OK, first things first…
If you have access to a largish arena and know people who ride horses…
QUICK, run to your phone or computer and bring in clinician Wylene Wilson-Davis right now! I promise, it will be the BEST EVER learning experience on your horse. I promise. I would not steer you wrong.
I SWEAR, CALL NOW AND BOOK HER! CONTACT INFORMATION BELOW (no affiliation – I wish!)
- Website for information: http://www.extremewylene.com
- Email of sweet person who arranges clinics: extremewylene@gmail.com
Click to go to website
Click image to go to Wylene’s website
WHY DO I WANT YOU TO LEARN FROM WYLENE?… A photo speaks a million words… LOOK! That is BG standing quietly on a Teeter-Totter!
This is my horse, BG, who is hot, excitable, minimally trained and claustrophobic – standing comfortably on a rocking teeter totter, after about 1 minute of coaxing from Wylene. Yup. I have a lot to learn…. But she never made me feel anything but confident.
BG and I ATTENDED AN ‘EXTREME WYLENE’ CLINIC THIS WEEKEND!
Do you go to clinics often? Me neither, not anymore anyway. Hardly ever.
I am like many of you, probably. I have gone to just about every clinic and mostly enjoyed myself but was always a bit disappointed because I didn’t get much practical, rock solid, totally concentrated, one-on-one attention with retention. I decided that clinics weren’t for me.
And then I got sick…
Well, I’ve gotta tell you… after all that time off, I had to face that my riding abilities had changed dramatically. I needed help but the last thing I wanted to do was attend another same ol’ clinic and be that ‘out of control’ horse and rider. You know what I mean…
But, when I saw Wylene’s flyer, the title caught my attention: ‘Extreme Horsemanship and Confidence Building’. Hey… that was exactly what I needed! So I signed us up. Yup, broken me took untrained BG (Beautiful Girl) to the Extreme Wylene Clinic in Grass Valley this weekend.
Best decision, EVER.
This was the flyer that I saw … Extreme Horsemanship and Confidence Building. I needed that!
BEFORE I TELL YOU ABOUT IT… WYLENE WAS ONE OF THE WILD MUSTANG TRAINERS FEATURED IN THE MOVIE, ‘WILD HORSE, WILD RIDE’.
OK, now, if you have never seen the movie, “WILD HORSE, WILD RIDE”, you should rent it. I wrote about it linked here.
Anyway, in this awesomely heartfelt and beautifully shot film, Wylene was one of the 100 trainers followed during this 100 day, 100 wild mustang training journey.
I remember watching Wylene and thinking to myself, “I wish I could ride like that! She is fearless!”
OK, NOW, MY (and BG’s) STORY FROM THE WYLENE CLINIC THIS WEEKEND!
I signed up for the clinic because I needed to kickstart my relationship with and training of BG. I had promised her (and myself) that this year would be our year… and now we were in November already and it hadn’t been our year at all.
Even though I really didn’t believe in clinics anymore (for me), enough time had passed since the last one that I was able to give it another go. Besides, this event was very local. Only 15 minutes away from my house! What did I have to lose?
So we arrived at 8:45am sharp on Friday morning.
And immediately, we both stopped in our tracks. We saw 15 horses and riders – all with much more training than BG – maneuvering at all gaits in the arena. I saw endurance riders, barrel racers, pleasure riders, dressage saddles, trail saddles, TBs, QHs, Mustangs, Arabs, Morabs, Paints and Pintos – all kinds of people, skills, horses and mindsets. But one thing was clear…
We were going to be the most untrained pair here…It looked like to me that all the people who already knew how to ride really well, came to Wylene for that special ‘tune up’.
I was the fish out of water.
BG had never seen that many horses doing so many moves in such a large arena. Her eyes were huge and her breathing shallow. Could I even get her in there?
Oy.
Within 10 minutes of handing off BG to Wylene, she was calm and settled, like an old broke mare. That is BG, under Wylene (using my saddle and short stirrups) as she teaches her students. I’m standing at the fence, amazed. I was so humbled but THRILLED.
SO I WENT UP TO THE SPONSORS AND SAID THAT I THINK I BROUGHT THE WRONG HORSE.
Well… I did get her in the arena… but as riders whizzed by me or practiced maneuvers at break-neck speeds, BG looked at me as if I had lost my marbles and she was going HOME.
