The Art of the Horseman Fair Is Here!

Oh yeah, it’s finally here! The Art of the Horseman online fair weekend is going on right now! I have been waiting for this! And I have set aside this weekend to immerse myself in learning, with this online equestrian extravaganza. If you have your free ticket, great! If not, go get your free ticket, so you can get the workbook, and get ready for a lot of learning over the next 48 hours.

And if you aren’t sure which classes to watch, let me share with you some of the classes that have been my favorite so far out of each section of the fair.

Horsemanship

This is probably my FAVORITE part of the fair! Lots of practical information that you can apply to your own horsemanship.

Cyril Pittion-Rossillon – BONUS “Artificial Aids, How And When To Use Them”

This is a great class. They talk about the artificial aids, and how to use them. Such as spurs, and the right way to use them. The crop, and how to use it effectively. And also the whip, and how to use it correctly. They also show you how to use these tools effectively, and in a kind way.

This class is about 10 minutes long.

Bryan Neubert – Some Approaches To Backing

This is really helpful if your horse has a problem with backing. He gives examples of a green horse as well as a more experienced horse. He shows how to get the horse to back up easily, and quickly. Its pretty helpful. He gives a lot of different approaches to getting your horse to back up.

This class is a little longer at about 34 minutes in length.

Michael Gascon – Overcoming Obstacles

I have never heard of this horse trainer before, but according to his bio, he is taking the equine industry by storm. So of course, I needed to watch him! From what I am noticing in the classes, he works a lot with gaited horses.

And this was the first class I watched of his. He was working with a hot horse, and he put her through all kinds of tests to get her to stand still before getting onto the hot horse. There was a lot of ground work first to bother the horse to fix her resistance before getting in the saddle.

He has a lot of things that you probably have in your own arena that you can do to your horse before you get in the saddle. Every horse is different and will react differently. But once the horse is good on the ground, then he gets into the saddle. And he brought up a good point for me, everything that is done in the ground, you do in the saddle. And if your horse is different when you are in the saddle, versus when you are on the ground, it isn’t your horse, it’s you. So you need to be the same in the saddle as you are on the ground.

He talked about an exercise called a spiral where he worked the horse in a circle and worked her in a smaller and smaller circle. He did this in both directions. And also how to control the ability of the horse to run, buck or rear and taking that away form them by turning their head. If you can control the head, you will control the horse.

Think about it, if your horse runs bucks or rears, the horses neck is straight out in front of you. But if you take the steering away from the horse, and bend then neck, you take away their ability to run, buck or rear. Best thing I have learned all day, all week, and all year!!!!

Go Slow!!!!!

He also talked about going slow. If you go slow, and progress slowly, you wait to see changes before moving onto the next task. And after he worked the horse, he put the owner on the horse and worked her with the horse, very valuable!

This class is well worth the 45 minutes to watch, and so far, my favorite!

Michael Gascon – Helping the Hot Horse Be Calm

Again, I am really impressed with Michael Gascon. And in this class he talks about getting your horse to be calm. And I watched this class after watching Lindsey Partridge. Which is a good thing, because I could see how Michael was working on the drive line principle with the example horse.

This class is a little long at around 54 minutes, but its worth watching. Especially if your horse tends to be a ‘hot’ horse.

Pat Parelli – Helping the Spooky Horse

He starts off by telling us he may not teach us what we want to know, but he is going to teach us what we need to know. When it comes to your horses confidence, the rhythm is more important than the line. And what he did was have a spooky horse come into the arena and work with the spooky horse. And watching the horse pay attention to everything that was going on it totally made me think of my own horse Ethan. He reinforced keeping the rhythm with the horse. And all of this was done on a loose rein. If you have the rhythm, you will be able to help your horse.

He started with getting the rider to work on leg yields without touching the reins. Can you do this with your horse?

He focuses a lot on exposing your horse to different things that might cause a spook to happen. And as the class went on, the spooky horse was exposed to all kinds of different things and did really well!

