Young Horse Confidence Clinic
1st & 2nd March 2025 at Tallarook VIC
Get professional guidance along the path from a young/green horse to a calm and confident riding partner. Let’s make sure your horse is set up with all the right basics to build upon, so that nothing gets missed that could cause problems later.
All young horses have the same basic requirements under saddle, and I’m not talking about the “stop, go, turn” they should have when coming back from the trainer.
I’m talking about relaxation and rhythm. Calmness and confidence. Acceptance of their job and a willing-to-cooperate attitude or work ethic.
Essentially, it all comes down to how your horse is feeling about his job of carrying a rider. You can’t learn (or problem-solve) when you’re stressed or anxious, so before we can begin to train the horse for our specific discipline, we have to ensure he’s fully accepting of the rider and happy to take directions and do what he’s asked.
Relaxation, rhythm, calmness and confidence all go hand-in-hand, usually if you’ve got one you’ll soon have the others fall into place. A well-rounded young horse is a pleasure to school, and with all the right basics he’ll be ready to take you further up the levels.
How does it work?
The clinics run over two days, each participants gets 4x private lessons (2 per day) which can take place in either the Indoor Arena, Outdoor Arena or Round Yard at the beautiful Luna Meadows Equestrian Centre in Tallarook VIC. There’s a short theory session during the lunch break and the opportunity to meet other riders on the same path as you.
The Confidence Clinics have the same low-stress vibe of the Social Days; giving the horses plenty of time to settle in, and working with the horse and whatever he brings into the arena on the day. The difference is the Clinics have a structured lesson format where riders have allocated times and we focus on learning/education.
How do I book?
A non-refundable deposit secures your spot, with the balance due 14 days before the clinic date.
FAQ – is there camping available?
Luna Meadows offers overnight camping and paddocks for you and your horse. These can be booked directly with the venue.
FAQ – are spectators/auditors allowed?
Clinic participants are welcome to watch each other’s lessons at no extra cost. Non-participants who would like to attend must pre-register and fees apply.
Our Young Horse Social Days are always popular, the idea of having a safe and supportive environment to take your horse to for his first outing is appealing to many riders, and meeting others in the same position is reassuring that you’re on the right path.
The Social Days are ideal for really young or green horses to get few outings notched up on their belts… …but what comes next?
My coaching career began way back in the early two thousands as a trainee at a riding school in Melbourne, working toward my coaching certification. I honed my skills at teaching beginner riders how to find their balance on the horse, ride the various gaits, and work towards having an independent seat so they could give effective aids to control the horse.
I started out teaching and training the traditional way, read all the books and knew all the terminology… until I had a particularly difficult horse of my own (cold backed, bridle lame, tense and rushing) and in my search for ways to help her, I discovered the Classical way.
Sometimes people think the Classical training method is all about dressage, but it’s actually a complete training system that starts with the very beginnings of ground work and work on the lunge or in-hand and only builds to the specialisation of dressage once all the basics have been established.
It also contains paths that leads to Working Equitation, and includes developing the techniques to navigate obstacles (with style, and also at speed) and has a cattle-working phase.
Dressage not your cup of tea? No worries, there’s plenty we can work on without getting into the nitty gritty of any particular discipline.
Can’t make it to the next Confidence Clinic? Register your expression of interest in future events by joining the mailing list using the button below