The last 2 days of the course
were a complete blur, time flies and all that.
A small part of me was really excited about the week coming to an end, getting back to the real world and putting everything I had learned into
practise. But, a much larger part of me
wanted to dig my heals in, grab the nearest door-frame and refuse to leave.
The focus shifted slightly on
Thursday and Friday. The days weren’t
quite as packed as the previous three which gave us a bit of time to reflect.
Each of us had a session of our
choosing on Thursday and I chose to do some more halter/leading work. What I thought was going to be a session on
how I could lead a horse a bit better turned into a very philosophical lesson about
myself and my whole approach to horsemanship.
My instructor, Julia, made me think of everything I do and how it
effects the one on the other end of the lead rope. She taught me that you can be gentle without
being soft and you can be firm without being harsh but also, how forgiving a
horse can be if you get it wrong from time to time. I came away from that session feeling like I
could do anything…I also learnt how to lead a horse a bit better too.
Friday was as bitter-sweet a day
as you might expect. We all had our
final Join-ups of the week and were told about other courses which I wanted to
sign myself up for right away but had to remind myself that annual leave and
money are finite things, so I’ll have to pace myself.
I couldn’t quite believe the week
had come to an end, I’d learnt so much but also felt that I’d only scratched
the surface and before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye actually I hope it’s
more ‘see you soon’.
Massive thanks to Kelly Marks and the Intelligent Horsemanship team and of course The Loveliness.
I think the world of everyone in
this photo and I’m sure that they’ll all go on to do great things.
