Groundwork with horses is such an important aspect of horsemanship—and that’s why we were honored to have Michelle Edwards Horsemanship with us on Saturday for an all-day clinic. One of our most important goals in working with horses is the good conversation between horse and rider, and the day focused on how important the conversation on the ground is to what we do in the saddle.
Michelle kicked the day off with an organized lecture, talking through the key elements that she focuses on when working with horses on the ground and then how she applies that under saddle. The rest of the day was spent with a variety of horses working through various issues. She applied the same concepts for each horse, helping them “let go of their thought and come to the person’s thought,” so that each horse gets the chance to know that we are here to make them feel more comfortable and be their leader in whatever situation comes our way.
Training horses takes on so many different facets. Being immersed in a day where you are reminded of details that are easy to overlook reminds us that there are so many different aspects to good horsemanship that we can all practice more and more.