By Tash Sierpinski, Club Reporter
Ponoka 4-H Renegade Riders
The Ponoka 4-H Renegade Riders and the Tees 4H Wranglers recently put on a “From The Ground Equine Workshop” at the Calnash Ag Event Centre.
Sessions included Hoof Care with Kelly Avery, Stretching and Cooling Out your horse with Kathy Masters, Bomb-Proofing Clinic with Ashley Johnson–Campbell, Saddle Identification/Premises Identification/Livestock Identification with Dave Heaslip, Hippology and Venture Out. The two days were full of equine orientated education.
So, over the course of these two days, 26 club members and their horses were put to the test — especially with the Bomb-Proofing Clinic. This is where the horse and rider manoeuvred through different types of obstacles, learning to trust one another and desensitizing your horse. It started nice and slow with leading your horse unsaddled through, around, over and under approximately 24 different obstacles that they possibly could come across out on the trail or somewhere when just pleasure riding. They can even come across this sort of stuff in the pasture.
Then on the second day, horse and rider tackled the same obstacles but this time saddled and being ridden. This is where they had to learn to trust and bond with each other even more. There is no secret so close as that between horse and his/her rider.
Horses and riders processed everything quite well, well enough to have an obstacle challenge at the end of the day for points. Each participant was allowed three minutes to cover as many obstacles they could, gathering points along the way. It was nice to see the clubs interact with each other and create friendships to last a lifetime.
“The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit and fire.” — Sharon Ralls Lemon