Natural Remuda Equine Learning Center 
NEWSLETTER APRIL , 2010

CATHY’S CORNER

September is a time of renewal for most of us. The kids are back in school and things are back on a schedule. Nature gets a new lease on life, at least here in the South, where we get a reprieve from the heat. Christmas is just around the corner for us to take time with our families and friends. And New Years is coming for a fresh start!!

Our Horse Life sometimes needs a renewal too. We get busy with other things, or our economic situation gets worse, or our horse may be giving us trouble. All of this may get us discouraged and we quit going to the barn to ride.

It is good to remember that riding horses is an uplifting stress reducer for most of us. Otherwise we would not have horses, because they are the original Money Pit!! They are beautiful, noble, inspiring animals. Don't let the day to day junk get you down and keep you from riding.

Here are some good ways to get your enthusiasm back. Go to a clinic, take a lesson, watch some video and read some books. All of these things will get you enthusiastic again. Then go to the barn and as Nike says, "Just Do It".

UPCOMING EVENTS

We have a lot going on this fall. Join us for some fun and some learning experiences.

RIDING LESSONS, YOUR BARN OR OURS. FRIDAY IN THE BOERNE, TX AREA AND WEDNESDAYS IN THE UTOPIA, TX AREA.

We give riding lessons at your barn or ours, using Natural Methods. We go to Boerne and Bandera areas every Friday. We also teach in the Utopia and Uvalde area on Wednesdays. On lesson day, we come into the area early and stay late.

If you would like to reserve a lesson slot, call us. We teach Natural Horsemanship, with ground work as a foundation on your horse, and then we delve into riding.

Sept 4, 2010, RIDING CLINIC - DANCING WITH YOUR HORSE Natural Remuda Equine Learning Center, Utopia, TX 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Riding a horse should be like dancing. There should be no run offs, no fighting, and no getting dumped in the dirt. Come to this clinic and Jere will teach you how to dance with your horse!

Sept 11, 2010, GROUND CLINIC - BASIC EXERCISES Natural Remuda Equine Learning Center, Utopia, TX 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Riding a horse is like baking a cake. There are different parts to it. The cake, the icing, and the filling. Ground skills are like the cake part. They are the foundation for your horse. If your cake is falling apart, it is very hard to put icing on it.

Icing is like the specialized discipline you want to do. And the filling is the finesse you put onto your horse to compete. Come and learn how to bake the foundation well in this clinic. You will have more control and fun after you come to this clinic.

Sept 18, 2010, ACTHA RIDE, HILL COUNTRY NATURAL AREA, BANDERA, TX

ACTHA will be having a competitive trail ride to support Chest'r equine rescue. This ride is in the beautiful Hill Country Natural Area near Bandera, TX. There will be obstacles to go over and it should be a little cooler. Come ride with us and put all the money you have spent on your lessons and clinics to good use in a competitive and yet fun trail ride!!!

Sept 25, 2010, RIDING CLINIC - REFINING THE BASICS Natural Remuda Equine Learning Center, Utopia, TX 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

In this clinic, you will be starting to put the icing on the cake. This clinic will make your basic riding much better. You must have already learned ground work with your horse and be able to trot.

Oct 2, 2010, GROUND CLINIC, Natural Remuda Equine Learning Center, Utopia, TX 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Learn safety, leadership, and language in this clinic. Ground skills are the foundation for riding your horse. If your horse is shoving on you and pushing you around and you have no control it is not much fun for you and very unsafe. Bring your stick and rope halter and lead and give your horse the present of leadership taught in his language with love. And as an added bonus, you will be safe.

Oct 9, 2010, RIDING CLINIC, PERFECTING THE BASICS Natural Remuda Equine Learning Center, Utopia, TX 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This clinic will be for perfecting your basics and using them to go on to intermediate moves. You must be able to do all the ground exercises and trot.

Oct 16, 2010, BLUEBONNET HORSE RESCUE EXPO, AUSTIN, TX.

