Horse, rider attend clinic

VALE — Tristan Stines and her horse, Ghaze, were recently chosen by Clinton Anderson, a natural horsemanship trainer from Australia, to be part of a three-day clinic at the Western N.C. Agriculture Center in Fletcher.
Ghaze, a seven-year-old thoroughbred, ex-race horse was the main demonstration horse for the clinic.
Clinton worked with Ghaze during the seven and a half hours of training. He started with ground work and proceeded to riding.
Ghaze showed signs of being nervous in the beginning, but his behavior changed by the end of the clinic. He went from dancing around nervously and sweating to standing calmly until being asked to move. He allowed Clinton to pop a stock whip on each side of him and bounce a ball off of his side.
According to Clinton, Ghaze had to learn to use the thinking side of his brain instead of the reacting side.Stines continues to train Ghaze using Clinton’s methods and said she is amazed at the results.by Staff Reports