Le trec clinic...is it for me?

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lindsay1993

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I have seen a Le Trec clinic that is running next month, it sounds great fun. It's only concentrating on the obstacle part of it and welcomes both advanced and complete beginners to Le trec.

I am definitely a complete beginner!! My horse is very stressy & hot headed. During our normal schooling work I have to keep it very, very varied and include lots of different movements, transitions, pole work, etc just to keep her interested. She can only concentrate on each activity for about 5 minutes until she starts to mis-behave and get stressed. We have already been doing weave poles, complicated bends with poles and lots of different grids. This has worked really well for us and her attitude to work has improved massively to the point where I think we are ready to get out & about. There are loads of SJ, XC and dressage clinics on, but I fear this won't suit her with the need to change her focus to a different activity a lot.

My instructor thinks Trec sounds ideal, as there will be a lot to tire her out mentally rather than physically, which is exactly what she needs. I have watched numerous videos and it looks great fun and totally different to anything me or horse have done before.

I guess I'm just asking if this will suit her? I'm hoping it will as I'm quite limited to what I can do with her in my area.
I would love to hear your experiences and thoughts on Le Trec??
 
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Trec is great for getting horses thinking and keeping them entertained. Also great for youngsters as gives them lots to think about but in short bursts on one thing.

I would definitely give it a go. You could also try Working Equitation which is similar and also lots of fun, with plenty of different challenges for the horse.

I took my horse when I first had him and I took him mainly as I was too novicey and nervous to take him to anything like SJ or dressage. But Trec training was ideal as you can take it as slow as you need to and when your horse has had enough of trying one obstacle you can give it a break by trying something completely different. So, for example, you could go from the gate to bending poles which gives them a chance to forget about the gate, have a trot forward and you can then go back to it refreshed after a while.

My youngster has been to a few Working Equitation sessions and it has been great for him, although in the first session we stopped after about 35 -40 minutes as his brain was done.

Definitely have a go. It is great fun, very friendly and brilliant for your horse.
 
I gave Trec a go after my horse had to give up jumping and dressage wasn't really cutting it for me. On the flat he can be very stressy and tends to panic first and only after I've managed to calm him down will he actually stop to think about what I'm asking, realise what I'm asking him to do and that actually he can do it. I was expecting the same with the Trec.

How wrong could I have been! He took to it like a duck to water. At nearly 17hh he was a giant compared to the other horses but even at the obstacles where you have to go under things (other than the low branches which is adjustable, they set them to suit the height of the biggest horse so being small is a big advantage) he was great.

Once I got stuck (literally) when my number bib got caught on a peg on a washing line. The horse who would never do rein back in the school and who I'd expect to panic in that sort of situation, stopped, reversed and actually ducked to go back under again!
 
Can I ask what area is this in, we have done a few and yes they are good for keeping going and trying new activities.

However due to the varied nature of riders abilities and temperament of horses I have known some to be rather slow with lots of standing around, which is fine if the horse can handle that and then doing it but if she needs to keep going then it may not be for you.
 
Templebar......I'm in Northumberland, but the class is at Ivesley Equestrian in Durham. It's a busy little place, but horse is fine standing most of the time, it's only when working she gets stressy. I can't find anything else that's not miles away. I think it will be helpful for her to learn that we can go out somewhere and have fun, which is not something she's had a lot of.

annagain......... my horse sounds very similar to yours. She is a pro at dressage and competed at medium level very successfully with her owner. It was only when asked to step up to advanced that she lost the plot. She can do everything asked, it's just calming her enough to realise that she's not at that level of dressage anymore, which is what she seems to struggle with. I'm hoping that a change of scenery will help her.

tiga71..... Working equitation sounds great too, I'll have to see if there is anything near me as it's a massive struggle for me to find suitable events that aren't miles away. I love the idea of just having a go ,if it doesn't work then move on to the next obstacle.

Hopefully I can find some more sessions near me. As far as I'm aware there doesn't appear to be any North East or Northumberland Trec groups?? I'll have to ask around.
 
I'd say: go for it. I've found that the obstacles are a really great way to get a horse motivated and concentrating. I think it works so well because the task is very clear and generally not physically difficult, so it focusses the rider, and hence the horse. Most obstacles can be practised in a progressively more difficult fashion (e.g. start with a wide corridor, make it narrower), so you can quickly achieve success, which motivates, but you can also keep increasing the challenge. If the horse gets bored with one obstacle, you can move on to a different one.

IME, training sessions can be organized in different ways. I've been to some where there was lots of waiting involved (which I don't like). In others, small groups got to spend an hour on the course and could work to their own time with feedback as desired. That setup did suit us better. I'd probably just give it a go, or maybe you could email the organizer and ask how the event will be run?
 
tiga71 said:
Trec is great for getting horses thinking and keeping them entertained. Also great for youngsters as gives them lots to think about but in short bursts on one thing.

