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De-spooking clinic phenomenal for horse and rider

De-spooking clinic has horse and rider walking through fire and smoke
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With the help of facilitator Debbie Hughes

Foothills Farms, off Horse Lake Road, was the setting for the Bill Richey De-spooking Clinic, April 28-29.

Fourteen participants came from all around the South Cariboo and the class included all age groups and breeds from warmbloods to paints to Friesians.

Debbie Hughes, the facilitator for the weekend, gave a PowerPoint presentation on Saturday morning on how horses see and how their unique sight adaptations lend to spooking.

“Their depth perception is not good because of their line of vision – a rock far away is flat but as they approach it becomes 3-D,” she explained.

Each eye sees independently and each side of the brain “thinks” independently, which is why riders get the exasperating spook on the left after passing the same item on the right 10 times, she added.

Sunday began with another PowerPoint presentation, including a sobering talk on predators, and the importance of riders keeping themselves and their horses safe. Women often ride alone on the trails and being prepared for human predators as well is critical these days, she added.

While both days were extremely intense with drills, riding over and through tarps, bridges and smoke bombs, Sunday hit an adrenalin high for riders and horses, as they learned to navigate through lines of fire, and the simulation of a vehicle extraction by surrounding and escorting a moving truck complete with siren and lights flashing..

Participants left exhausted but thrilled at the progress they made with their horses, and having a new skill set and level of confidence for future riding and training.