Brennen's Clinic

Brennen had lots of fun at his clinic. They started with Judging. We used 4 horses. Sandy, Brennen's mare placed 1st under the judge and almost all the kids. So Brennen's day started off good. Always nice to see that you have a good eye for horses.
Then they did about an hour of showmanship. The clinician told Brennen that with a little practise, he'd have a great little SMS horse. He needs to work on setting up faster and his pivots. She switches pivot feet about 3/4 of the way through the turn. Any suggestions on fixing this?
They had lunch, then all of them saddled up and the clinician split them into riding groups. I was really glad about that, cause as clinic organizer, I would have had to split the kids and there's always someone upset about the way I've done it.
Brennen went with the 15 and 16 year old kids. He's 11. His main problem is trying to get Sandy to listen to his leg cues. His legs are still pretty short and she doesn't always get what he's asking. This is something we'll have to work on. And maintaining a lope. She wanted to break down on him all the time. He also had a hard time getting the right lead.
So now he has a bunch of stufff to work on. I like him having concrete goals when he goes into the arena. Otherwise he tends to just walk and trot Sandy on the rail. He doesn't lope her enough. He'll tell you it's because of the ground conditions, but I think she can scare him sometimes.
I took some video of him riding, but I can't seem to get it to load to YouTube.

Thats good to hear! Clinics should always be fun, especially for the younger ones... keeps them interested and feeling good!

Brennen sounds like the type of kid who will really work at his goals. I would imagine by summer he has most of them completed

Go Brennen and Sandy!

It was one of those clinics where not a single kid had a complaint about the clinician. They all liked her. She gave praise and never harped on the kids. Any time she needed to get them to fix something, like heels, she did it in a way that the kids were ok with. We are SO getting her back next year. I'm even going to take Brennen to her for some private lessons.

Goodness sake. That kid is going to be a trainer.. I love to see kids interested in such good things. You are lucky to have him.. Of course, you already know that..