2007 Congress Demonstration Series

Gaining Your Horse’s Respect on the Ground
Presented by: Clinton Anderson

Clinton Anderson kicked off the 2007 All American Quarter Horse Congress Demonstration Series with his demonstration on “Gaining Your Horse’s Respect on the Ground.”

Anderson explained the necessities of solid ground work in Cooper Arena on Saturday, October 13 to a packed crowd. “Ground work enables you to have a good ride; but more importantly, ground work enables you to have a safe ride,” Anderson said. “Nobody thinks about ground work until it’s too late. They’ll be sailing through the air, yelling g-r-o-u-n-d-w-o-o-o-o-o-r-k!”

To enable Anderson to properly show his techniques, one Congress attendee offered her horse for exhibition. “Jasper,” as he is called by friends and family, is a Quarter Horse gelding that is primarily used for trail riding, but has began showing occasionally.

Jasper’s owner explained that although Jasper does not have “terrible” habits, he tends to invade her space, and also gives her problems with some basic commands, such as backing.

Anderson began teaching Jasper about his “hula hoop of personal space.” This is Anderson’s euphemism for keeping the horse out of your personal space. To do this, Anderson draws a circle around himself with his ‘Downunder Handy Stick,’ to mark his personal space (that the horse cannot enter).

Anderson also explained to his captive crowd how to begin controlling each body part of the horse, separately. Without control of each separate part, there can be no control of the entire horse. He also showed his audience how to get the horse to keep both eyes on you at all times.

Once Anderson finished showing the crowd how to get the horse to stand quietly and properly, and move body parts accordingly, he began teaching how to lunge for respect. “The difference between lunging and ‘lunging for respect’ is that regular lunging simply tires the horse physically. Lunging for respect also tires the horse’s body, but also tires him mentally,” Anderson said.

Cooper Arena was alive with the buzz of interest today during Clinton Anderson’s demonstration. The audience learned an immense amount of information, and was charmed by the young Aussie.

Anderson will also present another clinic today, Saturday, October 13, at 2:00 p.m., as well as two demonstrations on Sunday, October 14, at 10:00 and 2:00 p.m. and Friday, October 19 at 2:00 p.m. (a time change from his original schedule).

For more information on Clinton Anderson and Downunder Horsemanship, please visit www.downunderhorsemanship.com.

Photos and article by Carly Williams.