if they might want to aspire to showing
in a big walking horse show one day.
Emily shared her showing experiences
in the big ring, and even showed us her
WHOA sportsmanship trophy and many
photos of her riding and handling the
many horses she has shown the past few
years. The WWHA youth took turns asking her questions, such as ‘is it scary?,”
‘how many horses are in a youth class?”
or “what is it like with so many horses
in the ring at the same time?” Being real-time via the web means we could have
a 5 or 6-way conversation, all together!
It felt like we were sitting around the table talking to each other and with Emily.
Our second session was held on April
14th. This time our guest speaker was
Hannah Pulvers, walking horse pleasure trainer from Bowling Green, KY.
Hannah started the session by asking
each youth about their horse and what
they wanted to work on with their horse.
She then provided personal advice and
suggestions on best ways to address
their walking horse challenges. The
youth took turns asking for her help the topics ran from how to make your
walking horse shake and walk more, to
tips on rounding your horse, lung gaiting
a walking horse, and how to use your
spurs to get your TWH to drive more
from the back.
weanlings and young colts with walking
horse handler Beverly Lamp; and bits
and bridles with Bobby Richards. Plus,
the youth have begun to create a wishlist of what they want to learn about
the rest of the year, such as the history
of the walking horse, and what makes
the walking horse gait. What’s really
exciting is that all of the experts who
have been contacted have immediately
jumped on board and agreed to participate. “I’m in,” has been the general
response. “And, for THAT, we are most
grateful!” says Renee. “Without the
guest speakers, this idea wouldn’t be
possible.” And, I welcome ideas on topics
and speakers! (hint, hint)
WWHA is using a system called Zoom.
It’s a meeting website that enables
everyone to meet virtually and see each
other. It’s much like a group Skype or
FaceTime session. Zoom was chosen as
it offers free 40-minute sessions for up to
a dozen people. Just perfect for the size
of our youth group - and the cost was
right. “For now, we’re experimenting
and playing with this new idea with our
youth group. If the youth like it and
benefit from it, we could look at how we
can bring experts and other educational
sessions to our entire membership,” says
Renee Stasiewicz, who is also the Vice
President of the WWHA. “It’s really
exciting. The sky’s the limit, and the
world’s experts on the walking horse are
more at our access via this social media
platform.”
The Wisconsin Walking Horse Association is the state of Wisconsin’s Tennessee
Walking Horse breed association with a
long history of horse shows, membership
meetings, clinics and other educational
opportunities about the walking horse
breed. To find out more about WWHA,
our breed and special events, feel free to
visit us at www.wisconsinwalkinghorse.
org. Or contact Renee at [email protected].
Hannah Pulvers joined the WWHA Youth
Group on ZOOM for our April session.
The web sessions are short - and forty
minutes goes really, really fast. In both
cases - time flew by - and before we
knew it Owen, our official timekeeper,
gave the 10 minute warning. After a few
more questions the sessions were over but everyone was a little smarter about
the walking horse!
Other sessions on the docket include
what judges look for in the walking
horse show ring with the honorable
judge Sam Sorrel; training and showing
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