>From the BillsBook list: p36 of True Horsemanship Through Feel:
"And then too, there's what Bill said about the three essential elements that are needed: a burning desire to learn more about the thing you love, whatever it is; a good teacher; and plenty of time to practice" Hi all I just returned from riding with Leslie at a trainers' clinic in Aguanga CA. I live in Ohio, so did not take my own horses -- and it turns out this is a great way to work with Leslie. I learned more about working through feel in these clinics (I rode with Leslie last fall also) BECAUSE I was working with horses I did NOT know. I didn't know the history, didn't know about prior training, wasn't dealing with the load that can hit when you learn a new presentation and it dawns on you that something in your old presentation amounts to 'punishment' of your horse etc.! ALL I HAD TO GO ON WAS WHAT THE HORSE PRESENTED... THROUGH FEEL. This put me right in the moment with the horse AND THE ACTUAL FACTS, with a clear mind. It set me up to find what I have to offer through feel in a way that I was not experiencing in full at home, because of the 'stuff' I need to let go of when it comes to my own horse. Living and breathing the feel that results from a truly clear mind is now something that I will be able to "go back to" at home. Leslie's clinics are usually limited to 4 riders. The effect of this on your clinic experience (as a rider or auditor) is far reaching. Plenty of opportunity for one on one coaching for riders and for questions from riders as well as auditors. Leslie also takes time to address auditors to 'fill in the gaps'. Riders become clinicians (or "horses"!) and auditors become "riders", as we coach under Leslie's supervision using exercises in developing the rider's feel through release. And LD has an uncanny ability to create the riding experience to fit exactly what you need, whether you know it or not at the time:) She can set you up to fly if you are at a place in yourself to allow this to happen. After a clinic, I find that the words in Billsbook and in the Audiobook reveal new depth in their meaning - a quantum leap I should say. And the experience flows right into what I offer my horses and my own students - when something changes in your feel, it's just there. Just like with the horses: when a new understanding is reached, and the change is there, it doesn't need drilling. Leslie's goal is to raise the bar in the quality of coaching trainers are offering our students. What does this really mean... I offer this story by way of an illustration. I have a student with an Arabian -- the common story of a horse labeled "crazy", because she bucked and bolted. We had that part straightened out with the understanding that comes with NH teachings about prey animals, how the release teaches, becoming a good leader, together with knowledge of how the horse moves and the balanced riding that comes from the classical world. She went from being afraid of her horse on the ground to riding some dressage patterns and jumping. But now, with the new understanding I've taken from these trainers' clinics, this Arabian is also a more balanced ride, physically and mentally, releases into turns on the float, slows, stops and backs up on a float, and the horse loves it. There is real meaning in their reciprocal feel. The student knows how to keep her mare's shoulders available, so she can engage her hind quarter without weighting the front end, she understands about releasing her into maneuvers so that her mare can remain light and balanced across her diagonals. She also understands why this means the source of bucking and bolting is gone, which gives her the sureness to go to the next level. This student is eleven years old and was told at age 9 that she ought to give up on this horse and give up riding too because it wasn't a good fit for her. Well, she didn't want either of those things and was quite sure about this!! I just heard from another mother, that this girl is spreading the word already about feel in her horse chat with pony pals (some in a traditional program) at school. The buzz is that she really knows about horses... And so the teaching chain goes on... and with it, good news for more horses over time. And that of course, is the point. Learning about true feel is invaluable. Teaching about feel is invaluable! And most rewarding. If you look at Leslie's schedule on lesliedesmond.com it doesn't take rocket science to see that while she is all over the world (and I ask myself how a single human can keep up a schedule like that), she will not necessarily make it to your back yard. I had no idea you could (in some cases) sign up for a clinic without trailering in with your own horses, until Leslie encouraged me to go out to CA. I don't have a huge budget for clinics, and flying out to ride has been a most effective way to use the dollars I have. I borrowed horses from Billsbook students who do not qualify to ride in a trainers' only clinic, but who saw the benefit in handing their horse over to a trainer under LD's supervision, attend as an auditor and watch the changes in their own horse - while making it possible for another trainer to access LD's teachings. What wonderful souls they are! If you have that "burning desire" to learn more about Bill's teachings, there are more ways to experience an LD clinic than you might have thought about. Or at least more than I knew about! Hope this is useful! Karen and Chase
