By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

MIDLAND, Ohio — They were up at the crack of dawn for three straight days. Long before most people get out of bed, these two- and four-legged athletes were jumping hurdles, galloping, sprinting, cantering, dodging obstacles, backpedaling and working up a sweat.

Welcome to boot camp, horse-style.

“It was three days of intensely working out the horse and rider as we head into riding season,” explained camp leader and renowned Ohio horse trainer Helge Buflod. “Some in our class are trail riders and we had some who were the type who show their horses. This camp was a way for these campers to jump-start their season and work off some of the rust from the winter months.”

The action took place at Happenstance Farms in Midland. The farm rests on 48 quiet, flat acres in southern Clinton County, Ohio. No cars or other houses can be seen; pure isolation. The perfect setting for a horse boot camp.

By sunrise each day the 12 riders and their mounts were busy with exercises for all. For riders there was work on the shoulders, triceps, biceps, abdominals, back, inner and outer thighs and back of the calf. For the horse there was exercise for the deltoids, rhomboideus, intercostal muscles, biceps femoris and others. The days were long and not easy.

“When I think of basic training, I think of repetitive exercises,” Buflod said, “exercises like pull-ups, laps, obstacle course. And that’s what we do. That’s why I call it a horse boot camp. We really put the horse and rider to the test. Most importantly, we made these exercises fun, too.”

According to him, riders and their horses get less exercise in the winter months than they do in the summer. Buflod’s horse boot camp served as a way to get both rider and mount in riding shape by spring.

“We started with lots and lots of laps,” Buflod said. “We walked them a lot, trotted them a lot and cantered them often. To mix things up, we even had the horse and rider push a six-foot inflated ball around the pen. The goal was to get the horse and rider moving and thinking all the time.
“In essence, my job was simply to exhaust the riders and horses those three days.”

This is the second year for the boot camp. The fee to attend is $350. This year’s theme was Less Hands, More Legs.

“While the riders do work with their hands, I stress work with the legs,” Buflod said. “To me, legs are everything when you ride a horse. With the legs you steer, you guide, you stop.”

He began riding when he was two years old. He has attended numerous horse clinics and learned from some of the best horse trainers in the country.
“I develop a relationship with a horse that is firm, fair and fun,” Buflod said. “It’s the same recipe I use with my kids. People always ask me if I’m a ‘horse whisperer’ and I say no. It’s just plain talk. You simply have to know the language.”

Buflod is without question the most popular horse trainer in southwestern Ohio. “My biggest teachers have been the hundreds of horses I have work with,” he said. “They are the most honest creature that God has created. They let you know if you’re doing something right or if you’re doing it wrong.”
Buflod offers nine horse clinics each year at Happenstance Farm or Cross Creek Stables in Waynesville. His Horsemanship Clinic in March offers riders ground work and riding basics. In April is the Boot Camp.

A camp for kids and a second Horsemanship Camp are also in May. In June, Buflod holds a two-day camping and trail camp.

In July is the Gaited Clinic, and a clinic for advanced riders in August. A third Horsemanship Camp is in September and his season concludes in October with the annual Confidence Course Showdown.

But perhaps the most testing is the boot camp. “By the end of those three days, even I’m quite exhausted,” Buflod said.