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Pony Club Clinics Norfolk Hunt Pony Club - April 11, 2009 Cathie came out to work with our younger members on April 11. We used one well-behaved pony with relatively good ground manners for Cathie to show the members what is (and is NOT) allowed. The primary purpose of the clinic was safe trailering of their mounts – an area that can be extremely dangerous if not approached carefully. Cathie also worked with them on the jog out required in pony club. She was especially meticulous in showing them how to get a safe right hand turn and why it adds control and respect to their relationship with their beloved ponies. Then, Cathie worked her magic by showing how to handle the less respectful mount. She gave a clear demonstration of how to approach ground manners issues – and how small issues in leading can add up to bigger issues with trailer loading. Both our kids and the attending parents learned a lot even while working with our relatively polite pony club mounts. We are all looking forward to another chance to see Cathie in action. Thank you, Cathie, for helping our kids to continue to learn the importance of all-around horsemanship! Upon arrival to the clinic in Sherborn I was told that one of my demo horses had not arrived as it decided it had other plans than attending my clinic. One of the parents commented "What a great opportunity for a field trip" so off we went to Trish's house.... Cathie worked with my Percheron/TB cross Robin this weekend. Robin had recently begun to have issues loading on the trailer, which had never been a problem before. In very short order Cathie helped re-establish the appropriate boundaries and who was in charge, he was clearly responsive to her methods. It is work all horses need, she presents exceptionally well to audiences of all ages and does phenomenal work with horses of all types. Trish Twining
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"Ground Manners For Great
Ponies" at North Star Farm on 2-09-03
At the time of the clinic we had around 12 members and everyone
attended on a cold February evening along with parents to see
you quietly work your magic with ponies that took advantage of
their riders. Our group came away learning that ground manners
are very important. The partnership begins on the
ground. Ponies are notorious for taking advantage of situations
(they see grass they would like to eat forgetting that this 40
lbs of child is trying to get them to do something else) and
this clinic provided ways for children to handle ponies without
the use of chains or other bully methods that our kids were not
interested in using. Our pony clubbers are asked at a very
young age to be able to handle a variety of situations, one
being the jog out at all mounted rallies. Our own pony in
particular thought this would be a good area to let everyone
know that he preferred to move when he wanted (as in not at
all) or at his pace( very slow or at light speed). Needless to
say my kids were a bit frustrated. Cathie worked with our pony
and with my kids successfully mastering a jog out. The kids
grew more confident and the pony happily did his job. I
know all kids just want to love their ponies and it is hard to
set up parameters for their equine partner. Cathie taught them
that having parameters is good. The horse likes to know what is
allowed and what isn't. It was a wonderful experience for all
that attended and I know the kids have used your methods with
great success. Many thanks, Betsy Maling, Norfolk Hunt Pony
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Paddock Pals Pony Club
at Marlborough
Equestrian Center " 2005"
Cathie did a clinic for
our Pony Club last year; she helped the kids (and the horses)
teaching the importance and the techniques for obtaining proper
ground manners. We have a few members with their own horses and
Cathie worked with the kids to help them deal with each of their
horse's issues. She was patient with both the kids and the
horses. I continue to use Cathie to help me with my horse who is
a very difficult loader!! He is getting closer to being able to
go to a horse show and get home thanks to Cathie. Kim (DC
Paddock Pals Pony Club SNER) |