Wow! What a Horse!

Here is Clyde with his friend "Puppy". Clyde is a World Champion Clydesdale in Showmanship and under saddle. He is 18.1 hands tall and weighs 2100 lbs. He and Puppy are very friendly. Clyde especially loves attention. His trainer Sara Shalda rides him with no saddle or bridle. Using leg and seat cues she can walk, trot, canter, jump, pirouette on the forehand or hindquarters. Look Ma! No bridle!

Sara was kind enough to give me a lesson on Clyde for an hour. What a ride! I first rode him at the walk, trot, and canter with the bridle. Then Sara took the bridle off and I rode at the walk guiding him with my legs. This was quite a Workout!

This was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I learned many things and I hope to be able to apply them when working with Rusty. I learned a whole different way of communicating with my horse and that I don't always need to rely so much on the reins. You can see in the photo that my hands are centered on the front of the saddle. By the position of my legs I could get Clyde to walk, stop, back up, and turn. I learned to prevent him from turning when I didn't want him to. This was so amazing! As Obi-Wan said to Luke when he first felt the force "You've just taken your first step into a much larger world." What an experience!

You can contact Sara Shalda at www.sarashaldaperformancehorses.com. She has a great website. She writes books, makes and modifies tack for the larger breeds, trains, and gives lessons. Check her out!