by Debi Katsmar

Have you ever wondered why when one horse flicks his tail, twitches an ear or throws his head, all the other horses go running? What does it mean when a horse turns his butt to you or another horse for that matter? This in part is the language of Equus.

Tom Shields and Anne Gage of Iron Horse Equestrian Centre will teach you this language at their clinic on Horsemanship on May 2nd. Both Tom and Anne are certified Chris Irwin trainers, and will be demonstrating non-resistance training as experienced and developed by Chris Irwin over the past 25 years of his career.

Non-resistance training or “horse whispering” is based on solving issues from the source of the problem not just band-aiding symptoms.  It has it’s foundation in the connection between the horses physiology, psychology and biomechanics.  The health of the horse's central nervous system plays a large role in everything we do and serves as the starting point for all work initiated with any horse.  All riding is based on the ideals of classical dressage ... light in the hand and responsive through the body. These principals then translate to any of the riding disciplines ... western or english.

The morning of the clinic, Tom and Anne will demonstrate these principles utilizing two or more horses from Whispering Hearts Horse Rescue, where Tom volunteers his time working with some of the rescued horses on the property. He hopes to have at least one horse for the clinic that he has never worked with prior to the clinic for a true demonstration of what non-resistance training can do for you and your horse.

In the afternoon, clinic participants will be matched to a suitable horse based on the participant’s experience to put into practice the techniques demonstrated in the morning session. Each participant will work with the horse through leading, lunging and long-lining to gain a good perspective of the fundamentals of non-resistance training.

Space for the clinic is limited, please email tshields@mountaincable.net for more information or call 905-701-8273. Participant fee is $75.00, while auditing the clinic is a mere $25. A portion of the proceeds from the clinic will be donated to Whispering Hearts Horse Rescue. Well worth your while to learn the language of Equus.