Last year we had several months that included PLAY DAYS here on PENZANCE. I’m excited that I can now report that this coming season, 2012, will also see regular PLAY DAYS at PENZANCE!  We all had a good time last year and can’t wait for another round of practice for Equine Agility. (In my day, way back when *grin* we called it “Extreme Trail”) …

Hopefully we’ll be able to start in mid-April or so if the weather holds and the ground is not boot-sucking mud!

We are anticipating some new obstacles — Just put our order in for an ‘elephant platform’, a new ‘bridge’ and a teeter totter!  We also will be building a new ‘tunnel’ and have a trailer onsite for practice loading. Of course if you got your horse to PENZANCE to begin with you may not think you need practice BUT … answer this question – did you horse SELF LOAD?  *Grin* … if not, if you ‘lead’ him onto the trailer then you can anticipate having some new fun teaching him to load up all by himself.  How cool would THAT be !?!!?  I can attest that its great! What a great partnership experience to just be able to open up the trailer and say, “Come on, Dobbins!  Off we go!” and to have him just walk right in.  That makes me smile. 🙂

Besides the changes and additions to the obstacles we’re also going to be instituting a charge for the day. It’s not huge by any stretch of the imagination but every bit helps and its alot of work to get set up, supervise, coach, videotape, photograph and then break it all down again at the end of the day!  Don’t think $15 per person for the day will break anyone’s bank. So, that’s what it is … $15 per person, per day.

We’ll be running from 10 am to 2 pm and will have demos scheduled at the start of each day. May be with groundwork; may be under saddle or may be both! Might be with a seasoned horse or with a fresh one.

We use clicker training here on PENZANCE and it WILL be incorporated into the Demos. Clickers will be available for sale if anyone is needing one. We may have some treatbags also available to borrow if you don’t have your own. Fanny paks make great treat bags!  Carpenter aprons also do.  Many times fanny packs can be found at Salvation Army or another thrift store for just a couple of dollars. Easy, peasy!  Target sticks can easily be fabricated from a wooden dowel and tennis ball or even purchase a new, old-fashioned toilet plunger … one of those ugly, rubber red ones? But heck — they work, they’re soft so if a horse bumps his nose or face into it accidentally then its not going to hurt. And, they’re easy for the horse to see.

And a couple of other fun things being planned for 2012:  WORKSHOPS!  Clicker Training, Hoof trimming, Partnership Teaching … and more.
We’re thinking about a weekend retreat for those who travel a long distance — be ready to camp out at PENZANCE and enjoy a couple of evening bon-fires with new friends and lots of laughter.

So keep an eye on PENZANCE Equine Integrated Solutions. And if you have other ideas for workshops or presentations (Homeopathy for Horses? Herbs? Nutrition? Communicating?) … just let us know!