Open House Success
On March 22 Holly’s Place in Chippewa Falls, WI hosted an open house for the public so everyone could meet the trainers and the animals. There was coffee, and donuts and snacks for everyone to munch on before bracing the chilly weather. It was a long day for the staff and the trainers, it was cold and muddy, yuck. At the start of the event, I did a demonstration about groundwork and exercising horses specifically, Mr. Ruth. Some of you may remember him from my groundwork blog entry, but for those of you who don’t know about Mr. Ruth, he is a 7-year-old palomino gelding who is at the start of consistent training. I have connected with this horse through groundwork, and he improves with me every time I work with him. Other people who have ridden him have a hard time controlling him which then leads to a very sketchy ride. No matter how many times I tell people that the horse chooses its rider, it feel like no one listens. Mr. Ruth was amazing during the demonstration, he listened to my cues, and he was understanding everything that I was asking. Maybe it was because of the crowd, and he wanted to show off for everyone, I know a few other horses like that. Or maybe it was because I spent so much time working with him and building that relationship that he trusted me 100% and knew that there was nothing to be scared of. There was probably 20 or 30 people watching us ride and not once did he flinch. With other riders, Mr. Ruth tries to run them into the walls, buck them off, basically anything to get them off his back and he doesn’t do that with me and everyone is amazed by it, but no one asks how I do it. They ask me what kind of bit I use on him to be able to control him, and yes, a bit can make a huge difference but that doesn't mean that’s the sole reason.
During the demonstration, I talked about what I look for when I am lunging a horse like their ears and tail and their head position. I also talked about how I like to start each lesson with kids and the importance of knowing how to do emergency stops and maneuvers like dismounts in different situations. I think this is something that a lot of people forget to teach and I don’t know why. I have students practice dismounting in stressful situations and how to put as much distance between them and the horse as possible to avoid injury or accidents. I had a lot of compliments on my demonstration and more so on the emergency dismounts and maneuvers. I also talked about the different riding styles and positioning in the saddle and even did a no-hands segment where I dropped the reins and asked Mr. Ruth to stop showing people just how important your hips are when riding.
It was a good day other than the fact that it was a little chilly and muddy. I got to talk to a lot of people about different things. As nervous as I was, I was totally prepared for anything and everything that day. Thanks to my dad, growing up I got to see his display table for events when he was advertising his business and having more information than not enough. And a thank you to my grandma Diane who taught me my whole life how to speak to the public using proper grammar and english.
