| | CLINIC REPORT: AQHA Professional Horseman Curt Pate of Helena, Montana, offered a horsemanship clinic Saturday afternoon that riders could participate in for free. (The same offer applies to future 2008 Regional Experiences, as well!) Curt said he hoped to "provoke thought and inspire true horsemanship." Here are a few tips from Curt:
-- If you have a young or spooky horse, don't let him fall asleep while you're taking a break. If something startles him awake suddenly, he could throw you off.
-- Those young and/or spooky horses might need to be long-trotted around to take the edge off, just like kids who have been in a car too long. But don't let them motor around too long, so that their adrenaline kicks in. After that initial energy has been burned off, ask your horse to get his mind back on you.
-- Horses can think only one main thought at a time. This runs counter to many clinicians, but Curt says, "I try not to use my driving aids at the same time as my hands. It's legs without hands or hands without legs."
See photos from the clinic below, and to learn more about what Curt teaches at the Regional Experiences, check out Curt's new DVD. NEW: Purchase photos from the 2008 Region Four Experience! Visit AQHA's Photo Gallery!  |  | Tena Collier of Hamilton, Ohio, and her son, Trevor Bowling, cool off Bar Dee Boy 036 after her brother, Trey Schwab, 13, won the novice youth barrel racing and placed second in youth barrel racing. Tena rode "Scooby" in amateur barrels. | Bridget Whetnall and Renes Cassonova Jet, aka "Nova," find refuge in the shade while waiting to compete in senior barrels and senior pole bending. Bridget has owned Nova for about a year and a half, and they live in Centerburg, Ohio. |  |  | AQHA Judge and Show Committee member Denny Thorsell checks the bit on Easy Chiper, ridden by Dena Shafer of South Bend, Indiana. Mom Toni Shafer helps by dropping the bridle. Dena, who's 13, has been showing since she was 7. | Ohio Quarter Horse Association queen Jessica West helped with the awards presentations on Saturday. Here, she's congratulating Dana Smessaert of Mishawaka, Indiana, who won youth western riding aboard Astonishing Asset. |  |  | Kenneth O'Donnell of Delaware, Ontario, celebrates his win in amateur western riding. Partnering with BSB Dont Ask Me, Kenneth also won novice amateur western riding and performance halter geldings. He promised the halter championship buckle to his wife, Vonda, and the novice western riding buckle to his son. After his third win, he said, "This one is mine! ... We're thrilled." | Ashley Dewhirst of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, plays chauffer to blue heelers Cinch, on the seat, and Bo, sitting on the floor. Ashley came to the show with one of the vendors. |  |  | Nikki Decosse of Strathroy, Ontario, and Just Awalkinthe Park compete in amateur trail. | Reana Putnam, riding Wyatt Look Like That, reviews the novice youth horsemanship pattern with her trainer's daughter, Daniella Limoli of Athens, Ohio. |  |  | | It's a long way from Civil War re-enacting. Although that's her father, Darrell's, interest, 15-year-old Katie Markijohn of Canton, Ohio, prefers western pleasure. She placed sixth in novice youth western pleasure and seventh in 14-18 western pleasure with Perfectly Lethal. She's shown with her brother, Chis, and, at right, her trainer, Jeanine Perez. | Western pleasure classes kept the coliseum full Saturday afternoon. Here, the finalists in 13 and under youth western pleasure await the placings. |  |  | | Clinician Curt Pate demonstrates how to ask for flexions from the ground. The horse's head should tip just slightly around. This horse, "Buck," is the colt that Curt started at last year's Region Four Regional Experience clinic. | Curt hopped on board Moon Head, aka "Taz," during the clinic. Taz is a training-level dressage horse who also goes on "extreme" trail rides with his owner, Jenny Lance of Wellington, Ohio. The pair have also logged more than 500 hours in the AQHA Horseback Riding Program. |
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