Turn Your Horse Into An Academy Horse

After a scary riding situation left Audrey’s confidence shaken, she and her husband turned to the Academy Horse Program to get their Paint gelding, Apache, trained. “I’m a new rider and he was young and green. I didn’t know how to ride, and he didn’t know what to do,” Audrey shares. “When we found out about the training program, I told my husband that if we got Apache trained, then I would consider riding him again.” When the couple arrived at the ranch after Apache had finished his training, Audrey not only rode the gelding, but she rode him with confidence. “This experience was not what we thought it was going to be; I got much more out of it than I ever thought we would,” she says. “You could feel a huge passion from everyone here. They do not do what they do because it’s a job; they really love it. I wish my kids’ schools were as good as this!”

When Debbie began working with Cimmy, a 7-year-old half-Arab gelding, he had an attitude and a serious case of self-protection, trusting no one. Although Debbie was employing the knowledge she was learning from Clinton’s Fundamentals Series to gain Cimmy’s trust and respect, the horsewoman was seeing very little improvement in his behavior. “My work schedule makes me so inconsistent with his training that I couldn’t do more than two or three days at a time. Then I’d go back out to work with him after a few days and basically have to start over again,” Debbie shares. When Debbie learned of the Academy Horse Program, she knew Clinton and his students would give Cimmy the consistency he needed to be the calm, trusting and responsive horse she knew he could be. “When I saw Cimmy start the obstacle course the morning of my lesson, I was just in awe. To see a horse that was like he was before the Academy doing it was amazing. It was an incredible moment,” she shares. After being trained at the ranch, Debbie says Cimmy finally trusts people. “It’s done miracles for him,” she affirms.

Judy bought her first horse, Moonie, an Arab/Quarter Horse cross, at the age of 50 from a friend who told her about Clinton and the Method. Although Judy quickly discovered that she liked Clinton’s philosophy and his step-by-step approach to training horses, she also realized that she didn’t have the time to dedicate to training Moonie properly. “I work fulltime and live an hour away from work. I knew I didn’t have the knowledge nor the time to do it right,” she says. After being trained at the ranch, she was confident Moonie would be able to teach her. “The first time I got on Moonie was a thrill. I never realized how light, light really is,” she shares. And while she’s quick to say that the Academy Horse Program isn’t cheap, she doesn’t feel it’s overpriced either. “It’s not expensive for the product that you get,” she affirms. “The horse I got back today compared to the horse I brought six weeks ago is like a completely different horse. I think the bang for your buck is incredible.”

Charles and his wife have been involved with horses for most of their lives, and know a good trainer and a good horse when they see one. There was no doubt in Charles’ mind that his 12-year-old Paint gelding Jim was a good horse and that Clinton has the best training method, so when he decided to get Jim broke to ride, the Academy Horse Program was his first choice. “Jim was decently started as a 2-year-old, but then was used for breeding and was kicked out for several years after he was gelded,” Charles explains, and says that the former stud just needed steady miles put under his feet. When Charles came to pick Jim up from the ranch and received his lesson from Certified Clinician Chris Webb, his belief in the Method was confirmed. “This horse has always been athletic and laidback, but what Chris was able to do with him was impressive, especially how he got him over the obstacle course,” Charles shares.

When Lisa dropped her gelding Joker off at the ranch for the six-week Academy Horse Program, she left a young horse that had only been taught to lead with the halter. When she arrived at the ranch for her lesson day, she picked up a willing 2-year-old that acted like a well-broke ranch gelding. Sitting on Joker’s back for the first time was an exhilarating experience for the Texas horsewoman. “I couldn’t ask for a better program to start my horse. I’ve had many horses started by many different people and by far this has been the best. I would not trade this experience for anything. It has been the best program I have ever encountered,” Lisa shares.

Before coming to the Academy, Sundance had a nasty habit of bucking under saddle and was constantly on guard, suspicious of everything around him. Carolyn says that on top of that the 5-year-old Quarter Horse gelding was very stiff. With a ranch full of horses that needed trained, Carolyn decided to enroll Sundance in the Academy. “I know what this program does for a horse and felt it would solve the problems we were having with Sundance,” she says. When Carolyn arrived at the ranch to take her lesson with Sundance after his training was completed, she was impressed with his turnaround. “He was so responsive and so willing. I had never seen that horse be so completely relaxed,” she shares. “I knew they would have a fairly safe riding horse for me when I came down here, but he’s definitely more than that. I’m convinced that the Method is something I will continue to use on our ranch with all of our young horses.”