Welcome to Accel!

• How many of today's equine enthusiasts "feel lost" in the process of mastering Horsemanship?
• What is the commonality of all equine sports?
• What's the "difference that make's the difference" between the average and the excellent rider?
• How does having an awareness of "the big picture" in the beginning of the learning process affect the learning curve of the horse enthusiast?
• What would the components of "the big picture" be?

These questions have formed the basis for the structure of an accelerated learning system designed to enable the acquisition of the horsemanship skills that differentiate the "average" riders from the "excellent" ones. The seminar series created around this system is called ACCEL.

Excellent horsemanship is a passion to an untold number of people throughout the world. If you are reading this, I already know what you spend a good portion of your time thinking about, because you, like me, love to ride horses. I also know that you are curious and extremely motivated to reach your goals.

Some people think that the ability to ride well is a gift and that either you're born with this gift, or you'll always be limited. I'm here to tell you that this simply is not true. Horsemanship is a skill with a learning process that anyone can learn. Yes, some people are more intuitive than others. I was not. As a youngster and even into my early years as a professional, I struggled. Circumstances made it a necessity for me to "get results" and to do so quickly and predictably. I worked very diligently to perfect a method of horse training that was simple enough that "even I could do it". (As an amateur and early professional I lost more classes over missed leads than I care to admit!)

In 1981 my training method finally became complete enough that my horses did start winning predictably, and so did my students. Over the years I have continued to learn and grow as a horseman. As my training developed, I also became fascinated with accelerated learning techniques and spent two years taking courses in advanced communications and sports psychology. The result of all these experiences led me to construct what I believe is the most complete "system" for learning horsemanship available today, the Accel Horsemanship Seminar Series.

What is Accel all about?

• Accel is about enabling the focused rider to ride or compete at the level necessary to reach their goals.
• Accel is about enabling the pleasure rider to ride securely, and confidently, with total control over their horse, in all situations.
• Accel is also about introducing younger riders to a set of skills that will dramatically improve their ability control their horse, boost their confidence and enable them to learn much more rapidly.

How is Accel different?

Learning Horsemanship is similar to putting together a jigsaw puzzle. The similarities are that you gather "pieces" of information together in order to assemble blocks of knowledge working towards mastery, or the completion of a picture. However, unlike purchasing a jigsaw puzzle at the store, useful "pieces" of knowledge about horsemanship are often acquired sporadically and usually over a lengthy period of time. In the store-bought version, you get a picture on the front of the box that exactly depicts the puzzle, as well as a guarantee that all of the pieces necessary to produce that picture are included. Within the current horsemanship seminars and symposiums, a "big picture" representing the relationship between anatomical form and function, interwoven with the instinctive behavior patterns of horses, has never been related to traditional training moves and the physical results that they are intended to produce. For this reason, horsemanship remains a puzzle for the average rider. It's hard to know where you are within a process if you don't know if you're playing with all of the pieces, or even where some of them fit! The integration of the above-mentioned components, however, forms the tapestry of artful horsemanship.

The Accel Horsemanship Seminar Series is devoted to giving you the "big picture."

ACCEL® Horsemanship Seminar Series with Ray LaCroix

Visit our descriptive pages for each
level of the Accel Series.

[ Accel Basics ] [ Level 1 ]
[ Level 2 ] [ Level 3 ] [ Accel Jr. ]

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