He he he! Have to say 'off like a bucket of prawns in the sun' is my all-time favourite quote so far this month. Keep em coming!

hey geoff!! how did you go at monarto??? hope itchy was awesome!!!!!!! see you next week!

lol yeah i heard about ur dressage!!! lol well atleast you finished!! thats good!

Hi there!
I'm back in the tack as much as I can be, it's not so easy with the baby. she's 5 months old already! I did get to a couple of shows this year though and am teaching a fair amount.
How has your season been?

Well, one's got to start the season somewhere and you can only go up from last! lol congrats on the fantastic stadium round though.
I did a showcase in the spring, May, exhibiting some of the horses and got to judge some classes there. I went to our club's arabian breed show this year with two of my 3-year-olds. They were fantastic! both are now started under saddle so I'm looking forward to moving up and showing them in something other than halter for once! I might just have to find a babysitter or steal another show mom... I'm actually going to be showing my filly in western next year. I don't know what happened, but her lovely swingy trot disappeared and she's very rolley now... no dressage for her! It'll be fun though, a new experience.
I haven't gotten to show my big guy this year, he injured himself two days before I sent in entries for a recognized dressage show where we were shooting for 3rd level. He's perfectly fine now, just a wea scar, and I've got him listed for sale. Sooooo, that's about my summer. I hope you have a fantastic season, when's your next event?

Hi Geoffrey! I just came across your discussion regarding ground manners (in the 'Coaches Corner' group). I also find that there is not enough (or any) focus on ground manners in trained horses. I have actually searched for a coach who would work with me on groundwork as well as riding... but it is a very difficult thing to find. I would love to have a coach who would spend time guiding me in proper long-lining and lungeing. I asked one dressage coach about it and she told me that she never does ground work with her horses! At the moment I am working with someone who drives so that I can ground-drive my young horse. I plan to always spend time practicing ground skills with my horse... even when he is well trained under saddle. A lot of useful things can be learned (and refreshed) from the ground, and a well mannered horse is not only safer, but also more fun! ;)

That's so exciting! Best of luck to you! Please let me know how it goes for you.

Hi again. I am a firm believer in groundwork, throughout a horse's career. We do practice the basics every time that I am with my horse (on the lead and on the lunge)... walk, stop, park (even if I walk away from him), turn, trot. We work on him responding to voice commands as well as our body language, and on him respecting personal space. I now have my 'new to horses' boyfriend also working with him. We entered my horse in halter classes at a show recently (our first time) and all of our work paid off, as he was a very good boy. :) We would like to soon progress to long lines in preparation for backing him (and possibly driving him some day). Dressage is my passion, but I would also like to do some low level eventing. I hope that my wee lad will become a good all-rounder... Canadian Horses are known for their versatility. My friends may even convince me to try a bit of western some time. ;)

hey geoff
just wondering with all the rain we've had over the past week if we will still be able to jump course work at c grade height?? as we need intensive training for states this weekend!!

Hi Geoffrey, I'm desparately looking for a new "trainer".... #1 the other person hasn't called me back since bailing on Ben, #2 even if she had called me back I was going to bail on her.... Anyway, we're getting late in the season and we've already had some snow so everyone is telling me to lay off until the Spring (about 5 - 6 months!). I don't want to wait that long, so I'm continuing my search. I have one more lady to call who is Chris Irwin Gold Certified but I think she's really busy doing clinics and such. Chris Irwin aside (although he's supposed to be great), she's apparently very very good - she works with unconfident and nervous adult riders (me) as well. I wonder where my nerves went, I remember jumping the 4ft fences and galloping across the fields - ho hum. Anyway, thanks for asking and get on with your fencing!!!!

Who said snow's not poison - I HATE it. LOL. I think I'm going to give her a call. Wish me luck.

Hi Geoffrey!
How are things with you?
Cash and I have been getting along fabulous. When I returned from my 10 day Florida vacation he took his head and rubbed it all over me. First time he's been THAT affectonate! Suppose he got a little dog mixed in there somewhere? LOL! Anyway, I like that about him.
I had a riding lesson yesterday and both of us were in a good mood & relaxed so it went as well as I'd hope for. We are finally back to progressing since leaveing our old barn. Only took a year and a half.
A highschool girlfriend of mine is visiting your country now. Her fathers relatives were from Australia so she wanted to visit before his close relatives passed as they are getting up there in age. She and her husband just went snorkeling at the great barrior reef a couple of days ago. Have you ever done that? I used to be very afraid (there's that darn word again) of water but when we started traveling in the Caribbean Islands, I knew I had to get over that cause I loved seeing all the interesting critters in the ocean. I still like to know I can touch bottom and as long as I think I can touch, I swim fine. If I start to feel I might not be able to touch bottom I become a rock. I'd love to visit the Great Barrior Reef but that is not likely to happen. Just thankful I've been able to do it in the islands.
I went to the Parelli Celebration in Florida for 3 days while on vacation. Got many new ideas of things to do to keep things fresh and fun for Cash and I. That keeps him moving under saddle and gives me a chance to progress with my riding seat. Hard to develope a good seat when they don't keep moving!
Keep up the good work with your horses and students! What a great life!! Enjoy!!!
Shirley

love the new photos - keep'em coming!! :)

