Bring Heidi to You! Invite Friends – Learn From Home – Engagement & Enrichment For Your Horses!
Heidi makes hosting easy! Choose your passion from the list below. Decide on an event that best suits your needs and your clients’ interests. Mix and match topics to create a fun, educational, and enriching experience. Most clinics welcome horse lovers of all levels and disciplines. Options for working at liberty, in-hand, and in the saddle are all offered. Some events allow outside horses, while others recommend using facility horses.
Choose the length of your ideal educational experience. One-day options are accepted only as “add-ons” to a weekend clinic and are not available for weekend slots. One-day weekday events within 2 hours of Guilford, VT, may also be possible. The clinic topic determines the number of participants allowed, ranging from 6 to 12 hands-on or riding students. Auditing is also allowed for most events. Host sites may also add one or more days at the end of a clinic for individual or semi-private sessions of the student’s choosing. Inquire about the options of a “meet & greet” the evening before the event, which Heidi offers at no charge. Click Here For More Information on Hosting a Clinic.
Email Heidi or call to discuss scheduling and pricing. 802-380-3268
Women’s Retreats (2-4 days)
Cultivating Deeper Connections at Liberty, In-Hand & Mounted (Optional)
There is something magical about sharing time with your special group of horse friends. Heidi invites you to gather up to six friends to enjoy a weekend (2-3 days) of cultivating deeper connections with each other and the farm’s horses. This experience sets the stage for a memorable weekend filled with camaraderie and connection.
Retreat guests will learn how to communicate with horses by exploring the art and science of Horse Speak®, the authentic language system of horses. Both experienced and new Horse Speak practitioners will practice asking and answering whatever questions the horses bring, creating connection, confidence, and mutual trust. Enrichment for horses and humans abounds!
Mounted or Unmounted Retreats Offered
Create your ideal experience based on what you and your friends would enjoy most. This retreat is designed to be restorative and experiential, versus “educational.” However, Centered Riding-mounted lessons can be included if the group desires them. Using facility horses (3 or more) is ideal for these retreats.
A Typical Retreat Day includes:
- Nurturing our bodies through activities that involve “letting go” of what no longer serves us, and becoming present
- Interactions with horses in their natural habitats and inviting them into ours
- Partnering with horses at liberty and in-hand
- Discovering what each horse is valuing in the moment and learning how to provide that for them
- Enhancing our mind, body, and spirit with joyful activities, both creative and physical.
This retreat experience promises to open your heart and mind, relax your body, and nurture your soul. All levels of equine experience are welcome—no prior knowledge is required for unmounted retreats. All your guests need to bring is an open heart, an open mind, and a love of nature and horses.
Liberty Play Clinic – Let’s Go Naked!! New for 2026!!
This fun Intro Liberty clinic is designed for those who have a good thing going and want to take it to the next step. Practicing connection that relies on inviting, listening, and taking turns is so rewarding! Discover how using your mind to set the intention, your body to clearly direct and encourage, your voice, your energy, your touch, and your playful spirit can create the most rewarding and fun experiences. Heidi will guide you through how using your natural aides, versus your halter or lead line, to communicate your desires, opens the door to liberty play. Transition from a halter and lead to a neck rope, to hopefully going naked. Obstacles and patterns will set you both up for success. This clinic includes group activities, an introduction to Horse Speak, the art and science of horses’ intrinsic language system, and individual sessions to focus on each participant’s journey. For those ready, a mounted session transitioning from a bit, to a bitless bridle or halter and lead, and finally to a neck rope may be introduced. Centered Riding concepts will be an integral piece of your transition. The ideal horse/human partners for this clinic are those who have already achieved connection, responsiveness, and softness in the halter and bridle, if hoping to ride. This fun clinic may feature an opportunity to try your hand at a small obstacle course, first unmounted and then mounted.
Centered Riding® Open Clinics (1-3 days)
Creating Harmony & Improving Comfort, Communication & Stability in the Saddle
Discover how applying the basics of Centered Riding creates safer, more secure, balanced, and comfortable rides for horses and their humans. These fun and informative clinics result in improved relaxation, communication, self-awareness, and confidence. Riders from walk/trot to seasoned competitors benefit from learning the CR basics of Soft Eyes, Breathing, Centering, and Balance. The days begin with fun, educational, unmounted workshops designed to familiarize participants with CR basics through self-awareness and interactive, human-on-human exercises. Afternoons are spent with participants riding in small groups, practicing their new skills. Riders of all disciplines will benefit from this insightful, fun, and educational experience. Learn More About Centered Riding
Horse Speak® Clinics (1-3 days)
Deepening Understanding & Rapport at Liberty & In-Hand
Horse Speak is a practical system for “listening” and “talking” to horses in their language. Founder Sharon Wilsie has developed this systematic approach to “Equus,” which teaches precise equine body-language skills grounded in what is truly natural in the herd. Students of Horse Speak learn to understand how horses communicate with one another and to replicate their precise language system of gestures, postures, signals, and breath messages. Add in mindfulness and self-awareness of the human, and you will find a depth of connection and understanding with every horse that promises to exceed anything you’ve experienced in the past. Harmony happens with horses when they feel understood. Horse Speak is the way “in.”
