Anita's Other Space

My youngest daughter and I have been attending a horse-centered weekend in Brandon, MB., called The Round-up. It's a first annual, so a little light in attendance (which is cool for us), but man, it is FULL in terms of meeting expectation. All of the clinics as well as the trade show over the past three days have really been focussed on horse owners, rather than spectators--with the exception of the Saturday night entertainment.

What Sara and I have found most helpful, is the "Horseman's Challenge," in which three world renowned trainers with three very different styles, each select a raw 2-year-old from a herd on Friday, and over four one-hour sessions over the weekend compete to see how far they get with them.

Man, it has been amazing and wonderful to watch--especially (in our opinion) Canadian competitor, Mel Hyland. Within his first hour he had established clear communication with his young mare, had her accept a saddle, and even rode her. These horses had never been worked before! Wow.

Sara and I like his style best. It's one of respect, love, and care--he's there to help her understand what is wanted from her.

We like his attitude as well. I had a chance to speak with him a few minutes yesterday. In his mind, the competition aspect of the weekend is less important than doing right by the horse :-)

I go home inspired...can't wait to see my own wee horse again. her training has been progressing well, but with what I've learned this weekend, I think I can do an even better job of helping her.

Over the past few months I've come to realize I love training young horses almost more than anything--perhaps even as much as I enjoy writing. If I were to wish upon a star, my hunny would buy me a ranch, and let me do both for the rest of our lovely days...

p.s. This is my daughter beside champion team driver Neil Dimmock. He invited up for a ride on the wagon following his clinic on harnessing team horses :-)