On Nov 12, 2011 6 riders converged on The JBIT Ranch for a Freestyle on the Trail Workshop taught by 2 star junior Parelli Professional Todd Johnson.
The workshop, which was 3 hours in length, began on the ground and focused on how to use not only man made, but the natural obstacles a trail provides to create a warm up that more realistically simulates for your horse the type and nature of situations he or she will face on a trail ride. We used large rock breaks and hill sides in addition to log obstacles and the rail-road tie box in The JBIT playground to not only warm our horses up physically, but to mentally help them engage with us and seek our leadership. Topics covered included herd bound, buddy sour (sweet) and barn sour (sweet) behaviors – the how, the why and the how to move beyond.
Once mounted we used the natural obstacles provided by our woods and stream, log obstacles, tractor tires, and creative changes of order, position and location to help the horses accept that other horses leaving the immediate area was not cause for alarm, but that their safety was wherever their human partner was. We regularly “horse-shoed up” to talk about the feedback our horses were giving us and allow for regular intervals of time to decompress.
Here is some feedback we received about the workshop:
Todd has a great gift in the way he explains things, offers suggestions, comments, and tells how things should and should not be done. I always come away with new ideas of ways to work with my horse…. ways of riding, playing games, insight on how horses think, and act. I have never been disappointed with any clinic, lesson or Playday … I always come away with having learned something.
