• Patagonia Natural Horsemanship Clinic 2020

    10-day colt starting & natural horsemanship clinic with Reata Brannaman & Gabe Clark.

Natural Horsemanship in Patagonia

w/ Reata Brannaman & Gabe Clark

 

Join Reata Brannaman, Gabe Clark and the Estancia Ranquilco team for a 10 day Natural Horsemanship clinic set on a beautiful ranch in Argentina's Patagonia. Reata and Gabe will bring their wealth of knowledge and experience to our little corner of the Andes, where the remote and spectacular setting will act as the perfect backdrop for a deep dive into the relationship between human and horse.

This ten day hands-on clinic will focus on colt starting and next-level training, the natural horsemanship way. Reata and Gabe's techniques incorporate an understanding of how horses think and communicate, making the animal feel safe and secure so that horse and rider gain a close working relationship based on mutual trust. The clinic will focus on developing a solid foundation by teaching groundwork, introducing horses to new obstacles, and demonstrating how to create a responsive, gentle ranch horse from the first ride. Work on starting a group of 2 year olds every morning, break for lunch, and return to put next-level training on a group of 3 year olds in the afternoon. Throughout the clinic, students will be able to work through tasks alongside Gabe and Reata. 

Learn to:

  • Establish a working partnership with a colt using groundwork
  • Communicate clear intentions and leadership through body language
  • Witness the first rides on two year old colts
  • Introduce the colts to real world trail challenges in mountainous terrain
  • Build riding confidence
  • Gain a sense of feel, timing and balance in your riding
  • Gather and drive horses
  • Pack a mule with a balanced load

Participants will enjoy action-packed days complemented by opportunities to ride and explore the gorgeous and wild Patagonian countryside. Savor delicious ranch-to-table meals on the lodge patio overlooking the snaking Trocoman river below, and experience hospitality at its finest at the family-owned and operated, off-grid, Estancia Ranquilco.

Reata Brannaman is a native of Sheridan, Wyoming where she grew up on her family ranch raising and training horses. Due to her dad being a household name in the equine industry (Buck Brannaman - star of the movie "Buck"), she was lucky to get to spend most of her childhood traveling around the country helping him put on horsemanship clinics and riding every kind of horse imaginable. While still in high school, Reata bought her own stallion (Movin Easy Whiskey) and began raising her own line of ranch horses; it was this big step that launched her into the world of marketing and selling ranch horses for the public. While attending MSU for her degree in marketing, she began to teach the colt starting program for the university. This program required Reata to gather 20 head of colts every year from ranches around the country, teach 20 students how to start those colts, and then market and sell the colts at the end of the year. During this time, she was also producing the Top of the West Horse Sale at Copper Spring Ranch. Throughout college, Reata was also able to manage her own business and market and sell horses, anything from colts with a good start to experienced ranch horses and horses for the whole family.
Gabe Clark has a lifetime of experience creating quality horses that excel as ranch horses, performance horses and mountain horses. Growing up in the mountains of western Wyoming, his family had businesses ranging from outfitting, to leasing dude horses to many of the trail riding businesses in Jackson Hole, WY, to running cows and raising quality ranch horses. From a young age, Gabe and his siblings had more hands-on experience than most people receive in a lifetime. He ventured to Nevada after high school and worked on several large operations in the Great Basin, allowing him to hone his cowboying skills as well as preparing him for multiple management positions on large cattle operations in central Wyoming later on. Gabe and Reata joined forces in 2017 and since then they have pushed their own limits, collecting horses and selling quality ranch horses that are gentle gentle gentle. Venturing everywhere from Cora, WY to Willows, California, they have taken their horse business with them by using their horses to do ranch jobs as well as continuing to educate people along the way.  Now based out of Sheridan, WY they raise horses, sell horses, and run an internship program that allows students from all over the world to come learn the ins and outs of the horse industry.

Cost: $4200 USD per person, which includes everything while you are with us:

  • Eight days of hands-on horsemanship training
  • Double occupancy lodging in one of our beautiful guest rooms
  • Round-trip ground transportation between Neuquen/Zapala and the ranch
  • Riding and fishing opportunities
  • Three delicious farm-to-table meals every day
  • Beer and Argentine wines

 

Write to [email protected] for more info and to secure your spot.