Tindell's Horse & Mule School Students Tell Their Stories...

Terry Schmer	Caroline Gilmore	Sue Sladkowski	Jim Langford	Lauren Renken
Gerald D. Fogleman	Judy Fox's Story
Gerald D.Fogleman		Mr. Tindell, first I would like to tell you a huge “Thank You” for sharing your knowledge of mules and horses with the rest of us.  I have all of your dvd’s and watch them over and over.  I have learned and applied your techniques and they have advanced my horses, mule and myself beyond anything I thought possible.  I would also like to know if there are any plans for a follow-up dvd with the mule Rachel.  I really enjoyed that dvd.  Having a troubled mule of my own (no longer) that dvd holds a special place with me.  I am enclosing a picture of myself and my 3 year old paint gelding Blueboy.  I started this horse using only your methods of training.  I usually spend around thirty days doing ground work before the first ride but with your methods the picture you see of me was Blueboy’s first ride after only 4 days of ground work.  I’m very happy to say it was an uneventful ride and we’ve been riding together for the past year with no events to report.  With his calmness and trusting of the rider you would think you’re on a horse of at least 15 years of age, and I attribute this all to your complete training methods with no missed or skipped steps.  Well, Thanks again and just know all of your hard work is greatly appreciated.  God Bless.  Gerald D. Fogleman Kooskia, ID
Thanks from Canada		Dear Jerry Tindell, Thanks for the helpful tips you gave my wife and I this past weekend at your booth in Red Deer. We asked you about a 12 year old gelding that has been attentive and trustworthy under saddle but would not let us catch him for the past 2 years in the open pasture ever since he fell through a frozen muskeg. We blamed it on that but your advice was to start again from square one and forget what happened before. Well, to make a long story short, it only took 15 minutes in the 30 foot round pen and an hour in the 100 foot round pen of basic groundwork and we were able to walk up to him in the open pasture later that day. Maybe because he has been so steady under saddle, but now I realize I had been overlooking the little things that indicated defiance that I now recall had been going on for years.　 After 4 days of basic pen work we can now walk up to him with a halter in hand in a 60 acre pasture.  You pointed out what to look for and we corrected in a few days what I had previously been unable to deal with over the past 2 years -- A hearty Alberta thank you to you and your family. Sincerely, Roy and Sue Sladkowski High River, Alberta

Happy New Year, Jerry !!!

January 2009

It has been one year since I was lucky enough to meet and study with you. Thank goodness I found your clinics, Jerry!!!!!  You wouldn't believe how well Candy and I are doing.  Yes, the horse that used to run over the top of me likes doing ground work and taking me on trail rides. 

I have been riding on 1800 acres behind our house. The trails are wide (easy riding) and there are opportunities to encounter predators.  Besides this there really aren't any challenges.  Yesterday we went to Cool and rode for about 4 hours.  Candy trailered well and was just wonderful on the trails, going through water, encountering galloping horses, bikes, hikers - all calm as could be.  We were safe and doing it Jerry !!!!!!  : )    : )

I just knew you were committed to my success and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you did for me. I always felt like you treated me extra special and went way beyond the call of duty.  Remember the 6 AM morning loping of Candy before class began? What other teacher is this committed.


Your clinics are absolutely priceless!!!!!! As our successes have been coming - your ears should be burning - all of us here just keep saying there is nothing better than the Tindell Clinics.  You really prepared us for the real world.  Your clinics offer so many opportunities and challenges.  Each and every time we pass a challenge safely we give thanks to you.

I KNEW you would get me there, but never have I had such a teacher like you who went through all of the hard work and tears with me. 

Thank you very much,

Terry Schmer
El Dorado Hills, CA

Jim Langford & Little Red

Hi, Jerry, 

Thanks for the great clinic at Napa. I’m back in the saddle and took a lot of good information with me. This stuff is fun and it works. It’s very rewarding when you connect with your animal. I hope to make things better for my little mule and gain some confidence in myself. I recommend to everyone, when you think you know it all, attend a Tindell clinic and find out just how much you don’t know about yourself and your mount. 

Thanks again. 

Jim Langford

Penngrove, CA

4/12/08
YOU DON'T NEED TO DRINK TO RIDE
 
If you need a drink to get on your horse, “here’s your sign:”

When I bought KJ Konan aka “Ghost”, a big gray Arab, my goal was to replace my 27 year old horse I had ridden for 22 years.  Ghost came with a lot more energy and I soon discovered I needed a stiff drink before having the courage to mount up.  He would get excited, then I would get excited. He would start to prance, then my cheeks would start to prance and things went down hill fast from there.  I despaired of ever being comfortable with him on the trail. 

One day on the way home from work, I passed a sign that said "Equine Clinic - to the left."  I investigated and it was a small group of ladies and gents working on ground exercises with their horses in hand. 

How odd I thought.  I had never heard of the clinician but he seemed knowledgeable and friendly.  That was in 2002 and the clinician was Jerry Tindell. 

I owe Jerry Tindell for a lot more than my sobriety. He helped me gain confidence and courage by showing me the skills I needed to safely train myself and my horse. 

I began the clinics in January of 2002 and by the end of the year, Ghost and I had joined a drill team, gone horse camping in the Sierra Nevadas, joined the Pony Express and participated in the Placerville Christmas Parade. 

