Dan and Kelly Clinic

Today was my second clinic with Dan and Kelly Cecil from Canby, Oregon. I met them back in December right after Maddy came to Oregon. It was my first clinic with Maddy, so I didn't really know what to expect. Maddy was rearing back then and reacting to everything. Dan worked with her tirelessly throughout the cold afternoon. After getting her head lowered, it was the first time I had seen a sense of calm about her. That was one of my first "ahhh" moments with her. I realized how important lowering the head is for relaxation. I was thrilled with both of them and couldn't wait to have them back again. Today the clinic was small, which was great for us. They really had time to address each horse individually. I wanted to work on feet strategies and also learn more de-sensitizing techniques. Dan works so well with her. He made lots of progress on her feet and gave me ideas for future work. He also worked on waving arms, sounds, approaches, and big movements. Big movements are hard for me. I grew up around race horses, so I went out of my way to be "subtle" around horses. Maddy has a small comfort zone and she is very reactive to things she is not used to.

Also, a lot more work on lowering the head. Dan taught her to lower her head when tapping her shoulder. It was pretty cool. His process was to tap her shoulder and release when she dropped her head even the slightest bit. As she gets used to it, tap other places and look for the same response.