Buckaroo to train horse owners

AGRA and Auas Vet Med, together with Executive Equest, is again bringing the very best horse training to Namibia. After the success of the 2011 Horsemanship Clinic, Iain Davis is visiting Namibia for the second time to train horse owners from May 2-4 at the Windhoek Showground. This clinic is aimed at anybody who owns, or plans to own a horse.

Davis is a buckaroo (cowboy of the Vaquero tradition of the Great Basin and California region, particularly one skilled in the handling of horses) and an educator, teaching clinics on horsemanship, roping, and low-stress livestock handling. He has worked on ranches in Texas, Montana, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Nebraska. This year the training clinic will cover two very important aspect of horse riding: colt starting during the morning sessions and Western horsemanship during the afternoon sessions. Colt starting is the most important aspect of any horse-human relationship. During the first encounter with a horse the owner must be very confident to handle the horse in such a way that it sets the stage for a long-term trusting relationship between horse and rider. The style of colt starting that will be taught has been done for generations and is a tried and tested way of teaching young horses. Davis will be teaching two totally untrained three-year old horses. These horses have not been touched or worked with, and will be delivered on trucks for Iain to ‘start’, halter train, de-sensitise, saddle and ride for the first time. Western horsemanship is an excellent way to prepare riding horses to improve riding efficiency and comfort. It prepares the horse for good riding practices such as ‘soft feel’, foot-fall, disengaging the front and rear, and even ‘safety’ features such as the one-rein stop. During this afternoon session Davis will demonstrate the one-rein stop and how to teach it to the horse. The first horsemanship clinic last year was a huge success. The participants reported impressive improvement of their horses and more than half of last year’s participants registered for the colt starting sessions. ‘Interest in Western riding has grown so much since last year’s clinic that we decided to form the Namibian Western Stock Horse Association (Nawesha), where the western style of riding and handling horses are promoted,’ said Rian du Toit of Executive Equest and organiser of the clinic. Anyone interested in registering for the clinic is welcome to contact Rian at 081 461 5578 of eequest@gmail.com