Buck Brannaman (Day 2) Clinic Hayden, Colorado

It was going to be interesting to see if all the colt starters had done their homework and they did look pretty good as they lead their horses into the arena. Buck was warming up his horse first thing. He talked about how he was looking for ’weightlessness’ as he was working. It was quiet and precise, the way he worked. Disengaging the hind end, moving the front over, backing up just seeking the moment when there was no weight and he instantly quit.

I’ve got my binoculars with me and I am zooming in on every move. I don’t know how anyone could see the finer details and understand when the quit was valid without being close up. That’s why the 7 Clinics DVDs are so good. I shall certainly be studying these in even more depth on my return home.

Buck doesn’t massage people’s egos. He tells everyone he teaches them as if they could be the next Ray Hunt, why tell someone they’re doing good when they aren’t? They’ll never get better.

One participant said she had struggled for an hour to get her horse to accept the bridle.

Buck replied: ’I hope you don’t think I’m impressed with one hour. I’ve spent two days bridling a horse 1500 times before it works.’

He’s direct, I like that. These people want to be horseman? Then they need to know the work involved. Buck will tell them if he thinks what they’re doing is p*** poor but he also throws out the odd compliment…’but bask in your glory now ’cos I’ll be telling you something else later!’ and he laughs. He’s a good teacher I like his commitment to telling people how is really is just like he does with the horses. Both are in no doubt as to whether they’ve got the answer or not.

He made a few choice comments:
Don’t spend all your time getting ready to get ready, get on with it.
I’m not going to be easy on you guys because your safety’s at stake.
If I could get my students to spend less time on ’Wastebook’ and more time with horses they’d have a stable full of bridle horses.

I’ve watched a lot of horse clinics and horsemen and I can tell you that h’s the only person I’ve seen whose feet are the horse’s feet. he just moves those feet like they were there own. It’s smooth and you never feel a wince or a jar as you watch him work. His timing is fantastic, glad I’ve got my binoculars.

In the afternoon because the sun was out the Horsemanship 1 Clinic was outside and everyone was working on disengaging then following through with the front. The rider’s feet had to operate so that they spoke to each foot deliberately placing each one within the movement and this is a pretty fast manoeuvre.

It was chaotic at first.

I’ve done this exercise so I could empathise with their struggles but over a couple of hours it began to look for fluid as the horse and rider began to dance together.

Buck explained it so well in so many different ways it became obvious why most horsemanship can look ’lumpy’ and uncoordinated. You need to move WITH the horse and he needs to MOVE with you.

Look for the tiny things and fix them.

Buck told us that Ray Hunt was always saying to him:
Do less sooner, then you won’t need to do more later.
Me and my binoculars are beginning to see that now.

First day of our Buck Brannaman Clinic today.

It started at 9am indoors and we really had no idea what to expect. Having watched the 7 Clinics DVDs many times I had a few questions and was hoping we would find the answers by watching Buck work in person.The day was split into two parts. The morning was Colt Starting the afternoon Horsemanship 1. The colts were all shapes and sizes with handlers of varying ability so Buck had his work cut out keeping everyone moving forward. First he made sure everyone could move their horse’s feet and retain a safety bubble that the horse would respect. He gave a nice demonstration of teaching a horse where the boundary was and commented that you have to learn how much to do that says STOP!  You have to mean it but not by being mean to the horse. You are not creating any movement by fear but directing the horse first by feel then use the flag if he isn’t ready to feel of you yet.

He then had everyone saddle up and I have to confess I expected fireworks but they did well under Buck’s guidance . Then the handlers took their horse’s halters off and whole group ran as a herd while Buck kept them on the move from his own horse.

After about half an hour he was moving the horses calmly around the arena and the owners were able to catch up their own colts and continue with some groundwork.

Buck gave everyone homework, they had to practice flexion, backing up, picking the rider up from the fence, lower the head and put the bridle on. And they had to practice because, as he said, he would know in the morning if they hadn’t! He was very honest and direct and I really enjoyed his style of teaching.