This class is about an hour and 9 minutes in length, and definitely worth your time to watch and take notes.

Focus On Ourself – Mindset, Riding, Health

And while we are working on our horse, we need to focus on ourselves too and this is what the section of the fair is all about.

Kate Fenner – Eat, Ride, Love – a holistic approach to rider health and fitness

Ok, I didn’t think I would like this. But, it was really helpful for me. Kate talked about how to lose a little bit of weight, as well focusing on exercise. And she makes it fun, by incorporating our horses into our fitness routine. I guess I just needed some guidance, and I found it in this class.

This is a shorter class at around 20 minutes, but it’s a lot of information that is really helpful. Especially if you are trying to lose a little bit of weight, and also need a little lesson in how to love yourself.

Heidi Blackman – A 30 Min Yoga Class for Riders

And to go along with rider health and fitness….a yoga class, for equestrians! This is a 30 minute yoga class that is geared toward riders. It’s a pretty basic yoga class for beginners. So if you have never tried yoga, you might want to give it a try, it’s pretty fun!

Paula Curtis – Stretch To Connect: Ridden Stretching Exercises to Help Find Harmony With Your Horse

This is a super fun class! Paula teaches us different stretching exercises, as well as how to be present with our horses so we can go with the horse and be better able to be in harmony with our horses.

She gives a lot of examples of how to go along with our horses, instead of making them do what we ask. Not only are we getting in tune with our horse, but the stretching will help with our balance in the saddle as well. And with the stretching, it can actually help your horse work better during your ride, how cool is this?!?!?

Horse Mind, Body and Spirit Section

I am really enjoying this section of the fair. This is where you learn just what it is your horse wants you to know about him, and how to work as partners.

Sharon Wilsie – Horse Speak- Conversations With Horses

This is like a lesson in horse language. And she teaches us how to have a conversation with our horse. She shows 13 different points on the horse’s body, and what they mean, in horse speak! This is so cool! It is so awesome, I was doing some of these things, without even knowing I was doing it.

(YAY!) This video is a little longer at about 53 minutes long. There are 3 case studies given, so you can see if you can see the 13 different points, and pay attention to what the horses are “saying”. It’s a little touchy feely, but I really enjoyed it.

Lindsey Partridge – 1) How and Why to Positive Reinforcement without creating a cookie monster

This is an excellent class! I really enjoyed learning from Lindsey, um, my horses are cookie monsters, and this class really helped me. Her class made a lot of sense for me, and my own situation.

I could really relate to her thoughts on positive reinforcement. And the fact that she is a nurse, and just had a baby 6 weeks ago, she understands busy! It is very helpful, and packed with information for the 16 minutes video. She helps teach us that yes, cookies are ok, and they help to give the horse a positive reinforcement.

Lindsey Partridge – 2) Learn Passive Leadership Which Can Fix Horse Human Relationships

How to be a leader, without pushing your horse around. I like that! And I really like how she talks about positive reinforcement rather than a pressure and release method. She talks about drive lines that horses know about, and we have to learn about to work better with our horses.

Jane Myers – How do horses spend their day? What do they actually do all day?

Jane actually has 7 classes in this section, all related to teaching us how to care for our horses, as well as the land they live on. This is really helpful to help you understand what your horse does, and why as far as his diet is concerned. This class is relatively quick at around 15 minutes, and it’s really interesting!

The Art of the Horseman Fair

The first day of the fair is just about over, and already I have watched, and learned so much! And as I have been watching the classes, I have been writing things down in my workbook. This way I can come back, and revisit different areas that I need too.

About 2 or 3 weeks ago, I did end up purchasing the lifetime option for this fair. And I am glad that I did. Because there is soooo much information here that I know I will use again and again. I mean, just the yoga class, I intend to do this at least 2 or 3 times a week. So for me, it made sense to purchase the lifetime access.

But if you aren’t ready to commit to that, at least get your free ticket, and visit the fair. I think you will be really happy that you did! It’s only free through Sunday, September 22, 2019, so go log in, and start learning while you still have the opportunity!