My Labor Day Weekend at Bolender Horse Park: A place where dreams can come true

Bolender Horse Park is a beautiful facility located off Highway 12 in Silver Creek, WA (Chehalis area). It was a gorgeous place to spend a perfect, sunny Labor Day weekend with my horse. Everything is first class, from RV hook-ups, guest apartments, and a beautiful horse hotel. It’s truly a vacation spot in addition to being a great place for clinics. The main part of the facility includes an indoor riding arena, stalls, wash rack, vet stocks, tack room, apartments, restrooms with showers, and a great room with a full kitchen and dining area.

The horse park includes a beautiful obstacle course, the envy of other places I’ve been. It has over 20 obstacles including bridges, climbing walls, balance beam, water obstacles, suspension bridge, multiple rock and log obstacles, teeter, trenches, and more. The beautiful landscaping and fountain make this a first class course for you and your horse to learn how to successfully navigate obstacles. Two observation huts make the course ideal for spectators and shows.

Mark is also a gifted teacher. He carefully breaks things down into manageable pieces making it easy to understand how to master the obstacles for even the most novice rider. Mark’s past experiences and skills include banking, teaching economics, civil engineer, owner of the Metal Mill, and hobbies such as Taekwondo, running and water skiing. All these have given him a broad perspective as a teacher and trainer. While only in the horse industry for 15 years, Mark’s hunger for knowledge and focus has allowed him to reach an incredible level of success. He is 3-time national champion in the sport of mountain trail.

Mark has designed many courses including Lynn Palm’s in Florida, Washington State Horse Park, the "Baumbach Peak" in Germany, and most recently Rush Springs Ranch in Missouri.  His engineering background gives him a keen sense for challenging, yet safe, obstacles for every horse and rider. An example of this is can be seen in his most recent obstacle where a rider maneuvers their horse through a maze that has two 90-degree angles. Ultimately, you should be able to ride forward and backward through the obstacle.

Mark has recently partnered with Lee Sampson who brings enthusiasm and knowledge of promotion to the table. Together they have put together a program that reaches out to riders of all levels who desire to improve their relationship with their horse. Whether you’re a serious competitor or the person who just wants to enjoy trail riding, it’s definitely a program to check out.

The Program

Day one we worked on groundwork. Mark teaches that it’s very important to have respect from your horse and master the obstacles on the ground before mounting up. His basic program outline is simple, yet effective. Horses are driven by instinct so it’s important to understand how their minds work. In a nutshell:

1) There are no equals.
2) Horses are natural born followers
3) Horses try to please those above them (leadership)
4) Instinct determines 1, 2 & 3
Basically, you must show your horse you are worthy of leadership.

Mark feels this is the foundation that needs to be established with your horse no matter what the discipline. It was exciting to see the horses change their demeanor when they finally understood what we were asking of them. (And we understood how to ask).  The most amazing piece of the clinic was learning that it takes very little action to get your horse to do as you ask. We all do way more than necessary to get the desired response.

Day two started off on groundwork in the outdoor arena and we saddled up halfway through the day. From working through logjams over poles to riding through cones in a circle with our eyes closed, we were learning to trust our horses. It was amazing to feel the rhythm of their stride and eventually give in and trust your horse to maneuver the obstacles. Horses are just incredible animals.

Day three was a blast. We spent the entire day on the obstacle course learning to give our horses the freedom to master the obstacles with gentle guidance. Mark even demonstrated the course, bridleless, on his prized gelding, Checkers. The day finished up with an evaluation of our progress over the weekend. It was truly an amazing experience. This was my third clinic with Mark and it gets better every time.

I would invite you to visit Mark’s webpage at www.bolenderhorsepark.com and see some of the activities he has planned. Currently he’s finishing his first book on Mastering Extreme Trail. Mark has videos available for purchase and is now booking clinics for 2012. It’s a place where dreams can come true for you and your horse. For more information visit www.bolenderhorsepark.com