Clinic Friendships

At our weekend riding clinics, I have clinic helpers. They are young people who go through a training in February or March. Then they come on Fridays, stay the weekend, and help me run the clinic. In the end they are not only providing safety for our riders, but they are also sharing their knowledge of horses and in the end they are emerging teachers.

I love my clinic helpers. I celebrate them and am grateful for their dedicated hard work and enthusiasm for Sprucelands. I throughly enjoy their sense of humor and get a kick out of the conversations we have in our down time.

Often my clinic helpers are campers who have gone through weeks of camp. They know the routines and have basically enhanced their horse experience with consistent day to day riding, horse care and learning about horse theory. Many keep up regular riding lessons so they can easily pass on what they learn to others.

What I enjoy most of all is watching my clinic helpers grow as individuals and in relationships with each other. Often friendships emerge that last a lifetime. They are tender, caring friendships where age doesn't matter.

Matt and Hope for example help each other out. Matt very nicely nudges Hope and Hope nudges Matt. Here they were working together with our horse Patti at our Special Needs Clinic. While they waited for their next rider, Hope climbed up on the mounting block and talked with Matt. The picture is priceless, and so I wanted to share it with you because it warms my heart.