I changed the subject line because I'm going off afield again. Our grandson Gabriel goes to a private high school where he finally was diagnosed as having a processing delay. He's intelligent and charming, but when you give him instruction, there's a moment of blankness before he processes it. I tried to give him his first riding lessons and came close to losing patience. It took him about half a riding ring to do what I had asked.
I paid a professional instructor for his lessons and he rode some dressage tests, rode ponies over fences and now is doing very well in endurance. He has an amazing gift with animals. He can catch the uncatachable and charm the birds out of trees. We were at a show where he was riding courses of fences and I think they changed the course three times. That was always a problem for me. I had a really rough time remembering which jump to take next. So, I tactfully suggested that Gabe go study the course diagram before his next class. He went over, looked at it and said "got it". I wanted to argue, but thought, "Okay, here's a learning experience." He was right. He did have it. He did the same thing each time. He was some sort of spatial ability that allows him to see and learn an entire diagram. He's a wonderful rider, makes some mistakes as we all do, but has a terrific athleticism and body awareness. He owns and rides the Arab gelding that I went off when I broke my back. He has jumped off twice, but he's never flown off as I did. Nancy
