Joel Conner Horsemanship Clinic Reports
SAFE has had the good fortune to work with horseman Joel Conner for several years. Joel was recommended to us by Buck Brannaman, and it took sending him one horse to re-start — Kai — for us to know that we’d found the right person to help us. From the very start, Joel showed a deep commitment to developing a horsemanship program at SAFE to help staff and volunteers learn solid and consistent skills for working with the horses. He began coming to SAFE multiple times each year, putting on 3 day clinics to teach us these skills, focusing on groundwork and riding. In 2018, he began adding starting young horses under saddle to the program. He also has donated his time to teaching basic horse handling skills to SAFE volunteers, allowing those with little to no horse experience get safe, hands-on practice. In Joel Conner, we feel we have a partner who understands our horses and our mission as rescuers, and we are sincerely grateful for that!
Below, volunteers who work with SAFE horses in these clinics are asked to write up a short piece for the website about their experience and what they learned. These updates, collected over the past three years, will give you a feel for what a Joel Conner clinic is all about.
Training Update: Stevie
Stevie left for Ellensburg last week to begin training with Joel Conner. He was a good boy, jumped right into the trailer and was calm and not stressed even though he was traveling alone. He arrived and settled in well. I spoke to Joel about him and he said that he is…
Training Update: Anderson
I don’t know if I will be able to put into words how pleased I am with the work Joel Conner did with Anderson. Anderson and I had hit a pretty hard spot in our training this last summer and while I loved working with him, I knew that he needed a better hand to get him…
Training Update: Jessel and Lacey
Jessel and Lacey made their way over to Ellensburg to start working with Joel Conner. They are both doing well and I checked in with Joel this week to see how the girls are doing. The plan is to give Lacey 90 days of professional training and let Jessel winter over…
Training Update: Sophie
Sophie is just reaching about 40 rides this week in her training with Joel Conner. We were all very excited when Joel surprised us and brought Sophie over to ride in the clinic here at Safe Harbor. She looked AMAZING and while he explained about her “baby stuff” that…
Joel Conner Clinic Report: Stevie
We are so grateful for the help of our volunteer riders. Casey is one of a very special group of people who make SAFE a great community, working together to train and find adoptive homes for our horses. She has been studying and working up to five times a week out at…
Joel Conner Clinic Update: Emmy
We have been working on strengthening Emmy’s stifles for the past few months. There have been a few small setbacks but we have been slowly working her up to weight of a rider. Her training currently is a combination of lots of walking both on the ground and with a…
Joel Conner Clinic Report: Jewel
We are so grateful for the help of our volunteer riders. Casey is one of a very special group of people who make SAFE a great community, working together to train and find adoption homes for our horses. She has been studying and working up to five times a week out at…
Joel Conner Clinic Report: King & Vida
Volunteer rider and trainer Jolene D has been working with both King and Vida to get them ready to saddle up and ride. Here is her report from our recent Joel Conner clinic: KING I had a wonderful time working King in the clinic this past weekend. It was the perfect…
Joel Conner Clinic Report: Gracie
SAFE’s volunteer riders and their horses spent last weekend working with Joel Conner. Here’s a report from Erika S about her session with Gracie: My first time working with Gracie was two nights prior to the clinic. She seemed anxious, and seemed like she was…
Joel Conner Clinic Report: Ruckus
SAFE’s volunteer riders and their horses spent last weekend working with Joel Conner. Here’s a report from Terry about her session with Ruckus: When I found out SAFE was getting another mini, I thought we would be thinking of him as a companion only. Sunny and Shasta…
