On June 15th Next Level Horsemanship hosted a week long Kids Clinic which once again was a resounding success!  Young riders of various ages and experience levels came to have a week’s worth of fun and learning with the many well trained and patient mounts that live at Next Level Horsemanship.

Activities included daily hands on experience with ground work and riding in multiple disciplines and using horses of various breeds.  Each child worked with several horses and ponies in-hand and they all rode both English and western to experience the similarities and differences of each riding style.

“My favorite thing that we did here at camp was getting to ride different horses every day!”, said Claire, one of the many children that participated in the clinic.  Claire takes weekly lessons with Next Level Horsemanship but the camp gave her an extra opportunity to learn new techniques and to make many new friends throughout the week.

Children had the opportunity to discover Partnership building training techniques including round penning and other ground work exercises.  They also discovered how teaching horses tricks can make them more willing partners with people.  Horses of various breeds were used in the clinic including Quarter Horses, American Mustangs, Gypsy Vanner crosses, a Fresian, ponies, and an Andalusian cross.  Using various horses gave the kids a sense of how different conformation affects the performance of horses, yet they discovered that horses of all breeds and discipline types can be taught many of the same things.

Some of the children soon discovered their favorite things to do with horses.  Marcus, who is interested in Reining said while he enjoyed jumping in an English saddle, his “favorite part of Next Level Horsemanship horse camp was learning to do a spin” on his favorite horse M.B. Jamie Babe.  Jamie is a Quarter Horse mare who will soon be shown by Isabelle, another camp attendee and student at Next Level Horsemanship, at the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) affiliate show in New Jersey.  Isabelle is interested in the western sport of Reining too and will be leasing Jamie now to gain show experience with Suzanne and her daughter Brooke.

Sarah attended the camp too which gave her an opportunity for concentrated riding to become a more confident rider.  “My favorite thing was cantering.”, Sarah said.  Sarah had never cantered before but during the clinic she gained many new skills and worked up to her first ride at canter!  What an accomplishment – we are proud of you Sarah!

Many other children moved to their Next Level during the week of the Kids Clinic at Next Level Horsemanship.  “It was SO much fun!”, exclaimed Liz Kranz, a NLH Intern and one of several instructors.

“Horsemanship is about learning how to build Partnership and Performance with horses – this clinic was a great way to introduce those principles to young handlers and riders.”, says Suzanne Myers, founder of Next Level Horsemanship.  The clinic was very well received by both the kids and their parents who evidently heard overwhelming positive comments about it from their children.  Most of all, we were happy to provide these up and coming horse enthusiasts with a ton of FUN with horses and will definitely be having another one next year!

See more photos from the Kids Clinic HERE.