We had 12 students, ranging from 6 to 13 years, and my goal was to teach them as much natural horsemanship as I possibly could from 9.30am to 4.30pm. As well as just teaching horsemanship, I wanted it to organise the day so it would be lots of fun for all the students and the ponies too, and most importantly, I wanted to get the students to start thinking and asking why.

I'd also just finished reading 'Don't shoot the dog' so I also wanted to incorporate as much positive reinforcement as I could and to see how it would work, both on the ponies we'd have, and also on the students. Little did I know it would work so well that they'd actually end up reinforcing me!

We started off the day exploring a little bit about what makes different teachers good and bad (makeup I was told, is always important too!), and I promoted all of the students to 'teachers' for the day. Then out came the ponies and we started some basic natural horsemanship groundwork, all the time using our good teaching practises, rewarding the try, make things easy & fun, use patience and persistence, etc. I also got them to take turns pretending to be ponies too so they could understand what it was like – sometimes by putting yourself in your ponies shoes, life can become a lot clearer. We had lots of fun, and there were two big highlights of the day for me.

The first highlight was just after lunch, when after some group work and discussions, the students pretended to ring up each other with 'problems', and then the student on the other end of the phone would offer good advice. To watch as a nine year old rings up about a pony who is difficult to put the bridle on, and to have then an 8 year old advising on how to fix the problem, was just incredible!! And we did the same for horse that were hard to load, bucked and bit, etc.

The second highlight for me, was during the big competition of the - an obstacle course which was to be judged solely on horsemanship.

The students had to lead the ponies on a loose rein, go through poles, bend through bollards, walk over shiny black plastic and over poles arranged in spirals. It didn't matter how long each person took, but what did matter was how patient they were with their ponies, how many times they rewarded their pony when he did something good, how effective they were as teachers, and how well the two were getting on together as a team. Every time the pony did something well, the ‘teacher’ rewarded him, and every time the ‘teacher’ did something well, their team clapped in appreciation. The more good horsemanship I saw in each team, the higher their team score would be (prizes were in store for the winning team!)

Once everyone had tried this with fairly well behaved ponies, it was time for the proper test. Could they apply all of what they'd learnt (both theories and practises) to more challenging prospects, and real life situations?

Two of the students had brought their own ponies - one was a lovely three year old pony who was a little sensitive and nervous, and one an extremely cute pony who was difficult to lead. Could the students be able to use what they had learnt to get the very cute pony leading better on a loose rein and doing an obstacle course, and could they offer enough support, reassurance and confidence to the nervous three year old to get him leading quietly and walking over black plastic without any fuss?

Absolutely incredible - both ponies ended up doing the full course on a loose rein, improving each time then were presented with the plastic, and both ended up walking quietly over it without a bother. The three year old was walking around like a 25 year old and the cute pony turned into a gentleman - and all of these done solely by trainers aged from six years of age. I was blown away by how much they had learnt in just one day, and I was very, very proud of every single one of them.

That evening all of the students were given natural horsemanship computer games as homework (proving that sometimes homework can actually be fun!), and they are going to practise what they had learnt on their own ponies and also (very kindly by Ursula) the riding school ponies. Just imagine though, if young riders can learn this much in just one day, how much they will improve and learn in just a few months.

Ursula and everyone at the Island View Riding Centre in Grange, Sligo were absolutely wonderful for all of their support and organising, and I have to say a huge thank you to them for making this day such a wonderful success. As I drove home, I had a new blue & white rosette, presented to me for being a good teacher hanging proudly on my rear view mirror, and a big smile on my face for the whole journey back to Dublin. I really was honoured to have the oppertunity to teach such wonderful young equestrian students.

E. Heney, June 2007.

Note: More one day young riders clinics are being planned for this summer. Please email islandview@eircom.net for more information.