My daughter is just starting out with horses and I want her (and my son) to learn in different way to I did. I had heard good things about Carlos and read his book, so decided to get my daughter a lesson with Carlos as a Christmas present. I am glad I did. The lesson went so well and my daughter was so happy and I was so impressed I decided to fence sit for the clinic on Sunday.
There were six horses at the clinic (and a big thank you to their riders for allowing us fence sitters to watch, and for Bronwyn for organizing a day that ran so smoothly). The day started out with ground work which was of particular interest to me, as it is what my daughter and her horse both need work on.
The horses ranged in ages from four years old through to 18 years old… from ex-racehorses to appaloosas to arabs… from horses that are used to other horses and ones that have never been to a clinic before. The visible improvement in all horse’s groundwork was amazing. They all became calmer and the handlers more confident as the day went on.
Topics covered included what to do with a pushy horse, where the horse should be positioned in relation to you, how to do some circle work (lunge), hind quarter yields, forequarter yields, head lowering, picking up hooves. Having the horses there was great, as each horse behaved differently, so we could all see how to handle various challenges. We were all encouraged to ask questions and these were answered with patience as well as lots of demonstrations.
After a short break the horses were then introduced to "spooky things", so that they became a little more familiar with things that move, bounce, flap, make noises etc. There were tarps, bouncy balls, umbrellas, butterfly nets and more. All horses became calm when umbrellas were passed over their heads. One horse was quite happy to have a large ball bounced near him, thrown over him and bounced on his rear. All horses had a stock whip near them, with all but one having it cracked, while they stood calmly next to Carlos… the other was not quite ready... and this was one of the most telling parts of the clinic… that Carlos was prepared to not push the horse too far but to allow the horse to be comfortable and not force the horse to accept.
The afternoon was ridden, with again all horses at various levels. Again, Carlos catered to needs of the participants, with no pressure to go beyond what the riders felt comfortable with. In the end he had the appy doing passage and other dressage moves he had never done before, and the horse that was inexperienced under saddle was calm and content to have others around it. Again, a lot of the ground work was relevant to the ridden – there was a focus on yielding and "one leg stops", when ridden a horse needs relaxation, rhythm, contact (listen to reins/hands) and energy, and Carlos worked with each on this.
Carlos was brilliant with his delivery… lots of information peppered with analogies and humour so that we will all remember more than if he had simply stood and lectured. There were some great moments… Carlos standing on Pappy, the lovely walk to canter from Gaynor, the mare who had never seen a tarp happy to follow her owner and walk on it, the smiles on the riders faces as their horses (and themselves) "got" something, and the spontaneous chorus of "yay" from the fence sitters when the horses did something exactly as they were asked without any pressure.
The lesson my daughter had was inspirational the day before and I am so glad I bought it for her… I know I will change the way I do things for the better (though I am not sure I can keep quite as calm as Carlos). I loved the delivery, very relaxed and comfortable, with some brilliant jokes and some brilliant says that should become a t-shirt slogan. "The only bit a horse needs is a bit of understanding", "if you get a horse’s mind then you will get his body", "don’t fight the energy of the horse". The best one being that story of the statue of David and how it was always in the block of marble and it just needed to be chipped and cut away to be exposed… and how our horses are like that, we just need to "chip" away to find out what is in there!
Thank you Carlos… you have inspired me to find the David in my children and in the horses we love!
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Hi Bronwyn,
Thanks for organising the weekend, it was exceptional, it was great meeting you.
Carlos is a very unique spiritual horseman, its very rare to find someone with such gentleness, passion and good rapport with his students.
His energy, aura and knowledge base has given me a new found freedom, insight and peacefulness to pursue with my own equine babies, to think I
nearly gave it all up, it's amazing, I finally feel really at peace and have an inner calmness with my new found knowledge and approach, still a long way to go though, but a start.
It’s a pity you can't bottle his equine recipe and personality for this, what a wonderful world the equine world would be if people just looked
outside the square and beyond own self egos, needs and materialism to realise enrichment, soulfulness and love horses reciprocate. People just need to re-ground and get back in touch with nature, look, feel and listen, we will have to be Carlos's vessels to spread the word.
I would love to see the photos, especially the one with him standing on Pappy’s back.
Cheers
Tracey, Pappy and Hugh x |
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