For this episode, Jec invites Patrick King, the renown clinician and trainer with a very active online presence, but who travels widely, too. They talk about the pros and cons of virtual lessons. It’s pretty cool because Jec actually took a virtual lesson from Patrick and part of their discussion is about how that went.

I’d heartily agree with them that us horse riders are behind the times when it comes to using technology to optimizing our situations. We can be a curmudgeon-y group, can’t we?

And, really, why work smarter when you can work harder and spend more money?

Earlier this year, I had a friend video tape my work with my horse, Barry, and sent several minutes of footage to Amy Skinner. Her insight was very helpful and enabled my horse and me to make progress we surely would have not made otherwise.

Can riders get better from the comfort of their yard, without pushing their comfort zones and going to new places with their horses?

Will the growing popularity of virtual lessons and virtual clinics mean that clinicians can just spend the day on their couches, instead of tooling around the country?

I’m exaggerating, of course, but it will really be interesting to see how technology shifts the horse rider student teacher dynamics and possibilities.

We thank Lucerne Farms and Pharm Aloe Equine for their sustaining sponsorship. Lucerne is a forage company based in northern Maine. Forage is chopped hay. It’s decidedly not grain and has been shown to be an excellent option when you can’t have your horse on pasture. Also, Lucerne bales, wrapped in plastic, are pretty much perfect for being on the road with horses. 

Pharm Aloe offers aloe pellets and gel and other products to support horses’ GI health, immune system, and other processes. They have profiles of the quality of their products on their website. 

Hey, did you know? We recently passed the 30K listener mark for this show, hatched just over a year ago. Thank you so much for listening. And as usual, send us your comments and suggestions here. 

We would like to thank Redmond Equine, Kate’s Real Food and Patagonia WorkWear for their continued support. Buy some rocks from Redmond, check out the new flavor at Kate’s and check out the WorkWear sales. Please follow these brands and buy their stuff as they support us and what we’re doing. This month and every month, we’re giving away a Patagonia WorkWear item to two lucky listeners. Check it out!