OK. So the really exciting big thing about the SA AND clinic for me was that Josepha gave my instructor Sarah some lessons with Sarah's "difficult" horse Farry.
She was thinking of "giving up" on him as he's hard to keep between hand and leg. Anyway - she ended up grinning like an idiot and riding Farry in cordeo and now she's keeping him!
Also, she understood what Josepha was saying easily and "got it" real quick and now she'll work like that with me and Freckles. So our future looks easier.
Then we went to Cape Town, and had a fantastic venue filled with wonderful people. I tried hard to pay attention to every lesson given so I hope I learned more than just the content of my actual lessons.
That was a bit of a success for me as well, cos I had my "seat" lesson on a horse I'd never ridden who was not yet balanced and much more sensitive, anxious and non-responsive than I'm accustomed to coping with - but it went well. I got frustrated and pointed (like I can do now with Freckles) and the horse responded!
and he was calmer afterwards.
So I'll see what happens next time I ride Freckles.
BTW, Josepha says Freckles "feels" like her Owen! He responds the same way, and does many of the same things! My Laska feels like Ino. My Paul and her Ralph are similar, as are our dogs. It's wierd! She also said Freckles is in a good place with regard to strength and flexibility and health and all that important stuff!
So I have done OK with him. Now, if I can reach that with Laska we'll be good to go.
One more thing - her new name is Zephyr because she is a gentle, refreshing breeze!