After lunch was the Horsemanship 1 class. There were 27 in the group but everyone stayed out of each other’s way as they did serpentines and half circles constantly visiting lateral flexion and talking about keeping the horse’ inside the rectangle’.

As he worked he said that ’Everything I do with a horse is incremental that’s why I’m successful with them.’ In other words he tried never to overwhelm the horse and give him too much to think about. There were two ladies there from California who had seen Buck – The Movie and loved it so much they had flown over to watch him work.

The funny thing is neither of them even had a horse!!

Hi from Denver Colorado! Yes We’ve arrived at long last.

The journey was no worse than you’d expect from sitting with your knees nearly under your chin for ten hours. I watched Skyfall (the new James Bond movie), not quite how it should be seen but it was a diversion for a couple of hours!
The descent into Denver was pretty dramatic with our excellent pilot banking round thunderstorms. As we looked out of the windows we could see each thunder storm separately as if on a TV weather map with lightening zapping through leaden black clouds. It was a wow moment. Our luggage was late being unloaded because it was too dangerous for the handlers to go out onto the tarmac to rescue our bags but there was no rush because it took AGES to get through passport control. I suppose everyone is being extra careful after the Boston bombings, so no complaints but it was 4am our time (though 8pm in Denver) so we were pretty exhausted. I loved a sign (non illuminated fortunately) that directed people to the ’Tornado Shelter’ this is certainly going to be an interesting trip!
We picked up our hire car and Philip had decided to do an upgrade. What he failed to realise is that when Americans upgrade it is a bit of a SUPERSIZE compared to little old England and we’ve got a HUGE white stretch limousine with eight seats. It’s so brash and obvious we just fell about laughing as we struggled through torrential rain to the Marriot Airport hotel from where I’m writing this. Everyone will think we’re film stars!
Off to Steamboat Springs today to see Buck Brannaman over the weekend. I’ll post some more later. Just wanted to say high from this HUGE country, I am so excited about being here and looking forward to meeting everyone soon.

Vanessa Bee, Founder of The Horse Agility Club to Tour North America in May and June 2013.

LInks to all events at the bottom of this page.

All the plans are now in place for a series of Horse Agility Clinics, demonstrations and workshops across North America in May and June.

Along the way we’ve managed to squeeze in a day in California as well!

What started out as a suggestion that Vanessa Bee might visit Manitoba in June has grown into a month of clinics and competitions at five venues across the continent.

Starting in Denver over the weekend of 18th/19th May with training sessions and a competition, Vanessa then travels to Arizona to present a series of competitions, clinics and playdays the following weekend.

Then a quick visit to California to run a Training day with a competition before moving onto Washington State for the start of June to present Horse Agility to a whole new audience. The tour finishes with two, two day clinics on How to get really good at Horse Agility in Manitoba from Friday 6th through to Monday 9th June with the enthusiastic and committed group True North Horse Agility.

Vanessa Bee says:

‘I am delighted to be travelling across the Atlantic to meet so many committed and enthusiastic members of the Horse Agility Club and make many new friends along the way.

Horse Agility is growing faster than I ever dreamed possible and it’s very exciting to be personally training new trainers and starting new Clubs so far away.’

Dates are already appearing on the Events pages of the website. As new venues and days are finalised this information will be posted on social media pages and the website, so keep checking in! Horse handler places are expected to sell out very quickly so to ensure you don’t miss out please keep in touch and BOOK EARLY.

Auditors are welcome at all events but please contact the organiser to check what facilities will be available.

Current list of scheduled events. 

