Educator Information
Everything you need to plan your week with us, who you'll be teaching, how the days run, what every rider should leave with, and where you'll be each day.
Animal welfare
Zero tolerance for putting so much pressure on a beast that it charges or runs into a fence, full stop. Cattle are worked quietly and with respect all week. If a beast shows any sign of stress or lameness, the rider stops, no exceptions and no second chances on that beast. You have full authority to stop any rider, at any time, and we will back you every time.
Lame horses are not ridden. If a horse is lame, it must be seen by the vet before it's allowed to be ridden again. If you see a horse that isn't right, pull it out and let us know, and we'll organise the vet.
The program
Monday
Foundations · Rider focus: seat & balanceTuesday
Turns & changes · Rider focus: timing of cues & releaseWednesday
Cattle in · Rider focus: pattern planningThursday
Building it up · Rider focus: riding to a planFriday
Mock Challenge · Rider focus: whatever each rider needsGroups 1 & 2: one beast only, and camp work only, no outside course.
Rider focus. Each day carries one rider skill, and every educator coaches it inside her own movement.
Cattle. There is one camp, beside Campdraft Area B, and it feeds both outdoor arenas. Cattle come out of the camp and go to whichever end needs them. Each beast does one short job, then goes back to rest, never worked twice in a row. If we can't get cattle through to Campdraft Area A on the day, A runs horse on horse.
Friday. Each group spends one session in each arena: 30 minutes of problem solving, what to watch for and the judge's address, then 90 minutes for their Mock Challenge runs. Have the next rider warmed up and waiting at the gate, so no time is lost between runs. The Feedback Crew & Support push each beast away quietly after its run, and riders who have finished sit in the Judge's Chair, scoring the rest of their group on an ASCA sheet and comparing their marks with the judge's card.
The patterns
Two ASCA patterns are used this week, one for each level. Every lesson that works on the pattern, and Friday's Mock Challenge, runs from these.
ASCA Pattern 27
ASCA Pattern 2
How the week works
A day at the Gathering
Every day runs to the same rhythm. Here's Monday as an example.
The app has the live program, maps and yards, and any changes on the day. Add it to your home screen before you arrive.
You and your arena partner stay in the same space all day, and the three groups rotate through you, so every rider works with all six educators every day. Each group splits in half when it arrives, one half with each of you, and swaps at the hour. You each own one movement for the day, and you'll teach it to every half-group that comes through.
The flag and the cattle are one rider at a time, so they run as rotations. In cattle sessions, one of you works live cattle while the other teaches the same skill dry, with riders taking turns as the cow for a partner to track and rate. Swap at the hour.
The day finishes with Group Arena Time, about 45 minutes with every rider and every educator together in Campdraft Area A & B, Monday to Thursday.
Keep their legs moving
These women are here to ride, not to stand in a circle and listen. Keep every instruction short enough to give from the middle of the arena, then let them ride it.
"Half of you go left, half go right on a 20m circle, and I want a soft feel before every transition."
Coach them while they're moving, give feedback on the go, and add the next piece once they've got the first. If you find yourself talking for more than a minute, get them moving and finish the thought on the circle.
How your hour runs
Warm them up moving, straight into your movement. Teach it in small pieces, each one ridden before the next is added. Spend the last 10 minutes putting it together with a quick challenge, riders against the clock, against each other or against you, then give them one exercise they can take home and keep working on. At the hour mark the groups ride across to your partner, no dismounting and no debrief, and they're straight back to work.
And if you and your arena partner want to work together in your shared space, go for it! It's not a requirement, just an idea.
What they're coming to learn
We asked every woman who applied what she wants from the week, and every one of them answered. Most named more than one thing, so the numbers add up to more than 100%, but together they tell us a lot about who you'll be teaching.
Reading cattle, rating, positioning, timing and feel on a cow, cutting and boxing, putting a beast around the pegs, and how to bring more cow out in a horse. A number of them don't have easy access to cattle at home, so their horses often only see a beast at a comp. Drills and exercises they can take home and keep working on will be gold.
It shows up in every form, confidence in the saddle, in their own training decisions, riding in front of people they don't know, and walking into a competition without the nerves taking over. Some are coming back after a long break, some have only been riding a couple of years, and one simply wants to walk, trot and canter her horse and know she's ok. Others are competing and want to step up. Most of them, whatever their level, want to leave believing in themselves a little more.
Time away from kids, work and the farm, riding alongside women who share the passion, and making friends from all over. For some, this week is a genuine reset, and for at least one woman it's a milestone moment in a much bigger personal story 💛
Timing, feel, self carriage, refining cues, and horses that want to do the job rather than being asked. This came up from beginners and competitors alike.
Show nerves, not getting caught up on mistakes, how judging and scoring works, and how to peak a horse for a show.
