My wife and I had a blast at the mounted patrol despooking clinic (Bill Richey is the instructor). Bill is a non PC do what works sort... He gets the units ready for Mardi Gras. His bit of choice is the double twisted wire gag with 8" shanks - can you say liability (his saying).
The lectures were great and the way he presented the obstacles and used herd instinct as well as how a horse sees and processes stimulus worked well. From a simple sheet of plywood on the ground to an obstacle course involving bridges, tarp curtains, high noodles, low noodles, smoke curtains, fire (ya he likes to play with flammable liquids) flashing lights and sirens...just a lot of fun.
My wife went pretty nervous and came out wanting to be in a mounted unit. Her horse turned into a star leading the herd through most of the exercises. Proud as hell of the progress they both made. She is a good rider but is trying to get over the motherhood fear they seem to acquire with kids. Think she is over now. My mule on the other hand was not impressed with the whole goings on.
Last edited by Dan_H; 07/20/15.
