Cath Creemer Demo An Alternative Horse Whisperer?
Nichole Baker
As one of the lucky guinea pigs at the free demo with Cath Creemer just before Christmas (how long ago does that feel?) it was my lot to pen a few words on the evening.
I had taken the afternoon off work so was able to get William ready in relative peace. He knew something exciting was happening but like the superstar he is (that's really tempting fate isn't it!) he walked straight into a dark trailer in a pitch black parking area & off we set.
It was as usual a dark, cold and dismal evening so what joy to pull up at the brightly lit and warm HFEC. Di was first into the arena with her youngster Jaycoozie while I attempted to tack up outside. Fate having itchy fingers, William was beginning to get a bit fretful so managed to wizz him round on the lunge outside while we were waiting! (I did ask first!) I didn't see any of her lesson but was listening outside so heard lots of 'Well done Di' Hopefully not too well,' I thought 'come on Will, we don't want to be outdone by an eventer!'
Our turn came and William entered the arena, took a deep breath and decided it was all wonderful! (*****er, no excuse now then!). Our lesson began in much the same way as Di's. We spent the warm up establishing walk to halt transitions, ensuring the we only used the seat and weight to halt, not the reins. Asking the horse to move forward was the merest touch of the leg - the horse must learn to listen carefully to his instructions and not become immune to constant nagging.
Trot to walk transitions followed then because we have just started half pass, Cath showed us how she would begin teaching her horses: establish leg yielding, then on a circle ask for inside bend, keep contact in the outside rein so the horse can't escape through that shoulder then bend him around the inside leg keeping his quarters inside the circle. This can then be extended into a straight line and voila, you have half pass. So simple!!!
We had a thoroughly enjoyable lesson and while everyone partook of mulled wine and mince pies, Cath did a quick change and showed us a couple of her younger horses.
She certainly rode beautifully and for me the bit that I remember most clearly (apart from her annoyingly long legs!) was the way she prepared her horses for medium strides. We all know you are supposed to prepare with half halts but the horse still manages to run across the diagonals but you just knew Cath's weren't going to.
There was a lot of emphasis on getting the basics right, on not 'shouting' your aids at the horse but by being gentle and subtle you end up with a much more responsive ride. Everyone seemed to find the evening fun and instructive - it was great to get together just before Christmas, Di and I had great lessons (you see there are some perks to being on the committee, it's not all hard work!), thanks to Sue the wine and mince pies were fab... ..…… and someone nearly acquired a new dog cos I almost drove home without mine!
A great evening - thanks for organising it Sue
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