SAFE Volunteer Rider Casey A has been working with Nashville and rode her in the riding sessions of last weekend’s Joel Conner clinic. Here’s what she had to say about it:
I rode Nashville in the riding portion of the clinic all three days. Joel put the first couple of rides on her about a month ago, and we’ve had about 15 rides since. She is so soft and responsive, and she learns really quickly. She moves up and down all three gaits through a feel, so this weekend I started to pick up a soft feel, halt, and back up. She was initially really concerned about being in close proximity to other horses in the clinic, but that significantly improved by the end of the third day. She does have trouble holding her leads at the canter in the hind, but as she develops strength and balance, I think this will improve. She is a very sensitive mare who requires clarity and fairness from her rider. If she feels stuck in her feet she gets very defensive, so we’ve been doing a lot of ground work to help free her up. Today we went for a walk around the property, and she did great!
