The Green Horseman

With so much happening at the farm (see It Takes a Village) we were ready to host our first clinic.

On October 6th we welcomed over 30 people and Andrea Monsarrat Waldo for a StressLess Brain Training Clinic at the farm!

To dip our toes into the world of clinics we opted to start with a one-day clinic. The clinic begins with a three-hour classroom session followed by an afternoon of mounted sessions. The unmounted session is based on Andrea’s book Brain Training for Riders (The Sunday Review: Brain Training For Riders by Andrea Monsarrat Waldo).

---

And you can get your own copy of the book here: https://trafalgarsquarebooks.myshopify.com/products/brain-training-for-riders?sca_ref=5690304.WZaDVr3zRb

---

We’ve been prepping for the clinic for months. We gave the public a few months time to sign up. I always appreciate advanced notice for events. Suzanne and I both agreed that while she’s busy handling the farm and renovations I’m available to run the clinic paperwork. I made the event, handled registration, made the schedule, and sent the emails. We had a lovely lunch at Panera one day to figure out the logistics and details and then we were ready to go.

The day before the clinic we revealed the surprise jump. We also spent the day cleaning the vinyl fence, dragging the arena, and setting the jump course. We were putting on all the finishing touches.

I’d say we make an amazing team.

---

Clinic Day

Our day began with meeting at the farm around 5:30am to feed horses. We were blessed to have a few volunteers join us. While some girls turned out we began cleaning stalls. Someone took care of the waters, another did hay. We had two visitors in stalls so we cleared them of water buckets and hay. In no time we swept the aisle and left the 8-horse barn sparkling. I didn’t time it but it felt like we were done with chores in 15 minutes…it might have been 30.

I had some time to set up a table for my woodworking business. We raised our portable tents and put out the chairs. We left them in to protect them from the morning dew.

We had more volunteers arrive to help us serve coffee, tea, and cocoa.

We also had my friend Trish of Synergy SaddleFit with us. She was onsite with her own booth and offering free consultations and spoke with guests about her services.

Even more volunteers arrived in time for our registration table. We positioned the registration as people drove in. I made a list indicating who we were expecting and if they needed any important documentation. Most people had already submitted their release forms and vaccinations.

---

Everyone arrived right on time and we were able to begin our classroom session at 8am. I had our guests all transport over to the driveway in front of the indoor arena because the sun was hiding behind the trees. In this new location we’d get sun sooner and start to warm up; it was roughly 50 degrees out and we had too many people to move indoors.

Our classroom discussion was fabulous. We had handouts to follow along and I took notes in my equestrian journal. We discussed the barriers to success. Many of the concepts apply to life, not just in the saddle.

---

Lunch arrived on time, right around 10:45am. I had trouble finding a caterer. It seemed places were closed this early, closed on Sundays, or were very booked that weekend. I have an aunt that enjoys catering but she was unavailable, and Suzanne’s fiance was also unavailable. I opted to go with Panera, who was able to meet all of our dietary needs and deliver at a reasonable time.

---

After a quick 30 minute lunch we began our mounted sessions, starting at 11:30 with a flat session. Andrea adheres to a policy of flatwork sessions being exclusively private sessions as she’s able to help people better in that format. Jump sessions can be 2-4 people.

For our format I went with private-group-private-group-private-group-private. In the event of bad weather this would ensure that we never had two private sessions in the indoor at the same time.

Since we had excellent weather we opened the indoor arena and allowed riders to warm up inside. Before their session they could ride out and through a lane clear of cars to the outdoor arena.

---

I loved getting to sit and watch the riders. The advice they were given was so applicable. Andrea masterfully read every situation and guided the riders to explore their fears without pushing them too far. We gave Andrea a portable voice amplifier and it seems to help us here without her straining to yell.

We had a few volunteers helping us with ground crew, and because I’m so used to doing jump crew it felt strange to sit back and let it happen.

---

I was scheduled to ride at 2 so I walked over to the barn around 1pm. As the time drew nearer, I could feel nerves creeping in. Why? What’s happening? I wanted to ride well…for Stanley, for Andrea, for my peers, and as the event coordinator. I was nervous Stanley would be too much. I was nervous I was in over my head. I had only begun jumping again a few weeks ago…so I’ve only jump schooled about 3 times before the clinic (I only jump 1x/week at most).

I had Stanley prepped, I got dressed, and I practiced some meditation. I used visualization techniques and I practiced “Balloon Soup” breathing.

Balloon Soup is something we had learned in the morning. You breathe in and fill your belly with air like a balloon. When you exhale you do so like you are cooling down a spoonful of soup. The release I felt in my body was extraordinary. I felt warmth in my arms and legs. Within a few seconds Stanley took a deep exhale, too. This year breathing has really helped us connect.

I walked over to the indoor arena. He didn’t seem to mind all the goings on. He’s always been pretty brave and levelheaded like that. I mounted and the other two ladies in my group were in there with us. As we warmed up he was incredibly calm and almost sleepy. he was bendy like a noodle, and warmed up loose on the buckle, stretching down, practically in a western jog.

At 2:00pm Stanley and I led the group out of the indoor and down to the outdoor arena. Although he recognized the crowd and the tents he wasn’t alarmed.

Just this past spring he could not contain his enthusiasm when there were people on the hill watching. He always had to look and watch them, ignoring me altogether. This time he looked, I redirected, and he returned to work. It felt like he said “if you’re not worried about them, mom, I’m not either.” For this reason alone I was already happy and proud of our day. He’s shown me so much improvement in such a small amount of time.

Our achievements didn’t stop there. We had a wonderful 75-minute lesson; jumping oxers and courses. They might have been 2′ or 2’3″ but it was the most put together we’ve been in a very long time. Stanley was brave and bold, but extremely happy and attentive. He answered every question asked of him and never batted an eyelash at a jump. I did not expect him to nail the left lead, but he managed to pick it up first try and again several other times without much fuss. Who is he and where did he come from?

Over the moon about our lesson and performance I rode him home and gave Stanley a well-deserved protein shake. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face if I tried. I put him back out in the pasture and walked back to the clinic.

I returned just in time to catch the end of Erin’s ride. After Erin was Suzanne and Becky. Both girls rode extremely well and were pushed outside of their comfort zones just a little. They rose to the occasion. The purple oxer was set for 2’9″ and they jumped it well. They also began to introduce angles. Andrea had them jump verticals at a sharp angle as a way to learn these odd angles and lines. It was unique and interesting…and seemed to fool the rider more than the horses. The horses read the questions incredibly well.

In the end it’s almost always in the mind of the rider.

---

I feel pretty confident that everyone had a good time…at least I hope. All of the rides were fantastic and many people were able to bring some important information home with them.

We were also very blessed to have our talented friend Malaina with us from Massachusetts. Malaina enjoys photography as a hobby but is very talented and has done work for equestrian brands. If you get a chance I highly recommend you visit https://malainarhodesphotography.pixieset.com/ or her Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/malainarhodesphotography/.

If I had just one (ok TWO) regret it would be not getting a selfie with Andrea, and not getting photos of our amazing volunteers in action. I’m so beyond grateful for everyone and the role they played to make the day run so smoothly. We hope to host several more in the future.