Tom and Sarah Widdicombe Clinic 3: Cob Central
This was the third clinic with Tom and Sarah that I've attended and the second that I've ridden on with Zorro, so I'm not going to go into as much detail as I have in the past- if you want to see more on what they are teaching and how take a look at my clinics tag which has both past reports - the Mark Rashid report is quite relevant too as they are students of Mark's and come from very much the same direction.
Instead, this will be a bunch of photos with a bit of explanation. Easier on the eye than my usual reams of text but hopefully still quite informative.
The ponies in their pens at the start of the clinic. Yes, Zorro does have a pink bucket. You're welcome to take it up with him.
Karen and Celebrity
Celebrity is an arab, I think he comes from some pretty flouncy bloodlines if Arabs are your thing. Either way he wasn't very good at paying attention to humans, tending to zone them out and just wander along doing his own thing. Here Tom is helping him learn to lead and pay attention to personal space.
Celeb learns that he needs to pay attention to Karen's personal space too. Karen is a friend of ours and much better with horses than she lets on, it was really nice to watch her work with her horse.
Working on the single line. Notice that Celeb's attention is still right off in the distance.
Celeb decides to run away rather than paying attention to Tom.
Starting to do what he is asked rather than what he wants. He has a classic floaty arabian trot.
Working on the long-reins is a great bridge between ridden work and ground work.
We did have some pretty minging weather on Saturday.
Karen long-lining him on the last day. Notice how much calmer he looks now he has realised he can allow her to make some decisions for both of them and he can just keep his attention on her.
Trotting on the lines.
Nina and Belle
Belle is a lovely grey cob, here working on the single-line. I'm not sure why but Tom appears to be channelling the spirit of Keith Richard.
More work on the line, Belle is just such a sweet natured horse and she looks stunning.
Backlit and working on the long-lines. Belle was very taken with Zorro and when she jumped out of her pen ( nobody had told her cobs can't jump ) she quite liked to come over and stand by his.
I honestly don't know what is going on with Tom and Belle's head in this picture. Perhaps they were dancing or something? It's pretty cool.
Working with Sarah on their riding. Like most of the horses on the clinic Belle needed to learn a bit more about listening to the bit.
Belle standing nicely at the halt while her rider, Nina, listens for her to really soften to the rein.
Kerin and Cheyenne
Cheyenne is a rescue mare who has been with Kerin for about three years. Before that a previous owner had ridden her while she had a sore back and then beaten her when she bucked them off, she still has the whip marks on her hindquarters.
She's understandably very wary of humans, but recently she has been looking a little more as though she might be in a place where she could come back into work and having an expert like Tom on hand to help was a great opportunity to start along that road.
A portrait of Cheyenne. I really like this little mare.
Cheyenne was quite quick to accept direction from people but she wasn't keen on things around her head or in her mouth- here Tom was starting to work towards being able to bridle her.
It turned out a mixture of gentle persistence and sugar water on the bit was all it took for her to wear a bit.
Another problem Cheyenne has is that she won't be caught- the only way to bring her in was to bring in her three field-mates with her following along loose.
They worked on this by taping off a smaller area of the school to start with and building up from there. Even so she was reluctant to be caught at first.
Still not interested in being caught.
Looking the right way- maybe she could do it.
A little later she was quite content to allow Kerin to catch her, in fact she was following her around in a classic hooked-on way. I think Kerin's face says it all here.
Then it was my turn to work on catching her. Her face and body position here are a pretty good indicator of what she intended to do about that.
Eventually, after a lot of movement followed by some more subtle work to keep her with me, I managed to catch her.
A lot of stuff she did over the clinic was towards helping her deal with people being around her, the same preparation work one might do for starting a young horse in terms of moving, swinging ropes, patting her and trying to prepare her for everything.
If anything, a horse as concerned as her maybe needs more of that.
Brenda and Maple
Sarah works with Maple and her Brenda on the long lines.
Maple is a little star of a pony who tends to take everything in her stride. Also she seems quite unperturbed that her numnah appears to be on an escape bid from under her saddle.
Maple had a bit of a bucking fit the last time Brenda rode her, which we are pretty sure relates to a badly fitted saddle ( she'd got a professional to do the job, but they were inept ) so sleepsy_mouse got to ride her instead. As we expected, having done some good work on the long-lines already and working in a well-fitted saddle she was absolutely fine.
On the long-lines in the sunshine. Maple is working nicely with the bit here. Also she looks pretty pleased with the amount of mud on her quarters.
Ground poles and tarps don't bother her at all. Nor does the curious way Tom balances a hat on his head.
Back in the saddle and looking really happy with it. A really big confidence boost for both horse and rider.
Felicity and William
William is a gorgeous piebald cob who had been mostly out of work for a few years following illness and then some confidence issues for his rider.
Here Tom is asking him to back up, which he finds very hard.
Tom talks to the audience, William looks to his human.
I just thought this was a nice portrait of both of them.
Working on the long-lines.
Although he'd never seen a tarpaulin set up like this before he had no problem crossing it.
I think this was the first time felicity had ridden him in quite a while. I'd be pretty happy to be sat on a horse like him.