So, we left the arena and with a heavy heart, I walked up to the sponsors and said that I needed to go home and get a different horse.
He said, “Well, have you asked Wylene?”
No…
So, we went back into the scary place and I called to Wylene. She turned and her bright eyes locked on. I told her that I had brought the wrong horse. She said, “Why? What are your stories?”
I told her that I have been sick for a long time and hadn’t ridden much so I’ve lost my strength and confidence to train a green horse. BG was my 2nd riding horse and really only had 90 days training. Oh yeah, and she’s a gaited horse. She doesn’t trot and hardly ever canters and I didn’t know how to ride her well.
She said, “This is PERFECT! I was wondering who I would use as a demo horse! C’mon BG, its you and me, girl! Do you mind (she said to me)?”
Mind?! Are you kidding?!! Take her!!
She gave BG back to me (those are her hears dead ahead here) and I had a new chance – a ‘do-over’ and it was perfect for us! Here we are, just like everyone else (well, maybe not…) watching Wylene demonstrate on someone’s pushy mare.
AND SO IT BEGAN, WYLENE RODE/TRAINED BG MANY TIMES DURING THE WEEKEND – I FEEL UNBELIEVABLY BLESSED!
We learned PRACTICAL and easy methods of critical horse training – useful to all levels and disciplines. For example, she teaches you to train your horse to STOP if you throw your arms around their neck. Think about that… The one time I had a runaway horse, I know I threw my arms around his neck. This method of training the horse to STOP when your arms land around his neck was a simple and brilliant concept.
She also trained us how to use the neck and mane as a cue to turn right and left. Another brilliant move if you lose a bridle.
Of course, her main goal is proper legs, balance and horsemanship, but she does it through creating knowledge and therefore confidence in the rider. We did many drills that were simple yet complex in the handling – easy to duplicate at home. And we did a lot. A lot a lot a lot… I was definitely sore by the end of the second day.
But for me, it was her style of teaching that was so impressive. Wylene really understood, instantly, the rider and the horse pairs which gave her the ability to speak to each rider’s needs individually. She morphs her teaching to fit each rider/horse pair. It was astounding to watch.
In our group, we had older riders, heavier riders, too confident riders, fast riders, hard riders, quiet riders, young riders… you name it, there was representation. I watched Wylene get her point across easily to each person there – using laughter. It worked. And even when she had just told someone the proper way to do something, and then they did it completely wrong (which I did, often), she was still happy and congenial. No shame, just work.
—For me, the best part was that she rides your horse for you. When does that happen? She rides your horse and builds confidence/patience/manners in that horse almost instantly – which in turn, makes you more confident/patient and mannered while riding.
In the two days I attended, Wylene rode/trained BG 5 times. Bonus!
This is Wylene showing BG the obstacle course – which BG had never seen – but she LOVED it, once she felt confident.
Can you believe this?! BG (well, probably me…) was terrified of these close quarters with all of these frenetic horses doing the obstacle course – but with Wylene, she did it and had a blast! Here she is walking over huge tires filled with dirt.
CRAZY LIKE A FOX
I know that when people watch Wylene on the internet or in videos, some say she’s CRAZY. But from my standpoint in the arena with her, I didn’t see that. I didn’t see anything reckless or harsh. More what I saw was confidence and swift work. She uses calm consistency and speed – ‘moving the feet’ to help the horse understand – which I think can appear scary from the outside. But once you are with her, you understand how it works. As we all know, to horses, whoever moves the feet – wins.
BG and I prepare to perform an exercise that appeared very simple but could be as complex as you were willing to make it.
This was a very beautiful and athletic Arab endurance horse trying to master the rhythm and cadence of these turns.
NO MATTER THE DISCIPLINE, THIS IS PURE HORSEMANSHIP
My takeaway was after having watched all different kinds of people with all different skill levels and all different horses – it was clear that everyone benefited. Everyone had a few new quick and easy handles on their horses. Everyone gained a new understanding and respect for their horse’s abilities and their own. Everyone was smiling – including me, the worst rider/horse pair in the group!
Do it. Call her people and set up a thing. You will be so glad you did.
I was totally THE WORST in the class – that is us on the far left… not able to schooch into the other horses nor settle down so I could raise both hands. But even as the worst rider, it was still the best clinic I’ve attended -and I’ve attended many!