We have continued in Jerry’s clinics ever since and he has helped me in countless ways. 

I first learned how to handle my horse on the ground, which I discovered is the first step for any equestrian discipline.  I learned how to disengage the hindquarters, lower his head and relax my cheeks!  I have had the pleasure of practicing these skills and many more in great clinics which have included despooking exercises, drill team exercises, games on horseback, trail trials, ranch work with cattle and trail rides.  I have had a great deal of fun in Jerry’s clinics and have made some life long friends.   

Jerry is a consummate horseman and extremely gifted instructor.  He is sensitive and respectful of the myriad of differences in horses and humans.  He is a master at illustrating his points with precision and accuracy.  He also harbors a great sense of humor which can lighten stressful moments and make his clinics very entertaining. 

He is adamant about safety but is ever watchful for that opportunity to push you to new levels. I have felt so many successful moments during his clinics that my level of confidence is higher than it has ever been during my 40 years on the back of a horse.  As Winston Churchill once said “Knowledge drives out fear.”

Caroline & Ghost on the 2007
"Fearful Crossing Wagon Train & Trail Ride"

Ghost is now a joy to ride. I am very fortunate I noticed my “sign” and joined up with Jerry Tindell. 

-  Carolyn Gilmore

February 28, 2008 

A Tindell Clinic  

For those who have never attended a Jerry Tindell Clinic, it is hard to explain what occurs between an animal and the owner. No matter how small or large a breakthrough seems it becomes a mighty feat.  We had a diversified group for the Red Bluff clinic, from donkeys, horses, and baby mules, so you know we were in for A to Z.  It is no wonder that each group becomes family as we struggle to master our feelings that our equine animals are not pets (we don’t let them lounge on pillows in front of the fireplace). Then we try to master our body, from the language to movements.  We never knew that the horse read our demeanor, that they were aware of how high our ears went, or if we licked our lips when we were nervous--hands and shoulders high and low, and which foot leads in horse shoe waltz. A clinic is a clinic.  Right?  

Over my four years attending Tindell clinics, I have learned that first and foremost is safety, on the ground and in the saddle. 

At each clinic, time is spent on the ground assessing each animal and its owner.  It must seem boring to those who have not seen the kicking, bucking, braced "well broke" quarter horse.  If I have learned one thing, if I am having trouble in the saddle I probably have not spent enough time on the ground. After I turned 50+ the idea of a bucking bronc is no longer a challenge I want to come face to dirt with. 

The babies soon learned to face up, and Jack the donkey took his turn.  I have often heard that donkeys don’t do round pens, and I agree that they don’t do round pens fast, but once they get it, it is a wondrous thing!. 

Jerry is not rushed; he is committed to working with each animal.  He is committed to the participant.  Most have come because of some problem, and really it is a soul searching dilemma to bare our problems in front of Jerry. 

How hard can it be to handle a baby or for that matter a 1200 lb mustang?  I myself often give my animals an excuse, and laughed when Jack had convinced Dot that he did not like men in small white hats.  After all he had been abused in his younger years.  When Dot found out that he would go in a trailer without her coaxing him in, she ate his lunch carrot, TWO days in a row. 

Most folks who have babies don’t want to wreck them, or push them.  After all it’s just a baby!!! …Until it becomes a pushy, "I don’t waanna" 800 lb. baby.  We learned that the same steps work for these guys as the mustang. 

After all they just look for the release, for the little things.  Jerry gives us a release because it’s not that we are doing it wrong; we just didn’t know.  

The horse eating waterfall, the donkey scaring horse buddy bumper (yes, there is such a thing), and of course the blue tarp, were set up in the arena.  Arnie made it look easy with his yearling mule Hank.  He must have practiced at home.  My baby Dozier has jumping possibilities as he jumped the tarp, and bridge.  What form!! Dot got stuck at the buddy bumper.  The mustang, quarter horse, and mules all got a turn.  The human got to breathe when each task was done.  Jerry assured us that we could ride though the obstacles too.  And we did!!  

The comradeship at lunch is a wonderful thing.  There’s nothing to level the playing ground than anything in horse shoes.  To Barbara, Lyle and Laurie, Ruth Ann, Cindy, and Kristina and all the rest, this is a safe place.  Horse talk…  Work…  Heaven...  Understanding...  Commitment...

Jerry Tindell is not a clinician. He might take exception to that statement. There’s no Wow.  This is work.  Nothing about it is easy.  There is an understanding that Jerry will be there 100% of the time.

His challenge, I think, is to make the human understand that we can work through these problems.  We can Release, Recover, and start again.  He is a believer of the soul, because if we truly want it, we can attain this true relationship with our animals!  It is as simple as that, well …..Other than the work.  

It was a great clinic, many thanks to all.  

Judy Fox

“Tinfox”

Lauren Renken & King

January 26, 2008 

There are no words to describe my day today.  King came for a visit from "camp" with so many changes.  He has softness, willingness, trust, and eagerness.  He has been working very hard to fit in to our world.  With Jerry and Randy's guidance he is as light as a feather on the end of a lead rope. He is really progressing so here are some proud Mom pictures!  The picture that shows King lining up parallel to the rail took so much courage!  He has a full and long road ahead of him but our little tyke is making great strides towards the Mascot as our wonderful King!    

Thanks for believing in us!  

Lauren (Renken) & King