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'Centered Riding Clinics' offered this summer with Mitzi Summers (USA)
Mitzi is an internationally known clinician, who has traveled extensively through Europe, the United States,, and New Zealand teaching, giving clinics, and certifying instructors. Mitzi is a Level IV Centered Riding Instructor. There are only 20 Level IVs in the world, and it takes a minimum of ten years of study to achieve this distinction. Centered Riding
A gifted woman named Sally Swift began the concept of Centered Riding many years ago.
It is a concept of teaching riders and their horses in a soft, harmonious manner. Many riders become frustrated with their riding. " My horse is stubborn, stupid, I can't canter, I cannot sit the trot, etc." By incorporating the knowledge of how horses and their riders move, how horses react to changes in the rider's body, and the use of images, body work and body language, Centered Riding succeeds in helping the rider/horse pair achieve harmony and understanding in a calm, thoughtful way. 
Mitzi Summers is also an experienced judge. "Often", she has said, "I will be judging a show and the
announcer may ask for a left lead canter. It is surprising how much riders get in the way of their
horses without realizing it. You can almost hear the horses thinking, "well, she is leaning to the left
and pulling on my right rein, but she IS asking me to do something different…maybe I will try cantering". Unfortunately, if the horse misinterprets the confusing aids, he is often the entity blamed- not the rider who was not able to make things clear to her horse. "There is no BLAME here..riding is a difficult sport. What Centered Riding does is to give us an awareness of our bodies, and the ability to work with ourselves so that we can speak clearly to the horse in his language." Open Centered Riding ClinicMitzi and Sietske will be offering an Open Centered Riding Clinic. (And we have an extra Level I assistant coming over from the Netherlands) This is open to all riders of all levels. Mitzi has taught riders from beginning levels to Grand Prix jumping and dressage. The Open Clinic will include ground lesson, which are done without horses, for a few hours in the morning. Many exercises (which are very enjoyable) are done on the ground…..often people are paired up so one person is the "horse" and one the "rider". These exercises often lead to astounding revelations about how we influence our horses. The latter part of the morning and the afternoons will be comprised of riding using Centered riding images and techniques.Instructor Centered Riding CourseJoin the Swelling Ranks of Centered Riding® Instructors The demand for Centered Riding Instructors is growing steadily with requests for instructors coming into the website from around the world. Become a Centered Riding Instructor and learn how to use Centered Riding techniques to help your students become effective riders more quickly - and the horses really love it! Prerequisites• Hold current First Aid + CPR Certificate for their country – certificate must be shown to the clinician by end of Part 2 of the Instructor Course• Minimum age of 18 years • Able to ride all 3 gaits (walk, trot and canter/lope) in balance in a group lesson • Has participated in a minimum of one (1) Open CR 2-3 day clinic or two (2) or more 1-day Open CR clinics ( use our clinic search form to find a suitable clinic) • Alternatives: 1. Has been a student rider at a CR Instructor Course or Update Clinic and have a recommendation from the Clinician or assisting Apprentice • OR 2. Has taken a minimum of 6 lessons from a Level III or 4 lessons from an Apprentice or Level IV and have a recommendation from that person to take the Instructor Course • Has minimum experience of one year teaching riding (candidates need not be employed as full-time riding instructors) • Accommodations for disabled instructors will be made on a case-by-case basis. Instructor Course• Must participate in all 7 days of the course and attend Parts 1 (3-days) and 2 (4-days) of the same course• No more than one half-day of the course may be missed • Centered Riding and Centered Riding 2: Further Exploration are required texts for the CR Instructor Course and instructor candidates are expected to have read them and be familiar with their content by the end of Part 2 - Both books are available in several languages and the English version can be purchased through the Centered Riding office • At the end of the course, successful candidates must fill out and submitted the New Instructor Membership Form to the clinician and pay the annual Instructor Level I membership dues. Upon Successful completion of the course, new instructors: • Will receive their CR Instructor Record book (orange record book) • Will receive a Certificate as a Certified Centered Riding Instructor, which will be mailed from the Centered Riding office • Will be listed on the Centered Riding website as a Level I Centered Riding Instructor • May use the Centered Riding logo in advertising • May advertise that as a Centered Riding Instructor and that you teach using Centered Riding techniques • Will be listed in the Annual Directory of Centered Riding Instructors To maintain standing as a Certified Centered Riding Instructor, dues must be paid annually and the Instructor must participate in an Instructor Update clinic within two years of the completion of the course and then in accordance with the update policies. Because this is the first time that an instructor course is being given in Australia, we have permission from the board to run the instructor course with only a few days in between. Normally their should be at least 8 weeks in between