Paul Dietz Horsemanship Clinic

Following the huge success of our 2021 clinic, Blenheim Stud is delighted to announce another 3 day intensive horsemanship Clinic with the legendary Paul Dietz.

Each day two groups, a morning group and an afternoon group, will spend 3 hours with Paul getting real hands on Horsemanship tuition and troubleshooting with their own horses.

The morning group will focus on establishing the fundamentals of good horsemanship with their horses. This is an ideal group for those who are new to western horsemanship, or feel that they and their horse need to really nail down their foundational work.

The afternoon class is for those who are more familiar with Paul’s foundational work, or western horsemanship in general, and need to work on more advanced techniques with their horses.

Places are limited for both Riders and Spectators – so get your deposits in!

Fees:
Rider Participants

Price is €395 per horse and Rider for the 3 days.
Non refundable deposit is €100.
Riding participants may spectate additional classes for free.

Spectators

Spectators fees are €30 per day for non riding participants. Spectators are welcome to sit and watch for the entire day: 9am to 5pm! Paul welcomes and encourages questions from Spectators after each ridden session, and is very responsive and approachable.

Stabling

Stabling at Blenheim Stud is limited and costs €20 per day. This includes hay and bedding. Stable booking is not open just yet – but we will keep you posted.
Turn out accommodation for horses is also available at a cost of €15 per day.

About Paul:
Paul Dietz is a humble Horseman and not “just another” clinician. Paul’s knowledge of horses is exceptionally thorough. Moreover, he is gifted with communication and teaching skills reaching far beyond the average and into the handful of “top professional” horsemen today. He has developed a very personal teaching method about the incredible journey that can lead to a oneness between horse and rider– developing an effortless, soft connection, with the horses mind, body, and feet, ultimately creating a oneness between horse an rider. Paul is in touch with the internal, invisible intent a true horseman must have which initiates the connection between horse and human before any external moves are evident.
Paul rode with Buck Brannaman when he was just 14 years old. Even as a young teen Paul was sensitive to how Buck’s horses behaved, “more with him and less distracted,” comments Dietz. Paul did everything he could to ride as often as possible with Buck. His exposure to this horsemanship resulted in a commitment to work with horses for a better change, not only in the horses but within himself. In time it became clear to Paul that the horses were a mirror of who you are as a person, good or bad as it may be, and that they don’t lie. As a result Paul began to change his focus for himself and the type of person he wanted to be. Greatly influenced by Buck, eventually the relationship evolved into a 3 year internship with him traveling the country and learning from thousands of horses. That close handed work with Buck, as well as learning from others such as Ray Hunt, Bill Dorrance, an others over the past 20-plus years, proved the foundation and path for refinement of Paul’s own horsemanship skills and style. Though Paul would never brag, this personal style has landed Paul numerous awards for Trainer of the Year, and recognition by many top professionals around the country.
Horses were always Paul’s connection to his real self. They were the only vehicle that allowed him to break through his shyness barrier finding peace and comfort without effort in their presence. Initially, teaching was difficult for Paul but slowly he began to break down what others had taught him and developed his own stile of teaching. His gift became evident and now can be partially defined by his use of vivid analogies and word pictures to bring the language of great horsemanship into everyone’s realm of understanding. In this way he can articulate the invisible concepts, the intent we have for our horses that is so essential to the partnership we desire as well as teach about the “little things” which mean so much to them.

Paul was invited to ride in the Tom Dorrance benefit in Ft. Worth, hosted by Ray Hunt, and there he was encouraged by a prominent influential to share his ideas and talents publicly by presenting clinics. He had something special to offer. That encouragement, as well as his own feeling that there was an insufficient amount of quality horseman and teachers available , lead Paul to begin traveling the country to share his knowledge of horses through large an small workshops. He developed his own style which includes a personally developed format combining a balance of group time, private time and personal time all within the confines of a clinic presentation.

Paul offers his students a feel, a soft connection, first between himself and his students and then between those students and their horse. “A feel that is effortless can connect with the mind, feet and body of a horse”, says Paul. This is essential to slow down, speed up, move the feet forward, back, right and left as well as up or down. This freedom of movement is essential to any discipline. “It is really nice to show people another way of handling horses, more suited to the horse,” comments Dietz, “the horse was not born to carry the load. It isn’t natural. I try to teach not just good horsemanship but great horsemanship for both the rider and the horse.” Without great horsemanship “problems with a horse are one accident away from people getting hurt. Everyone wants to get along with his horse but sometimes they do things not to get along. They get so focused on the end result they are trying to achieve that they don’t see the problem.”

Paul is based in Phoenix, AZ, but offers clinics and demonstrations from coast-to-coast as well as Europe. His clinics are geared toward the ability and interests of the participants. He doesn’t have a preference about whether the participants use English or Western saddles or what discipline they prefer. There isn’t a discipline that doesn’t involve moving the horses’ feet. Paul directs the learning process creating the

environment for understanding the importance of that control and how to achieve it effortlessly. Only with that control can we hope to hold the key to timing, placement and direction essential for the job at hand.

Paul Dietz is a humble man and a humble horseman. He finalizes his teaching sessions by asking with interest and compassion, “How can I be a better teacher?” And he means it “as humility leads to better horsemanship in every student.”