, smiling, working, playing. It's just cool! For me, digital photography is a blessing and a curse. It means you can click away without worrying about the expenses associated with good old fashioned film. It also means I take way too many pictures! I then spend hours deleting terrible shots. Usually I find that I keep between ten and twenty percent of the photos I snap. I think I am getting a little better in some ways, taking fewer inferior or truly poor shots and typically landing closer to the twenty percent than the ten. I also seem to be sorting through a bit faster although I still get caught up in the experience of sort of 'watching' it all happen as I go through photographs. 

This past weekend we had a great clinic. The weather day one and two was perfect, and it was passable for the first half of day one. After that the weather was awful but we were able to have a great finish by trailering a short distance to an indoor arena. 

If a picture is worth a thousand words I shouldn't need to use many - enjoy. 

Tim, Julie in the background






Tim and Two-Feathers, our champion most improved.

Terrence, helping Julie with Cochise's flex. Julie has her bucket list mustang and they're doing great!
 

Julie and Genevieve practicing the motions. There was such a spirit of enthusiasm and fun at this clinic and it shows in this photo!



Julie, Tim and Suzanna in the background

Karen C. was unable to attend day three but made a lot of progress with her big boy in the two days she was with us. Karen and Janet (featured next) were our only two students who didn't travel to this clinic. They took their horses home each night! Here Suzanna and Karen help each other practice using the tools.






Janet and Whiskey


Janet and Whiskey during extra help time after day one.





Karen Vining, veteran participant, brought a new horse this time. She and her good friend and riding buddy Dana (featured next) traveled here together.








Dana and her boy.
 

Ted helping Dana's boy out with the lesson.




Genevieve, Sonata's rider now that Julie has her mustang. 
Love the release in the picture above, love the smiles and fun in the picture below!










Suzanna and her DannyBoy







Fantastic group, lots of learning, fun times, great memories!