Aaron England fans came to Goldthwaite,
Texas from as far away as Oklahoma and New Mexico to join Aaron and
Riva for their First Annual Open House. Aaron invited many of his top
students to participate and bring their horses. A wide variety of
horses were involved in the demonstrations, including Thoroughbreds,
Quarter Horses, Draft mixes, a Shetland pony, an Arab and a Spanish
Mustang.
Watching all the different breeds of
horses brought home Aaron's philosophy that his versatile training can
help any horse and any rider improve their communication. Aaron also
wowed the crowd by saddling a young gelding for his first ride . . .
which went smoothly after Aaron spent time on the ground getting the
horse used to the feel of a rider.
Many of the students had their horses
following them around the pasture with no leads or halters, and this
demonstrated that the horse was connected to and concentrating on the
owner. One trainer, Jack Leiser from South
Texas, had his horse track every move he made, including running from
side to side. Jack later had the audience in complete awe as he
galloped his half Draft/Half Quarter Horse bareback over the jumps.
He was able to get gorgeous dressage moves from the horse from the
ground and on his back with no bridle or saddle.
The weather was a perfect Texas fall
day, and no rain all day even though it had been predicted. Over
seventy guests enjoyed the horse demos, hot dogs, lemonade and great
horse talk. We hope you'll make plans to join us next fall for the
Second Annual Open House.
Below are some
pictures of some of the folks who attended and some of the events that took
place at the Open House:
