HERD LIFE PROGRAM

AND
CLINICS

THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION:

Ms. Jean dedicated her whole life to teaching and education. After working for the Marriott Ranch in high school and college, she opened The Natural Connection part-time. However, full-time, she worked as a child care facility director for 7 years, and then worked as a public speaker at the University level. With a Masters in Education in Early Childhood Education, the desire to learn and teach has driven her to help inspire others on their own journeys. As an Instructor and Trainer specializing in horse communication, Ms. Jean believes that continuing education is the key to the success of her program. Constantly going to clinics herself, Ms. Jean rides and trains in both English and Western disciplines. Although the horseback riding lessons program focuses primarily on teaching students Western Recreational Riding, Ms. Jean truly wants to create horsemen that are exposed to all parts of Horsemanship. This includes horse care, horse management, horse communication and horse health.

HERD LIFE PROGRAM:

A new program launched in 2023, called Ranch Life. This program was a 4 hour immersion program that was appropriate for our Ranch setting at the time. In our new facility, we have changed the name of the program to HERD LIFE. In this program, participants will assist in bringing in a large herd of horses, learn to lead a horse, assist in medicating and caring for horses with injuries or in rehab, learn about basic horse care, learn how to trim a horses hooves, and then potentially participate in learning how to rope a cow dummy, or learn how to train a horse. This program is fun for the beginner rider, but can certainly be personalized for the first time horse owner or the seasoned rider.

CLINICS:

Ms. Jean is available to teach off property during the months of December, January, February and March every year. Clinics are ALWAYS based on learning the language of the horse and how to better utilize that knowledge to create a better bond. The language of the horse is the underlying focus for all clinics and below are some topics of interest:

- Horsemanship 101 - Safety on the ground with a horse
- Horsemanship 102 - Safety under-saddle at the Walk, Trot and Canter
- Problem Solving - Horse's in need of exercises that will make them more safe for their handlers
- Confidence Building - Clinic focused on rebuilding the confidence of riders that have taken falls or have had traumatic experiences with horses
- Retraining the repurposed horse
- Retraining the horse with special medical needs
- Tips for training the Off The Track Thoroughbred
- "How to be the best first time horse owner..."