Jere will be judging the Annual Trainers Challenge at the Bluebonnet Rescue Horse Expo, and we will have a booth. This will be held at the Travis County Expo Center in Austin. Come out and join us for a fun day, watching all different kinds of training for these rescue horses. Stop by our booth and visit with us!

Oct 23, 2010, RIDING CLINIC, PROBLEM SOLVING Natural Remuda Equine Learning Center, Utopia, TX 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Whatever problem you are having with your horse, Jere will help you solve it. We will help you with trailer loading, the pushy horse, and other problems you have. Bring your horse and your problem and we will help you with it.

NEW NEWS

A lot of things have been going on in our world. We have been really busy all summer. (Thank you all our clients and friends!!) Our Kids and Ladies Kamps were very successful and we enjoyed them very much. We will be doing more of these next year.

In the coming year we are going to try to get our information and events out to you in a few more ways.

We are now putting events and comments on our Face Book page. We welcome your comments too. Our Face Book page is Natural Remuda Equine Learning Center and you can get there by clicking on the button on our web page on the left hand side.

We are also writing on our Blog again. We have been training and retraining a lot of horses and colts this year. We thought it might to be of interest for you to see how we do it. It also lets our customers see what we are doing with their horses on a day to day basis. There is also a place on there for questions and comments. Just go to our web page and click on the Blog link on the home page.

Our Newsletter will be coming out a little more often. I try to put pictures in there, Jere writes a training article for it, and we tell about past and future events. We also have a button on our web site for the newsletter.

If you have friends who would like to receive the newsletter, please click on that button on the newsletter page.

This is the fourth year of our business and we seem to be growing a little every year. Thank you so much to all of the folks who have stuck with us through the growing stages and thank you to the new clients who give us more enthusiasm!

In the training department, we have been getting a lot of horses in to train lately. We have 6 right now and with the lessons and clinics, it makes a pretty busy day. BUT…..we are very thankful for the business.

We have been adding to our lesson list too. We now have regular lessons all day in Boerne on Fridays and we have lessons here at the Center on Wednesday's for Utopia and Uvalde and surrounding areas. If you would like to take lessons, just call us and choose a spot.

JERE’S CORNER

SHANE

We all have had horses that have affected our lives. I had one named Shane. He was a light palomino Quarter Horse. I bought Shane when I was twelve and he was five years old. I owned him for 28 years.

When I was young, I rode Shane in Westernairs, a drill team. I rode him through the fire ring for the drill team, and used him in the Liberty act, where he would do the whole act brideless. You could shoot off of him. He was really an all around horse. He did his job and didn't give any trouble.

This horse was my best friend. We went everywhere together, including all over the country with the drill team. I taught him tricks, like how to bow, lay down and how to pray. I did what I am always trying to get my clients to do. Played with my horse.

Shane had some quirky things about him too. If he decided he didn't want to go to Westernairs practice, he could come up with a limp. He also shot gunned out of the trailer. In other words, when you opened the trailer gate, he would come out as fast as he could, sometimes flipping over backwards. My Dad and I worked with him and finally got him over this, but it took a long time. He was a very food oriented horse and would do anything for it. He was probably a left brained introvert, if we had known those kinds of things at that time. He had to be motivated and his motivation was food.

I grew up and married and we still had Shane. He taught our kids to ride when they were little tiny guys. I roped off him for many years and even gathered cattle with him. He was what you would call an all-around horse. And the older he got, the better he got.

He finally died when he was about 33 years old. I had owned him for 28 of his years. We buried him on our place at Higbee, Colorado. He taught me about patience and just playing with him like a kid. He was a great horse to start on because you could do anything on him and he was willing and ready for it.

I hope you had a horse like this somewhere in your history. And most of all, if you are thinking of buying a horse, buy one for yourself like Shane.

If any former members of Westernairs who get this newsletter have any pictures of him performing, I would love to have one.