Working equitation

[Orangehorse]

I watched a European competition a Hartpury a few years ago. The standard of dressage training was very high, and our hunter type horses didn't really look the part compared to the Iberian horses. That was a while ago now so I daresay the standard has risen.

I haven't taken part in Working Equitation, but I have done Trec and a bit of Western Trail and the thing is that it is great fun doing the training and give a real goal to work towards, rather than just endless circles doing schooling for a dressage test.

 

[SheriffTruman]

There’s a small group of folk wanting to start up WE up here. It will be very unofficial and we’ll see how it goes but I think it will be very fun. We have a few different locations planned and if it’s a hit we might look to make it more of a thing.
I do not expect to be any good but think I think me and Tali will enjoy it.

That's great! Having fun is key. It's win-win: having fun makes it a lot more enjoyable to practice, which will make you better at it.

One near me does because they have an instructor who is into it! She also does clinics locally- I did one last autumn and it was great fun, although in many ways really challenging.

She also had some really useful advice about rein back, which is applicable to loads of other situations.

That's one of the great advantages of WE, I find. It is useful in all sorts of situations. Also makes more horses braver, because they learn to handle all kinds of weirds obstacles and objects.

Our most local clinic is usually oversubscribed, it's a very supportive, friendly bunch and I'm sure it's gaining hugely in popularity in UK. Hope you have fun, I'm sure you will have a great time!

Thanks, I believe I will. Great to hear your clinic is so popular.

We have got a WE clinic tomorrow. We've done it for around 6 months now and love . We have a championship show now too far from me but no comps where we could perhaps qualify to go. Clinics are great fun tho!

Have fun! It's a relatively young sport, so competitions may be organised near(er) you in the foreseeable future.

 

[TRECtastic]

I've booked on a WE clinic at lincomb in March, really looking forward to it

 

[SheriffTruman]

I've booked on a WE clinic at lincomb in March, really looking forward to it

Offtopic: A TREC course is also something on my wishlist!

 

[tda]

We went to a demo, at the higher levels you have to cut cattle

 

[Goldenstar]

We went to a demo, at the higher levels you have to cut cattle

Oh I would love that I used to do a bit of moving cattle with my horses .

 

[Vodkagirly]

Oh I would love that I used to do a bit of moving cattle with my horses .

I think your in Northumberland? North East working equitation training run a lot of clinics. I went to one and really enjoyed it, definitely planning another.

 

[Goldenstar]

Ok this is conversation
GS to MrGS um you know how I have been doing this WE. MrGS yes I know you bought that plastic bull thingy .
GS well funny you should say that we need some real cows now ……..

 

[Goldenstar]

I think your in Northumberland? North East working equitation training run a lot of clinics. I went to one and really enjoyed it, definitely planning another.

Now it’s time to admit I booked one earlier this evening .

 

[Vodkagirly]

Ok this is conversation
GS to MrGS um you know how I have been doing this WE. MrGS yes I know you bought that plastic bull thingy .
GS well funny you should say that we need some real cows now ……..

Now that's an escalation!
All around to Goldenstars for some cattle herding

 

[SheriffTruman]

Now it’s time to admit I booked one earlier this evening .

Haha, how cool Goldenstar! Couple of months ago I did a cattle cutting clinic on a trained lesson horse, it was fantastic.

 

[Goldenstar]

It must said no cattle will be involved at the clinic I am going to .
I could not get in at the one just down the road so am going just under an hour away .
It’s something different to learn about it will do me good .

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

We did a WE clinic a few months back.

We have done a TREC clinic before.

Like everything, a great deal depends upon the instructor.

We felt the TREC wasn't really worth the £££ if honest; it was very slow-moving and my pony really needs more stimulus than we were given - she got bored quickly and then started getting stressy. We were just told to "go and repeat the obstacles you've already done" which wasn't really a helpful piece of guidance in the circumstances. I felt the Instructor wasn't really interested in anyone there or their horses TBH, it felt a rather "aimless" session really.

Whereas the WE Instructor gave you the impression from the very start that she was interested in you and your horse's journey together. She picked up something about my little mare that I hadn't even mentioned, that showed me just how observant she is and it gave us a huge encouragement.

The time went really quickly and it felt like we made significant progress.

 

[splashgirl45]

I have been getting WE on my Facebook feed for a while and really enjoy watching it and would have liked to try it , looks like fun

 

[j1ffy]

We’ve been dabbling in it - did a competition yesterday that I’ve updated on in the weekend thread in the ‘Competing and Training’ section of the forum if anyone is interested

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I love WE. I don't do anything involving it at the moment since horse is too young to be ridden, but I do plan on picking it up again. It was great for my last horse, and I feel like he felt like there was a purpose to that "dressage stuff"

 

[j1ffy]

I love WE. I don't do anything involving it at the moment since horse is too young to be ridden, but I do plan on picking it up again. It was great for my last horse, and I feel like he felt like there was a purpose to that "dressage stuff"

Maybe it's a PRE thing but that's how Chilli seems to respond too - it all makes more sense than just circles!