Hey Patrick, I just saw you are on here so thought I'd say good-night since I'm off for bed at 2:a.m. Didn't feel very good today so I mosied around the barnyard with Cash in hand. It's starting to be old hat for him now. We walked up to the fake deer and he sniffed at it and then tried to push it over. It was a good choice to do the hiking around. Felt like the right thing to do. It's time~~~ on a good day we gotta start getting around the grounds with me in saddle. With 13 horses at my barn, no one else is going outside of the arenas either. I sooooo want to do this before we start getting the ice and snow that only complicate the things that can go bad. Right now ~~lots can go right.

You have such inspiring experiences with your horses that are caught with the camera.
I am not sure where my friend is in Australia. I think they had four main destinations on their itinerary. I only remember GBR and Sydney. I don't know where her extented family lives there either. What a nice friend to have that will share the holiday home with you! Our little getaway is a small 'old' log cabin on a small freshwater lake. We have a paddle boat and a pontoon to go out in search for fish, turtles and birds. But of course the fresh water fish can't compare in color to the tropical fish. It is a good retreat if you like to go back to nature.
When I mention 'bored' I'm referring to the attitude that arises when I don't diversify enough. If I attempt to do the same things over and over, Cash will easily distract and let his mind go on to other things which generally means that he's gonna make up his own fun. Much better for me to change it up first and stay the leader.
Keep Jumping Around!

...*laughing* ...
I'm such a ditz!!
Well, as you can see I made it back in!!
Now I'm away to view vid clips!!
~ Barb

You make this jumping stuff look so easy and graceful....well graceful it is...no doubt about that.
Today was a special day for Cash and I~~~got out of the arenas and rode around the yard and down the lane a little. I am thrilled! May sound silly to you but it was a big hurdle for me. Did you get the pun on that? Big Hurdle? It wasn't initially intentional. AND I set some very low jumps out for him Friday and we played around with that with me on the ground. I set two poles together for him to go over and a 4 in. high box and then a regular jump that was probably 6 in. At first he just sort of trotted over and then he started actually jumping. That's so pretty even at that low. I set out a couple barrels too on their side but he wanted nothing to do with going over those. I think the highest he's jumped for me is about 15 inches but he'd way over jump that. I wasn't comfortable with how the jumps were held up (they were useing the seats of a couple of chairs) so we didn't do it anymore. But now we can work with some real jumps so I think we'll end up playing around with them a little. Especially as it gets colder.
It was a good horse week-end for us...hope it was for you too.
By the way, I need some translation again. "A smile on your dial?" I suspect this is going to be very cute..
Keep up the good work with your students and horses!
Shirl

um.... Yeah, A little! lol. No that would be a lie! ALOT!

(:

What's Koala hay? :)

Closest thing to a Koala I could find!!

Glad you like!

That's so bad! How did it happen? I was in the Caymans a few years ago doing a touristy swim with the stingray thing, but they just swam around us. Did you step on one?

hey
your horses are really beautifull. how long have yo done showjumping and crosscountry for? im just starting it and love it[=]

From memory the day after Balak Cup was VERY slow. I should have taken the day off, dang it..

Thank you Geoff for understanding what I am trying to say about current riding. I really appreciate it.
By the way I am going to try and get M.C. Self's" Horsemastership" this month, since you recommended it in your comment on my blog about books. I decided that I should have read it long ago.

hi thanks for that but he is not old he has only just turned 10 nd he cant be ridden at the moment as he can hardly walk so thats why im tryiing to fix it a little so he dosent have pain otherwise we have to put him down.

Hey Geoffrey,

thanks for your comments, any time you want to organize for us to come to Australia and run clinics, I am up for it! Check out my website at Wit's end.com and we would love to come "down under" and run some of our workshops! Cheers mate, Ann.

she can she is the best she is still a little green considering she just turned 6 but she learns fast

Hello there,

I would love to do that, maybe you should e-mail me on my private e-mail so we can sort out the details, and chat about what clinics you would like,also I can do a lecture which would involve more people. What is this conference - why don't you send me some info at the e-mail address on my website, and we might even have to phone each other to sort out the details, and give me a feel for what kind of groups and topics I can think about doing down there, cost etc., I am very good at sorting out problem horses, problems under saddle relating to physical issues, and because I teach Classical Equitation, they two are very connected, and I can give you and your studetns a whole new concept of balance, suppleness and relaxation for both the horse andn the rider. This can be used in any discipline, so usable for anybody. Talk to you soon, cheers, Ann.