Looking handsome and windswept.
When Felicity asked for a bit more attention on her, William reacted quite strongly so Tom took over on the reins and found some pretty strong opinions going on there.
He's long-reining viennese style here, I think if they had expected this kind of behaviour from William they would probably have run the lines through the stirrups english style, but it worked out fine anyway.
William thinks maybe running away will solve the problem of humans asking him to do something he didn't want to.
Running away turns out not to be the solution.
Running the other way, also doesn't get rid of the pesky human.
When Tom didn't back down after the previous antics, William thought maybe a full rear would do the trick.
...and more running away...
I think I'd want to get out of the way of a look like that as well.
Once they came to a stop, Tom re-arranged the lines and they got back to work. It was as though a switch had changed in William's head and he had realised that actually it was a lot less effort just to do the simple things he was being asked to do than to fling himself around all over the place.
This was no more than a minute or two after the previous picture.
"If he starts to rear, just get off, pick up the line and back him up hard."
Going forward but still pulling on the bit a little, compare with...
...at halt and starting to give to the bit- notice how much taller he looks.
Zorro and I
I don't know what was going on here, but I seem quite philosophical about it.
Because I hadn't been careful enough about how I released my cues with Zorro in the few months since we last did this work with Tom he'd built up a bit of a brace in his poll. Here Tom is working through it.
This work usually looks pretty bad, because the horse is really pushing on the bit and needs to learn not to, but it makes a really big difference to how the horse works, and being able to give to the bit and arch their backs is a much healthier way for a riding horse to work.
Backing up, waiting for the step where he stops pulling on the rein.
Starting to get a softer trot, with help from Sarah.
Being Zorro, there are still Opinions being shared.
Trotting more softly - the moment he softens to the rein his shoulder comes up and we just feel taller and much more elevated.
We did a little bit of cantering too. I'm not too great at that yet, but Zorro is pretty hot.
We also started to learn to go sideways, beginning with getting a step of turn on the haunches followed by a step of turn on the forehand and working up from there.
As usual towards the end of a clinic there are many and various ropes, reins and halters on the fence.
This was during the last session of the clinic, when Tom and Sarah had given me a lot of advice on my riding. There was a moment during this circuit where Zorro felt almost transparent, as if I could somehow see everything that was going on with his feet without looking down. It was a brilliant feeling and I really want to work out how to recapture it.
As usual I got a lot out of this clinic and I have a load of homework to do now if I want to get my horsemanship up to a consistently high standard but I feel like I've got some good direction and clear goals for the things I want to get done over the next few months.
If you want to learn a bit more about the work that was actually being done here, Elaine has documented the clinic very nicely. As usual, these pictures are all available in bigger versions over on my flickr.
x-posted with horsemanship
Instead, this will be a bunch of photos with a bit of explanation. Easier on the eye than my usual reams of text but hopefully still quite informative.
The ponies in their pens at the start of the clinic. Yes, Zorro does have a pink bucket. You're welcome to take it up with him.
Karen and Celebrity
Celebrity is an arab, I think he comes from some pretty flouncy bloodlines if Arabs are your thing. Either way he wasn't very good at paying attention to humans, tending to zone them out and just wander along doing his own thing. Here Tom is helping him learn to lead and pay attention to personal space.
Celeb learns that he needs to pay attention to Karen's personal space too. Karen is a friend of ours and much better with horses than she lets on, it was really nice to watch her work with her horse.
Working on the single line. Notice that Celeb's attention is still right off in the distance.
Celeb decides to run away rather than paying attention to Tom.
Starting to do what he is asked rather than what he wants. He has a classic floaty arabian trot.
Working on the long-reins is a great bridge between ridden work and ground work.
We did have some pretty minging weather on Saturday.
Karen long-lining him on the last day. Notice how much calmer he looks now he has realised he can allow her to make some decisions for both of them and he can just keep his attention on her.
Trotting on the lines.
Nina and Belle
Belle is a lovely grey cob, here working on the single-line. I'm not sure why but Tom appears to be channelling the spirit of Keith Richard.
More work on the line, Belle is just such a sweet natured horse and she looks stunning.
Backlit and working on the long-lines. Belle was very taken with Zorro and when she jumped out of her pen ( nobody had told her cobs can't jump ) she quite liked to come over and stand by his.
I honestly don't know what is going on with Tom and Belle's head in this picture. Perhaps they were dancing or something? It's pretty cool.
Working with Sarah on their riding. Like most of the horses on the clinic Belle needed to learn a bit more about listening to the bit.
Belle standing nicely at the halt while her rider, Nina, listens for her to really soften to the rein.
Kerin and Cheyenne
Cheyenne is a rescue mare who has been with Kerin for about three years. Before that a previous owner had ridden her while she had a sore back and then beaten her when she bucked them off, she still has the whip marks on her hindquarters.
She's understandably very wary of humans, but recently she has been looking a little more as though she might be in a place where she could come back into work and having an expert like Tom on hand to help was a great opportunity to start along that road.
A portrait of Cheyenne. I really like this little mare.
