We had an Open House on the 31st this month - a SPOOKTACULAR Open House actually :). Everyone got to enjoy plenty of Halloween goodies, along with Chili and Hot Dogs catered in which were just the ticket on a fall day.
It was great to see everyone who came - lots of friends and horse buddies, and quite a few new ones as well. And plenty of little ones in adorable halloween costumes. The best was our friend Trish who came as Tippi Hedren from Hitchocock's The Birds - complete with dive bombing birds bombing her head - awesome!
While everyone enjoyed the smorgasboard, The Riding Center staff put on a horse demonstration exhibiting The Basic Handle and how it builds a foundation for a well rounded horse for any discipline.
Some of the principles of The Basic Handle as developed by Monte Foreman was described and demo'd. First Rodger Davis explained the history of how it was developed and who Monte Foreman was. Then Sarah Sanders brought in DB Ibn Jalam (pictured above). Sarah went thru some of the elements of the Basic Handle with Ibn - spins, rollbacks, lead changes, stops - to show what a finished horse looks like and explained how these could build a light and supple horse for reining, cutting, or even a pleasure trail horse.
Then some of the assistant trainers came in and went thru some of the basics with less finished horses (DB Bint Dahmah, DB Kalila and DB Zahrah) to show how to go thru schooling a horse in some of the moves. Besides the spins and rollbacks and stops, they added some hunter jumps into the mix.
And for the grand finale, Sarah brought out DB Khrush (pictured below from a dressage show)and showed how the Basic Handle can be used for a dressage horse to become lighter and more supple.
It was a great day!
