Moreton Quantum Weekend, March 2011

3 March - 10 March 2011
At Lowood Showgrounds,
Lindemans Road Lowood, Qld 4311

Level 1 Secondary: Lessons 3 & 4
Safe & Practical Saddling and Riding techniques – To have your horse going forward Confidently & Easily – Sideways and Backwards – How to stop your horse with just your body energy and one rein

Level 2 Advance: Lessons 8 & 9
Positive Patterns for Galloping – Flying Lead Changes – Jumping – Contact Riding with Soft Feel – Rebounds – I Impulsion in Sideways – Support Rein

What an amazing week I have just had - 4 days foundation training and then sharing another 4 days with some fantastic students in South East QLD. I spent some time with the Level 1 secondary students helping them though any 'stuck bits' that they might have had in their ground work and focusing on having all our preperation done in order for success with riding. This preperation really paid off as everyone really put in with their homework in between lessons and they even did a Passenger Lesson togther in their own time!! :clapping:

The focus of preperation followed through in the Level 2 Advanced Lessons,and with galloping, jumping and flying lead changes on the agenda we all wanted to make sure that our emotional fitness was in order as we kicked off the weekend with a mild Canter Passenger Lesson in an unfenced area :eek: Everyone really put in and stretched their comfort zones and came out the other side smiling :clap:

Ta-Dah's:
Tried the gallop pattern
Succeeded with riding up when Mel made me lift my inside shoulder
Matty did sideways over the barrels
Did canter PL
Got fly changes
Rocket went sideways over barrels ridden
Started to establish a circle pattern using momentum from indirect to direct rein, releasing asap in the forward movement!
Floating my horse 3 hours to the venue!!
Giving Eddie true comfort at teh barrels.
Kept Eddie on rail after a "moment"
A more in depth understanding of hind end disengagements
Importance of personal space
The games are fun
Had a great time with the group canter PL in the open paddock
I kept cantering even when the stir-ups came off
We found release and comfort jumping
Harmony's awesome trot circles.

Feb 2011 Central Vic Quantum Weekend

With Endorsed Instructor,

Mel Peacock

When: 10th - 13th February 2011

Where: Cloverfern Equestrian Centre, Riddells Creek VIC

Daily Programme:

Morning 8.30 am - 12pm
Level 1 Secondary: Lesson 3 & 4
Safe & Practical Saddling and Riding techniques—To have your horse going forward Confidently & Easily—Sideways and Backwards—How to stop you horse with just your body energy and one rein

Afternoon 5pm - 8.30pm
Level 2 Primary: Lessons 5 & 6
Advance on our Basic Skills with Positive Reflexes— Work on longer lines—Go looking for the truth at Liberty—Gain an independent seat with Bareback Riding

I was thirlled to visit Riddells Creek once again and meet up with everyone from Central Vic. In our first lesson we had a good look at our saddling, pre flight checks and mounting proceedures and using these proceedures to help us to know if our horses are ready to be ridden and if not, what to do to help our horses out if they were feeling a little clostrophobic.

Our second lessons was all about getting started in Level 2 and it was wonderful to see the girls exploring their positive reflexes and working with the 22' rope for the first time. It all came together on the last day when they left their halter's and lead ropes behind and with a little look at building rapport, they created a connection with their horses that they had only previously dreamed about. It was also a very proud moment for me when they then hopped on their horses....Bareback!....something I had heard both of them mention that they werent too keen about, but still they gave it a go and in the end, the girls were walking around with huge smiles on their faces. I even had to encourage them to hop off at the end of the lesson!!

Thank you to Karen who attended all the lessons with camera in hand. Karen has put together some wonderful slideshows of the progress made on each day. Enjoy!

