GREG ELIEL Clinic - Limerick, Maine

by Pam Partow

Background: This is the very first clinic that I have ever participated in with my horse but I gone to quite a few at Piper Ridge. I saw Greg's clinic last year although I did not attend all three days because of a sprained ankle from stepping into a hole. I did however see enough to say that he was the best clinician for me to start with. He is very much a teacher, can break things down to smaller tasks and is encouraging to all (reward for the smallest try). Not to say that he won't chide the group if he thinks we are Iolly-gagging around.

JR and I arrived at the farm Friday afternoon to give us a chance

to check things out before the clinic starts on Saturday. The loading process was not the greatest but we got there OK. There were not any horses in the barn and JR was not happy being by himself. He mainly just talks a lot. I was able to turn him out in the riding arena for a few hours so he could adjust a little. I went off for a trip to the tack shop and when I got back other horses were in the barn so I put him in and left for supper. I went back later that night and he seemed OK with the situation. He is used to 24 hour turnout with access to a stall but I have stalled him up when the weather is bad without too many objections on his part as long as his buddy, Sarah is there with him Luckily, Sarah adjusted to life without JR fairy well.

Saturday I got there bright and early to find a horse that was mostly concerned about his breakfast, I took him out and around for a little while before the clinic began. He was curious about everything but I could keep his mind with me so I felt pretty good.

We all received numbers so we knew what order we were in to be evaluated by Greg. I'll tell you I was quite nervous going in the pen knowing my work with JR was there for all to see. First, Greg thought he was a bit dull. I think he may have changed that opinion later but he never said so. JR has an interesting personality, Iow key / laid back may be more descriptive but he is responsive. Greg says a bit of a brace on the left hind. Not surprising, the massage therapist finds a spot on his left hip that needs work, he has more problems going right and his right lead was lousy for quite a while. It wasn't as bad as some of the horses but needed work. We discussed my concern that JR does seem real placid and then can lose it, Greg thought there were quite a few good things going for us. He wanted me to really work on getting a soft feel on the end of the lead rope, be able to step the hindquarters over with a drape in the lead. He also noticed that JR wouldn't always follow a feel while leading so we needed to work on that by backing up then asking foward, first softly and then firmly if he did not follow the soft ask with a quick and immediate release as he went forward.

After all the evaluations, he took numbers 1-10 into the riding arena

to go through venous exercises. It was a shortened version of a list of exercises that we were to do the next three days. We were to get the head down three ways, do lead-bys along the fence, then between the fence and a barrel, then add a feedsack on the ground between the fence and the barrel, two barrels with feedsack between to go through, use a lariat rope to bump them over, use a flag to do a lead-bys, get on the fence and bump them up to you, use a feedsack to rub on them while on the fence swing a rope over them, then odd a feedsack to the rope and swing it over them then drag it back to you. We would back asking for the front end to reach away from us. We would back in an arc, back through an L. We tossed our lead rope over the back, looking for no reaction. We put the rope over the horse's back and asked him to step around following the feel of the lead rope, sometimes this is called changing eyes since the horse has to see you out of one eye then the other as he turns around.

JR was quite easy to go through the obstacles with the feed sacks. He looked but it did not take hardly any effort to drive him through. We even backed through one after one person had a problem with their horse, again no problem. I knew that he would have some concern about the flag. I've never felt that he truly accepted it. Greg told me one thing I was doing wrong. I was not rubbing him hard enough with it to get him to accept it. Tickling seems to make it worse. This did help but I know that I'm not finding that switch that turns my energy off when I want him to stand still. This was also true when I approached him while doing the groundwork. He frequently backed up or shifted to the side. I need to rub on him more to realize that I'm not always asking for work. I may have worked too hard on respect issues so he truly does not want to invade my space and with a flag that space becomes twice as big. The lariat coils were the same way, it was very easy to drive him with them but much harder to get him to stop relaxed. Another exercise that gave us some trouble was bumping his hindquarters over with the stirrup. He would move off but it was hard to get him to stop moving. We were supposed to rub them to a stop. I was not rubbing firm enough (again) to start with. By the fourth day, we got better at his concem with the stirrup but now we need to work on him moving over from a soft application of the stirrup. Bumping up to the fence was fair, he still was a bit leery of coming close to me. Interestingly, a lead by on the fence with a barrel between us was easier for him than when it was just the fence and me. His backing was great and dropping his head worked well. His overall expression was quite soft, except when he was concerned about the flag or lariat. Greg mentioned his expression a couple of times and it was well worth the cost of the clinic just to see how relaxed yet interested he looked. This last paragraph is a combination of the first and second day where we only did ground work exercises. I was put in the second group of less experienced people that rode in the afternoon. This way I got to see what was expected.

