Stuck at Home? Brush Up on Horsemanship Basics

If you have or are taking your horse through the Fundamentals level of the Method and are looking for a fun challenge and opportunity to finesse your execution of the exercises, check out the “Test Your Fundamentals” training tool. The in-depth video series is available to No Worries Club members and allows you to benchmark your progress in the Method and sets you on the road to a better partnership with your horse.

To create the series, Clinton invited three horsemen with varying degrees of experience and their personal horses to his ranch in Stephenville, Texas to perform each of the 33 exercises in the Fundamentals level of the Method. Roundpenning, groundwork and riding exercises, such as backing, yielding the hindquarters, yielding the forequarters, riding on a loose rein, vertical flexion and stopping are all covered. As the students perform each exercise, Clinton critiques them, offers helpful tips to improve their performance and gives them a grade. Clinton’s honest review cuts straight to the chase, and subsequently improves each member’s performance.

“My hope in creating ‘Test Your Fundamentals’ was to give students an additional tool to fine-tune their application of the Method. Watching another person work through the exercises and hearing my critique will give you tips to better your own performance,” Clinton shares. A lifelong equestrian who struggled to learn horsemanship as a young boy, Clinton relates to horse owners who have a desire to learn but aren’t sure where to get the right information.

“The secret to horse training is being educated. I tell people frustration begins where knowledge ends. In other words, if you don’t get it, your horse won’t get it and then nobody gets it,” he explains.

Whether you’re brand new to horses and are learning the ropes, or are an experienced Method user, “Test Your Fundamentals” will give you tips and insight on how to obtain better feel and timing and step up your horse’s performance.

To view the “Test Your Fundamentals” and boost your application of the Method, log on to the No Worries Club website or the Downunder Horsemanship app. On the app, go to the video category, “Testing the Method.”