RHR Gymkhana Racing, Inc
the ultimate in Gymkhana
and Gymkhana Match Racing
The most exciting game on  horseback

Clinics
(click here to open
a generic registration form)

ATTEND A FREE RIDING CLINIC
Maybe the reason your horse doesn’t always do what you want is because it doesn’t know what you want it to do.

WANT TO IMPROVE THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR HORSE?

Want to find out how to teach your horse not to be afraid of those “Scary” things we all encounter from time to time?

We’ll help you with these things and you will have fun learning!

Our riding clinics are FREE to anyone 18 years of age and younger

Our riding clinics are open to ANYONE that wants to improve their horsemanship or wants to improve their horse’s agility.  All levels of riders from basic to advanced are invited.

 What will we cover? The 1^st clinic addresses “The Basic Handle”  safety on horseback and on the ground, how a horse moves and the most efficient way to perform maneuvers on horseback.

 §       How to post
§       How to pick up a left and right lead
§       Lead changes
§       Balanced stops
§       Backing up
§       Individual questions and concerns

 The second clinic will cover “Scary” situations and how your reactions transmit to your horse and what he will probably do.  Learn how to handle those “situations” in a calm, routine and SAFE manner.

Our third in the series will be an extension of our 1st.  Once you can do all those things at a walk/trot lets try at a lope/canter.   Do you think your horse will remember?

 In future clinics we'll cover any issues the riders desire:  feeding, veterinarian care, shoeing, grooming, advance basic handle.    If you want and need it, we'll find an instructor.    Just let us know what you need

In the meanwhile....
How Much Control Do You Have of Your Horse?
by Orlando Alamillo

     I would like to start off by saying that gymkhana riders are some of the most underrated underappreciated horse people.  We don’t get any product endorsement deals, no TV coverage, and definitely none of the fame and glory of some of the other horse disciplines.  We do it because we love it and have fun.  But what other sport expects you to master twelve different patterns with obstacles and the person that runs the fastest time with the least amount of obstacles down wins?  On top of that those patterns require us to have absolute complete control of our horse going as fast as we can.

 So I ask, how much control do you have of your horse?  Most of you would say that you have 100% control.  The horse is not running off, he goes forward when I ask and he stops when I pull back on the reins. But is that really total control?

 How about his individual body parts?  Will your horse perform a specific maneuver when you ask and at the speed you ask it to?  Unless we are able to move our horses body parts when we ask we are not utilizing our horse to their full potential.  We should be able to move their head and neck, the shoulders, ribcage, and hind end individually and independent of each other.  When we can do those things we should be able to perform the following exercises.  Here is a little check list, let’s see how many we can honestly check off.

 Not familiar with some of these terms? Maybe you can already do these things, but most people cannot. Don’t feel discouraged or intimidated there was a time in the not so distant past that if you mentioned these terms to me you got a big blank stare.

 These are all maneuvers that regardless of any horse riding discipline makes us better riders.  Anything from gymkhana, reining, jumping, roping and even trail riding, the more control we have of our horse at any speed the better prepared we are to deal with any situation when the need arises.

 If you would like to learn more about performing these maneuvers, or you would like to tune up your horse riding skills and knowledge sign up for my  riding clinic coming to  your area soon.

 A Match Race Riding Clinic?

    Not really but I guess anything we learn about our horses that gives us better control, better understanding and a healthier animal will improve our performance in any equestrian activity.   And isn’t that what we’re all shooting for?

    We get asked from time to time to whom someone can go to with horse related problems and although there are a lot of people around who call themselves “horse trainers” an awful lot of them really don’t understand the basics of good horsemanship.   That’s why we’ve asked Orlando Alamillo (see related article for background) to help our riders out with a clinic on good basic horsemanship.  It won’t be a clinic on how to match race but rather how to maximize your horse’s potential. 

   Yes I know, most of us already know everything there is to know about horses.  “We’ve all been riding since we were kids”, right!    Well, what some of us found out after spending some time with Orlando is that we really didn’t know as much as we thought.  Oh sure we can run and turn (and sometimes stumble or fall down) because we didn’t know enough to start the horse on the proper lead, switch leads or maybe even why that’s important.  That’s what the clinic is all about, not running to beat the clock, but rather it is going to be about responsiveness, about doing things correctly at a slower pace and about being safe and secure in the saddle. All of these things can be accomplished with the least amount of stress on your horse, and you will learn how to deal with stress when it does arise.

   Return to Home