A year later

Where did 2014 go? It has been a busy enough year with the horses, no huge achievements but many modest advances generally; plenty of pleasant hacks, as before, riding Seraphina and leading Lucie.

The reason I haven't posted or updated on this blog is because I believe that for Lucie, I have become the leader she needed me to be. Seraphina is a different horsenality, she does not challenge me in the same way and the questions she poses are different.

My intention is to start another blog, when I can come up with a title for it that represents where we are now and where I can continue to recount our progress or problems, and post articles on different aspects of horsemanship.

For now a quick resumé of 2014 highlights, including two Parelli events; in June I participated in a 2 day clinic with Russell Higgins 4* Parelli horse development specialist and his partner Ruth Carlyle, herself a 3* instructor; a good crowd of particpants and spectators, French and English, and no less than 3 other instructors all 1* from different corners of France, came along to assist, support and translate. My partner was a borrowed 4 year old Merens pony called Azar, which meant I was confident to ride him.

In October we continued our partnership when our favoutite instructor Jo Bates came again to give a weekend workshop. Saturday we looked at Preparing for Liberty - asking if the horse was Calm, Connected and Responsive; and ended the morning with a brief turn for each of us in the roundpen. The afternoon session looked at pre-requisites for bridleless riding. On Sunday the morning session was Online and the afternoon Freestyle. As usual Jo set up interesting challenges and patterns to provoke questions and learning for both horse and human. When asked to sum up what we would take away with us from the workshop, my response was to remember to isolate, separate and recombine and the need to identify which element isn't working. Also to use patterns and challenges to improve impulsion and connection. And so much more! The professionalism and training, but also the individual interpretation and approach of these instructors who have come through an often misunderstood programme and method, continues to inspire and impress me.

So enter 2015, what are my resolutions and plans? To continue to learn and advance my horsemanship, I'd like to audition for Parelli level 2 Online and Freestyle, and move on to Liberty. I need to rebuild my roundpen and create a riding area, maybe even a sand school. I'd like to keep the horses a bit leaner and fitter; and start a new blog.