Chipper Jones
“Colt starting. Colt starting? Colt starting clinic with Robbie Potter. I thought colt starting was either a contest like Robbie was in or where someone hired a trainer to keep your horse a couple of months to train to ride. A clinic for regular riders to teach their 2 or 3-year-old horses to ride in 6 days. Excuse me, but how ridiculous. I re-read the clinic description on Mr. Potter’s blog. He was serious. My wife, Donna, and I discussed it and she encouraged me to go. Being a rider of 3 years, so relatively inexperienced and having been with Robbie in other clinics, of course, I said “Yes” while already getting tense about it. Here’s my story about how it turned out.
Eye to Eye. Standing Eye to Eye, the Dun, and I. Who will blink first this time?
Day 1. To paraphrase Poe, it was a grey and dreary morning at the otherwise lush Cold Springs Farm with hosts Van and Carla Arnold where the rolling hills were dotted with quality cows and quarter horses. Robbie Potter met with our group of experienced riders and then me, the older guy with probably fewer rides than the others had years. We all were a little antsy as Robbie tried to calm our nerves. “Listen to me. All of y’all will do fine and you will ride these unbroken horses very soon if you listen to me and do everything I ask. Everything. These horses can kill you if you do not listen to me. Pay attention. Understand? Now Jean, go get your horse.”
Jean promptly walked out into the large arena with a mingling herd of 8 horses and easily haltered Sundance and lead her into the round pen. After doing things to make her comfortable and getting her used to the saddle pad, Sundance was released back into the outer arena.
“Chipper – Get your horse!” You guessed it. Things did not go well. After 15 minutes of chasing my Dun mare and dodging the back ends of the rest of the group, Robbie said, “Hold on and I’ll help.” We moved the group into the round pen and he roped her easily. Only then was she haltered.
Maureen’s horse, Solo, was especially nervous. Robbie had to catch him and it was a show watching his adjustment. Nearly all of Maureen’s time that day was spent working with Robbie to settle him down.
The next day, a similar story. Jean easily haltered Sundance, Maureen and Robbie continued to work with Solo, and I went chasing the Dun who was eventually caught. However, as incredible as it was to all of us, Jean and I actually got on our saddled horses. WOW!! We did it on the second day. Of course with Robbie’s instruction but we actually got on first and it was only Day 2. We were flush with excitement and growing confidence.
Robbie was instructing us on a huge number of things. Vaguely understood terms I’ve heard used hundreds of times like “Feel”, “Softness”, and “Balance” really did begin to make sense. This was the primary reason for my coming. I had had a hodgepodge of clinics and picked up bits and pieces of lots of things but I lacked being able to grasp the big picture. Donna and I hoped this would help me tie everything together by having to do all the steps in starting a horse from scratch.
My biggest flick-on-the-light bulb moment came with haltering. Yes, haltering. Every day I struggled with catching the Dun. After making another failed attempt, I tried to chill out and think this through. Robbie’s words heard over and over in my head, “A horse needs a leader” What exactly is that? After watching Jean so comfortably walk out to Sundance and halter her in 10 seconds, it suddenly became clear. A horse is scared to death. A leader is someone who transfers confidence. A horse needs a leader.
I thought about the times the Dun would pull away from me even after I petted her face and shoulder. I thought about Jean. I thought about Robbie. I thought about my technique and that it was not working. And there we were Eye to Eye again
BINGO! Be a leader. Transfer confidence. Give the horse a chance to not be afraid. At that point, I readjusted my halter, walked calmly up to her and quickly, smoothly, without hesitation of even a millisecond, slipped it on and off we went. Neither of us would ever be the same. She was more at ease with me then and with all the other things we were to do. And maybe even more important, so was I.
Day 4. Incredibly Maureen was riding Solo who was amazingly calm.
Day 6. We all cantered our horses and later left the confines of the arena to ride out in the open. Yes! Unbroken to this in 6 days with untrained riders. I still shake my head.
How did this happen? Robbie is a trainer. For this, that is not enough as he also had to have the confidence to guide/manage multiple riders and multiple horses at the same time. As all horses are unique and have differing needs, he had to adjust to each of us and each of them. It was not a cookbook formula to go Step 1,2,3 for horse #1 and then the same Step 1,2,3 for the next horse. We witnessed many variations with his instruction. My toolbox has a single screwdriver and one pair of pliers. His is one of these mega kits with hundreds of specialized instruments that could be used for any situation.
Not only a trainer, Robbie is also a teacher. He is my dream teacher as he is a leader to his students (transfers confidence) by being skilled in his knowledge base, commanding attention to detail, and offering instant feedback about how we were doing with every single aspect of our riding. Even though I was the least experienced in the group, he never belittled me for making the same mistake 10 times in a row. He did not give up on me but tried even harder to identify my weaknesses and encourage me to improve. Personally, I could ask for nothing else in a teacher.
In discussing the week with the other participants, the feeling was the same. Robbie could take anyone at any level of ability and make them a much better, more confident rider. All they have to do is want to and, as Robbie said more than once “Listen to me!”
It was a great week and I thank all involved. Now that I have haltering down, maybe next year I’ll be ready for flying lead changes.
*Updated May 17, 2020.
Almost exactly one year after the Colt Starting week, we just finished a great 3-day clinic with Robbie. On this day we are proud to say all of our group actually did flying lead changes for the first time and most importantly actually knew we were doing them! Thanks, Robbie, for enabling me to keep my word.”