Day 1 Slideshow

Quantum Savvy Natural Horsemanship

Day 2 Slideshow:

Quantum Savvy Natural Horsemanship

Day 3 Slideshow:

Quantum Savvy Natural Horsemanship

Day 4 Slideshow:

Quantum Savvy Natural Horsemanship

Student Ta-Dah's:
Gayle - HQ Yeild
Be a leader not a lover
Kylie - Bob moved faster than me
Doing a trail walk with Bob
Getting my phases better and listening to Bob more
Learning about my Energy in liberty
Walking - Bareback and relaxed.
Tracey - Manny moved at MY pace!
Manny 'woke up'
Getting myself sorted so I can pick up the 'feel'
Manny continuing to circle long range behind me
Manny connected with me!!
I rode Bareback!!
Samara - Grace jumped the Barrells!!
Rode the rail for the first time ever!
Went Sideways a 1/4 circle to the right
She tried really hard for me and taught me lots
Rac - Aske for help - if in a zone in the programe - let people know
Chad jumped the barrells
He really tried hard today and when given the right 'ask' we got results!

Sunraysia QW Jan 2011

With Endorsed Instructor, Mel Peacock

When: 13th - 16th January 2011
Where: Riverbend Vet Clinic, Buronga

Daily Programme:
Morning 8.30am - 12pm Level 1 Secondary: Lessons 3 & 4
Safe & Practical Saddling and Riding techniques—To have your horse going forward Confidently & Easily—Sideways and Backwards—How to stop you horse with just your body energy and one rein

Afternoon 5pm - 8.30pm Level 2 Secondary: Lessons 7 & 8
Impulsion & developing emotional fitness for your horse - Cherokee Bridle - Introducing the Bridle - Picking up the pace - Leads & Diagonals

Wow!..What a month January has been! With lots of rain and flooding almost everywhere, we were very appreciative of the roof over our heads at the Riverbend Vet Clinic for this event. With the preperation of Lessons 1 & 2 under their belt, the guys in the first lesson were ready to ride! We explored our rein positions and understanding how to steer and stop our horses and of course FOCUS! Or how to encourage our horses to follow our focus.

The second lesson was all about impulsion! Which of course ment another passenger lesson at the canter and who could forget the wonderful lessons learnt about moving with your horse in the bareback passenger lesson on the last day.

Here is a slideshow that I put together of the weekend. Enjoy!

Student Ta Da's:
L1 Secondary:
Girlfriend finally popped over the pole on the ground so then I was able to ride. TA-DAH!
Then I /We did a figure 8 (with many circles) TA-DAH!
Cantered with control and Anki folloed my focus!!
Shadow a very patient horse.
Struggling before ride the rail with rein positions & indirect rein. All clicked after and need to ask more nicely of my horse.
I led my pony by the nose.
I've got heaps of practise, thanks Mel
Need to work on directional focus
Confidence gained from passenger lesson & saddling & mounting
Anki hopped on float right away!

L2 Secondary:
Dr Deb & Psalm FQ & HQ yields in hoola hoop
Jen & Clancy HQ & FQ yields no stepping forwards
Sideways around the cone
Change of lead pattern
Cantered!!!
Pinch test light
Canter Passenger Lesson Deb/Psalm & Stacey/Blista
Bareback trot passenger Lesson Deb/Psalm & Stacey/Blista

Foundation Training at Warwick

I am sitting here at the Brisbane Airport, waiting for my flight to Sydney, reflecting on the past 10 days I have spent at Warwick. It started off with a Quantum Weekend, http://melsqs.blogspot.com/2011/01/ruth-and-renva-did-wonderful-job-of.html and after that I was straight into some foundation training with Red and Cherry. Red is a BIG Thoroughbred who just required a little help with flexing ALL of his body and learning how to follow the feel of a direct rein. This morning, his owner (another Mel!) came to pick him up. She wanted my help with him with the aim of making it easeir for her to pass her level 1 so I gave her a demo and showed her his wonderful indirect to canter transitions (picking up a canter lead was also another point of discussion that we had during the week)then it was her turn. At the beginning I noticed that Mel was reluctant to let Red go which was memories of what he was like and her not trusting that he would steer for her. I suggested the she try to canter him which was met by a little opposition but in the end she gave it a go. Red did a wonderful job of looking after Mel, he knew what she wanted to do and he was very paitent with her and then they finally cantered. I didn't have to ask her to try again, twice Mel cantered Red in both directions AND he gave her the correct lead nearly every time!! Well done Mel - I feel you have just discovered a new level of trusting your horse and that Red string will belong to youself and Red in no time.

