The Texas A&M AgriLife Summer Horsemanship School program sent their instructors to teach horsemanship classes at Still Creek Ranch in Bryan, Texas, for a week in May. According to the Still Creek Ranch website, their mission is “to rescue at-risk children and raise them to be anchored in hope, restored through Christ, and equipped for life.” The curriculum at Still Creek uses horses and horsemanship classes to help achieve their mission of making a difference in the lives of at-risk children. The SHS instructors taught on the importance of riding position and effective communication with the horse.

The Summer Horsemanship School instructors are TAMU students who are selected through a series of tryouts and then undergo rigorous training all spring to become exceptional horsemen and teachers in order to conduct clinics across the state of Texas in the summer. The opportunity to teach at Still Creek Ranch allowed this year’s instructors to employ their newly developed skills in teaching and horsemanship before they begin traveling to conduct clinics in June. More importantly, the instructors had the opportunity to give back simply by sharing their love of horses to connect with youth.

“Teaching at Still Creek Ranch was an incredible journey! As instructors, we were given the chance to experience teaching all ages, skill levels, and class sizes, which helped equip us with the flexibility we will need to teach clinics over the next month in Texas. I am so thankful for the experience I gained at Still Creek!” said instructor, Julia Long.

The 2017 SHS instructors are Julia Long, George Velasquez, Tessa Guerra, Alaina Williams, Rachel Golla, and Mattie Willard.

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For more information regarding news from the Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University, please contact Maggie Tucker at maggie.tucker@tamu.edu or (979) 845-1542.