part 1 and part 2. This way we can keep the costs down. Next time an instructor course will be given in Australia, their will be 8-12 weeks in between, which also means a Level IV has to fly over twice so the costs will be higher. Be a student rider in the instructor courseIf you're not attending the instructor course as a participant, but you do want to learn heaps about Centered Riding, then this is your change. As a student rider you get to ride 2-3 hours per day and get lessons from both Mitzi and the participants in the course. It's an excellent way to improve your riding. You'll get lot's of attention as 1 or 2 instructors will teach 1 rider. We only have limited spaces for student riders and only for the second part (which is 4 days) of the instructor course.You can attend just for 1 day, but we prefer riders that can attend the whole part 2 so you will notice your progress and the instructors can see it as well. You can bring your own horse otherwhise we'll have horses available. Minimum age 18 years and able to ride all 3 gaits (walk, trot and canter/lope) in balance in a group lesson. Costs: $ 75 per day or $ 250 for all 4 days. Auditors for the Centered Riding ClinicsIf you can't attend the clinics as a riding participant, you can join as an auditor.Costs: $ 75 per day. Riding without bits clinicMitzi is a certified bitless riding instructor and works together with Dr. Cook.During this day you'll find out everything about bitless riding, including: 
- the history of bitless riding and bitless bridles- the influence of the bit, history of the bit - some anatomy of the horses mouth - information on the different bitless bridles available - bitless riding - riding in balance and harmony with your horse - how balanced are you ? Besides some theoretical we're going to do practical work. You'll get the tools to get you started and then you can use them at home. The practical part involves, among other things:
- first some groundwork to get your horse prepared- groundwork with double lines - how to start building a better relationship with your horse - trying different bitless bridles to see which one works best for your horse - introduction to Centered Riding and how CR will help you ride bitless - Centered Riding exercises - and much more, so you can start riding bitless immediately following this workshop - depending on how it goes and the experience of the participants, we'll do some more advanced exercises like riding with a neck ring. Special training daysMitzi will also be offering clinics and lessons in problem solving, ground work with your horse, western, English, dressage, jumping, and also people who just simply want to ride better and have more fun with their horses. Mitzi can offer this variety as she has dedicated her whole life to improving the horse-human relationship. She has founded the SUMMERSE.T. system of working with horses and their humans, which incorporates non-abusive methods of training.American Certified Horsemanship ClinicMitzi is also a Certified Horsemanship Association Clinician, and through CHA and Centered Riding has certified over 150 instructors. She has completed two Horsemaster Courses, both in England the US, has competed successfully in dressage, huntseat, jumping, western, and breed association shows, winning year-end Championships for herself and her students. She also rode with the Royal Lipizzan Stallion Tour, and apprenticed with Chuck Grant, Frank Chapot, and Richard Shrake, among others.Visit Mitzi's website Dates and contact information:
- Location:Natural Horses, Bridgetown WA (about 3,5 hours south of Perth) - Participants don't need to bring their own horses, we have horses that can be used for the clinics (no extra costs). - Agistment available for participants who want to bring their own horses. We provide an individual paddock for your horse. NOTE: we don't have any stables (only for emergencies) Fresh water, hay and shade is included - All days start at 9.00am and end between 4 and 5pm. Please make sure you're on time. - All prices includes coffe/tea/hot water, agistment for horses or use of our horses. - Please, bring your own lunch, there won't be enough time to go to town during lunchbreak. - Clinics can only proceed when we have enough numbers. If you want to participate in one or more clinic(s) you need to send in the application form before the 15th of september. You'll receive a confirmation and an invoice. Once the total amount has been paid, your place in the clinic is secured. If we don't have enough numbers by the 15th of september we have to cancel the clinics. People that allready booked and paid, get a full refund. Participants that participate in the Centered Riding Open Clinic will receive $ 25 discount for the 'Riding without bits' Clinic. Participants that participate in the Centered Riding Open Clinic and who want to follow the Instructor Course as well, can book a package for $ 2250 (instead of $ 2415) including: - Centered Riding Open Clinic - 4 private lessons between Open Clinic and Instructor Course to meet requirements for Instructor Course - Centered Riding Instructor Course part 1 & part 2 Accommodation: a list with accomodation in the area will be send with your confirmation. Please let us know if you want to share accommodation. Our neighbours have self contained cottages for a very reasonable price. Please note that there are a lot of events in Bridgetown the end of November and beginning December. Don't wait too long with booking accommodation. No dogs allowedClick here for more information about Centered RidingPlease send an email for more info. about the clinics. Click here for an application form. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