Cheyenne was quite quick to accept direction from people but she wasn't keen on things around her head or in her mouth- here Tom was starting to work towards being able to bridle her.
It turned out a mixture of gentle persistence and sugar water on the bit was all it took for her to wear a bit.
Another problem Cheyenne has is that she won't be caught- the only way to bring her in was to bring in her three field-mates with her following along loose.
They worked on this by taping off a smaller area of the school to start with and building up from there. Even so she was reluctant to be caught at first.
Still not interested in being caught.
Looking the right way- maybe she could do it.
A little later she was quite content to allow Kerin to catch her, in fact she was following her around in a classic hooked-on way. I think Kerin's face says it all here.
Then it was my turn to work on catching her. Her face and body position here are a pretty good indicator of what she intended to do about that.
Eventually, after a lot of movement followed by some more subtle work to keep her with me, I managed to catch her.
A lot of stuff she did over the clinic was towards helping her deal with people being around her, the same preparation work one might do for starting a young horse in terms of moving, swinging ropes, patting her and trying to prepare her for everything.
If anything, a horse as concerned as her maybe needs more of that.
Brenda and Maple
Sarah works with Maple and her Brenda on the long lines.
Maple is a little star of a pony who tends to take everything in her stride. Also she seems quite unperturbed that her numnah appears to be on an escape bid from under her saddle.
Maple had a bit of a bucking fit the last time Brenda rode her, which we are pretty sure relates to a badly fitted saddle ( she'd got a professional to do the job, but they were inept ) so sleepsy_mouse got to ride her instead. As we expected, having done some good work on the long-lines already and working in a well-fitted saddle she was absolutely fine.
On the long-lines in the sunshine. Maple is working nicely with the bit here. Also she looks pretty pleased with the amount of mud on her quarters.
Ground poles and tarps don't bother her at all. Nor does the curious way Tom balances a hat on his head.
Back in the saddle and looking really happy with it. A really big confidence boost for both horse and rider.
Felicity and William
William is a gorgeous piebald cob who had been mostly out of work for a few years following illness and then some confidence issues for his rider.
Here Tom is asking him to back up, which he finds very hard.
Tom talks to the audience, William looks to his human.
I just thought this was a nice portrait of both of them.
Working on the long-lines.
Although he'd never seen a tarpaulin set up like this before he had no problem crossing it.
I think this was the first time felicity had ridden him in quite a while. I'd be pretty happy to be sat on a horse like him.
Looking handsome and windswept.
When Felicity asked for a bit more attention on her, William reacted quite strongly so Tom took over on the reins and found some pretty strong opinions going on there.
He's long-reining viennese style here, I think if they had expected this kind of behaviour from William they would probably have run the lines through the stirrups english style, but it worked out fine anyway.
William thinks maybe running away will solve the problem of humans asking him to do something he didn't want to.
Running away turns out not to be the solution.
Running the other way, also doesn't get rid of the pesky human.
When Tom didn't back down after the previous antics, William thought maybe a full rear would do the trick.
...and more running away...
I think I'd want to get out of the way of a look like that as well.
Once they came to a stop, Tom re-arranged the lines and they got back to work. It was as though a switch had changed in William's head and he had realised that actually it was a lot less effort just to do the simple things he was being asked to do than to fling himself around all over the place.
This was no more than a minute or two after the previous picture.
"If he starts to rear, just get off, pick up the line and back him up hard."
Going forward but still pulling on the bit a little, compare with...
...at halt and starting to give to the bit- notice how much taller he looks.
Zorro and I
I don't know what was going on here, but I seem quite philosophical about it.
Because I hadn't been careful enough about how I released my cues with Zorro in the few months since we last did this work with Tom he'd built up a bit of a brace in his poll. Here Tom is working through it.
This work usually looks pretty bad, because the horse is really pushing on the bit and needs to learn not to, but it makes a really big difference to how the horse works, and being able to give to the bit and arch their backs is a much healthier way for a riding horse to work.
Backing up, waiting for the step where he stops pulling on the rein.
Starting to get a softer trot, with help from Sarah.
Being Zorro, there are still Opinions being shared.
Trotting more softly - the moment he softens to the rein his shoulder comes up and we just feel taller and much more elevated.
We did a little bit of cantering too. I'm not too great at that yet, but Zorro is pretty hot.
We also started to learn to go sideways, beginning with getting a step of turn on the haunches followed by a step of turn on the forehand and working up from there.
As usual towards the end of a clinic there are many and various ropes, reins and halters on the fence.
This was during the last session of the clinic, when Tom and Sarah had given me a lot of advice on my riding. There was a moment during this circuit where Zorro felt almost transparent, as if I could somehow see everything that was going on with his feet without looking down. It was a brilliant feeling and I really want to work out how to recapture it.
As usual I got a lot out of this clinic and I have a load of homework to do now if I want to get my horsemanship up to a consistently high standard but I feel like I've got some good direction and clear goals for the things I want to get done over the next few months.
If you want to learn a bit more about the work that was actually being done here, Elaine has documented the clinic very nicely. As usual, these pictures are all available in bigger versions over on my flickr.
x-posted with horsemanship