Hello Geoffrey,

I was looking at your website, looks like you have a great property, and a guest house. What kinds of clinics do you have in mind, and do the sponsors bring in people from all over for this conference in May? We have similar huge equine tradefairs here where they pay for the speakers to come from the sale of booths at the tradefair. What is the set up like there? Usually travelling clinicians like myself get their airfare and accomodations paid and a fee as well, depending on what kind of teaching I am doing, it can be a daily rate if the numbers are small, or an individual rate if the numbers are large. It really depends on what you want done, so let me know your thoughts on this, it will be May before you blink! cheers, Ann.

Hello Geoffrey,

Sounds good to me, not sure how to do a video link but we can discuss that. Do you want me to contact this lady myself, or do you want to contact her and see if she is interested after she sees my website? I could mail you a Stretch DVD of mine so you can show it to people as a way of them getting to see me in person, and get a feel for what I do? Is your mailing address on your website? cheers, Ann. I could get a professional video done of the Four F's and send it to you on a DVD? Let me know what you think.

HEllo there,

I have been in contact with Angela, awaiting a reply. What I could do is send you a Promo Package with some case histories, a DVD of the interview - the Four F's - and a Stretch DVD, and a copy of my book, and you guys could show it/them at the May conference. Maybe have a video evening with clubs etc., and get the info and my name out there, and then that will build a solid reputation for me coming hopefully in November to so some stuff down there. I would be willing to pay my own airfare as long as somebody was organizing enough business for me to cover costs obviously and make some money! Then maybe I can stay at your place? I guess it depends where I would be teaching, anyway, lots of time for that, thanks for the interest, cheers, Ann.

Hello Geoffrey,

Sorry - Clarify the International part? Didn't get that! I will get the DVD done asap on the Four f's, and send you a package, the other thing is that which airport would I fly into from here? So usually it is easier if the hosts do the costing as obviously you would have a better idea of that than me. I have no idea what those costs would be in Australia, so maybe we should try to put a tour together based on you organizing it, collecting the money from people, paying me, the expenses etc., When my coach Craig Stevens comes here I get a list of all expenses and then decide how many people it will take at what cost to pay it all, and I give him a cheque, pay the hotel and the food, and he does not have to worry about anything. That makes thing simple for the clinician, as especially with this distance, I would have no idea what to charge to cover the costs. It also depends what kind of clinics you want me to run, riding clinics. training clinics, First aid, or bodywork and the connection to injuries. For the riding ones, I only teach 6 - 8 people a day and their horses, and we can have spectators, who have to pay to watch. Here I charge $350 for the weekend which gives you 2 private lessons, and the Friday evening lecture which is 3 hours long, and auditing is included. However of course they are on my own farm and I have no cost. For the lecture type clinics, there is no limit to numbers, so the price can be less per person, and then I would charge a day rate of $1500, plus expenses - airfare, lodging and food paid. So the organizer would have to do what I do with travelling clinicians, figure out what the cost of their rate, plus airfare, food and other travel would be and then charge people enough to cover it all. I think this is the simplest way to go, as I say, I have no idea how to figure out hotel costs etc., in a country so far from home. Let me know your thoughts on this, cheers, Ann.

Hello there,

Yes the clinics are more as the people get more personal attention. You pay more for the fact that you are getting private lessons, a 3 hour lecture, and the opportunity to watch all the other riders have lessons as well, so it's very concentrated. For the lectures, they run from 9 - 4 pm, with a lunch break, and a coffee break in the morning. I usually show a video of some sort to start out with, and the most popular ones are the Equine First aid ones, and the Intro to Equine Physiology, Anatomy and why incorrect movement destroys the horse's body. This one also has a component about the signs of pain and how injuries happen. I give a pretty large handout for the lectures, and if possible I like to show some horses move, and have peope learn to really look at the way they move to evaluate problems. Sometimes people want to bring a horse to have them evaluated, and I do some body work to show people what I do. When I do clinics a way from home, , I have done 2 day ones where one day is the lecture, and the following day is a riding lesson or a body work session. I charge $65 for a riding lesson and $100 for a bodywork session. Both are an hour long or more sometimes, as I don't really go by time, but by what the horse needs. The bodywork also involves a written evaluatin of what I have found and suggestions for both groundwork and work under saddle to help the horse overcome issues. Most people find this really useful. There again if we do a 2 day clinic in this tour, I can teach 8 people in a day and massage 6 horses, and that's the limit. It might be a good idea to add in a lecture the night before which people can sign up for, as a lead in to what we will be doing, give them a chance to ask questions, and there would be a separate charge for that , say $25 a person. The lecture is 3 hours long, and it will explain the Prinicples of Classical equitation, and the principles of the body work that I do. What do you think? cheers, Ann.

