by Betsy Viets-Wallen
Original article as it appeared in the Morgan Connection
The weekend of May 30-June 1st marked
the dates of the second annual Light
Hands Horsmanship Clinic held at Art
Perry’s beautiful Intrepid Farms in
Santa Ynez, California. This was a very
special event sponsored by Spaulding
Laboratory and artfully managed by
Debbie Beth-Halachemy. Clinic attendees
came from 16 states as well as Brazil,
Australia and England. Many who were
returning for the second year. The
clinic was a first class affair from top
to bottom, and included a large enclosed
tent complete with audio/visual
equipment for portions of the clinic,
high end vendors showcasing their wares
from custom made saddles, boots, bits,
to had loomed saddle pads, jewelry,
bronzes and a knife maker. Adding to the
ambiance was an authentic stagecoach
brought in by Paula Knickerbocker which
is said to have been the last coach
robbed in the United States.
The goal of the event, according to Debbie, “was to keep the event classy, up close and personal.” A goal which they definitely met. There were also many celebrity guests on hand for the weekend including Monty Roberts, Jack Brainard, David Leichman and Erin Murphy from the Pat Parelli organization, Darrel Dodds, the editor of Western Horseman, as well as two film crews including one from RFD TV.
The event started on Friday with a tour
of the private Museum of the Cowboy in
Santa Ynez, which is home to a large and
unique collection of western antique
saddles, bridles and anything and
everything “cowboy.” Friday afternoon,
Art Perry took guests on a guided tour
of the beautiful Intrepid Farms
including an up close look at the
Intrepid collection of rare and highly
collectible equine memorabilia that Art
has purchased from around the world.
Visitors were entertained with Art’s
stories and recollections of many of the
pieces. The evening began with
introductions by announcer and MC, Rick
Lamb from RFD TV, who welcomed guests to
the event and went on to introduce the
five clinicians for the weekend.
Following the introductions, guests were
treated to live entertainment from
guitarist Ron Miller and a delicious
dinner catered by RDL Chuckwagon who
traveled from Espanola, New Mexico to
provide a western inspired menu of foods
throughout the informative weekend. The
evening ended with Lauren La Rue, who
entertained guests with an insightful
collection of original Cowgirl Poetry.
The focus of the clinic centered on the
“light hands” philosophy of horsemanship
and how it can be achieved from birth to
riding the finished horse. Five well
known clinicians presented their areas
of expertise over the weekend. (In the
interest of space, their philosophies
are only briefly highlighted, as most
have videos and publications on their
individual methods.) Starting off Friday
and Saturday morning, internationally
known Dr. Robert Miller spoke on the
importance of imprinting the young foal
and how this can impact the horse’s
entire life by early handling. His
philosophy strives to “strengthen the
connections by promoting the humane,
effective training between horse and
human.” Dr. Miller also highlighted his
talks with many incredible videos
reinforcing his imprinting methods and
how they can be applied to a variety of
situations.
The second clinician to speak and demonstrate his abilities was Jon Ensign, who has developed a unique method of working young horses to “develop a partnership with the horse.” Using a young Clydesdale cross, Jon demonstrated teaching the horse to respond to human body language, using a variety of methods from the ground, teaching the horse to use their hind end, moving in small circles and not to be scared of outside stimuli. All of this was demonstrated without the use of any type of force and lots of positive reinforcement from Jon to create “light hands”. Jon ended his session on Sunday, actually being able to mount and ride the young horse, who was completely green when he arrived at the event.
The daily afternoon sessions got under way after more delicious food and time for guests to visit with the clinicians during lunch. Lester Buckley was the next to speak. Using a borrowed Luistano who was a novice horse under saddle, Lester demonstrated how to develop the horse, using rhythm and suppleness to encourage him to bend and move forward with lightness and flexibility. He demonstrated this under both western and English tack.
From there, Anne Judd brought a unique
perspective to the event, focusing on
correct positioning of the rider in
order to help create “lightness” through
the hands. She and her assistants, Amber
Pitts and Danielle Green demonstrated
how this can be obtained in western,
hunt seat and saddle seat. Anne’s
portion of the clinic was new this year,
and she was very excited to be included
in this highly respected group, and most
importantly be able to demonstrate how
an up headed breed can still use the
light hands philosophy. Anne used a
lovely Palomino Saddlebred show horse,
who was a great ambassador for the
breed. As many people might be aware,
there are many misconceptions about the
up headed breeds, their training,
shoeing methods etc . . . and Anne is
hoping to dispel these myths by
introducing these horses to a whole new
segment of the equine industry. This
clinic was definitely a wonderful first
step to lay some of these myths to rest.
The finale for each day of the clinic
was Eitan Beth-Halachmy, who gave
entertaining and informative talks on
riding and schooling the more finished
horse. Mounted on the gorgeous Morgan
stallion Santa Fe Renegade, Eitan
captured the audience’s attention
showcasing the ultimate in light hands
while performing flying lead changes,
side passes, shoulder in and pirouettes.
Eitan’s message which echoed the other
clinicians was to “ride forward” and as
he puts it, “ride the stride that didn’t
happen yet.” Simple in context, yet much
more difficult when put into practical
use. His presentations were thoroughly
enjoyed by everyone.
The clinic finished late Sunday
afternoon and was followed by another
question and answer session with the
clinicians. The weekend was considered a
huge success by all who attended and
plans are already in place for the next
year, to be held at the same time and
place. A special thank you needs to be
extended to Art Perry for hosting the
event at Intrepid Farms, which added to
the wonderful ambiance of the entire
weekend.
Photos by Betsy Viets-Wallen