Cherry was a completley different story all together. She had been started at 2 and hadn't been ridden since - she is now 9! She is a beautiful paint/QH type who was very agile and a LOT smaller than Red. With such a big gap between riding times, I was very thorough with our checklists and we had some exciting moments with the first Ride Checklist (which is bareback!!) but we hung in there and each day she got that little bit better - we moved onto the First Saddled ride checklist and of course Canter for the first time was on the agenda!! I was intending on just ticking off the boxes one at a time (hoping that I wouldn't have to canter her on the first go) but as we were trotting around, I felt her energy come up and I thought - now is the time to ask - so I asked and we cantered!! Woohoo! It was pretty fast as she is a very speedy little pony, and thankfully it wasn't bumpy We repeated this checklist the next few sessions and her trotting and cantering improved as we went. This morning, after lots of rain the day before, there was water everywhere which was all new for Cherry and she started off a bit jumpy and needed a little encouragement to go through the puddles(a great chance for a flight test!)but in the end she was walking and trotting through it without a worry in the world. We did our checklist and not once did she slip!

It was then time to hand her back to Renva who hopped on and walked her around - she looked like an old school horse. I couldn't help thinking how far she had come in the 8 sessions that we had together.

Dec 2010 Warwick Quantum Weekend

With Endorsed Instructor, Mel Peacock

When: 4th - 7th December 2010

Where: Morgan Park Warwick, QLD

Daily Programme:

Level 1 Primary: Lessons 1 & 2
Learn how to communicate more effectively with your horse—Have a more willing, cooperative horse with much more positive ground manners—How to Float load safely and easily

Level 2 Secondary: Lessons 7 & 8
Impulsion & developing emotional fitness for your horse - Cherokee Bridle - Introducing the Bridle - Picking up the pace - Leads & Diagonals

Ruth and Renva did a wonderful job of hosting this weekend at the fabulous Warwick Horse Trials' grounds. There was lots of wide open spaces here which is wonderful for all the level 2 homework we do. (no excuses for not getting homework done now girls!! )

I had the pleasure of meeting and helping 5 new students to get started with their Level 1 Ground work. Everyone had a wonderful time getting to know their horses a little more and bringing their relationships to a new level with BFO's about how important it is to reward the very slightest of tries from our horses.

The afternoon group discovered how to ride a real circle and how to offer their horses release whilst doing so. There was also many lessons in the passenger lesson with discoveries about moving with their horses, and getting their stops as good as their go. Well done everyone!

Here are some Ta-Dah's from the weekend:

• Fella and I built on our relationship - a great strat!
• Learnt to ask for respect and to pretect my personal space.
• Rocket and I got the sideways working.
• Built a better relation ship with Molly.
• Stretched my comfort zone and my horse Star's comfort zone by taking him a little bit out of it then bringing him back.
• Matty's flexing is vastly improved - a lot softer and respeonsive
• Stubby and I did canter circles on a loose rein and it was a circle.

Central Vic Quantum Weekend

When: 11th - 14th November 2010

Where: Cloverfern Equestrian Centre, Riddells Creek VIC

Time: 8.30am - 5.00pm

Join us for four 1/2 days, studying the Quantum Savvy Foundation Programme, through Release Focused Training, you will learn to develop Softness & Lightness, improve your Confidence and become Safer with your horse!