USA

17th-19 May

Horse Agility Training Sessions and Mini Competitions – Colorado with Vanessa Bee - USA

17th May (evening)

Horse Agility Training Evening in Colorado with Vanessa Bee

18th May (evening)

Horse Agility Training Evening in Colorado with Vanessa Bee

25th May

Horse Agility Fun Day in Arizona, USA with Vanessa Bee

26th -27th May

Get really good at horse agility with Vanessa Bee, Arizona

29th May

Training Day and Mini Competition with Vanessa Bee – California USA

1st -2nd June

International Horse Agility Clinic in Washington, USA with Vanessa Bee - USA

Canada

7th – 8th June

How to get good at Horse Agility With Vanessa Bee in Canada

9th – 10th June

How to get good at Horse Agility With Vanessa Bee in Canada

As a result of this there has been much confusion amongst our members and it’s time to set the record straight.

It’s important to always keep in mind the advice or information on the sport provided by individuals who are not actively involved with Horse Agility or do not have the level of knowledge required to make judgments on complex issues, can lead to misunderstandings. If our members have questions regarding any aspect of the sport, it is best to first address them directly to the club.

Why was the Liberty Cup introduced?

- It was an important introduction to ensure that Advance 1 Star level teams weren’t bound to competing in two Liberty classes each month, just to remain competitive in the 6 month OLHA International League. League points earned in the Liberty Cup are no longer counted as part of the main OLHA International league.

- Competitors of all levels could take part in a single competition, completing the same course and perhaps at the end of the yearlong competition, be in with chance of winning prizes.

Clearing up some myths about Horse Agility Competition

Myth 1: The handicapped scoring for Liberty Cup also applies to the main OLHA League.

It doesn’t. The scoring structure for the main OLHA league remains unchanged from last year.

Myth 2: I’ll never be able to achieve the perfect 100 score in the Liberty Cup class.

When the results are released your original score is published right next to your adjusted score. Your adjusted score is only used to determine your cup points and your position in the class relative to competitors of other abilities.

Myth 3: The main OLHA league isn’t fair; Advanced 1 Star competitors get the most points.

As our most elite competitors, our Advanced 1 Star teams compete each month on the most technically demanding course, at Liberty and against the clock. This is the start of pure Horse Agility and what they have been building towards as they progressed through the preceding levels.

As such, we award league points which match the complexity and difficultly of the course.  As you move up through the levels your horsemanship will improve and as you do, you accumulate league points which reflect the difficultly of the courses you complete.

Now that our OLHA league has been split into two competitions each year, you wont have to wait until January to have another go at getting to the top of the league.

Myth 4: The handicap that the Club has set for the Advanced competitors (-10) makes it impossible for them to win a class.

Not true – See February Liberty Cup Results

Myth 5: That handicapping is something new and rarely used in other sports.

Wherever competitors of varying abilities meet to compete on the same stage, there is in countless instances a form of handicapping in place, which keeps competition fair and exactly what is says- a competition. From golf, to horse racing, to motor racing, handicaps are used to level the playing field and give all competitors a chance to shine.

It all comes down to maths and facts.

The club scrutinised and analysed scores from teams of all levels competing in last year’s Liberty classes. Handicap values were derived from the average scores of each ability level, applying the handicap to each team’s score means that we create a level playing field where teams that excel in the class can be rewarded accordingly.

The results in Liberty classes last year show that the top places were consistently taken by those teams of the highest ability levels, with the introduction of the dedicated Liberty course for our Advanced 1 Star teams, the club decided that a change was required to the existing Liberty class and the result was the Liberty Cup.

Thank you for your support and we look forward as always to seeing your entries.

Vanessa Bee, Club Founder

As a secondary school teacher in the 1980s and 1990s I was well aware that there were playground bullies. There always have been and probably always will be.

But I have since discovered there is a new sort of bully, an even more cowardly variety – the cyber bully. I discovered this because I needed to know what the actual definition of “bullying” was. I did a search on the internet and this new enhanced form of bullying came to my attention.

In the old days bullies were easily identified. They were present at the bullying event, usually with a few cronies skulking around behind to back them up. But this new type of bully doesn’t need real “friends”, he or she has an email address to hide behind and a made up persona. They can be whoever they want to be.