As a Senior Horse Speak Instructor/Clinician, Heidi offers “First Conversations” Introduction Clinics, Horse Speak Practical Application Clinics (for those ready to dive deeper), and a one-day “add-on” Clinic topic to your other clinics. The unmounted clinics include herd observation, interpretation, and communication through theory, interactive exercises, hands-on exercises, and awareness training to learn the ABCs of equine language. Mounted applications may be available upon request.
Who Should Attend? Learning Horse Speak benefits horse professionals, pleasure riders, competitors, trainers, instructors, and anyone who owns, works with, or loves horses. It has proven highly effective for those in therapeutic and rescue settings. Facility horses are provided for most of these clinics. Interacting with and learning from horses that are living in harmony within their herds and familiar home spaces enables deeper communication. Learn More About Horse Speak
Deepening The Bond (2-4 days)
Improving Connection & Communication on the Ground and in the Saddle
This unique clinic is designed for horse lovers of all levels and disciplines who want to enrich their experiences with horses, at liberty, on the ground, and in the saddle. Heidi will share philosophies derived from her Traditional Eastern Martial Arts training, Sally Swift’s Centered Riding techniques, and Sharon Wilsie’s Horse Speak® methods. Learning the art and science of horses’ communication system allows you to enter into conversation and address what horses are telling us they need to feel safe, calm, and connected. Add in mindfulness and self-awareness exercises, and participants will experience a level of connection, harmony, and understanding with every horse that exceeds anything they’ve experienced before. Each clinic day begins with interactive workshops designed to deepen participants’ understanding of horses, their behavior, how we affect them, and how we can improve overall communication. This clinic includes observation, liberty work, in-hand practice, and mounted sessions. The mounted sessions are designed to enhance comfort, communication, confidence, and balance using the Centered Riding Basics. The goal of this popular clinic is to build safer, more enjoyable, and more trusting partnerships between horses and their humans.
Horse Agility Clinic (1-3 days)
Stress-Free Obstacle Play & Connection Training on the Ground
Horse Agility play improves your horsemanship skills, confidence, connection, communication, and the overall relationship you share with your equine friend. Heidi’s holistic approach to stress-free obstacle play, combined with Horse Speak® methods, provides a platform for learning to move together safely, quietly, and in harmony on the ground. Agility helps develop the obedience skills needed to navigate life’s obstacles while keeping horses in a “curious” state.
A goal of Agility is to communicate using body language, intention, and energy rather than pressure on the lead line or halter. This type of practice paves the way for playing together at liberty, and that is an exciting goal! This in-hand practice also helps to deepen understanding, improve rapport, and develop mutual trust in the saddle. Calm, clear leadership offers boundless opportunities for safer, more enjoyable relationships between horses and their humans. This clinic includes information on the sport of Horse Agility, as defined by the International Horse Agility Club. The final day rounds out with a fun, judged competition to put your new skills to the test. Everyone is a winner!
This unmounted clinic is popular for Therapeutic Riding Programs, owners of Miniature Horses, Aged and/or Non-Riding Horses, and humans who want to enjoy horses from the ground only. It is also perfect for horses being started or restarted. Horses of all ages and levels are welcome, provided they can be safely handled in a group setting. Facility horses are often available to lease for these clinics. Learn More About Horse Agility
Western Dressage Clinic (2-3 days)
Fun, Fitness & Obedience Training in the Saddle – No Experience Needed
Experience how the fun sport of Western Dressage can improve the overall fitness, soundness, and obedience of all horses, from your pleasure trail horse to your competition partner. The commitment to developing the horse slowly and correctly is evident in the WDAA (Western Dressage Association of America) rulebook. This clinic supports classical dressage progression beginning with rhythm and relaxation. Better balance, improved suppleness, and clear communication all lead to longer, healthier riding futures. Through application of the Centered Riding Basics (Soft Eyes, Centering, Breathing & Balance), riders will improve comfort, confidence,e and clarity. Each day begins with interactive exercises that provide riders a chance to learn and experience the CR basics off the horse, for it all starts there. This clinic has something for every horse and the rider. All horse breeds and levels, including Gaited breeds, and all riding levels and disciplines are welcome.
In this interview with Jennifer Carcaci-Trumble, published in the Mane Stream, August 2018, Heidi talks about the sport of Western Dressage and how it can benefit your horse and your horsemanship. 2018 Mane Stream Interview Questions for Jen Trumble
Dealers Choice Clinic – Create Your Ideal Educational Experience!
