Mounted Games coaching clinic

As many of you know, John is not only fantastic with “problem” horses but is also a very experienced speed event coach. John travels the country giving clinics for both riders and horses.

He recently travelled to Darling to coach a very keen group of students some of the necessary skills needed for competing successfully in speed events. Speed events such as Gymkhana and Western Mounted Games are great fun for the whole family and are seeing a huge growth in interest. As these events involve negotiating obstacles and completing patterns against the clock, good horsemanship is vital to attain accuracy at speed. Horses need to be properly trained and prepared for these agility games whilst the riders need to learn how to ride in an independent seat and coached on how to apply aids correctly and accurately. The success of Johns experience and fun training methods was obvious in the advancements made in one day, and it wasn’t just ponies at work, there was even a 17 hh thoroughbred learning new things!

Hi John

Thank you once again for the wonderful wealth of information and experience you shared with all of us at the western mounted games clinic I held on Monday the 9th of April.

The clinic was held at the farm Suurfontein on the west coast road near Yzerfontein and Darling as an introduction to western mounted games and with the view to forming a club in our district. I invited John up to assist the riders with general skills related to riding and training their horses specifically geared at skills needed for mounted Games. And I concentrated on an introduction to the various events ie; the keyhole race , speed barrels , poles and the hurry scurry etc.

Well it is needless to say, we had a ball of a time, and could not have asked for a better instructor, even my 12 year old was amazed at the connection between dressage and the classical training with games and agility sports on horse back. It is so necessary to get the foundation right and the fun just follows naturally!

It was a wonderful experience and opportunity for me to work beside john and I really appreciate his input. You will be back John!

Regards Tanya Menhinick

“We all had a ball of a time! And everyone would love John to come back soon to help with a schooling clinic” Tanya