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Summer is going to be over before we know it!
We can’t believe it’s already mid-July! May was over before we knew what hit us and then June was gone as well. We’re in a whirlwind of activity here at Running D Ranch. Hope you can join us before our clinic season is over!
We also offer our good wishes and prayers for those of you affected by any of the forest fires. Each summer is such a tough time in our drought-ridden area. Please make sure you have a good evacuation plan (and a backup plan) for yourself, your family and all your animals. As always, we can help in an evacuation by moving horses and housing some horses at our Running D Ranch. This year we were also able to provide a hay donation to Flying W Ranch who housed some of our friends horses during the evacuation for the Black Forest Fire.
Clinics
Our Advanced Trail Riding Clinic at Winding River Resort June 21-23 was a great weekend of trail riding! We saw so many things we prepare our horses for in the three days on the trail outside of Grand Lake – water crossings, bridges, hikers, backpackers, kids in off-road strollers, other trail riding groups, road bikes flying by on the road above us, fly fisherman casting their lines, llamas and even a group of firefighters in their full gear hiking out from their shift. We had some great lessons on the trail. Riders worked on getting their horses comfortable in a group, separation anxiety, water crossings, communication in a large group and more. Check out our Facebook page to check out some of the great pictures we took over the weekend. We’re still adding more and will also have our photo albums on our website soon.
We held our signature clinic here at Running D Ranch, Creating the Ultimate Trail Horse Clinic, on July 6 and 7. We had a great group for the clinic! This clinic has been featured in a couple of horse magazines and our obstacles have been copied by many. Riders passed their emergency stop tests with flying colors and we had more riders conquer the water crossing than ever before. We are still working to get those pictures online soon. (Our computer that we download to has been being a bit difficult lately. It’s not nearly as easily to convince as our horses are.) Watch our website for this clinic next year. We will be moving this one to June. Come experience the original Creating the Ultimate Trail Horse Clinic and get tools you can put to use on the trail.
We’ve added a special one-day trail clinic July 27. Colorado Equine Clinic will be hosting this great getting-started clinic at their beautiful facility. The clinic will run from 9am to 5pm. Morning topics include trail etiquette, safety, pre-ride check, controlling your horse’s speed, obstacles and dealing with spooky horses. After lunch, we’ll head out to Chatfield State Park to practice your new skills. Registration is limited to 10 participants, but spectators are welcome at no cost. Cost is $70 per rider. For more information and to sign up, please call Colorado Equine at (303)791-4747. Thanks to Dr. Page and her great staff for hosting this event!
Our Advanced Trail Clinic at M Lazy C Ranch (August 9-11) is almost full with just two more rider spots available. We will start a waiting list when this clinic fills. Late registration prices are in effect; however, if you rode with us in 2011, 2012 or even this year, you qualify for our reduced rate for past BHL clinic riders. Come see some beautiful views of Pikes Peak, the Tarryalls and the Hayman burn area from the back of your horse – all while learning throughout the day as we go. We’ll do one-on-one lessons from horseback as we travel down the trail as well as lessons during breaks throughout the day. ****Special Deal: If you sign up with one other rider for our last spot, you can also have standard rate for this clinic. Please contact me via phone or email to sign up!****
We’ve just added one more clinic to the schedule – another Horsemanship for the Trail Clinic in Washington, Penn., at Deer Creek Stables September 28-29. We are also looking to add any other clinics and private lessons to our trip to Pennsylvania in the week before and the week after this clinic. Please contact us for more information. Sign-up for the Deer Creek Stables clinic will be available through our website or directly with Deer Creek Stables. Check our website for more details soon.
Trail Equitation Clinic™ (October): We are looking to add this clinic to our October schedule here at Running D Ranch. Please let us know if you’re interested and we will let you know when we have dates for this clinic.
We still have openings for our private and semi-private clinics and are booking a few more clinics. Please contact us if you are interested.
Debbie receives her Train the Trainers Designation from the Western Dressage Association
May was definitely a busy month as Debbie received her trainer certification for teaching Western Dressage by completing their course held in Castle Rock, Colo. Debbie is now offering private and semi-private lessons as well as clinics for western dressage. Please contact us if you’d like to arrange a lesson or if you or your group would like to host a 1- or 2-day clinic this fall.
Riding with Lynn Palm
June was also pretty busy, as Debbie also managed to cram in a terrific weekend of riding with Lynn Palm during her two-day clinic in Castle Rock. Lynn’s lessons were geared toward Western Dressage, but addressed basic riding technique and balance to build balance and willingness in your horse. Great principles from Lynn as well as the precision of dressage sure make for some great tools on the trail! Debbie’s horse Classy truly showed her versatility in spending three days on the trail and camping one weekend and then working in the arena and living in a stall for two days the following weekend.
Building The Horse Of A Lifetime™ is a Bronze Sponsor for the National Equestrian Trails Conference!
We are proud to be a bronze-level sponsor for the National Equestrian Trails Conference 2013 in Rock Hill, South Carolina, July 18-20. Debbie will be attending the conference to learn more about building and preserving equestrian trails, working with other trail groups and other important trail issues. This is an exciting opportunity to meet other trail riders from throughout the country and learn from their experiences.
Equestrian Skills Park
We have now finished the general layout plan and obstacle sample pictures and presented them to the County Parks Planning personnel. We are now working on cost estimates, fundraising plans and a couple other items to be able to present to the county parks advisory board. Click on the Equestrian Skills Park tab - http://www.debbiebibb.com/index.php?page=equestrian-skills-park - or visit our page on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfTheEquestrianSkillsPark?ref=hl - for more information on this exciting project in the Pikes Peak region.
Other Trail Events
Looking to volunteer for a trail project in the Pikes Peak area? Check out this website from the Trails and Open Space Coalition: www.openspacevolunteers.org. Click on their calendar to see projects that match your available dates. Volunteering for trail projects is a great way to meet other trail users and build some great partnerships for our equestrian community!
Don’t forget to check out our Facebook page to get the latest clinic information and read our weekend training tip and other fun things: