Leadership and Rider Experience – Michael Wanzenried 5* Clinic

Last day of the clinic! On one hand I’m very sad that today was the last day! On the other hand I am so exhausted and have so much new input in my head I can’t even think straight anymore! Six days of such an intense clinic is a boot camp in itself! A boot camp I would sign up for any day! I am very excited to put all this into practice and have the time to see where it takes us. It will be interesting to see where Dazzle and I get to in time, but also what Sarah and Chris make of this new input and where it takes them! 😀 Just a few notes on the last day here…

The Project, Finesse, Rider Experience – Michael Wanzenried 5* Clinic

Day 2 of clinic 2. As you can probably tell from the length of the last post, that was the day were all the pieces fell into place. With all that knowledge about leadership, today and the next day were very well set up for success! Mikey taught me lateral flexion in a higher frame in finesse today and why that is important for every rider and horse to learn. He also taught us one step of the project each day in theory, let us practice it in the sessions and the next day he would teach us the next step. Allow me to take the chance here to write about the project as a whole in this post. Off we go…

A System for Finesse, Bits, Connection and The Project – Michael Wanzenried 5* Clinic

The clinic is now over, but I will still write a post for each day. This is day 3 of the first clinic and the next post will be day 1 of the second clinic – half way point already! This was a day where all the pieces started falling into place. There were so many great topics today and fantastic questions that got us thinking about all sorts of aspects of natural horsemanship. So let’s get started…

Riding with Contact and Rein Aids – Michael Wanzenried 5* Clinic

Day 2 of the first Mikey Clinic completely restructured everything I knew and didn’t know about riding with contact! I got a brain wash that I desperately needed! Mikey studied with Philippe Karl rather intensively, so you will read a lot that is part of his school of Légèreté. I am very thankful to Sarah, who prepared me extremely well for this clinic with the Finesse she has taught me and the DVDs she had set as homework. Having heard most of this before, I am able to learn much more in the clinic than I  would have otherwise. So let’s get started…

Connection, Myths, Balance – Michael Wanzenried 5* Clinic

Thanks to Sarah and Chris, Michael Wanzenried 5* is here in Kildare, Ireland, to teach two 3 day clinics back to back. Being a working student with Chris and Sarah, I am lucky enough to go to the clinic every day and spectate all day. Since a last minute rider spot opened up, I will even be riding in the second clinic – Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I want to use this opportunity to share the experience and knowledge I gain from Mikey. Here are my impressions from the first day: Connection, Myths Corrected, Level Tasks and the Importance of Balance. Enjoy 🙂