Back to the Basics with Krista Wade

“No matter where you are in your horse career, whether you are an equine professional or just love to go out in the barn after a long day at work, you are constantly using horsemanship practices and foundation techniques. This all starts by going back to your basics. Starting from the ground up.” – Krista Wade

Over the last few years we, here at NRS, have found a huge need to educate our customers on how to be better horsemen and women. With better horsemanship, you can achieve your goals quicker and enjoy your horses more by understanding how to effectively cue your horses. The main clinic that I offer at the NRS Arena is the “Back to Basics” clinics. This is by far the most popular clinic. It teaches going back to the beginning and filling in any holes you or your horse might have. Whether you have a green colt that needs to be pushed along, or an older horse that needs some bad habits fixed, this clinic is for you. We will go through a series of exercises on the ground and under saddle that will directly benefit your daily tasks: yielding their hindquarters, backing up, yielding their front end, flexing, desensitizing, lunging, rollbacks, steering, focus exercises, trailer loading, tieing and much more.

More than anything, these clinics are meant to benefit the riders. So many times I see riders that are cueing their horses incorrectly, letting horses push them around, not riding with a controlled seat (using their hands and legs for balance) and much more. All of these inhibit your horse and create bad habits. By changing ourselves it will help change our horses and help us see immediate results from that change.

During the clinics we also focus on groundwork. This is not your conventional “groundwork”. These exercises directly connect to the riding exercises we do with the horses. Groundwork also gets our horses in the right frame of mind to learn and gain a work ethic that will carry over to the saddle. If I can control my horses feet on the ground then I will have little to no resistance with them under saddle. Ground work also alleviates issues like tie-ing, trailer loading, “cinchy” horses, pawing and pushiness.

You will be amazed at how much change you see in your horses just from working with them on the ground. Going back to the basics reinforces a solid foundation in a horse and the rider. Learn how to better ride your horse through your seat and your legs to effectively cue your horse and ride them with balance and control.

There is nothing like hands on instruction to help you figure out where to go next. These clinics will push your boundaries and build your confidence between you and your horse.