As the next pair begins, Scott Hassler asks the rider to have the mare walk without hitting the contact on the reins.  They show a great energetic working trot as they warm up. Scott talks about how the riders of young horses need to be light, but not just on the horse. In the right trot she show...

Scott and Ingo Pape take questions from the auditors including the timing of when to start lateral work, and the necessity of the horse accepting the leg.  The second question concerns the introduction of the flying changes.  Scott talks about the relationship between teaching them counter canter...

Scott Hassler begins by explaining what the purpose of this clinic has been, and Willy Arts presents a horse that has done the Four Year Old Championships and is further along than the horses from earlier in the day.  Scott offers great advice for whether riders should do the Young Horse classes ...

Another question is how they picked the horses to be in the clinic, and Scott explains that they were looking for a variety of horses.  They are also asked if only German and Dutch Warmbloods were allowed into the clinic, and Scott strongly disagrees with this.  Scott acknowledges all those invol...

Scott talks about how at this stage in their training that they ride forward transitions.  They ride the trot circles with him accepting the seat and back of the rider, an d more as if he was a seven year old.  He shows a beautiful go button, but before they go to the canter he has her ride serpe...

When this leggy bay comes in Scott has them continue their warm up while he explains the reason for this clinic. He talks about the importance of the gap between the three and four year olds and USDF In hand classes and Materiale and the USEF High Performance Horses for 4,5, and 6 year olds.  Thi...

As the horse gets a walk break, Scott reviews that they need to work him through for short periods of time.  They need to work on him being more relaxed in his back and through in his topline. By doing transitions within the canter they teach him the change his balance and carry more.  He next as...

Scott takes questions from the rider and the auditors including creating balance in a young horse. Another question is about which horses in the clinic should do the Young Horse classes.

Scott Hassler starts this pair out by asking the rider to direct the trot she wants, using a definite post to communicate to her horse.  With consistent, clear riding this youngster relaxes more, and they work on getting him supple in his body with serpentines.  In the canter Scott stresses that ...

They continue with the stretchy trot, showing great use of his lower back. Scott reviews the ride so far, and brings up interesting points about when to use the half halt to avoid increasing the tension. Scott has her increase and decrease her canter by one mile an hour at a time, resulting in a ...

Scott gives a great explanation of what being in front of the leg entails and what to expect from the horse When the mare returns to the trot she shows improvement with more uphill balance while being in front of the leg They work on the canter departs to keep her balanced beforehand and stepping...

On the second day of the clinic Scott works to help this horse on the right side to make it equal on both sides He gives a great explanation of how riders get into trouble with a young horse when trying to get them straight on the long wall after a turn offering a very workable solution to this p...

Scott begins this part by talking about the importance of the walk and how important it is to get the top line soft He asks for trot walk trot transitions thoughtfully placed where there wont be a problem to help him rebalance after the canter The trot walk trot transitions are forward and fluid ...

Scott Hassler helps this rider guide her young horse around the arena asking for circles when she has the topline He helps her avoid the problems by proactively riding before the problem arises rather than fixing it after it does Through out the canter Scott gives great advice on calmly allowing ...

Scott starts this pair by asking the horse to relax before doing any work He allows the rider the freedom to think of their horse first and deal with the tension in the horse first He points out that if the horse is tight having them straight with tension on the reins is asking for trouble The ho...

This pair shows a nice walk with the degree of bend Scott was talking about and he encourages her to ride forward when the horse is fussy until he is gliding across the ground They show how riding him forward gets him to use his back and relax They choose a successful place to pick up the canter ...

They change direction keeping his inner body soft and working towards moving his body to the outside He becomes a bit spooky by the door and they calmly work through this and then let him relax with light contact on the reins Scott defines his concept of bending and flexion for a three year old a...