Clinic report

Cortez

Cortez

Tough but Fair
Joined
17 January 2009
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Very unusual for me, but I actually got enough get-up-and-go to attend a clinic given by Rodrigo Matos in County Kildare this week with a horse close to my heart who has had a long and winding road of misfortune, misadventure and trauma. Well, it was wonderful, not withstanding the weather - if you see the picture it all LOOKS very nice, sun-shiney and all, but it was blowing a freaking gale out there! The poor man had to take shelter in a shed at times as he was being practically blown over, and as you can imagine the horse wasn't exactly unperturbed either. Horse is a rescue, he arrived unrideable and very frightened after a rough time in Spain and well-meaning but misguided handling in the UK, and he has taken 5 years of careful unravelling and rebuilding to finally emerge: confidant, balanced, trusting and secure knowing that I will never hurt him or allow him to face the unfaceable. D. Matos "got" him at once and we had a fabulous lesson working on suppleness, straightness and thoroughness culminating in his 1st single change and baby canter pirouettes, all executed as if he'd been doing them all his life. It took me two years to be able to canter him at all without a meltdown, so the triumph is complete. My grin is still almost splitting my head in half, and the horse knows he is a star: I have a horse, job done.

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Oh, and it was all done one-handed on the curb.

P.S. See me wearing a hat - you can all be proud ;-) I still don't know what the man looks like as between the hat and the scarf all I could see of him was his eyebrows!
 
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It does look bright and sunny - but the woolly hat is a giveaway. Is that the same horse in your profile pic? Looks solid muscle.

Great write up. Can tell how chuffed you are! Brilliant job..
 
SEL said:
It does look bright and sunny - but the woolly hat is a giveaway. Is that the same horse in your profile pic? Looks solid muscle.

Great write up. Can tell how chuffed you are! Brilliant job..
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Yes, that's him - 5 years ago in profile pic, look how white he is now! He was seriously obese when I got him, what you see now IS actually muscle. Happy dance.
 
Sounds like a fab outing :D

Is he in your neck of the woods very often? Or was it a grab the moment type of thing?
 
A friend alerted me to a cancellation slot, it was the first I'd heard of him coming here (Ireland), but he's been over several times and will return in August. I'm completely out of the loop these days as I don't do "normal" horse things any more. You may be sure I'm all booked up for the next one.
 
Fab, he does look a bit chilly! :D, presumably his eyebrows wouldn't be sufficient to pick him out in a crowd? :p Fingers crossed for better weather in August!
 
Lovely photos, sounds very constructive. I too want to know if his eyebrows are very distinctive... He certainly looks chilly!
 
Great report - would love to work with someone like that. Will you let me know if you hear of any similar clinics happening in Ireland?
 
That sounds fantastic - well done! And no wonder you have such a huge grin on your face :D

Which brand is that? I don't think I've seen it before, although I'm pretty hopeless outside the big obvious PRE brands!
 
La ciervina I think Jiffy - though my memory could be failing me :o

Nice chunky types from the couple I've met
 
Wheels said:
Great report - would love to work with someone like that. Will you let me know if you hear of any similar clinics happening in Ireland?
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Wheels, I'll PM you the FB page of the yard that held the clinic, they do stuff regularly.

Cortez, sounds like a great session! Must look into it for the next time he's over.
Can imagine the wind was something else, it's quite exposed out there.
 
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