When I looked through the internet I found a lot of advice and help for young people but virtually nothing for grown-ups. There was little information on how an adult should react to the vicious bombardment of emails from a cyber bully.

But why my sudden interest in this subject? Over the last few months I have been the focus of a vicious and cowardly bully who has tried to use the medium of email to intimidate and frighten me – and what is so extraordinary is that they almost succeeded.

At the end of May 2012 I received, late one evening, a phone call demanding that I did something for the person who was to become “my” bully. As the phone call continued the bully became ever more abusive, eventually threatening that “things would get very bad for me” if I didn’t do what she wanted. At this point I put the phone down and assumed our friendship was over and I would never hear from her again. How wrong I was. I decided not to answer her phone calls any more – and so the emails began.

With the first ones I tried the quiet reasoning approach, but this was a waste of time. The person became more and more incensed that I would not do what she wanted. The threats became more personal, she went back years to dissect previous events and details of conversations that she said I had planned purely to ruin her reputation and that dire consequences would be forthcoming if I did.

Many of the email quotes were taken out of context and patched together with other events in an elaborate tapestry of lies. I began to dread opening the email box in the morning and had to steel myself to read her messages. Unfortunately, I worked with this person on a business basis so I had to open the emails to deal with any business within them. What made it worse was that sometimes emails were nice and sometimes nasty. I felt stupid for opening them because it was as though I was inviting her in to abuse me.

In public this individual vowed great allegiance, friendship even, towards me but behind the scenes she was sending – and still sends – terrible emails. Why couldn’t I deal with this awful person? I felt pathetic – me, a big strong 55-year-old businesswoman being pushed around. But it was the drip, drip of abuse that wore me down. I felt weak because I knew I should be able to just shrug it off.

Looking back now I can see there was a pattern to the abuse. The first email would be pleasant so I would answer in a civilised and businesslike manner. But she must have seen this as a weakness and would follow with a horrible reply. However, it was the third one that became her signature piece. I came to call it the “and another thing” email. This last one would be particularly vicious and, as a friend said, it was like twisting the knife. The editor of this piece asked me for a few examples to help explain what sort of abusive comments were made. All the emails are in a separate file so I went to it fully intending to sift through them. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I couldn’t open the file and look at them. I felt sick. This is the level to which this individual has pushed me.

Thank goodness I had the courage to ask my family and friends for advice and it is they who have helped me cope. I was worried they would see this as just some silly argument, of little consequence, and tell me that I was making a fuss. I needn’t have worried, because on seeing the nature of the emails they took immediate action. They were horrified, instantly banning me from opening any more from this individual and blocked her from my computer. Other people now deal with her business enquiries. She cannot bully them – even though she has tried.

So I would urge anyone who feels intimidated and bullied to tell a trusted friend, a professional if necessary. You are not stupid or weak to be upset by horrible emails. Block the sender, don’t answer them and eventually, like all bullies, they will get bored and go away.

The most important thing is to know that you are not alone in this.

Read more: http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/s-just-teenage-trolls-wreak-havoc-vile-messages/story-18181491-detail/story.html#ixzz2LMdvvGig

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Having looked at all the ideas and suggestions that have been sent to the club about the handicapping of the liberty entries in the OLHA! competitions the club became aware of two issues:

- The liberty results skew the OLHA! league places and upset the balance of the league because it is in fact an OPEN class with no handicap, in other words everyone at any level competes together, this is unfair, there needs to be a handicapping system.

- Most of the suggestions were either based on gut instinct (rather than mathematics) or were designed to help the member have more likelihood of winning (understandably!).

Finding a Solution

So the Horse Agility Club Team sat down and worked through every liberty entry for 2012. They needed to find out what the average score was at each level within the liberty classes so that a TRUE handicap system could be proven rather than one based on gut instinct and emotion.

