My husband and I just got back from an awesome 4-day clinic at the Hill Country Equestrian Lodge near Bandera, Texas (45 min north of San Antonio). He has a young (6-year-old) catty, quarterhorse trained to work cattle and he's a beginning rider. I have an 11-year old quarterhorse gelding that I am learning on and training in dressage and I'm an intermediate rider. Dianne Lindig's natural horsemanship instruction was unique (we're familiar with Clinton Anderson, Monty, Parelli, Swift, etc), easy-to-learn, and enjoyable for both the humans and the horses. His horse became noticeably calmer with a smoother gait, and my lazy gelding was more attentive and collected. When we decided to rest our horses and go on a trail ride, Dianne matched us with mounts that were very similar to our own so that we could practice what we had learned during the instructions. We had a choice of boarding our horses in a clean, safe barn or in a paddock with a covered stall. We supplied the food; the bedding and mucking was done by someone else! We stayed in a nice, homey cabin complete with mini-kitchen. We could dine at our cabin, dine at the lodge, or drive into Bandera to a restaurant. There was plenty to do in Bandera but we chose to stay at our cabin most evenings. I got a massage each evening in the cabin, and we kept talking about hitting the hot tub and/or the pool. It just seemed more fun to sit on the porch and listen to the quietness and watch all the wildlife. NOT a place for the person who needs TV, internet, phone, etc. Dianne videoed all the instruction and is mailing us a DVD of our private and small-group (no more than 2 others) lessons so that we can practice at home. For all the intense instruction, horse-boarding, luxury accomodations and services, it was a great value. We will be going back again!