Just a note, I could start with the Four F's if you want, as I do so many different types of topics, if you look at my website you will see the variety, so I can really custom make something for what you think your riders would be interested in. Also, the riding is a lot more subtle and a lot more detail, so it takes time to explain. I have completely re-written the way that I have ridden for the last 30 years, but I have no regrets, as the results are phenomenal, and it eliminates all the "attitude" problems out of the horses, as it calms them down. The riders really get a lot out of this, anyway, you decide as you know the people and what is going on, so it's really up to you what you think will spark people's interest. I think it will be enough if I just send you a copy of my Stretch DVD, a book and some case histories to show people, cheers, Ann.

HEllo, sorry about that! A clinic is limited to 6 riders, so this is for the riding side of things and is $350 for the weekend, including the 3 hour Friday night lecture, 2 private lessons and auditing. Auditors would pay by the day to watch and attend the lecture, as they are not riding. Usually I charge $20 per person for the lecture, and $20 a day for auditing so the cost for all 3 is $60 for the weekend per person, these are observers and are not there with a horse. Obviously we need 6 people to sign up at $350 per horse/rider combo to run one of these.

Lectures, or we can call them workshops - are not limited to numbers, so for those I charge $1500 a day flat rate, and the organizer decides how many people are to attend and how much to charge them, as we need a classroom setting and a TV/VCR/DVD player available. I give handouts for these, and you can also run a 2 day workshop with lecture on the first day, and a hands on riding lesson, or a body work session the second day, and for that it's $65 for a private lesson, or $100 for a massage session with written chart. Did I clear that up for you now? cheers, Ann.

I think you just got confused between the daily rate and the per person rate, as it changes depending on what I am doing. Obviously I cannot teach 50 people in a day a riding lesson, so a riding clinic is charged differently to the full day Workshop/lecture series and is divided between how many people come, or you price it at say $100 per person for the day and then make sure you have 15 people signed up to pay the fee. And if more people sign up then they pay less, if you want to do it that way. I calculate how much to charge people by including the airfare, the food and travelling expenses for my trainer, and then I have a minimum number of participants I have to have in order for it to run - would that be easier for you? If you want I can phone you so I can explain it better, cheers, Ann.

Hello Geoffrey,'

I will be mailing out your info package from me today, it includes a DVD of the Stretches, and a case history, and a few brochures. You can use this to show the powers that be, or whoever you think would be interested in a tour etc., of clinics, workshops or a custom made package to suit the participants, cheers, Ann.

Yes, let me know when it arrives, I have no idea how long this will take! cheers, Ann. do the costs make more sense to you now after my last e-mail?

Hi, Geoff!

Good to hear from you, and thanks so much for the support! The really unfortunate thing is that so often the message, which is just fine, gets lost due to the presentation by the messenger. I have no doubt that lots of what is being done is of value, and I just wish it could be presented in a more palatable and open-minded way.

Thanks I love him to death

Hi Geoffrey, I got rid of her this morning.
Good heavens - I didn't even check what she said, but quickly banned her when another member said he had gotten some unwanted attention.

Hey Geoffrey. Nice to hear your horses are jolly! Hope the truck is making them smile even more.. :-)

He has his moments, believe me! Yeah winter is ok thanks - just foot-deep mud mostly. We haven't had any snow where I live, but don't tell everyone! I think we must be the only part of the UK that hasn't!

Hey Geoffrey,

Has the DVD arrived yet? how are we doing with the snail mail? Any comments if you or anybody else has watched it? chat soon, off to ride more horses today, the weather has been glorious and we are making use of it. Cheers, Ann.

Hello Geoffrey,

Glad it arrived safely. I told Angela that I would be sending you a DVD so maybe the 2 of you can discuss plans now, and maybe she can see it when you are done with it and go from there. I think you guys in the horse community should get together and discuss the tour as then it would be organized with everyone knowing what is going on, let me know what happens, cheers, Ann.

May you do very well in your event this weekend.

It takes a LOOONG time, Geoff, for it to help the back, just as it takes babies months of crawling before they are strong enough to walk. If you have children you'll remember.
It also gives a good reminder of how a four legged creature moves.
Remember, the weeding is the excuse for crawling, it gives you an excuse for your weird behavior when people ask you what you are doing!

HEllo Geoffrey,

Any feedback on the stuff I sent you yet? Also I will be interviewed on web radio on March 28th at 10 am Pacific time, so maybe you can listen in - not sure what time that is "down under". Anyway, here is the link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/vickers_tree Cheers, Ann.

thanks Geoffrey,

just let me know how it goes, and you can listen to the interview on the online radio show if you want, it will be on their archives now, I think the link is already on my page here, cheers, Ann.