Judy Brightman of “Mindful Horse Mindful Leader” gave a very interesting talk on Thursday 16 March about Eponaquest, which was well attended and well received. She covered the topics of Leadership: developing skills in assertiveness, team building, emotional fitness, nonverbal communication, innovation, conflict resolution, and leadership presence. Personal Development: developing skills in relationship, emotional fitness, mindfulness, personal empowerment, energy healing and biofeedback, authentic community building, intuition, interspecies communication. Equestrian Skills: developing a deeper connection with your horse, exploring new ways of being with your horse, of training and playing!
On 1st April the rain finally abated long enough for the Club to finally run their postponed show jumping clinic with Keira Byrnes, local 4* eventer and jumping coach. Twenty riders participated, allocated to five classes at different heights, starting with X-rails for horses and/or riders new to jumping through to 90cm for those with more experience. Keira is always a popular coach at GEC, seeming to have the uncanny knack of coaching each participant individually despite managing a class of four riders. Observers noted some real improvements in technique and confidence in many riders over the course of each lesson. GEC will be scheduling another clinic by Keira later in the year.
The clouds finally parted and allowed the sun to dry out the grounds, which allowed us to go ahead with a show jumping competition on Sunday 9th April. Judge Jenny Neil did a great job, and there were many smiles on faces throughout the day as we ran rounds from tiny X rails up to 1 metre in height. Record attendance at this event shows how our well-run events are appreciated, with all riders are made to feel welcome. Our wonderful sponsor Coprice/ Nutririce provided us with bags of feed for the first place-getters, and our other wonderful sponsor Horseland Dural provided us with goodie bags for second and third placings. Many volunteers pitched in to set up and pack up and the canteen was run ragged ensuring everyone was fed! A huge thank you to our sponsors who help us keep our equipment looking great. The riders are now all looking forward to our next jumping event on 8th July.
Georgia Bruce, dual medallist dressage Paralympian, representative of Australia 12 times in dressage, author of horse training books and DVDs, and expert in positive reinforcement will be having a clicker training day at GEC on 9th July. Georgia has trained horses for tricks, liberty, western, trail, cutting, reining and jumping, as well as helping problem horses and training elite performance horses. We are very lucky to have Georgia come to our club to explain the benefits of positive reinforcement as a way of training your horse. Her many students around Australia will attest to the fact that their horses respond exceptionally well to this method and learn very quickly and happily, and that a special trusting bond can be formed with your equine friend.
Upcoming events :
11 June – Agility with Suzanne Bellette
25 June – Working Equitation with Kim Peterson Dressage Training Day
8 July – Showjumping Fun Day Legerete with Paul Cairns
9 July – Georgia Bruce Clicker Training Day
23 July – Members Only Dressage Competition
As usual, please check our Facebook page and our website for up to date information on all our events. http://www.galstonequestrianclub.org.au