 

[SheriffTruman]

We’ve been dabbling in it - did a competition yesterday that I’ve updated on in the weekend thread in the ‘Competing and Training’ section of the forum if anyone is interested

*scurries off to the Weekend thread*

 

[Palindrome]

*scurries off to the Weekend thread*

me too

 

[Goldenstar]

And me

 

[Landcruiser]

ttps://allevents.in/cirencester/working-equitation-have-a-go-sessions/200025935086929

Introduction to Working Equitation Demonstration and Masterclass

Veranstaltung von Top Barn Livery and Clinics am Samstag, Februar 17 2024 in Cirencester, Vereinigtes Königreich, an der 143 Personen interessiert sind.

www.facebook.com

For anyone in the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire area..

 

[eahotson]

Which is the weekend thread?

 

[Tiddlypom]

If I had an owned horse that was sound enough for it I’d be doing this. It sounds like a grown up version of the handy pony classes that I did as a child, and I loved those.

Riding with a purpose. The horses love it, too.

 

[Kunoichi73]

I keep meaning to suggest it to my RS, and see if they could organise a clinic. I've seen a local venue gets instructors in for people with their own horses but it would be great if the RS could do some have ago sessions.

 

[HollyWoozle]

There are some Portuguese instructors who will travel to the U.K. for clinics if there are riding clubs or yards wanting to put something on.

 

[SheriffTruman]

We did our first clinic (in a series of three). It was fantastic! First outing for my young horse as well, which went relatively well. Was also nervous about the loading, but it went okay. I hired the local 'Horse Taxi' service, who are very experienced.

On location horse was very tense, understandably, he's only five. Warm-up was outside. As he was very hoppy because of the surroundings, I decided to get off and walk in-hand. Actual clinic was inside, which went much better. We managed to do all the obstacles. He was an absolute hero on the bridge, so proud of him!

Lesson was an hour, I got off after about 45 mins. Felt that he was mentally done, and wanted to avoid ending up on two hind legs. Did the remaining 15 mins in-hand. All in all it was a fab experience. Looking forward to the next session, in a month. Lot's of homework for both of us.

I was exhausted afterwards. Guess I was more nervous about it than I cared to admit .

Only have one non-action photo . I'll try to get some action shots next time!

 

[SO1]

Just found out a local yard within hacking distance is doing monthly clinics so might take Bert a group of us might hack over. Bert can't do any roadwork at the moment due to his hooves but once the vet gives him the all clear hopefully we will be able to hack over.

 

[eahotson]

We did our first clinic (in a series of three). It was fantastic! First outing for my young horse as well, which went relatively well. Was also nervous about the loading, but it went okay. I hired the local 'Horse Taxi' service, who are very experienced.

On location horse was very tense, understandably, he's only five. Warm-up was outside. As he was very hoppy because of the surroundings, I decided to get off and walk in-hand. Actual clinic was inside, which went much better. We managed to do all the obstacles. He was an absolute hero on the bridge, so proud of him!

Lesson was an hour, I got off after about 45 mins. Felt that he was mentally done, and wanted to avoid ending up on two hind legs. Did the remaining 15 mins in-hand. All in all it was a fab experience. Looking forward to the next session, in a month. Lot's of homework for both of us.

I was exhausted afterwards. Guess I was more nervous about it than I cared to admit .

Only have one non-action photo . I'll try to get some action shots next time!

Well done.

 

[TRECtastic]

We did our first clinic (in a series of three). It was fantastic! First outing for my young horse as well, which went relatively well. Was also nervous about the loading, but it went okay. I hired the local 'Horse Taxi' service, who are very experienced.

On location horse was very tense, understandably, he's only five. Warm-up was outside. As he was very hoppy because of the surroundings, I decided to get off and walk in-hand. Actual clinic was inside, which went much better. We managed to do all the obstacles. He was an absolute hero on the bridge, so proud of him!

Lesson was an hour, I got off after about 45 mins. Felt that he was mentally done, and wanted to avoid ending up on two hind legs. Did the remaining 15 mins in-hand. All in all it was a fab experience. Looking forward to the next session, in a month. Lot's of homework for both of us.

I was exhausted afterwards. Guess I was more nervous about it than I cared to admit .

Only have one non-action photo . I'll try to get some action shots next time!

Fabulous report , well done

I thought I'd booked in for the march clinic but it was today ! When I got the email Monday with start time i had to quickly rearrange a short break holiday I'd booked lol
We had a great time , to me it wasn't quite like TREC even though it had some similar obstacles , the riding of them was much more precise than TREC I thought
The lady that took our clinic also did classical dressage and she was very good with tips for our general riding as well
Even though it didn't seem like we were doing a lot TP was mentally shattered afterwards , so was I lol
Lots to take in and lots to practice at home
There was also a photographer there so I'll post pic if there's any good ones

 

[blitznbobs]

I had a go in portugal recently on a horse that really knew what he was doing! It was great fun although the horse was so good I was much more of a passenger than a rider! Id definitely look at doing it again in this country... Handy pony with dressage horses - who knew such a thing existed!