Horse Expo 2002
by Yvonne McGregor
The first day was hot. Friday May 31, 2002. Temperatures soared to high 90s. This did not stop the horse enthusiast from attending. Some attendees played hooky from work. There was so much to see and do I did not get to check out the horse trailers. That was on my list to do. I attended two days and still did not see it all.
The first stop was Charles Wilhelm "Emotional Control" demonstration in the checkerboard arena.
Wilhelm was doing a de-spooking demo. Great place to show how it is done. This horse was a little intimidated from the flapping signs around the arena. He used lunging techniques to desensitize the horse to the surrounding. He never forced the horse to go by the signs. He asked the horse to go left, right forwards and backwards. As he did this he also got closer to the spooky objects. The horse was never over exposed at any time. The horse remained calm and willing. Soon the horse was not worried about any flapping tarps. It was a great demonstration on a horse that was very spooky according to the owners testimony.
We were in for a real treat when the stable hands unloaded some cows right outside the arena where he was working. Good opportunity for him to de-spook the horse to cows. The horse was very concerned when he saw those cows come off that truck. Wilhelm used the opportunity to work the horse towards the end of arena that the cows were near. Again it only took about 10 - 12 minutes for the horse to become comfortable moving near the cows.
And here he is riding the horse around the Arena. Great demonstration, very easy to follow.
He did two demo's a day and took us through his training techniques. I thought he was great. He really gives you a lot of information to take home with you. It is the same information that he provides in his clinics and on his tapes. What a bargain at $10.00 entrance fee to Cal Expo.
Clint's philosophy is to be easy as possible but as firm as necessary. He believes that today people have swung to a gentle approach which are neither consistent nor demanding. He says that he is the middle of the road kind of trainer. He will sway to the gentle side as much as possible but will be as firm as necessary to get results.
Clint wants the horse to know what is expected by making request black and white. He makes the right thing easy, and the wrong thing hard. He works the horse harder when the horse does not make the right choice. He gives the horse a choice, he can do it or refuse, but if he refuses he has to work harder.
Watching Clint work the horse gave me great insight to the cues that the horse listened to. Clint also showed me how to read the horses attitude and the proper position to be in.
This mare was totally unaware that anyone was on the end of the lead when Clint started. She had no intentions of listening to what this man was asking her to do.
After the first day of lunging her and asking her to change directions and follow his feel the light bulb went on in her head. Aha, when this man points to the left, that is the way I am suppose to go. Things starting going well. She was responsive and in tune to his request.
The next day and this mare's third lesson, he was desensitizing her to objects. He had big inner tubes, plastic tarps, bicycles and a bag on the end of his 'handy stick'. It was a great demo and the crowd really enjoyed watching this mare tune in.