Daily Programme:
Morning - Level 1 Primary: Lesson 1 & 2
Learn how to communicate more effectively with your horse—Have a more willing, cooperative horse with much more positive ground manners—How to Float load safely and easily

Afternoon - Level 2 Secondary: Lessons 3 & 4
Safe & Practical Saddling and Riding techniques—To have your horse going forward Confidently & Easily—Sideways and Backwards—How to stop you horse with just your body energy and one rein

We had another wonderful Quantum Weekend at the Cloverfern Equestrian Center where we held Level 1 Primary and Level 1 Secondary Lessons. It was fantastic to see so many new students out there building thier confidence with their horses and learning all about their basic skills and purpose plays. For the Level 1 Secondary group it was all about riding and learning about rein positions, both at a standstill and while moving along. This gave the morning group a chance to see where all their preperation was leading, especially when it came to getting life up tranisions and having their horses follow their focus.

Ta-Dah's from the Weekend:
Giving Release
Getting some softness on Manny's stiff side
Sitting Back when the horses spooked
Transitions just using life up
Seeing how much using your belly button & focus can make a difference
Learning how to protect my space better
Beautiful no contact hindquarter yeilds.
Leading her by the nose.
Making cones my 'friend'
Easier today then yesterday better responses
Getting more forward in groundwork
mounting from both sides and saddle not slipping
The importance of finding comfort in the stick!
Moving well both sides in short range circles!!
Moving her forward with no contact!
Getting her to do a hindquarter yeild while going around me in a circle!!
Much easeir to protect my space!!
Barrel Jumping!

Winchelsea Quantum Weekend

When: 6th - 9th November 2010

Where: Burong Equestrain Centre, Winchelsea VIC

Time: 8.30am - 5.00pm

Join us for four 1/2 days, studying the Quantum Savvy Foundation Programme, Through Release Focused Training, you will learn to develop Softness & Lightness, improve your Confidence and become Safer with your horse!

Daily Programme:

Morning - Level 1 Primary: Lesson 1 & 2
Learn how to communicate more effectively with your horse—Have a more willing, cooperative horse with much more positive ground manners—How to Float load safely and easily

Afternoon - Level 2 Secondary: Lessons 3 & 4
Impulsion & developing emotional fitness for your horse - Cherokee Bridle - Introducing the Bridle - Picking up the pace - Leads & Diagonals

We had a fantastic weekend at Winchelsea at a superb venue, the Burong Equestrian Center. The Lessons at this weekend were Level 1 Primary and Level 2 Secondary and I had brought Dolly along with me to lead the way with the lessons. We had a great time with the morning group, and I think everyone enjoyed putting all their basic skills and purpose plays together and taking our horses OUTSIDE the area for a nice stroll around the property. We found plenty of potentially scary things and our leadership held our horses confidence in us through it all. Well done everyone!

The afternoon group also had their challenges with learning to feel the movement of their horses and I was very proud of them in completing a trot passenger lesson...Bareback!

Thanks to Jennifer Renouf for all your hard work in organising this wekeend, I look forward to the next one!

Ta-Dah's from the weekend:

Driving forward on the offside - Ta-Dah!
Bareback passenger lesson in a group
Lewis came to me in the paddock
Clancy stood still during the group talks on, on the end of the 12' rope.
Smooth transitions up to trot from energy and hip rolling. Yay!!
Lindy Stepped out of her comfort zone - on several occasions! Yay! Good on me!
I'm becoming a better leader for my horse.
Yeh! I got great sends & Blue kept circling me in a trail walk.
Wow I held Blue's tongue for teh 2nd time and he is much more relaxed with my hand in his mouth.
Appollo has behaved well and has been very willing.
Direct Rein (Michelle) If they don't taki then dont make it!
Yeh. I posted to the trot. No more looking down at teh shoulders. Woohoo and I rode up into the canter transition!
Lindy - with encouragement & support I was able to step right out of my comfort zone which has made me a much better leader for Lewis! YAY!
Lots of penny drop moments which have made a huge difference to my confidence & my QS journey. Thank you Mel & the clinic girls.
Shelly - getting better at sending & hindquarter yeilds with practise via short rein circles. I am excited about Apollo & my journey. Thanks for making us feel welcome.
Sue & Phoebe cantered heaps! Lindy & Shelly witnessed thes Tah Dah Yay Sue!