Round pen demonstrations have been a part of Horse Progress Days since at least 1999, and maybe before that. These demonstrations always attract large audiences. It seems that observing and learning about how a person can best interact with a horse is intriguing. The planners of the round pen demonstrations once again have a well-thought-out plan to make sure everyone’s time is well spent.
There is a coalition of eight seasoned horse trainers in this part of the country that calls itself the East Coast Horseman’s Association. Their specialty is doing horse care clinics. Various of these trainers will take part in a program that will begin at 9:00 on Friday morning with starting a colt named Blaze. Blaze will come back in the pen again on Friday at 12:30 to be prepared for his first ride which will then take place in a 9:00 Saturday morning session. In between the Blaze sessions, at 10:00 on Friday there will be a session on long-lining basics. Then at 11:00 on Friday and Saturday Terry Hatfield, a man with “fifty years of experience with a multitude of different breeds of horses,” will be talking about what to consider confirmation-wise when looking to buy a horse. At noon on Friday and Saturday, there will be a session on collar and harness fitting; the goal being to learn how to work horses without having them develop sores while keeping safety in mind. A 10:00 session on Saturday will introduce a horse to the bit, and then there will be a demonstration of dragging a tarp. A 12:30 session on Saturday is reserved for a presentation on basic horsemanship as it relates to health and nutrition, including the feeding of minerals and hoof care. Members of the East Coast Horseman’s Association will be responsible for eight out of twelve of the total sessions in the round pen. On Friday and Saturday afternoon from 1:30 on, the sessions will be focused solely on horsemanship. While training a horse to properly respond to the task it is asked to do is challenging enough, releasing that horse to an untrained owner who then damages the animal with uncertain and/or conflicting commands can frustratingly complicate matters. For these two afternoon sessions, the trainers will be looking for volunteers who are willing to enter the ring and ride horses and/or handle them; focusing on the riders rather than the horses, or maybe more accurately, both. ✸