Clinic Debrief - April 26, 2025

Hey, Cowgirls!  <3

I am so excited to share this blog with you all! As I mentioned previously, I signed up for a clinic to take Fury to. I attended that clinic on Saturday and had the best time! 

I made this "Clinic Guide" for myself and thought I would share it with everyone. I am definitely more of a type B personality. So, I find it funny that I am so organized when it comes to horses. But I guess that just goes to show that you will do what needs to be done when you care about something. 

I'll share that here: The Clinic Guide (2).pdf

Please let me know how you like it!

 

On Friday, I hooked up the truck and trailer, loaded the med kit, and filled hay nets. 

My packing list:

Tack: Saddle, bridle, boots, reins and extras.

Med kit

Extra jeans, jacket, long sleeve, hat, and short sleeve. 

Hay net 

Leg wraps 

 

 

I arrived at the barn around 6:30, caught Fury, and loaded up around 7:00am. We left the driveway at 7:20am. The drive was supposed to be about 30 minutes but ended up being an hour due to construction. Which I was aware of before we left. I try to check different routes to make sure we will be on time. 

We arrived at the clinic around 8:20am, checked in, and saddled. We started in the indoor arena where we worked on the correct foot placement and body positioning around barrels and poles. Each barrel and pole had 4 cones around it, of which we were supposed to stay on the outside of. There were about 10 horses, so we did have to wait quite a while before it was our turn. The clinician helped me learn how to sit Fury's trot. She has a very short and bouncy trot. Horses that trot like that can be difficult to ride. Their movements are usually very abrupt and less fluid like larger, more stridy horses.

I was nervous when we first arrived. I only knew one person who was also in the clinic. I was self-conscious about my riding and my horse's ability. We worked through it and ended up doing really well. 

After lunch, we mounted back up and worked in the outdoor arena. We did the "square drill" first. I was hopeful, but not sure of how we would navigate this one. I didn't think we would lope it. Fury ended up doing really well! There are 4 ground poles in the shape of a square, with enough room to go into the middle of the square through the corners. In the middle are 2 cones. You trot or lope in a circle around the ground poles, then enter through the corners and go around the cones, then exit through the same corner you entered. I was tasked with focusing on rolling my hips and pushing myself into my saddle by using my horn. Then encouraging Fury to push out of the square with my force by pushing my arm forward and slightly squeezing. We did this both directions and really excelled! I was so impressed with Fury and my training. 

 

We trotted and loped the pattern following the square drill. We have a great approach to our first barrel. Going to our second barrel, we should work on using our inside leg and inside rein to make her wait a little longer to turn. We also need to do the same thing on our third barrel. I have been having a hard time getting Fury to turn the second and third barrels. The clinician told me that she thinks it might be due to her style of turning. She is more of a rollback style. So, I might have to wait for her to finish the turn, rather than pulling on her to do so. Which made a lot of sense. I can feel it when she is trying to make a move to finish the turn and I pull on her and mess it up. So, I will be working on that. I was told that her footwork on the pattern is beautiful! Which made me feel great! 

I was also encouraged to help her pick up her lead when leaving the first barrel. She thinks that her lead change going into the second barrel could be part of the reason that we are starting the turn too soon and I feel like we're dropping in. She said that a good drill for doing that is to set up the first barrel, and another barrel towards where the third is. Then approach the first barrel like normal, and when you would normally go to second, turn the first barrel and go to the other one in a figure eight. Start with a walk, then trot, then lope. This could take a month to get down. 

 

All in all, I had so much fun and would definitely do it again. 

Cost Break Down (Because I believe in being transparent.):

Clinic Cost: $200.00 ($100.00 non-refundable deposit)

Fuel: $80.00 (I borrowed a truck and trailer. It was filled halfway when I left, and I used about 1/4 tank. Then filled it all the way up as a "thank you.")

Lunch: $15.00

 

 

That's all for today! I am so excited to start going to more barrel races in the coming months and share those days with all of you as well.

 

-LD