Fill each clinic day with individual or semi-private sessions of your clients, students, and horse friends, choosing. This clinic offers a very affordable option for folks who would like to learn new skills. Clinic participants can choose to participate in Liberty sessions, In-hand skill building, Horse Speak sessions, Centered Riding lessons, Western Dressage lessons, Obstacle play to improve confidence, trust & connection, or Problem-solving mounted or unmounted. Pricing could be structured for half-day or full-day sessions. The cost would include a one-on-one or semi-private session and auditing of the remainder of the sessions. E-Mail Heidi or call to create your ideal equine experience. 802-380-3268
Rediscovering Your Horse (1-3 days)
Changing Undesirable Behaviors on the Ground or in the Saddle
Forcing a horse into submission is often unsafe, physically challenging, and distressing for both of you. Heidi’s unique approach to problem-solving begins with seeing things from the horses’ perspective. Her knowledge of Horse Speak, the authentic language of horses, provides a starting point. The horse is always talking to us, and through Horse Speak, we can now understand much more about what he is saying. Positive reinforcement techniques may also be introduced to help a horse move beyond a past trauma that he is stuck in. Heidi’s goal is to establish a connection with the horse based on understanding and trust, and to approach every issue in a calm, safe manner. The goal is to change a reaction into a thinking action.
Clicker Training, a style of Positive Reinforcement Training (no clicker required), has been shown to help address fear issues and quickly and more safely retrain undesirable behaviors than many traditional methods. It can help overcome the barriers that prevent you and your horse from achieving success in everything you do. This approach to horsemanship makes sense to the horse, creating a tremendous amount of “try” and keeping both horse and human in a positive, engaging frame of mind. Simply put…….it’s fun! Each day consists of a morning workshop followed by individual problem-solving sessions.
Positive Reinforcement / Clicker Training Workshops/Clinics (1-2 days)
Safe, Fun, & Effective Skill Building on the Ground
Clicker Training for horses is a valuable tool that promotes understanding, motivation, and confidence. These clinics and workshops are designed to introduce the philosophies of this positive-reinforcement training style and the steps to get you started. Treats handed out without intent and mindfulness can create issues, sometimes serious and dangerous ones. Learn the “Don’t mug me” lesson and how to use different values of treats to keep things interesting and fun, without getting the horse overstimulated. This training method is especially effective in areas such as bathing, fly spraying, clipping, trailer loading, and standing quietly for mounting. To add some all-important “FUN,” we can also use it to teach horses tricks such as smiling, picking up a cone, playing fetch, and lifting their legs. Once your horse is clicker trained, you will have an invaluable tool to assist you on the ground, at liberty, or in the saddle.
Building Confidence & Connection Clinic (1-3 days)
Stress-Free Obstacle Play on the Ground & in the Saddle
This clinic is ideal for riders and horses of all disciplines or levels. Improving communication, building trust, and gaining confidence will always help create a safer, more enjoyable partnership, whether you are off to a show or headed out for a pleasure ride. Add in Horse Speak applications, and your understanding of your horse and how best to support him will soar! Horse Speak is the art and science of horses’ communication system, which allows you to enter into conversation and address what your horse is telling you they need to feel safe, calm, and connected. The goal is to keep the horse in the “curiosity” stage and out of the “fear” stage. Every day begins with discussion, theory, and interactive exercises designed to deepen your understanding of horses, their behaviors, and how you affect them. Following that session, participants will proceed to in-hand relationship training, skill building, and obstacle introduction. The optional mounted sessions are divided into groups based on the horse/rider team’s confidence, skill, and experience levels. Learn how to overcome obstacles with calmness, clarity, understanding, patience, and praise. It should be fun for you both!!
Volunteer/Staff Training for Therapeutic, Rescue, Training, Boarding & Instructional Facilities (1-3 days)
Creating continuity, clarity & connection for safer, more enjoyable experiences in the pasture, in the barn, and in the arena
Horses thrive when they are provided with an environment that best supports their mental, emotional, and physical needs. One challenge many operations face is confusion and behavioral issues caused by horses being handled by multiple people. It can cause stress and disharmony for the horse and the human. Heidi offers educational workshops and clinics for volunteers and staff to deepen their understanding of each horse’s needs and ensure the highest level of consistency. This helps to create calmer, safer, more enjoyable environments for both horses and humans. Request an evaluation of your facility and its practices to help ensure your place supports the best possible situation for horses and humans. These workshops and clinics include theory, interactive exercises, demonstrations, and horse-handling practice. Add this training to any other clinic, selecting the 2-hour, 1/2-day, or full-day session that best fits your needs. Happy Horses = A Happy Barn & Happy People
CHA (Certified Horsemanship Association) Standard Instructors Clinic (5 days)
Lectures, Unmounted & Mounted Evaluations
As a Clinic Certifier, Heidi joins one other CHA staff member to teach these 5-day clinics. Events are hosted by CHA-approved host-site facilities and are designed for instructors seeking evaluation for CHA Certified Instructor status. For more information on hosting or attending a clinic, please visit the CHA website. Learn More About CHA