         Can you learn to train your own horse online?
         Apparently, "yes"!
         Can the horse be competitive in a major competition?
         Apparently, "yes"!
         El Richards rode Commander Pine Bar to a fourth place finish in the Select Amateur Trail course competition at the American Buckskin World Championships. The 4-year-old mare, youngest in the class, is a Training Performance Horses demonstration horse for HorseCoursesOnline.com. Started as an unschooled two-year-old, the mare's training followed step by step the training techniques taught in the online course.
         In addition to the trail course placing, the mare also scored a fourth place finish in the "All-ages Western Riding" competition. Western Riding is a pattern class which requires the horse to maintain an even cadence on a light rein while negotiating a set pattern that calls for eight flying changes of lead.
         "Amateur horses are almost always the most highly schooled horses in any competition, and they almost always have had lots of experience to go with their age," said Don Blazer, HorseCoursesOnline.com instructor for the Training Performance Horses course. "To have Commander Pine Bar go against older horses with much more experience and then place in the top five is quite an accomplishment for a young horse."
         Richards also rode Babe's Little Twister to a sixth place finish in the same trail class. The competition requires each horse to negotiate a minimum of six obstacles including a gate, a back through, serpentine and a side pass maneuver. Richards, an equine nutrition specialist, teaches Equine Nutrition for Maximum Performance for the online education program.
         HorseCoursesOnline.com is the administrator for six community college programs and the Breyer State University Bachelor of Science in Equine Studies degree program. In addition, the worldwide leader in online equine study curriculum, also provides the courses for the Equine Studies Institute's Professional Horse Trainer and Riding Instructor Certification programs.
         Students get all their lessons, quizzes and assignments online, but work one-on-one with their instructors, all award winners with proven success records in the fields they teach. For many of the hands-on classes, the students much provide videos of themselves working with their horse.
         "When we see the video, we know just how well the student has mastered the training technique being taught," said Blazer. "After having taught horse training in distance learning (correspondence and online) for more than 25 years, we have a pretty good idea of just how to help the student and horse progress."
         "We know the online training works for both horse and rider," Blazer said, "since we have had dozens of students start their own successful training businesses after having completed the online program."
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         Apparently, "yes"!
         Can the horse be competitive in a major competition?
         Apparently, "yes"!
         El Richards rode Commander Pine Bar to a fourth place finish in the Select Amateur Trail course competition at the American Buckskin World Championships. The 4-year-old mare, youngest in the class, is a Training Performance Horses demonstration horse for HorseCoursesOnline.com. Started as an unschooled two-year-old, the mare's training followed step by step the training techniques taught in the online course.
         In addition to the trail course placing, the mare also scored a fourth place finish in the "All-ages Western Riding" competition. Western Riding is a pattern class which requires the horse to maintain an even cadence on a light rein while negotiating a set pattern that calls for eight flying changes of lead.
         "Amateur horses are almost always the most highly schooled horses in any competition, and they almost always have had lots of experience to go with their age," said Don Blazer, HorseCoursesOnline.com instructor for the Training Performance Horses course. "To have Commander Pine Bar go against older horses with much more experience and then place in the top five is quite an accomplishment for a young horse."
         Richards also rode Babe's Little Twister to a sixth place finish in the same trail class. The competition requires each horse to negotiate a minimum of six obstacles including a gate, a back through, serpentine and a side pass maneuver. Richards, an equine nutrition specialist, teaches Equine Nutrition for Maximum Performance for the online education program.
         HorseCoursesOnline.com is the administrator for six community college programs and the Breyer State University Bachelor of Science in Equine Studies degree program. In addition, the worldwide leader in online equine study curriculum, also provides the courses for the Equine Studies Institute's Professional Horse Trainer and Riding Instructor Certification programs.
         Students get all their lessons, quizzes and assignments online, but work one-on-one with their instructors, all award winners with proven success records in the fields they teach. For many of the hands-on classes, the students much provide videos of themselves working with their horse.
         "When we see the video, we know just how well the student has mastered the training technique being taught," said Blazer. "After having taught horse training in distance learning (correspondence and online) for more than 25 years, we have a pretty good idea of just how to help the student and horse progress."
         "We know the online training works for both horse and rider," Blazer said, "since we have had dozens of students start their own successful training businesses after having completed the online program."
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