Thanksgiving weekend we welcomed top Canadian eventer Kyle Carter back to Alberta for a 2 day clinic.

Kyle is one of Canada’s most successful riders, representing Canada multiple times at the 2010 World Equestrian Games, 2008 Olympics in Beijing, 2007 Rio de Janeiro Pan American Games, and 1999 Winnipeg Pan American Games. In addition to his personal accomplishments, Kyle is also a highly regarded coach and clinician, and has had great success bringing his students up the levels in eventing. Several of his students have gone on to compete at the 4 star level, and he holds the coaching record for having the most students win gold medals in Eventing at the North American Youth Championships (NAYC).

This clinic was put on and funded by the Alberta Horse Trials Association’s High Performance program, and also by a generous club funding donation from the Alberta Equestrian Federation.The weather was not very cooperative in the weeks leading up to the clinic, so a last minute change had the clinic taking place indoors at the beautiful Extreme Stables near Tees, Alberta.The clinic format was 2 days of jumping, featuring stadium and indoor cross country type exercises. Kyle had set up courses that were both fun and technical, that tested the skills of each horse and rider, and included a wide variety of obstacles such as blocks, barrels, skinnies, and chevrons.

These exercises required accuracy and very organized riding, and Kyle was great about pinpointing what each horse and rider needed to improve and then taking the time to really explain how to do that.

Kyle really took the time for each horse and rider, explaining things multiple ways until they understood, and often taking more time than allotted for each group. You can tell he is very passionate about coaching and eventing in general, and he put in an incredible effort with each group from the very first in the morning, to the last group of the night.

He even took time out of his lunch break to squeeze in some instruction and a little demo of FEI trot up presentation. He also sat on several of the horses in the clinic, in order to feel what was going on and get a better idea of how to help each horse and rider.

Each horse and rider came away with lots of constructive criticism, encouragement and feedback, and were excited to take what they’d learned from Kyle and practice hard over the winter to keep on improving. We look forward to having Kyle back for another clinic in the future!

Again a huge thank you to the Alberta Horse Trials Association, Alberta High Performance, Kathleen Ziegler for organizing, Extreme Stables for hosting, and Alberta Equestrian Federation‘s generous club funding donation.

Consider becoming a member of the Alberta Equestrian Federation! There are many benefits to becoming a member including insurance, discounts, and offers available exclusively to our members! For more information see: https://www.albertaequestrian.com/membership/