Implementing a fair points handicap

To create a true handicap system that puts everyone on a level playing field we look at Starter level which is 85.

All the other levels have to have their scores adjusted to bring them down to that level.

So if we look at first level we can say there is a 5 point score difference so we handicap the First levels -5 points, but Medium also gives away 5 score points so is also handicapped -5 points.

Advanced level is at 95 so needs to give away 10 points to bring them into the same level as the Starters. So our gut instinct was on the right track to levy  a -10 point handicap for Advanced One Star, but in reality it needs to be bigger!

If this information is recalculated and added to at the end of every year then, as the sample grows bigger, the handicap can be even more exact right down to fractions of a point. This is the fairest way to apply a handicap because it’s in the numbers provided by the scores.

Introducing the 2013 Liberty Cup

For illustrative purposes

Because the Liberty results skew the League there will be a completely separate Liberty league called the Liberty Cup with the winner actually winning a Cup at the end of the year.

So from the end of February 2013 (incorporating the end of February Liberty class results) all Liberty entries will be handicapped according to their level (see above) and entered into a separate league.

No longer will the liberty class league points be added into the main levels OLHA! League because they now have their own league they will however be added to lifetime points as usual.

How will league points be awarded?

The league points awarded for each place will be as per the Team level, so if an Advanced competitor comes First he will get 48 points, if it’s a Starter  level they get 13. If the league points were docked as well that would be a double handicap!

League points will be awarded as per the table below:

Another introduction to the rules in 2013 was a 10 point handicap, applied to all Advanced 1 Star competitors entering our Liberty class. The Liberty class is designed to act as stepping stone into the more technically demanding Advanced 1 Star course, also at Liberty. It gives competitors of all levels the chance to test themselves in this freer form of the sport, while at the same time scoring enhanced league points which helps teams move up the levels faster.

The Horse Agility Club is in the process of actively reviewing the current system of handicapping, in place on Liberty classes for OLHA competitions, for Advanced 1 Star level competing teams. As always, we continue to engage and listen to our members, if you have an opinion on this or any other aspect of the sport  then please feel free to share your thoughts on our Social Hub.

We aim to make an announcement on this subject next week.

All your nominations made this possible and now we need your help one more time. It’s a real honer to be listed next to the likes of established websites such as Horse & Hound and this demonstrates the growing presence of Horse Agility as an accepted sport.

Vanessa Bee said today:

“Congratulations to all the people involved in building the Horse Agility Social Hub! We only launched in May and we’re up there with the big established names! Shows what a great POSITIVE and ACTIVE Hub you members have created. Now let’s all vote again and really get Horse Agility out there!”

Please vote for us in Category 18: Best Equestrian Social Network

www.equestriansocialmediaawards.com/finalists

These are hard working dedicated trainers who believe passionately in the ethos of Horse Agility and are not only available to train you and your horse, but also to organize, run and judge affiliated Horse Agility Competitions.

The Club is growing rapidly and these trainers are vital to maintain the high standards we have set to build an ethical equine sport worldwide.

The Horse Agility Team is delighted to be working with these dedicated individuals and supporting them in their work.

You can find out if there is a HAAT near you by going to:

http://www.thehorseagilityclub.com/the-international-club/horse-agility-accredited-trainers/

Trainers need to fulfill a number of criteria to become Accredited by the Club:

They need to be competing at Advanced Level or above in The Horse Agility Club Competitions.

They need to already be teaching horsemanship/riding/equestrian pursuits and have an established client base.

They need to be insured to teach these horsemanship skills, or have an indemnity form that is acceptable in their country.

Most will already have an established and active website.

The Club requires three references from students, and to see a short film showing the trainer teaching a human and horse combination a task that the club has set for them.

There is also one written exercise on how the trainer would approach the teaching of a handler and horse to negotiate a new obstacle.

Do you think you have what it takes to become a Horse Agility Accredited Trainer?

Contact us today and ask us how we can help you get started.

The Horse Agility Club Team