All of the riders had some previous riding experience. Lori from Massachusetts had bought her first Icelandic, Vaka, last summer. Leisa, also from Massachusetts, had just purchased Jarl, and was riding him in the clinic. Leisa’s goal was to learn to improve her seat to get the tölt and to really feel Jarl’s tölt. Both Lori and Leisa were excited about taking the clinic as a good foundation for learning about their new horses.

Nicole was new to Icelandics, but had a strong background in horsemanship. She had trained a young Appaloosa in saddle and driving. Now, as a new rider at the Vermont Icelandic Horse Farm, she was excited to learn a new type of riding.

The clinic instructor was Goetz George. He has been working professionally with Icelandic horses and riders in Germany, Iceland, Canada, and the US for over 15 years. He has affiliations with the top breeders in Iceland and Germany, has worked at Der Wiesenhof Farm in Germany, and has extensive experience breeding Icelandics in North America. He is the proprietor of Icelandic Horse Consulting.

Goetz was familiar with almost all the horses in the clinic, as he had selected and imported them from Iceland. It was exciting for him to be able to work with “his” horses.

Goetz began the clinic with a discussion with the participants about their riding experience, their hopes and aspirations for riding their Icelandic horse, and how they wanted to improve.

Goetz explained the importance of communicating with the horse on the ground right from the beginning. It is important for both the horse and rider to establish mutual respect. These are the building blocks of horsemanship and should be clearly in place before the rider is on the horse’s back.

Goetz described how treating the horse as a cuddly pet or overindulging it with treats gets in the way of building this necessary respect. Just as a horse knows who the leader of its herd is, it needs to know that the rider is in charge. The horse must be able to decide that the rider is a suitable leader.

The riders did exercises that taught them to send clear signals to the horses about what was expected. The riders learned to be confident in their communication to the horse. These exercises included following, stopping, backing up, and the foundation exercises of leg yielding.

The exercises done on the ground were then applied with the rider in the saddle. Communication that had begun on the ground was reinforced. The riders then began balance exercises to establish a relaxed and secure seat. Exercises included walking with feet out of the stirrups and with hands off the reins. These exercises have two purposes: the rider gains confidence in seat and balance and learns to trust the horse, and the horse gets a clearer sense that it can trust the rider.

Goetz worked with the riders on seat and leg positions for riding an Icelandic and explained proper rein contact and use of the hands and arms.

Goetz then began to teach the elements of training the horse to be able to do clear four-beat tölt. Exercises included collection in walk, flexing, and leg yielding. Work was done using serpentines and walk and tölt in circles. Riders learned to keep their balance in tölt, slowing down going into the corners and asking for energy coming out to the long sides of the arena. Goetz helped everyone understand “putting energy into the horse.” The tölt is a gait that comes from good collections, a relaxed rider, balance of the horse and rider, and ENERGY.

In the last lesson everyone tölted, trotted and cantered, and learned to relax and enjoy these wonderful horses.

Goetz also gave private lessons on the Friday before the clinic at the Vermont Icelandic Horse Farm. Riders enjoyed the opportunity to ride their horses out on the trail and learn ways to exercise and train while enjoying the scenery.

On Sunday afternoon, some of the riders returned to the Vermont Icelandic Horse Farm. for an evening trail ride.

On Saturday evening Karen Winhold and Luc Miranda hosted dinner with Goetz at the Mad River Inn. This was a great evening of fun and sharing horse tales!! - The ecumenical menu accommodated both carnivores and vegetarians, and all agreed that the roasted garlic soup was sublime.

Nancy Marie Brown was in the area and stopped by for dinner. It was Leisa's opportunity to get an autograph in her copy of Nancy's book, "A Good Horse Has No Color."

A special thanks goes to Pat and Scott Sainsbury, the owners of Crosshaven Farm, for their extraordinary facility. The indoor arena offered excellent footing for the horses, as well as shelter from Saturday’s rain. There were spacious stalls in the stable for overnight boarding and for horses-in-waiting. The event was worth it just for Pat’s lunches! And apples (for people) and carrots (for horses) was a thoughtful touch.

Pat and Scott were renowned quarterhorse trainers, and now breed Labrador retrievers.

Thanks go also to Karen Winhold of the Vermont Icelandic Horse Farm for so many things: hosting the Friday lessons, renting horses and tack for the clinic, hosting the Sunday ride, and for cooking the Saturday dinner.