Rain didn’t dampen our spirits! The show goes on! Check out tips from the second day:

By Holly Clanahan, America’s Horse editor

Danvers Child, a certified journeyman farrier with the American Farriers Association, did a demonstration in the Youth and Conservation Center on Saturday. He's working on Seccos Rusty Bar, owned by Roger Elder of Maryville, Tennessee.

We endured thunderstorms — and even the threat of a tornado (which thankfully didn’t materialize) — during the second day of QuarterFest: A Celebration of the American Quarter Horse, which continues through Sunday in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. But the show went on. Clinics were all moved indoors, and the learning didn’t stop! Here on americashorsedaily.com, we’ll bring you a smattering of tips each day from clinicians at QuarterFest. It’s a cornucopia of equine knowledge, on a variety of topics:

• From camping expert Bo Winslow: There are two ways to tie horses on a line while you’re camping. A high line is tied between two trees (using tree savers so that bark is not rubbed off) and is high enough that horses can walk underneath it and not get the saddle horn caught. A picket line is about chest high to a horse. It’s good because it keeps horses on separate sides and can prevent some fights. But lines typically loosen and sag after they’ve been tied for a while, and picket lines — because they were already low — must be watched so that they don’t get dangerously low.
• From AQHA Professional Horsewoman and Certified Horsemanship Association spokeswoman Julie Goodnight: If your horse gets chargey, remember to check and release check and release, with your reins; don’t just hang on the reins. It’s also important to shift your weight back. If your weight comes forward, that’s telling the horse to go (while your hands are telling him to stop). It’s a bad position for the horse because there is no right answer.
• Also from Julie, on riding position: Don’t work so hard to get your heels down that you push your legs out in front of you. Legs too far forward is a common error, and it makes you a less effective rider. Remember to align shoulders, hips and heels.
• From AQHA Professional Horsewoman Stacy Westfall: If you want to do advanced work, focus on the basics. But don’t just lope a circle or do a transition and call it good. Work to master these moves.
• Also from Stacy: DVDs are a valuable learning tool. They give you a headstart if you’re going to ride in a clinic with someone who has a DVD available. Or, after you go home, a DVD is a good way to help you remember what learned in the clinic.

Check out the sideshow to get a better taste of the second day of QuarterFest 2010. Click on the photos to read descriptions.