Texas and Clinton Anderson's Clinician Academy

So what happened to Texas and CLINTON ANDERSON’S CLINICIAN ACADEMY?

As many of the readers of this probably know; for the past two years Ted had intended to attend Clinton Anderson’s Clinician Academy and graduate as a Certified Clinician in 2015. Although I am proud to say he was invited to join the Academy this spring, after attending a clinic at the Downunder Horsemanship Ranch in May of 2014; he made the decision to decline that opportunity.  It became clear that making the move to Texas would not be the best way for Ted personally to keep helping horse owners by spreading good training and horse handling skills. It still seems like a somewhat surprising turn of events as Ted had not even considered the possibility of turning down the invitation to Academy. We were already so committed;  Ted had already sold a lot of equipment, our houses are for sale, I had been working with a realtor in Stephenville, etc. etc. 

But here we are now! Instead of being gone to Texas for over a year; Ted will be continuing to teach clinics, give private lessons, and take in limited training horses. 
Although our plans have changed Ted is glad he went to Texas; it was a valuable and eye opening experience. We both enjoyed many things about the clinic experience, most especially the people we met while there. 

Ted, always the avid student, will also be continuing to work on advancing his own skill set by continued study. He is particularly excited to attend an advanced clinic this summer in Wyoming. 

The water obstacles at Downunder were fun! 

The same little pond as pictured above, good for riding or ground exercises.

In Texas they use trees for training on the trail the way we use sagebrush!

Ted and I had a great time at the ranch. He is very eager to improve our clinic facilities for his clients. Although we want to remain in the general area, our property outside of Parma is still for sale as we are looking for more acreage better suited to holding clinics and training horses. By virtue of rental agreements with our neighbors this property is working for now but we would like to build permanent facilities.  We are looking forward to having better boarding facilities and a fantastic obstacle course.

The obstacle course at Downunder is inspiring, it gets you thinking of all kinds of cool things you can do with your horses. It was pretty amazing to see how much impact using obstacles has on horses that are not accustomed to them as well. The horse Ted took had quite a bit of obstacle experience (we improvised, a car trailer is kind of like a teeter totter for example!) but even so, she gained in confidence by being worked over so many different obstacles. Those horses that were obviously new to obstacles made amazing strides. The horses' confidence in their handlers goes up by leaps and bounds as they realize that they know the exercise they are being asked to do regardless of the environment they are asked to do it in/on. It is also a nice change for the advanced horses, suddenly the exercises themselves are no longer drill but more of a game. Anyway, the obstacle course was one of my favorite things about the ranch, second only to the great people that we met while at the ranch. I can't wait to find a property we can build some permanent features on. Not for the first time I am thankful my father happens to own a bunch of heavy equipment!

View of part of the obstacle course at Downunder Horsemanship Ranch

Mudslide having a great time. 

There were a lot of different jumps; the manner in which they are placed allows them to be used in many different ways.