I’m keen to further develop my groundwork skills, and good old Teddy the TBxShetland is an excellent project :lol:. It looks like Warwick’s approach is perhaps better-liked than some of the other NH-style trainers. Is anyone a subscriber? Debating whether it’s worth plunking down the funds. I do lots of reading but tend to learn better with visuals.
I’m not but I know Warwick. He is a genuine person and a great horseman.
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Just discovered he has a clinic here later this month! I’m away for Day 2 but am totally auditing Day 1.
Warwick was the first of the ‘newer’ groundwork trainers I found a year or so ago when I wanted to start riding my horse again but things were not going well. I first found a Youtube video on standing still at the mounting block, watched all of his Youtube stuff, implemented it as best I could here alone, and IT WORKED. Like magic I had a respectful, relaxed horse. He even ground tied, go figure.
I paid for a year’s subscription and started watching. At the time, Warwick was in the beginning stages of a major paradigm shift and it was somewhat confusing. All the stuff that I had done that worked was… wrong somehow? Now it’s more organized with a “skills” path (the stuff I had found on Youtube that worked!) and the newer “relationship” path (which also works! but is different!)
I’m still a huge fan, and his Facebook group is well managed, supportive place. Just know that his newer stuff is more… touchy-feely than the older content that is still on Youtube.
With plenty still to work on, I took a break after my year’s subscription, and am currently going through Tristan Tucker’s groundwork videos. He’s more step by step if that appeals to you, and there is also an online community.
I’m super lucky to have Ed Dabney fairly close by and have been to his place for the Six Keys to Harmony clinic. He has DVDs available. I hope to send a young horse to him in a couple of years.
We also have a Brent Graef clinic nearby every year. He also has DVDs. I’d say he’s more like Warwick with an emphasis on feel and lightness.
Which is to say, any one of these is a great choice!
I wish I had found one of them a loooong time ago, but like many English riders I was skeptical of the whole rope twirling thing, and my only exposure to it was Parelli years back with all the special tools you were supposed to buy. I didn’t know about the ones who came before him and how it all fits together… now, so much more makes sense.
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There are few NH trainers that I like. Warwick is one of them, and the subscription is well worth while.
I think you can un-subscribe at any time, so it’s not a lot of money you need to fork over. His techniques work. I am home alone most of the time I am riding and handling horses, and use his techniques on all the horses and feel that I am as safe as I can possibly be. My horses have wonderful ground manners and don’t spook, and if I run into an issue while riding, I have no qualms about stepping off and doing some groundwork to address the problem, then getting back on.
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Kudos to him, because I think that was a brilliant decision on his part.
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I had a subscription for a while when I had a new horse with terrible ground manners a few years ago. It was well worth the money! I then cancelled the subscription once I felt the horse was to a point that I wasn’t using the videos/material to get the value from it.
If I had another horse that I wanted to work on specific things with that had Warwick Schiller videos on I would absolutely re-subscribe! I’m a dressage rider but love that he works with all disciplines and is rooted in good ol’ fashion horsemanship!
This is all exceptionally helpful. Thank you!
I had never heard of this trainer before this thread and have started perusing some of his stuff on YouTube. I’m really liking him a lot!
I didn’t understand what was meant by “skills” and “relationship” path when it was first mentioned, but reading the blurbs on his website, I also agree that is brilliant. One of the most frequent arguments from folks staunchly against NH is that the methods are impractical. Most people don’t have the luxury of endless time to build skills from zero, but that’s often the only route NH trainers share in their instructional materials.
He is a big fan of Charlotte Dujardin and will occasionally mention some of the NH techniques she incorporates into her training - to get the horse going straight and forward across the diagonal, she will stop in the corner and let the horse stand for a bit, so instead of the horse leaning left or right in anticipation of a turn, the horse goes straight.
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Warwick is awesome, and his subscription is well worth the money. You can unsubscribe and re-subscribe easily at any time, as it is a month-to-month thing (unless you pay for the entire year upfront). I actually just unsubscribed for the time being, and plant to renew my sub in a couple of months. Can’t recommend him enough. Enjoy auditing the clinic!
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