Monday, September 22, 2008

All Kinds of People

Continuing with the Fox Hunter saftey Clinics, I want to take a (should I say another) moment to describe the value of these sessions. We have had so many different kinds of people and horses participate this year. Everyone has a common goal - to ride safer! All the horses and all the riders are improving and having fun. Everyone is leaving the clinics with homework and something to work on at home.

The issue of safety, of course, is not my idea, nor is it a novel one. I must admit that the concepts I bring to these clinics were taught to me by other great riders. To name a few of the dozens of "visitors" who waft in and out through the airwaves during our sessions, we have had Lucinda Green, Jimmy Wofford, Bruce Davidson, Katie Monahan Prudent, William Steinkraus, George Morris, Carol Bishop, David Hunt, Micheal Tokaruk and a zillion more - a VERY impressive cast of characters. However, these are only a fraction of the names I could include and I mean no disrespect to any of the people that have helped me over the years.

Learning to ride and bond with our horses in any discipline is a lifelong journey. Just about the time you think you are getting somewhere, you find that you need to start over or another journey begins. It is truly endless...

This year, we have had Doctors, Lawyers, Indian Chiefs, Landscape Architects, Housewives,Nuclear Scientists, Shrinks(can't spell the real word) Masters of Hounds, Hunt members from numerous packs, Horse Show riders, Eventers...the list goes on and on.

As for the horses, we have had Arabians, Percherons, Quarter Horses, Thouroughbreds, German horses, French, Spotted, and even Tenessee Walking Horses. I know I am forgetting some but you get the idea.

I have mentioned over and over the things we work on and they never end. The Hitchcock Woods offers us an incredible classroom... and I am starting to think that one way to solve the world's energy crisis is the illumination of all the light bulbs that keep popping on and off at Gaylord's Manage! Til next time...

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