Mark Rashid and Jim Masterson Clinic

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Orangehorse

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I saw a Mark Rashid clinic and it was fantastic. He had every sort of horse, pony and rider, from a thug pony that had never been taught anything through nervous ones, a horse with a buck, to a dressage horse whose rider was having problems with one time changes.

Mark improved them all. I think the audience was deeply impressed by the dressage rider conquering her one time changes. What was this cowboy doing teaching dressage? It is all to do with timing of the aids and feeling the footsteps.
 
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TPO

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Just bumping this up in case anyone did attend (and would like to share a report ;))

Lack of annual leave (& money! haha) stopped me going as by the time I added travelling and accommodation on it was getting a bit silly.

Very keen to hear how it went...
 
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JFTDWS

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TPO said:
Just bumping this up in case anyone did attend (and would like to share a report ;))

Lack of annual leave (& money! haha) stopped me going as by the time I added travelling and accommodation on it was getting a bit silly.

Very keen to hear how it went...
Click to expand...

Me too. Reading back through the BB thread this morning, I'm reminded that I rather fancy an MR clinic at some point. Preferably after a substantial injection of cash!

Any reports welcome!
 
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TPO

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JFTD-WS said:
Me too. Reading back through the BB thread this morning, I'm reminded that I rather fancy an MR clinic at some point. Preferably after a substantial injection of cash!

Any reports welcome!
Click to expand...

I re-read BB thread too ha ha

Same so if anyone gets the heads up on any Mark Rashid happenings in 2020 please share :D

Now searching HHO for Mark's name to see who said they were going @CMcC @Alibear did you go?
 
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Alibear

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I went and watched on Thursday which was the last day. I mainly watched Mark although did watch Jim's session first thing.
There was a very good turn out and apparently Thursday was quiet which means it must have been really packed on the previous days.
The day went very quickly and I think I didn't get the full picture as I'd missed previous days/sessions, but I was pleased I went, I didn't take written notes so if anyone else went feel free to correct.

Jim's work seemed in line with what I've seen good massage therapists do over the years but his happiness to throw away the clock and be very quiet was nice to watch and certainly seemed to get results. I'd be happy to have someone trained in his techniques work on my horses. Coming from a little science background though there is not that side to it, it's all off the horses reactions, but actually shutting up and listening to the horse is usually a good approach generally so I liked it.

Mark and Jim were both good at saying that issues a horse had may seem to have been caused by X in their experience but they could be wrong as there is no way to really know a horses past. Then they would concentrate on treating what they could, help the horse improve and not dwell on suspicions of the past. So both very good at working with what was in front of them on the day which was nice to see.

I saw Mark work with 3 people ridden, others may have taken away different things but for me it seemed that less is more. Sit quiet, breathe naturally but from the belly, stay centred this was to do with balance and hand position. He explained about the forces generated by the horses movement and that we need to allow that movement and go with it or allow it move through us, don't block it. So when moving the horse generates energy in a circular motion that matches is hind legs path and the same with the front legs, then also a spiral movement from head to tail. Two things this can cause, if we scoop with our seat from back to front in canter as many teach, you are going against the hind leg circle which causes an issue, also that if you find your inside leg wants to swing forward in canter, you are blocking that head to tail spiral and you need to soften your back.

Also that we need to breath and we should breath out (exhale) on an exertion, so all transitions we should exhale, we should exhale to stand up or sit down, or open a door, he said its really good to get into this habit off the horse so it is natural whilst on the horse and forcing it can cause issues when riding. There's also ways to exhale softly or more forcefully. Most horses won't pick up too much but the more sensitive ones will do so exhale softly and slowly through the nose for softness. Again practise off the horse! I'm sure there's a vast amount to learn on that but it made a difference to all the horses. Apparently humans are rubbish at breathing out fully, focus on the out not the in!

Lateral flexion can be over done and done badly a sign of that is horses that turn their heads round to the rider foot quite often or keep dropping their head down. Both are evasions and if you do the flexion with the head up and correctly and slowly you'll find the horse is quite stiff and tries to suddenly flip round or drop its head to avoid the stiffness. You need to do a few correct flexions to fix this, little amounts, less but correctly is the key.

There was a lady with a lovely grey cob who had been out to Marks clinics in the states and they were lovely to watch apparently there had been quiet heavy footfalls the previous day but on Thursday the horses was so light on his feet and up and swinging it was fab to watch.

There was another horse who came with quite a tense rider (anyone would be about 50 strangers watching you in a venue you've never been to before) and a bit inverted but the breathing and riding quiet and imagining two beat or 3 beat etc for transitions really transformed them. Mark volunteered that they were then on the forehand a bit and they would work on that at a later date now they had got some nice swing and relaxation.

Poissibly a unique take away for me and perhaps made up by my subconscious preference for western, but he seemed to get all horses going with a longer rein (not a western rein but just some more rein length) without ever mentioning reins or contact.

Sorry it was a week ago now so I may have missed things and also not being there all 3 days means I didn't get the full before and afters on the combinations I saw.

Oh yes Mark said his 1 rule was don't run him over, that rule was pretty well tested :D
 
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