GAIL IVEY - Maine

by Pam Partow

Many thanks to Gail for coming all the way to Maine and a big thank you to those that participated considering they had never seen Gail before. Plus a great big thank you to Frannie and Dana Burridge of Piper Ridge Farm for practically donating the facilities.

We had a 2 day clinic and decided to break into 2 groups of 5, one in the AM and one in the PM. We had a variety of horses, my STB, a TWH, Arabs, an Appy, A Thoroughbredd, and at least one QH. I'm sure I'm forgetting a breed.

Most folks were familiar with the ground work, perhaps not in the same flavor as Gail teaches it. I had been exposed to some of this when I visited her in April, but there is nothing like doing it on your own horse under her watchful eye.

One of the very best parts of Gail's clinic is the body work that she does with each horse. She identifies all sorts of problems from teeth needing work to low thyroid. She also checked saddle fit and suggested low tech fixes, if possible.

Started with the ground work, probably the most important being circle, hind end disengage and bring front end across. She was more particular about this on the second day. Her analogy of having the horse be like a ball on the end of a string, have the horse find the end of the lead rope was very good. To disengage you just block the forward motion, rock the weight back and then yield the shoulder. Simple to say, not always as simple to do. We also practiced out leading up with some red light/green light games. Then we mounted up and practiced the disengage, rock back, bring the front end through under saddle. We worked on our balance, walking along the rail looking for straightness, doing a circle, looking for straightness. We worked on the soft feel, starting with an offset in the reins to prevent bracing and looking for that conversation with the horse. The eventual goal in all of this work was to have the horse's feet in you hands. Be able to control the speed and direction through those reins. We played several games to give us a better walk and use the skills that we were practicing.

On a personal note, Sarah and I made some big discoveries. One of which is quite sad. Sarah was not "in her body" the first day. When Gail went to do body work, she got no feedback from Sarah at all. However, she was not dull to the feel. backed with a finger on the lead rope. This was the first day. On the second day, she "woke up" and was petrified in her stall. So we did a lot of work in an area of the arena where she was scared. We did circles with the flag, driving when she stopped, petting when she went. I used a driving, petting motion with a rhythm and it soothed her and brought her back to me. After that, other than some concern about a car driving by outside the arena, splashing through the puddles, she was a very calm horse. I made sure to reassure her when she was uptight and ask for her to do something to bring her back to me. Now I know one of the reasons that a person can have a horse that explodes out of nowhere. I have to say that Sarah really broke free during the disengage exercises. In the end, a soft take of the rein brought those hind feet to life. Even better was just yesterday, the first time I've ridden her after Gail did the body work with her.

Just to mention, how important presentation is. The flag I use is a whip with a handkerchief on the end. Sarah was taken from a teenager that beat her to keep going with a whip. That same tool that terrified her in on set of hands, became a way of soothing her in my hands. It has taken me years to get to the point where my instincts seem correct as to what to do when. I still make some pretty basic mistakes but I have forgiving horses.

I thought it was a wonderful clinic and received lots of good feedback from all the participated. I just hope the weather will not prevent Gail from coming back to do

another one next summer.

Pam