Nothing like putting first rides on in a dressage saddle, makes you really trust your groundwork with Ashley Madison, Yellow Wood Dressage, Inc

Heads up y’all!

November 30- December 2

We have our favorite cowboy Cliff Schadt Jr. of Cliff Schadt Performance Horsemanship coming back to Yellow Wood Dressage, Inc for a follow up clinic just before we head south for the season. We have very limited spots left as most who ...participated in last month’s clinic are coming back for more!

Cliff is fabulous for horses and humans of all ages and abilities, and is a total wizard with young horses or those with challenging behaviors. Whether you have a pushy horse on the ground, trouble with trailering, need some tools to help with a stuck, reactive, non-reactive, or challenging horse- there is no doubt in my mind that Cliff can provide guidance on how to communicate better with your equine partner. He is a super communicator and always welcomes a dialogue about his training. I have found the work he does to be helpful for all of my horses through Grand Prix, specifically for suppling their body and fine tuning responses both in and out of the saddle. This work allows me to maximize my training and allows the horse to begin their work in a mentally and physically more available place. The last event was a massive success with so many positive takeaways, I am certain this next clinic will be even better as we build on our previous work!

PM or comment below if you are interested in participating or auditing. There are a few spots left to participate and, as always, auditors are welcome.

Here’s a peek at some of the warm blood colts Allie Wilcox and I started at my clinic hosted by Yellow Wood Dressage, and Ashley Madison, I love starting colts and especially love helping other colt starters, Allie did a great job preparing these colts and it was a lot of fun introducing her to ...using a saddle horse for the job.

I hope one day I can be as attentive a student as Hannah Irons, here is a young horsewoman who we will all know and read about one day, I’m so impressed by her hunger for knowledge, and not just knowledge from the dressage arena but good solid horsemanship knowledge in general, she is a pleasure ...to have as a student and she is super coachable which seems to be an increasingly hard attribute to find anymore. She has done a great job on her young horses and I love seeing her progress as we continue to work together.

And I stand before a group of people and teach I always speak right from my heart I don’t ever have a script or an agenda in fact I never really plan what I’m going to teach until I get there and I meet the horses at each clinic, as horses and humans differ so do the problems they have as do the keys to their development. For me I try to let each clinic take on it on life and therefore I teach only what is needed in that moment and not a rehearsed dialogue. That being said I seldom get to see my words taken from a clinic and put into writing, below are some points Hannah took away from this past clinic with Ashley Madison at Yellow Wood Dressage, Inc. It’s a good feeling to go back and see what people take a way.

Thank you to Yellow Wood Dressage, Inc for your sponsorship of our 2nd Annual Pony Trot 5K!

If you haven't registered, there's still time! November 6th, 8am at Kinder Farm Park!

https://runsignup.com/Race/MD/Millersville/PonyTrot5K

While a little recuperation and reflection is needed before I put together a full post about the incredible week I had working with top horseman and great person Cliff Schadt Jr. at Yellow Wood Dressage, Inc, here’s a little moment that might have been the most fun for me, riding my first horse ...and ponying the first horse from my breeding program 💕🙂🥲

This week included many super horses, clients, and accomplishments. From helping talented upper level horses utilize their bodies and minds to their full potential, to first times wearing tack and putting the first rides on FOUR 2-3 year old warmbloods. I can’t remember the last time I felt this inspired! Cliffs program has helped me learn new tools, but also how to incorporate old skills from different disciplines I participated in years ago to practical use in creating well rounded sport horses.

The past few days have been great fun working with the incredible Cliff Schadt Jr. starting some of the 2 and 3 year olds in training with me at Yellow Wood Dressage, Inc! Here’s a little sneak peek of what we have been up to 😁✨

Love it ❤️❤️

Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth. This shows clearly the principle of softness overcoming hardness.

Today was day one of my 3 day clinic at Yellow Wood Dressage, Inc with Ashley Madison, it was an awesome day filled with a total of fourteen amazing ...horses and a whole crew of great people, we started colts, solved problems and worked on balance rhythm respect and refinement. The main objective was working on building a relationship that turns in a partnership. This moment below that was captured by the very talented eye of Bethany Pastorial really sums up my day in a way words can not.

"Being a good horseman is learning to fit with different horses and learning their different needs."

I really enjoyed observing and learning today from the talented Cliff Schadt Jr. work with the various horses and equestrians of Yellow Wood Dressage, Inc. There's something... special about the moment of understanding between a man and a horse.

Bethany P Photography
[email protected]
www.bethanypphotography.com