It is with a great amount of pride we announce the forthcoming graduation of Brittany Huff as a Professional Clinician and her availability to book clinics and private lessons. Brittany has been an apprentice with Clinton for the past three years. In that time, she's been working by Clinton's side seven days a week learning the Method in depth and developing into an outstanding clinician and trainer. For the past two years, she's exclusively trained all of the Clinton Anderson Signature Horses. "I couldn't be prouder of Brittany's accomplishments as a horseman and communicator and her representation of Downunder Horsemanship," Clinton says.

Brittany will officially graduate July 1st as a Professional Clinician - the highest level of certification Clinton awards his students. As a Professional Clinician, Brittany is capable of instructing at the Fundamentals, Intermediate and Advanced levels of the Method, and she has received extensive training in colt starting, young horse development and reforming problem horses.

While Brittany is finishing her apprenticeship and beginning the transition into her career as a Professional Clinician, she will start to book clinics and private lessons. If you're interested in taking advantage of this opportunity to work with an elite instructor of the Method, we recommend you act quickly before Brittany's schedule is filled for the year. To schedule a lesson with Brittany, contact her directly at 254-595-2440 or bhuff@downunderhorsemanship.com. Learn more about Brittany on her website.

It is with a great amount of pride we announce the forthcoming graduation of Brittany Huff as a Professional Clinician and her availability to book clinics and private lessons. Brittany has been an apprentice with Clinton for the past three years. In that time, she’s been working by Clinton’s side seven days a week learning the Method in depth and developing into an outstanding clinician and trainer. For the past two years, she’s exclusively trained all of the Clinton Anderson Signature Horses. “I couldn’t be prouder of Brittany’s accomplishments as a horseman and instructor and her representation of Downunder Horsemanship,” Clinton says. 

Brittany will officially graduate July 1st as a Professional Clinician – the highest level of certification Clinton awards his students. As a Professional Clinician, Brittany is capable of instructing at the Fundamentals, Intermediate and Advanced levels of the Method, and she has received extensive training in colt starting, young horse development and reforming problem horses.

While Brittany is finishing her apprenticeship and beginning the transition into her career as a Professional Clinician, she will start to book clinics and private lessons. If you’re interested in taking advantage of this opportunity to work with an elite instructor of the Method, we recommend you act quickly before Brittany’s schedule is filled for the year. To schedule a lesson with Brittany, contact her directly at 254-595-2440 or bhuff@downunderhorsemanship.com.

For further information visit http://bhuff.certifiedclinician.com/Clinician.aspx.

Don’t Miss A Great Learning Opportunity
Private Lessons - $1,250/day plus expenses
Gather up to six participants to learn one-on-one in lessons tailored to fit you and your horse’s needs. Hosting a private lesson is a great opportunity to have Brittany come to your area and split the cost between your friends and neighbors. All private lessons must be scheduled for a minimum of two days. Clinton is so confident in Brittany’s ability that if you’re unhappy with her instruction in a private lesson, he offers a money-back guarantee.

3-Day Horsemanship Clinics - $1,000/person
Up to 12 participants spend three days learning the Fundamentals, Intermediate or Advanced levels of the Method from Brittany. Clinics begin at 9 AM and run until 5 PM daily.

Most horses will try to stop and back away from an unfamiliar object initially because they're nervous and unsure of the situation. If you think your horse is going to stop in nine steps, stop him in eight steps. Then back him away from the object using the Outback Exercise - wiggle the rope using just your finger and continue to increase the pressure as necessary. You're going to send the horse forward and backwards. Ask him to go forward, and before he stops by himself, stop him and back him away. Then send him forward again and try to get him to come a little closer to the object.

The trick is to stop him before he wants to stop. That way, stopping is always your idea. The more you retreat, the more you act like you don't want him to go near the object and the more curious the horse becomes. The more you tell a horse not to do something, the more he'll want to do it. So the more you keep stopping the horse from going over the object, the more it increases his curiosity. If he stops and starts backing away before you ask, use the Handy Stick and string to apply pressure toward his hindquarters. As soon as he tries to come forward, even a little bit, immediately reward him by taking the pressure away. Then back him away a few steps and try again.

Nine of the 18 foals we are expecting have arrived! The newborns add an extra sense of excitement around the ranch, and their cuteness elicits quite a few "oohs and ahhs," even from Clinton himself. Who can resist an adorable, fuzzy foal? Certainly not our Downunder Horsemanship Facebook fans - when we posted the picture above of Atlas to the page, the colt received over 2,000 likes! The youngsters are all working their way through the exercises in the Foal Training Series, and according to progress reports from the ranch team, they are all shining stars! 

So far, we've welcomed 4 fillies and 5 colts to the Downunder Horsemanship herd.

Echo - a filly by Cromed Out Mercedes out of Miss Brim Star
Atlas - a colt by Magnum Chic Dream out of Princess in Diamonds
Chaos - a colt by Magnum Chic Dream out of Shiny Hot Pants
Zeus - a colt by Hollywoodtinseltown out of Shiny Hot Pants
Calypso - a filly by Gunnatrashya out of Sinfully Smart
Thaila - a filly by Smart N Shiney out of Chic Out My Bling
Siren- a filly by Colonels Smoking Gun out of Pretty Asa Princess
Orion- a colt by Magnum Chic Dream out of Miss Brim Star
Titan- a colt by Colonels Smoking Gun out of Princess in Diamonds

Clinton catered to an enthusiastic crowd the weekend of April 6th and 7th in Redmond, Oregon, and there's no doubt our third tour of the year was a resounding success. NWC members showed up in droves to stay inspired in the Method and took advantage of early access and an exclusive meet-and-greet with Clinton. The demo horses proved to be excellent candidates for Clinton to show the benefits of using the Method. Healing Reins Therapeutic Riding Center, a PATH International Premier Accredited Center, raised over $6,000 for their organization while running the Ritchie Charity Ball Toss. Learn more about Walkabout Tours on the Downunder Horsemanship website. The next Walkabout Tour stop is Lexington, Kentucky June 22nd and 23rd. Hope to see you there!