Lead and flying changes, spins, rollbacks, and the cow horse stop and turn.
Two, three and four year olds, and first horses they're training themselves. They want foundations done right, and more trust in their own judgement as trainers.
What this means for your sessions
The groups have been put together with care, based on three things:
- The support each rider needs for the week
- Who she wants to ride with
- Balancing the groups so each one has a fair spread of experience
That means every group you teach will have a mix of levels, so plan your movement to work for the rider chasing a confident canter and the one chasing a flying change. Lead with confidence and let the skills build on it, give them something they can practise at home, and know that a few riders are managing injuries or health challenges, so a quiet check-in at the start goes a long way.
Built on the Stockman's Challenge
The week is built on the Australian Stockman's Challenge. Every movement on the program is one that's scored in either the dry work or the cattle work, and Friday finishes with a Mock Challenge run the way a real one is. By the time they load their horses, every rider should know enough about this sport to go and enter one.
Why the Stockman's Challenge
Because it brings together almost everything these women told us they want. The dry work is softness, control and the manoeuvres they named, stops, spins, rollbacks and lead changes. The cattle work is reading, rating and positioning on a beast, the single most asked-for skill. And the scoring answers the riders who want to understand how judging works and how to handle nerves in a competition.
It also gives the week a finish line. Every session builds towards something real, so riders aren't just collecting lessons, they're working towards a run on Friday. Most of the dry work can be practised at home without cattle, which matters for the riders who rarely see a beast outside a comp. And the sport has a genuine way in, with Encouragement, Foundation and Rookie classes built for first-timers, so riders can go home and actually enter one.
Finish how you start
The Challenge is ridden two-handed, so explain why and encourage it, but nobody is penalised this week for riding one-handed. If a rider starts a pattern or a run one-handed, she finishes it one-handed, and the same goes for two.
Explain as you go
Snaffle, stock saddle, no nosebands or martingales. Talk riders through the rules so they know what they'd need for their first real event.
Ride what you brought
The Mock Challenge isn't a real competition, so riders ride in whatever gear they've brought, no questions asked.
Planning your sessions
We've set the program, your arena, your partner, and your movement for each day, so the week builds as a whole for every rider. You're the experts, so how you teach your movement is yours. What we're giving you is the finish line. Below is what every rider should be able to tick off by the end of the week, and it's up to you to choose the exercises that get her there.
The goal isn't just a better ride on the day. It's to train the rider to train her own horse, so she goes home understanding what she's asking for, why it works, and exactly what to keep working on when there's no educator in the middle of the arena.
Each hour should stand on its own, so a half-group coming to you second gets just as much as the one that started with you.
By the end of the week, every rider can
- Ride every dry work manoeuvre at her own level, stops, back-up, circles, transitions, lead changes, spins and rollbacks each way
- Ride a full dry work pattern and have confidence doing it, either one-handed or two
- Have awareness of what the judge is looking for, a correct, complete manoeuvre earns a 7, and accuracy beats speed
- Separate a beast quietly from the mob and hold it in the camp
- Understand how the outside course works
- Hold a single beast in the small arena, if she's not ready for the pegs
- Know the gear and dress rules well enough to enter her first event
- Name the one thing she's working on next, with an exercise she can do at home
- Leave more confident than she arrived
Morning talks
Group Arena Time
About 45 minutes at the end of each day, Monday to Thursday, every rider and every educator together.
The Drill Ride
We announce the Mock Challenge and how it's scored, then the whole group rides a drill ride, single file, then pairs, then fours, finishing with a lope pass in lines, one group at a time.
Crack & Stop
Each group walks its own pattern at a walk behind an educator. Then each group takes a heat on the rail, where every whip crack means stop and the slowest stop is out, while the other groups ride figure eights at a walk in the middle. The last rider standing from each heat rides a final.
The Human Mob
Everyone rides the camp and the pegs at a walk, so they know the course before Thursday. Then two mobs of mounted riders form, one in Campdraft Area A and one in Campdraft Area B, and riders take turns quietly cutting a "beast" horse and rider out of the mob and holding her.
The Pattern Relay
Each group splits into two teams, and each team rides its group's pattern as a relay, one manoeuvre per rider, scored to the ASCA scale. The group with the highest combined total wins bragging rights at dinner. We draw the order of go straight after.
What to bring
Your drinks
Please bring all your own drinks for the week, and that includes alcohol. None is supplied.
Your whip
Whip cracking is on the program and in the Challenge, so bring your own.
Tools & equipment
Anything you use and love and want to show the riders, bring it along.
Your bits
Different bits always make for a good night-time conversation around the fire.
See you Sunday
Review this and let us know any concerns when you see us on Sunday!
For each of your sessions, think about the exercises you'll use to teach your movement, and any take-home exercise you'll leave the riders with.