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Outdoor Skills

Driving Belgian Giants: Horse Handling and Driving Clinic

Course Overview

Re-discover the lost art of being a “teamster” with 4000 pounds of horse on the other end of the reins. Belgian horses are known as the “gentle giants,” and working with them brings back memories of the settlers who once worked the land by hand. In this thorough clinic, students will be constantly over, under and around these magnificent one-ton horses, learning horse handling skills and techniques in a hands-on environment. Topics covered include: anatomy, fundamental care, feeding, stabling, the harness, harnessing, hitch gear, principles of driving a team, hitching up and hands-on driving of a team. Students start by learning the basics of horse care, experience ground driving (behind the horses without a rig) and eventually graduate to a wheeled rig with the instructor by their side. Materials fee includes a book as well as three home-cooked lunches with the Patten family in their hand hewn cabin home. The course takes place just miles from campus on the historic Gunflint Trail at a Finnish homestead built in 1907. Bunkhouse lodging on site is available - details provided upon registration.

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