One of the best things about Greg's clinics is there is very little

standing around time while each person goes through the exercise. There were a couple of times where he demonstrated things. He felt each of our legs, how we were asking for the hind to step over and he did each person on the reins to see if we could recognize a soft feel (give to the bit) and that our release was big enough and quick enough. Otherwise we all worked through the ground exercises at our own pace, there was always something that needed to be done. It was just a little bit confusing to remember them all.

On the third day, we rode. The first time I got on from the fence.

It worked out well, once I got my body arranged property. JR stood very still. We sometimes have problems with him moving when I got on but he did not do it once this whole clinic. First thing after getting on is to get the lateral bend without the feet moving. This got much softer over the two days to the point where I was picking up the rein with two fingers and very little pressure. I'm sure we can get even softer. Next was the one rein stops. The best thing I learned was leg position. Greg has you roll your heel over, open your hip a little and point your toe out. With bracey horses, you put your foot further back, moving closer to the girth as they get softer. This position made a big difference and the quickness and depth of JR's disengagement's. Next thing I learned is that I tend to put my hand too much to the inside. Greg said place it at your side pocket, where you put your car keys. I tended to put it more towards my navel. Again this helped with the softness in bending the neck. We had to get our walks lively .He threatened us with using the flag to do it if we couldn't get it ourselves. JR was pretty good but I was asking way too hard. Greg said he shouldn't be able to tell we are pushing along. I've been working hard on JR's walk, it used to be terrible because I never used my seat to move along with him. That means I could never stop with my seat either. Greg talked about getting straightness and energy before even thinking about getting a soft feel. He showed us with the horse he was riding which was a kind of restrart. There were three horses that were there to be started or re-started. Only one was a start. I did not take any notes so I couldn't do that experience any justice so I won't say a thing about any of those horses

Once you have the energy and the straightness, you can pick up the soft feel with a quick release when the horse gives. From there, work on the soft feel to a back up, releasing for each step as long as the horse stays soft. After that, working on backing quarter circles with a soft feel, tipping the head just slightly (so you can see their eye) one way or the other. On the last day, my soft feel improved tremendously I believe I was asking way too hard to start with plus JR and I have issues from the long time that I used to ride with my reins in a vise grip. At one point, Greg pointed out I should drop my reins since JR was giving even with a loop in the reins. I know now that it is possible for him to become real soft as long as I don't ever go back to holding without releasing for softness. He had us stop with a soft feel by first using our seat and then getting the give.

This wasn't as good for us. The last day we did some group exercises, where half went left on the rail and half went right 10 feet to the inside. This was a good one for us since JR was having some issues with the other horses, just a little ear flattening but I hustled him when I saw it and he definitely got better as we worked along. Then Greg would have us stop, back two quarter circles to face the other way and then ride on. Other times we stopped and did a half circle to change direction. I practiced trying to pick a spot and ride to it, keeping my energy up at the walk, not hanging onto the reins at the trot, making square comers, not letting him lean into the comers and meander around. It was a little difficult because some folks were having a hard time directing their horses and keeping them going at any speed. I thought it was a great "real world" type exercise and was quite pleased with JR's paying attention to me. We only had to do a one rein stop once in a while when he started taking over.

In the end, Greg gave each of us a sheet with the exercises and things we should work on. Mine says, keep working on the lead-bys getting the hind quarters to step over smoothly and deeply. Work on lateral flexion and untracking the hind quarters with the stirrup. Get him soft with these. Do lots of bumping up to the fence (need to make a fence or something. Keep him soft off my legs at the one rein stop and do lots of soft feel at the halt working up to backing and then backing quarter circles.

On the fifth day, he worked the colts and then did a trailer loading exercise. I definitely need some help there, I have trouble driving JR on and having him stay comfortable in there. I have picked up a few things. First, I'm going to close the escape door since this just allows his mind to wander away from the trailer, making it more likely that he wants to leave. Second of all, I'll rub on him more (see a trend there?) when he gives a good try. Greg takes them away from the trailer and gives them a good rub to keep them relaxed. He also allows them to make the choice but keeps fixing them towards the trailer. With the demo horse, there were several regression steps and in that case he would allow the tries to be less than what he was getting before. This is a good example of dealing with the horse that is right there, not the horse that was there 10 minutes ago. However, if a pattern was starting and horse was not willing to give a try, he would up the driving energy but looked for little things to reward. It turned out this horse had a brace in the left hind and once he could get him to move it forward while standing in the trailer, things went much better. The horse was also breathing deeper which Greg said was an indication his mind was getting with him and focusing more on the trailer and less outside.

All in ail, it was a great experience for both of us. It gave

me much more confidence in JR and showed us where some weak points were. He was very happy to get back to his pasture and Sarah was happy to see him. We had very hot (for Maine in May) weather but everyone seemed to survive it OK with drinking lots of water, it helped to have a water bottle attached to the saddle to take a quick sip now and again.

If anyone has any questions, just send me an e-mail and I'll try to explain.