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Jan,
My name is Lanny French I am a Mounted Park Patrol
Ranger for the City of Waco. I am in charge of training new rangers and remounts
for our unit, and even though our unit is small we patrol our beat twice a day,
weather permitting, and are called upon to do a variety of tasks. For years we
have done equine related programs for school children in the Waco area. These
programs usually consist of a ranger mounted on a horse explaining how we
accomplish our tasks with our horses, but we wanted to do more, we wanted to put
a larger investment in the inner-city children that we would normally see for
about an hour. After much research, and seeing first hand how children respond
to horses through some horsemanship classes that we did for Waco Center for the
Youth (a place for extremely disturbed children here in Waco), we decided to
offer horsemanship
classes for inner-city children in the Waco Independent School District free of
charge. Our goal is: to give children an opportunity to experience horses that ~
would
otherwise not have the opportunity, to build confidence by showing them they can
accomplish
a goal, show them how to relate well to horses in hopes that this lesson will i
help them relate well to people, and to possibly help them become productive
citizens that may have otherwise been lost to the culture of their surroundings.
Our fact-finding mission led us to Matt Cunningham, and after we expressed legal
and safety concerns he recommended us to the AAHS, which in turn led me to Mary
Nelson.
I
have recently completed the Instructor Certification Clinic at Rocky River
Ranch, in Wimberley with Mary and Barry Nelson. Mary did an excellent job
fielding the barrage of questions that I presented to her. The thorough
explanation of the legal and risk management aspects associated with riding
instruction was completely helpful. I must admit, after the first legal session
I had fears about doing a riding program for children, however the education of
such matters began to erase the fear. My fear before the clinic, especially
being employed by a municipality, was that I may have to go to court someday if
something goes wrong; my theory now is to prepare each day to go to court. I do
not mean this in a negative way, but in a thoughtful and orderly manner with an
understanding of the steps that need to occur to best protect our program.
The clinic, along with the study of the book
"Teaching Safe Horsemanship", was presented in an insightful manner
that led me to think about safety issues that, sad to say, I had not thought of
before. The clinic would have been of absolute value if I had plans to never
instruct anyone in horsemanship. I was totally amazed at how the secure seat
system worked. One of the greatest assets of the clinic was being able to
observe Mary and Barry's students taking lessons throughout the week. Mary and
Barry's
understanding
of, and commitment to this system shines through their students. I observed a
good number of students of various ages and abilities, and I stood in awe of the
seat these children had developed using this system. I had noticed the same
thing with the children Matt Cunningham was instructing at the Methodist Home
Boys Ranch here in Waco.
Another observation, (that I do not always see at
clinics) is the fact that Mary and Barry practiced that which they preached -
even in off times of the clinic I noticed Mary and Barry adhering to the AAHS
safety guidelines. I would also like to thank you for taking the time to put
these steps and procedures in print. Even though I understand that I could
easily be in court someday defending our horsemanship program, I feel good that
I have a system to work from and an understanding that prevention really is the
best cure. My love for horses is
much larger than my intelligence, however my work ethic is good so I will
continue to review the legal and risk management portions, while continuing to
practice the secure seat system in hopes that I will represent the AAHS with
integrity.
Sincerely,
Lanny
French
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