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Happy New Year's Riders 2009

Well we hope everyone had a great holiday season in spite of the weather. So onward to 2009. I am resolving to 'embrace change'. It always seems to come whether we like it or not....and chances are we created it anyway. Also to live more joyfully and keep creating.... of the positive type that I actually mean to create.....no diets or exercise for me.

So with that vein in mine I have an exciting year planned for all rider's at Liberty. Looking back on 2008 I realized that we dabbled in a lot of different sports and from that our horses just became more and more relaxed and comfortable in learning new things. In September we realized that the trail riding needed more time and work (not so relaxed and comfortable there) so we have factored that in for 2009 as well. We want to do a week long training camp where we keep our horses up at Mesa Butte for the week and camp with them. Keep a week open on your calendar in August for that.

What I propose for this year is to have a theme for each month of a sport we would like to try or learn. Our regular lessons will still have all the same training elements as it does not matter what sport we do we still need to have all the same basic skills ie: control, willingness, softness. I have laid out a sport for each month of the year and my idea with that is each Saturday afternoon we set aside a 2 hour time that we can get together and develop skills and play in that sport. For some sports it may be a clinic type of introduction on the first Sat of the month and perhaps on the last Sat of the month a demonstration, game or competition depending on the riders wishes and the sport. Each of the sports can be enjoyed at a very basic level so come out and play and do not be intimidated by the names.

With everything that we do at Liberty we like to keep the horses' personality in mind, so within this framework we will still need to be very mindful of what your horse needs in their training. All this variety is fabulous for the Curious horses but the Afraids will need you to present it very consistently and slowly; mindful of their learning style. The Aloof horses will love all the jobs there are to do and the Friendly guys are as usual happy as long as you are happy with them.

So here is the tentative schedule:

January - Foundation Training ( we will be following the Jonathan Field DVD system to fill in any holes in our basic training)

February - Freejumping - every Sat should see some real jumping skills develop - the Aloofs will love it

March - Dressage/quadrille - do not be intimidated by the name we will even have walk trot patterns to practice

April - Barrels - great steering and impulsion skills for all riders

May - Jumping - learn to ride courses that will start with poles on the ground

June - Polo X - teach your horse the fundamentals of the game and lets get a couple of Liberty teams going

July - OFF

August - Camp month - we plan to have week long camps for all ages and levels of riders.

September - Mountain Riding - enjoy the fall colors without all the bugs

October - Cross Country Jumping - we can perhaps school some of the hunt courses in the area

November - Reining

December - party time

These Saturday sessions will run from 2:00 to 4:00 with a drop in fee of $20.00 for each session. If we bring in an outside instructor there will be an additional fee that I will let you know about well in advance.

Come on out and play.

Dessa and Cathy