WENDY MURDOCH Clinic

by Karen U

I had the privilege of watching e friend ride in a Wendy Murdoch centered riding clinic this weekend. In the few hours I was there I learned an enormous amount about how important body position is to the horse. One of the things Wendy said that I really liked was that if you see someone having difficulty training their horse, look at what the rider is doing - not what the horse is doing. Wendy works with 3,4 riders at a time for about an hour or so per day over a 4 day period. She has incredible eyesight and sees microscopic changes in both humans and horses. Someone else who had ridden earlier in the day stated that she even had eyes in the back of her head! However, the longer I watched and listened, the more things I could see for myself.

Wendy uses a lot of visualization to help the riders get where they need to be. Things like; elbows are lead weights, hands are corks floating in the water, pretend you're pushing a wheelbarrow to help you keep your arm aligned with the bit, etc. She used some Ace bandages during one session which looked kind of funny at first, but made sense when we saw the results. Ace bandages were tied to some riders foot and hip to help them feel the connection from their hip to their feet. She used Ace bandages on one rider to help her feel where her hands were and a couple of riders had Ace bandages for reins! This was an effective way to tell if you're pulling or not. The Ace bandages tell you immediately if you're a puller. Also, one horse had the Ace bandage wrapped around it's hindquarters and began coming underneath the rider more effectively.

There were riders there of different disciplines and levels. From beginners to higher level dressage riders. Both English and Western disciplines. Another thing Wendy said that I really liked is that good riding principles are not limited to any one discipline. Good riding principles are good riding principles - period.

I think the thing that stood out in my mind the most was the change in the horses that I saw. Wendy would have riders switch back and forth from their old way of riding to their new way. You could see immediate changes in the horses. Old way of riding - heads would come up and speed would change. New way of riding - heads would come down and speed would automatically correct itself. Made me think about what we talk about here on the list a lot - listening to your horse. How many times do we ride and not listen to what our horse is saying?

I got to take a look at a Mylar bit that Wendy had brought. These are snaffle bits with D rings where each side moves independently of the other.

Wendy did a demo that evening with her quarter horse, Andy. She demonstrated what happens to the horse when we aren't a balanced rider. She would purposefully be off balance and you could see Andy struggle to compensate. Then when she corrected her body, you could see Andy come into balance too. It really made you stop and think of the things we do to our horses unintentionally. She also talked about being focused and knowing where you are going so we can be there to direct the horse.

Well I now know how much I don't know about riding! Wendy will be here (Franklin, TN) next year and I hope to participate and increase my knowledge level for the sake of my horse.

Karen and Maggie