A Special Bond

Courage to Ride Again

Clinton Anderson from Downunder Horsemanship has developed a way to train horses, regardless of their past problems or traumas. It all begins with training the owners so they can gain their horse’s respect and understand how to properly control them. Join Clinton on his weekly endeavors of tackling some of the most challenging situations with problem horses, and problem owners. This week, we join Clinton as he works with Lisa Ramsey—helping her gain the confidence and courage to ride her horse Cody after a near-fatal injury.

Lisa’s injury occurred in January of 2003 when she was working at the Narcotics Division at the Fort Worth Police Department. It was a dangerous job that required her to interact with street gangs, criminals, and dangerous drug dealers. In a pursuit to stop a local drug deal, Lisa was shot from inside a store. The bullet entered her body through her left lung, clipped the arterial artery, and then hit her spine on the way out—taking about two inches of her spine with it. Even during surgery, the outlook was grim, but Lisa survived. While it left her unable to walk, she was still as determined as ever. That’s why she’s come to Clinton. She wants to get back in the saddle, both literally and figuratively.

Clinton paired Lisa with one of his well-trained horses named Diez to begin the process. Diez has gone through Clinton’s method and is a great horse to help owners gain their confidence and control back. Because he is well-trained, it made everything easier and allowed Clinton and Lisa to focus more on her. Now, Clinton is checking in on Lisa to see how she’s doing with her equestrian therapeutic horseback riding.

Riding a horse activates the same muscles in the upper torso as the natural momentum of walking, so for someone who is wheelchair-bound, it can be a great form of core exercise. It can also be fairly challenging. Chisolm, a special horse used for riders in the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, is a great horse for Lisa and people with similar physical challenges to practice on. Lisa has finished at the top of her division in the rodeo for three years, and wants to enter this year with Cody, but they have a lot of work ahead of them and both seem to be up for the challenge.

Clinton works with them, starting with groundwork before jumping into riding. Clinton starts with Lunging for Respect and moves on to desensitizing exercises that involve the lead rope and stick. He quickly realizes that Lisa knows what she’s doing and that she understands that the more control you have of your horse on the ground, the better control you’re going to have in the saddle. Then they move on to practicing the Sending Exercise.

Once they’ve finished their groundwork exercises, it’s time to move on to under saddle work. Clinton immediately recognizes the expertise in Lisa as she sits in the saddle confidently. She uses a riding crop to represent her legs so that she can communicate cues to her horse. Regardless of Lisa’s disability, she’s adapted to Clinton’s training method and become an even more successful horseman than she ever dreamed. It’s truly an inspiration watching Lisa master her horse despite her disability and continue to protect and serve her community. Fort Worth is lucky to have someone like her in the line of duty.

Clinton Anderson has developed a method to help train any horses, regardless of their problem. Unfortunately, up until now it was nearly impossible to access the Method when you’re on the go or at the barn. That’s why we’ve created three new ways to get the content you need at the price you want. Our Downunder Horsemanship app gives you access to your digital training kits and allows you to download videos and training content directly to your mobile device or view them on your computer. The Downunder Horsemanship app also offers over 100 hours of free, in-depth training content. You can also access all of the training material through three different levels by joining our No Worries Club.

To learn more about the Clinton Anderson training method, become a member of the No Worries Club, or to get information on any of the products seen on our show, head over to our homepage and download the Downunder Horsemanship app today!