Top Turnout Clinics run for 2 days, including live horse demonstrations and hands-on workshops. Ruthann developed Top Turnout Clinics to teach the best care practices of elite horsemen to the masses. Attendees learn care, handling, and safety practices that save time and money, protect soundness, and at the same time, help make their horses' hearts BIG to win.
Ruthann covers all aspects of care, handling, and safety, with clinics customized to meet the needs of each group. Some topics include: handling difficult horses, teaching horses to stand, proper leading, bathing faces so horses love it, pulling manes peacefully, eliminating scratches, promoting naturally full tails, seasonal coat care treatments, bandaging, trimming, braiding, adjusting hoof care to weather conditions, bathing without water, understanding non-toxic product options, and more.
DAY 1 is Demo Day. We gather in a covered area and attendees sit on bleachers or in a theater made of hay bales.
DAY 2 is Hands-on Workshops. This is an opportunity for one-on-one coaching from Ruthann for students serious about braiding or bandaging well. Ruthann teaches two groups a day, typically at the end of a barn aisle.
Every horse and person, in every discipline and at every level, will learn useful techniques during the demonstration that they'll use every day in the barn. Whether they are horse lovers or international competitors, attendees leave skilled and excited to improve their grooming, handling, and safety with cost-effective, healthy, and simplified best care practices they'll use daily.
Trainers who encourage their students to attend find they can reduce their own liability, dazzle judges, and help create more confident and sound horses. Please encourage anyone with doubts to call Ruthann.
Hands-On Braiding Prerequisite
All hands-on braiders must study and practice with the Lucky Braids How-to BEFORE attending the workshop. Focus on mastering Ruthann's formula for thumb position and picking up the pieces, as outlined in her how-to video. That way, you can work on polishing your technique instead of learning thumb position during the clinic.
Please note: it is sometimes more difficult for seasoned braiders to change their habits. If you are a good braider, it is all the more reason to be sure you have Ruthann's finger form down.
After all, braiding is like equitation: if you are in the proper position, it is easier to balance to the next movement. That's how we can braid fast, get the braids even, and avoid cramped hands.
Ruthann also offers training for grooms in English and Spanish. Content is customized to help improve routines and techniques at the barn and at shows. A host of cost-saving and troubleshooting measures are addressed. Special focus is placed on keeping horses sound and confident for big hearts that win.
Sessions are customized to best suit each barn. Content can include scenarios for thinking ahead of the horse to prevent accidents, as well as systems for packing, shipping, cleaning stalls, fitting and caring for tack, clothing horses, bathing faces, communicating with trainers, reading lists, feeding routines, grooming, bandaging, tack cleaning, hoof care, and more.
Clinic Sponsorship
Sponsoring a clinic spotlights your business or organization for promoting quality horse care. Tack shops often co-sponsor clinics with a club, association, or stable.
If you would like TO HOST or ATTEND A CLINIC, please contact us.
© 2010, Ruthann Smith, All rights reserved.
Ruthann Smith has spent a lifetime studying sound horsemanship- both as a groom for top international horses and as a renowned braider. Quietly twisting manes atop a ladder, she watched and learned in some of the best stables in the world.
As her passion for great grooming grew, Ruthann became focused on researching, collecting and sharing the best practices of the world’s keenest horsemen. Ultimately, Ruthann used her vast experience to develop exceptional equine grooming products to help raise the bar of horsemanship.
The knowledge she dispenses and the products Ruthann developed solve age-old grooming issues. Making quality horse care easier, they have received the highest honors in the equine industry*. Her Lucky Braids for Top Turnout coat care and braiding products are the best, most versatile, cost-effective and easiest solutions available on the market today.
Now Ruthann offers her LOVE, LOVE Guarantee. If not totally thrilled with a product she developed, Ruthann will refund you in full, regardless of where you purchased it.
It’s her life’s mission to empower horses by educating, motivating and equipping their people to be true horsemen. You can access Ruthann’s tips at: The Grooming Resource on LuckyBraids.com, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and her Horsemanship Clinics.
*After testing 350 products, Lucky Braids All-In-One Horse Shampoo was named product of the year by Horse Journal, the “Consumer Reports” of the industry. They also named Lucky Braids Shampoo and Top Pick for greys and whites. Lucky Braids specialized braiding yarn also got stellar reviews.
