Hello, again!

We made history by completing the first-ever AQHA horsemanship camp in Stare Zukowice, Poland, at the Roleski Ranch. We had 19 participants, 13 riders and six auditors. The participants ranged in age from 13 to 52. The weather has been absolutely wonderful, with lots of sunshine and a slight breeze.

On day 1, we began with the basics of following the nose, giving to pressure, and hip control. That afternoon we conducted a bits and bitting lecture, then rode again from 2 to 6 that evening, working on more collection exercises at the walk, trot and lope.

Day 2 began with class-specific exercises, focusing mainly on reining. We began with the circles and guiding exercise we call the “wagon wheel” drill and the “baseball” drill. We also incorporated lead departures and speed control into the mix. After lunch, Zach Burson did a round pen demonstration with a 2-year-old colt, who had 20 days of riding. Jennifer Richards also did a presentation on performance horse conformation. That afternoon we worked on spin and rollback exercises, using the corner drill, the clover leaf drill and the box drill.

On day 3, we started with western pleasure, emphasizing transitions and consistency. We showed the students the Figure-8 drill, which aids in slowing the horse’s legs down without loosing quality of movement. We also drilled on horsemanship position and presentation while going through three horsemanship patterns. Following lunch, Lindsey Frick presented a nutrition lecture, which deemed very interesting for all of the participants. That afternoon, we got to start on the fun stuff: Rundowns, stops and flying lead changes!

On the last day of the camp, we offered a mock show for the participants so they could combine all the techniques they learned in the past week. The show consisted of western pleasure, horsemanship and reining. We also had an aged geldings class that consisted of four horses, which the participants judged themselves. Anna Elzbieciak won reining; Dominika Dubowik won western pleasure and Karolina Rusak won horsemanship. Gabriela Pacyna was the winner of the horse judging class.

We are sad that we have to leave Poland, as it has been such a wonderful and exciting camp. Nevertheless, we are looking forward to the next two camps in Kreuth, Germany. The first camp in Kreuth will start on July 25.

Stay tuned for the next adventure!

Alicia Daugherty
AQHA international intern

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• Kreuth, Germany, Camp 2009
• Germany Camp 2009
• Sala, Sweden, Camp 2009
• Denmark Camp 2009