We've recently added two new members to our outstanding team. Tom Weickgenant joins us as CFO and David King joins us as a video editor. Not only will Tom be working in the office, but he'll also be going on the road to Walkabout Tours throughout the year. If you're at a tour, look for Tom at the "Will Call" booth - he'll be there to welcome you to the event. David moved from California to Stephenville to fulfill the video editor position and will add even more creativity to our award-winning production team. He'll put his expert skills to use on our television show and DVDs. Join us in welcoming the two men to our team!

From the moment they came through the Roo gates of Downunder Horsemanship last June, this year's Academy students have impressed Clinton with not only their horsemanship skills, but their possession of the four core values - loyal, hardworking, ambitious and personable. Each of the three students exemplifies exactly what Clinton is seeking in a clinician to certify under his name, and their passion for horses, helping people and the Method is contagious. The students are winding down their study at the ranch, training their last set of Academy Horses and focusing on establishing their business plans for when they graduate in a few short months. If you attend a Walkabout Tour, be sure to congratulate the students on their hard work. You'll find them assisting horsemen in the tack area of the retail floor.

Interested in becoming a Professional or Certified Clinician? Learn more at http://www.clintonandersonacademy.com/.

Once your horse can do Lunging for Respect Stage One and Stage Two well, teach him Stage Three. In Lunging for Respect Stage Three, the goal is to have the horse circle around you with the belly of the rope on the ground, maintaining his gait and direction until you yield his hindquarters with just a look and draw him up to you. You should be able to keep your feet completely still the whole time.

This exercise teaches the horse to be responsible for his own feet. Too many people babysit their horses and constantly micromanage every step. Let the horse be responsible for his own feet by making it his job to maintain the gait and direction you set him at. If you babysit the horse, he'll never learn to take responsibility for himself. I want my horses to have a sort of military mentality: "If I tell you to do something, do it and keep doing it until I tell you to do something else. If I don't tell you to do something, don't do it."

Nobody ever complains that their horse did exactly what they wanted him to do, but everybody complains if their horse doesn't do what they want. A lot of horses will lunge as long as you keep driving them around the circle; this exercise will teach your horse to be respectful enough to carry his own momentum. It will also prepare the horse for liberty work where you won't have the halter and lead rope to control his feet, instead you will have to rely completely on body language.

During the Ram Truck Tailgate Party and Benefit Auction held at the Kentucky Horse Park March 16th to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Road to the Horse, Clinton donated $10,000 to Central Kentucky Riding for Hope's Equine Services for Heroes Program. Clinton was invited by Road to the Horse producer Tootie Bland to attend the celebration as a two-time winner of the "world championship of colt starting." Clinton won the event in 2003 and 2005.

A benefit auction was held during the 10th anniversary party in which past competitors and event sponsors donated personal items to help raise money for the Equine Services for Heroes Program, an equine assisted therapy program to improve the quality of life for veterans and their families post deployment. Among the items Clinton donated was the kangaroo hide he used to desensitize his colt in the first competition. His memorabilia fetched $1,600.

At the start of the auction, Road to the Horse reported that their initial goal was to raise $10,000 for the Equine Services for Heroes Program. When Clinton learned that the therapeutic program was the charity receiving the funds, he immediately decided to donate $10,000 of his personal money. Thanks to the generosity of attendees like Clinton, the nonprofit organization was presented with a check made out for $100,000.

After the event, Tootie said, "I have had the privilege of knowing Clinton Anderson the public figure and Clinton Anderson the private person for well over a decade. I think it would surprise most people to know that the private Clinton is one of the most generous individuals I have ever met. Unlike the public Clinton that does everything in a big, big way, it is with little or no fanfare that his charitable contributions have been a well-kept secret. On behalf of Road to the Horse and myself, I cannot thank Clinton enough for his unbridled generosity at our 10th Anniversary Benefit Auction to support America's brave and CKRH."

It takes approximately $1,000 to fund each veteran to participate in the Equine Services for Heroes Program at CKRH. Clinton's donation and the money earned from his auctioned off memorabilia will single-handedly send 11 of America's finest through the program. "I have a great respect for our military men and women and have seen how equine assisted therapy helps our veterans," Clinton said, speaking from firsthand experience. Clinton has worked with several therapeutic groups specifically geared towards helping military veterans, including Rainier Therapeutic Riding in Washington, which was featured on an episode of Downunder Horsemanship that airs on RFD-TV. Clinton and his certified clinicians also work with The Old Guard, the United States Army Caisson Platoon, on a regular basis to train its soldiers and horses in the fundamentals of Clinton's horsemanship method.

Last week Clinton invited 2012 National Reining Horse Association Open Futurity Champion Casey Deary to the ranch. The two worked together to film an upcoming television show about reining, demonstrating exercises to improve performance with your horse. They also discussed how horse owners interested in reining can get involved with the NRHA. Clinton has been a passionate reining competitor since he was a teenager and continues to train and show horses he's bred on the Downunder Horsemanship Ranch. Learn more about Clinton's Performance Horses on our website.