| Winters
offers equal praise. "When I came and observed
Thacher's horse program I saw students who'd been riding
just a few weeks doing better than a lot of adult riders
with years of experience." While riding mechanics are
well addressed at Thacher, Winters applauds the fact that
horse psychology is a huge part of their horsemanship
education. "They are really giving kids the reasons why
certain things work and teaching them how to present things
as the best deal for the horse."
The Thacher School is a
private boarding school for exceptional young people with
strong academic backgrounds from around the world. Thacher's
extensive horse program is second to none
and is the centerpiece of their 117-year history.
Along with Richard’s
duties at Thacher, he will still be taking in a limited
number of outside training horses and conducting Horsemanship
Clinics throughout the country. An exciting part of
this partnership will be the horsemanship clinics and camps
that we will host right on the Thacher Campus. Thacher’s
horse facilities include arenas, round pens, trail
course, a large gymkhana field and tens of
thousands of acres of the Los Padres National Forest right
out the back door!
We encourage you to visit www.thacher.org
to learn more about the Thacher
School and its rich traditions of Horsemanship and academic
excellence.
We look forward to you
being a part of Richard Winters Horsemanship
in the months to come!
About The Thacher School
Photo credit: Chris Land
In 1887, Sherman Day
Thacher left Connecticut and settled in the hills of
beautiful Ojai, California. When a New England friend asked
Mr. Thacher to tutor his son for admission to Yale, he
accepted – as long as the boy could come to Ojai for his
lessons. The friend agreed and Mr. Thacher’s school was
founded.
Along with academic
excellence, Mr. Thacher knew that there was “something
about the outside of a horse that’s good for the inside of
a boy” - and now, girl!
Horsemanship has not just
been a part of the Thacher tradition but truly the
centerpiece of its program. The horses, the equipment and
the facilities all speak of The Thacher School’s
commitment to quality horsemanship.
The Thacher School’s
commitment to Horsemanship has been reflected in the
clinicians it has hosted over the years. Monty Forman, Ray
Hunt, Buck Brannaman, Bryan Neubert and Richard Winters are
just a few who have shared their horsemanship philosophy
with the Thacher family.
We encourage you to learn
more about The
Thacher School and its rich traditions of horsemanship
and academic excellence.
Testimonials
I've known Richard Winters for over 25 years. He represents the principles of natural horsemanship for both the horse and the human as well as anyone I know.
—Pat Parelli, Founder of Natural Horse*man*ship
Richard not only has the patience, but takes the time to start colts right. The colts he has started for me are calm, willing and ready to learn about cutting.
—Charlie Ward, Professional Cutting Horse Trainer and owner of Doc Bar
I have known Richard Winters as a farrier and as a horse trainer for the past 20 years. Richard has a natural ability about him when it comes to working with a horse. I would recommend him highly as a trainer.
—Gary Deter, DVM
The Ultimate Horse Course is a tremendous learning opportunity. Every exercise was fun and purposeful for both horse and rider. Richard is truly a wealth of knowledge and Cheryl sees to all our comforts. A memorable experience. Thank you!
—Dr. Sharon Spier, DVM UC Davis - School of Veterinary Medicine
Richard has a good feel with horses and has helped us here in our colt starting program. It's a pleasure to ride the horses he's started.
—Ted Robinson, World Champion - Reined Cow Horse
We are excited to have Richard Winters at The Thacher School. Richard's horsemanship clinics are, in our long experience, some of the very best that are offered. Richard will bring his immense horse and people savvy skills to our students and faculty, and he will also now be able to use Thacher's outstanding location and facilities to host his horsemanship clinics for the public, business, and other organizations.
—Michael Mulligan, The Thacher School's Headmaster
Ojai is extremely fortunate to have a clinician like Richard call it home. That he offers his knowledge and expertise to the community is very valuable to me, as I continually strive toward improving my horsemanship.
—Kerry Ballantine
1. Recognizing each rider's abilities and challenging them without overexposing them - great for increasing confidence.
2. Diversity of experience - of tremendous benefit to riders & horses of all levels - trail work, arena work and cow work.
—Bill
Learned a lot about my horse from patient Richard and about myself. Lots to work on - Thank you. Hospitality beyond compare!! What a great vacation, plus we learned a lot. I didn't realize you would meet our every need. Completely catered to for one whole week. So many fine meals and amenities. You thought of everything. The whole week was pure horse, pure fun. Thanks for allowing us into your lives and family. What an excellent job you all do. Thank you Richard & Cheryl.
—Lily
My first experience at a Richard Winters clinic I remember standing up to my ankles in mud and pouring rain, telling myself I was only there because of my girlfriend and her horse. What a surprise when my horse ended up being the one who needed help. Richard has a way of making learning fun. You find yourself using his expressions, having his suggestions become your ideas and having those ideas become your horses.
—Jim
Richard Winters is an excellent communicator with horses and people alike. He has given me the knowledge, confidence and tools to become a better handler on the ground as well as a better rider.
—Debbie
Richard uses skillful horse communication techniques to avoid and solve even serious and dangerous problems; seemingly with little effort. The clinics are instructive and inspiring!
—Trish
Richard has shown me that it is not necessary to be bigger than my horse in order to maintain control of the situation.
—Anita
I'm so impressed by Richard's teaching ability - his articulate approach and pacing is just about perfect. By the end of day 1 he knows everyone's name and the nature of their horses.
—Kate Pond
When you go out into the clinic environment you find "sticky" spots in your horse (or yourself) that you never even knew were there. There were problem areas that I did not even know existed because I snuck around them. Richard takes each step through its full range of motion. The end result is calmer, happier and more fluid.
—Alice
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