Ian Tipton Reining Clinic with Tessa

Hello,
The clinic that we went to was across town, so I had to get my trailer hooked up - looked over, buy insurance! as I hadn't had it out yet this year (hard to believe!).  So I got all that done and loaded Tessa up - she loads and hauls really well, I really love the horses that were born here and that I train myself, even if I ask them to do something the aren't sure of, they trust me and will give it their all - I love that.
Well, Tessa and I attended a really great two day clinic with a well known local reining trainer, Ian Tipton.  Now I know some would think "what the heck is Shelly doing taking a reining clinic with her dressage/endurance/jumping horse?" LOL, but actually all these different styles of riding originate from many of the same beginning movements that are taught to your horse.

This was my third clinic with Ian, I have taken Sandman and also Gracie.  I get a LOT out of his instruction - the things he shows me to do are basic horse yielding and softening that really teaches the horse so much about where its body is and how to be soft as butter in your hands.

The first day we did mostly walking - and at the end, Tessa was soaking wet - it is very tough mentally on the horses!  Today, we picked it up a bit and we were doing lifting of the shoulder, moving it over and yielding the hindquarters the opposite way.  This movement is in preparation for a walk/canter (lope tee hee) transition and after quite a few attempts by Tessa to get it right, she nailed it over and over, it was really great!  She worked so hard today - and really gave it her all - I was incredibly pleased with her!  I only got a few photos today before the batteries died, but I thought I would share them anyway.

I found this one funny - "I" am concentrating so hard LOL

This one shows Ian giving me directions - he is good at explaining things and he does sometimes get on the horse himself, to get a feel for where they are at - he did ride Tessa for a while yesterday - there are some pictures somewhere of that, I will have to see if I can get them.

This is not such a great picture, but it shows Tessa before she gave to the pressure, but it also shows her sitting back pretty well on her rear - she gets better later, really light in the forehand.

 These last two show her soft and light and listening.

So it was a really great weekend - Ian said that we threw a lot of information at my horse today, but she took it well.  He knows that it is important to me to get a lot of info from him as I take it away and use it on the horses I am training at home.  He is a good clinician and he couldn't care less if I show up in a dressage saddle or whatever,  he knows my end goals are different, but he doesn't care.  I know that quite a few dressage riders train with cowboys like this to get the lightness that they want from their horses.
Happy riding everyone! My ring is almost clear of snow!  Yahoo!
Shelly in Summerland, BC Canada
http://www.curlystandardplace.com