I would definitely give it a go. You could also try Working Equitation which is similar and also lots of fun, with plenty of different challenges for the horse.

.
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I exactly what I was going to say.
 
OP definitely give it a go. I found its very good for your relationship with your horse and for building trust and confidence etc and my experience of it is that its very low-stress and relaxed atmosphere. You can give all the obstacles a go and if one goes pieshaped the next one could be something completely different to try. Some of the obstacles have to be done at walk too which helps calm my excitable neddy, and others can be done at a faster pace if you want.
 
Its great fun :) We did our first one yesterday and we loved it. The pony who is afraid of nothing only balked at the 'low branch' which is actually a stick raised up high. Hes petrified of walking sticks and the like so I don't blame him.

Ours was in an outdoor school though so I don't know if that makes a difference.
 
I think I'm just going to go for it! She's such a fab little horse and I hope she'll enjoy it.

The instructor is Kathryn Marie Rollinson. Anyone had experience of working with her or what I'm likely to expect?

The info says she has competed in Switzerland and Austria for GB.
 
Kathryn?! What a small world, thats who got me into Trec! She is really lovely and full of helpful tips. Enjoy!
 
Working equitation has only got started in the last couple of years down here (Sussex) so it might move further up there. They are really pushing it down here so there are actually quite a few things aimed at grassroots and getting new people involved.

Are you involved in a Riding Club? If so, you could see if they would look into it. They may be able to subsidise an instructor for some trial clinics.
 
tiga71.....No unfortunately I'm not part of any riding groups. The horse doesn't belong to me, she belongs to my boss and her mother and they are very difficult when it comes to taking the horse out places as they think she has the potential to be 'dangerous'. It's kind of holding us back in getting out doing sensible things. IMO horse isn't dangerous at all, just occasionally very difficult, but as owners are nervous riders they worry a lot.

Mrs G...... Great to hear!! I'm feeling very positive about going and maybe it can be something both me & horse can really get stuck into!
 
You will be able to use your horse's dressage experience to great advantage. To get full marks for the Canter corridor, bending and the slow canter of the control of paces (MA) a well schooled horse is required. Several other obstacles are done quietly at walk or even led and the Level 1 jump is minimal and can be trotted over. The Mount and ridden/un mounted immobility are also great training for quiet obedience. With a good instructor to help you understand the process for each obstacle you should come away feeling pretty satisfied. Have a great day!
 
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J&S said:
You will be able to use your horse's dressage experience to great advantage. To get full marks for the Canter corridor, bending and the slow canter of the control of paces (MA) a well schooled horse is required. Several other obstacles are done quietly at walk or even led and the Level 1 jump is minimal and can be trotted over. The Mount and ridden/un mounted immobility are also great training for quiet obedience. With a good instructor to help you understand the process for each obstacle you should come away feeling pretty satisfied. Have a great day!
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Yes that's why I thought she would be really good at it. I've watched quite a few videos of the slow canters & they all seem to be going at a pretty ordinary canter. My mare can do an amazingly slow collected canter, so hopefully that will help us. If she doesn't get stressy and buck me off that is! She has a naturally very fast walk anyway which is also an advantage.

I also saw one where the rider had to dismount & walk away from the horse with the horse staying still. There is no way she will do that!!

Lots to learn I think!
 
Also check out Trec South West's website and face book page. Trec GB have a well run website too, with all the events in all parts of the country.
 
I'd say go for it :) All the clinics / training days I've been to for TREC tend to group people according to ability if they can so you're all in the same place going over the same things but even if you're in a group of people of mixed experience it's quite easy for them to cater for everyone as either you'll be doing the obstacles at different speeds / those with more experience will be trying to do the more technical obstacles as close to perfect as possible.

I started competing at TREC a couple of years ago now and have found it really fun and inclusive. My pony can be very spooky and needs his brain occupying to prevent him thinking up his own ideas about what he should be doing! We just did the indoor stuff initially partly due to him having soundness issues for the first few summers of me owning him and partly because I struggle with map reading (I am trying to learn!). We did one pairs competition at the end of last summer and we're aiming to get going at level 1 (ie the lowest level!) on our own this summer, I forsee lots of sense of direction failures!

Where abouts in the North East are you based? I think there is / was a group trying to set up in Northumberland but not sure if anything ever came of it. I know there's events that run in Scotland (I don't travel that far so don't know much about what goes on North of the border I'm afraid) and White Horse TREC have events in North and East Yorks sometimes (They're planning one nr Brough in August and one on Ilkley Moor in September, both aimed at those starting out)
 
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