Candi K has been working alongside Barb for the last year, and recently participated in the groundwork portion of Joel’s final SAFE clinic of 2024. Here’s what she has to say about working alongside this special mare:
“It seems like just yesterday that Barb and I started working together and now it is almost the end of 2024. We started in the dark months of winter, welcomed the spring, basked in the sunrays of summer, and watched the colors change in fall. It has been a season of change for both of us. We participated in 4 Joel Conner Horsemanship Clinics at SAFE and the Buck Brannaman Horsemanship Clinic in Ellensburg.
It is already a known fact that this mare may be small, but she is mighty. Beyond those brown deep eyes and beautiful bay coat she packs a powerful engine. This clinic we spent a considerable amount of time on hindquarters as this the key to success in the horsemanship journey.
We were not good dance partners at the beginning of clinic. She continually challenged my space and honestly, I was getting frustrated. After 8 months of working together I felt like we slipped backwards. Then I became very clear to me even though we had been working all this time I still had not gotten her to be free of her feet and feel of me.
While other participants worked on other skills we focused mainly on one goal. Hindquarters and making her move away from me. Over the three days her understanding of my space vs. her space changed and improved considerably.
You could say it was back to the basics for both of us. It paid off in spades though. Barb had Monday off and on Tuesday she was a different dance partner. She kept her distance in the unified circle and her hindquarters were so much better. It was an unbelievably rewarding moment for both of us.
Barb is a work in progress. She is not easy by any means, but she will prove to be a good partner for someone who is willing to commit to her. She needs someone who will put in the work not just part time but all the time. Barb may be small but is smart, capable and has an engine to take you anywhere you want to go.”
