Vintage Riders… for the love of horses!

 By Karen Gallagher

Photos by Susan Chaworth-Musters, Marj Mackay, Karen Gallagher

Vintage Riders Equestrian Club held our second Liberty clinic in March, this time with Brianna Frewin. Our first Liberty clinic focused on trick training taught with halter and lead rope – bowing, Spanish walk, fancy turns. Brianna took us to pure liberty work.

We practiced some useful communication skills with halter and lead, learning to read our horse’s reactions and regulate our body language. Then we took turns working at total liberty, using only sticks to help guide our horses. It was a fascinating exercise, to see the horse trying to understand what you were asking and to feel that moment when you as leader communicated effectively so your horse could respond appropriately.

This is a discipline that shows, perhaps better than any other, that all progress comes from fixing handler error! On the first day of the clinic, we were treated to a demonstration by 9-year-old Lily with her mini Dudley. Lily and Dudley have been working together for 2 years. It was a treat to see these two flowing beautifully around the ring as Lily guided Dudley through turns and changes of gait. Their expression of the “draw,” with Dudley sidepassing towards Lily, was beautiful to see! On Day two, Brianna demonstrated with two of her horses, clearly showing us many of the “why’s” that accompany the “what’s” we had been learning.

If Liberty work is something you’re curious about, we will be holding another clinic on May 19-22. The clinician is Juliette Cimetere, a trainer based out of Redmond, WA. Juliette will do a demo evening on the 19th, approximately 90 minutes. You are invited to join us. The cost is $35 for just the demo evening. You are also welcome to audit the following days’ lessons, or bring your own horse. Auditing the entire clinic is $50. Participating with your horse will be $410. Please email vintageriders@mail.com if interested. We have a couple of spots open.

Update on that Pole Clinic with Jessie Blackmon we talked about last month – it was, as expected, tons of fun and very educational for horses and riders. Jessie gave us some simple-to-set-up patterns that can be used in a huge variety of ways to test where we’re at with rideability and rhythm. Team Icy rocked it again and 28-year-old Sam enjoyed strutting his stuff, showing that not only youngsters can benefit from working over poles.

Continuing our preparation for looking great this summer, Stephanie Clogg presented a very informative Grooming Clinic. If we put to use a small fraction of the knowledge she shared, we will soon be looking quite spiffy on the trail and in the ring!

There was a very green St. Patrick’s Day Ride in March, with our riders finding their pot of gold at the end – ok, it was chocolate, but just as good! Here’s hoping the Luck o’ the Irish gives us a sunny, or at least mostly dry, day for our Easter Bonnet Ride.

Happy Trails, till next time!

Vintage Riders Equestrian Club… for the love of horses! We are a gathering of horse enthusiasts within the Fraser Valley. Anyone over the age of 21 is welcome. We meet every 3rd Tuesday in Fort Langley to enjoy fellowship and a speaker and host a variety of clinics.

Find us on Facebook at Vintage Riders Equestrian Club – public, email: vintageriders@mail.com 2023 Upcoming Events: Dressage with Samantha Balogh Liberty with Juliette Cimetere Square Dancing with Carolyn Hunter