Paige N has been spending some time working with Winter, and has the following to say about their time spent together over the last two Joel Conner clinics:
“Over the past two Joel Conner Clinics Winter has made phenomenal progress both mentally and physically. Winter is such a sweet horse that has a tough time trusting the outside world.
I am working with Winter on making sure she knows she is protected from the scary outside by giving her the confidence to move her feet freely in any direction at any time. This helps Winter from always having to keep her walls up and allows her to let go. Winter has started to become so soft on the halter rope and has so much try! Over the past two clinics Joel has helped me help Winter gain confidence with the flag, especially in her blind spots. I practice using the flag all over Winter’s body both stationary and in movement. Winter had a huge breakthrough when Joel sat on top of the round pen panels with a flag and I asked Winter to go in between me, on the ground, and Joel, on the panels, with a little bit of pressure from the flag. She was very nervous at first and quickly started to relax into the exercise and became very comfortable moving through the confined space freely. Winter is not a horse that shows a lot of outward emotion and likes to bottle everything up, however, during this exercise, she finally felt comfortable letting it all out and was licking and chewing constantly and her body completely softened.
Winter and I also had the opportunity to join a group groundwork class in the covered arena with multiple other horses. Despite the increase of energy around her, it did not take very long for Winter to relax and let down in the group setting. Winter and I got to practice the half circle exercise and really focus on shifting her weight back and freeing up her feet. This exercise provides Winter with a lot of confidence and it is so much fun to watch her soften and relax both mentally and physically.”
