Ride: Rusty Nail Members-Only Clinic #1
Clinician: Brandy Ferganchick with Help from Juleen & Betty
Date: March 23, 2024
March 23, 2024 kicked off WSCSC’s 2024 Ride Season. 16 members took the challenge on the cool, windy, yet somehow buggy Saturday morning ride. The Ride Committee had always Pre-Ridden the trails before scheduled club rides and decided to try combining a Pre-Ride with a Trail Lesson Ride/Clinic.
Brandy was the Trail Boss and Head Clinician. Brandy’s ability to demonstrate maneuvers on her faithful friend Dodger, a 22 year old Norwegian Fjord was “inspiring”. Brandy was assisted by Betty riding Cinna and Juleen on Khaleesi.
We circled the wagons, and Brady explained the experience gained over the years by herself, Betty and Juleen during their years of Competitive Trail Riding. Brandy & Dodger were National Champions, 1st place in the Nation in NATRC with the highest accumulative scores in 2011. Betty & Cinna, Juleen & Kookie were Regional Champions. Brandy explained she “wasn’t bragging” just letting participants know; these 3 club members know what it takes to make a Safe Trail Horse.
Juleen explained why the Ride Committee, after 2 years of group rides, felt the need to take some time to help educate members about safely riding in groups. The hand out she gave participants explains why and gives a few valuable tips. You can download the handout HERE to find out more about what it means to ride horse safely and have fun with your horse and other riders.
Brandy talked and demonstrated why it is important to be able to turn on the forehand and back to get a trail horse out of dangerous situations. “Turn the Horse Towards the Danger” when maneuvering in a tight situation was one of the things Bob and Barb learned as they audited the morning session. Bob enjoyed being our groom and spraying down all our horses with fly spray.
We headed out and quickly came to a location where we had a mishap on our very first group ride when a rider fell off of Kookie. The panic that ensued and the mistakes that were made, such as one of the riders giving aid, jumping off on the high side and nearly falling on her face. Brandy saw a few “light bulbs” turn as Juleen was demonstrating what had happened and then demonstrated what should have been done.
Why we always Pre-Ride. Things got interesting when Khaleesi made a few wrong turns…We had to turn around several times with horses switching positions back to front and vice versa. At times, faster moving horses were now in the back which made for more of learning experience for those riders on how best to handle their forward horses!
Coaching opportunities continued as we learned the best way to ride on small hills; transitioning in and out of a gully. We had only ridden a few miles before we stopped for lunch. We were already 2 1/2 hours into the clinic.
Heading back Brandy again demonstrated and explained the turn on the forehand. Improvement was already seen by riders as compared to the session earlier at the trailhead. Turning home can always be challenging in a group ride. The leader set a CALM and STEADY pace with the more forward horses tucking in behind. “Drunken Sailor” was demonstrated and used to help the more anxious horses get their brains back.
Safely back at the trailers nearly every rider thanked Brandy for her wisdom and shared how much they had learned. Several riders now understand there is a BIG difference between learning how to “Really Ride” as opposed to knowing just how “Not To Fall Off”.
Several members decided to sign up for the 4 Clinic Progressive Clinic Series after experiencing Brandy’s knowledge and ability to teach. The progress all the participants made, especially in the confidence department, when we returned to the trailers was awesome. ALL in ALL a great day, even though target shooting was heard several miles away.
