Well, did I learn loads today or what - and I didn't even get on a horse!
Spent the day out of the rain at Stretcholt watching the Sylvia Jackle clinic as part of the Western Week Camp at the Mendip - there were 8 participants ranging from experienced to not quite so experienced and she was fabulous. Really explained things clearly and got the riders doing exercises you can do at home to school your horse.
Now, if I had a ridden horse other than Archer boy (naw, not that prissy pleasure stuff mum, i is a reiner
), I would be SO much the wiser about what to do to school it.
Tomorrow is further lessons with Ilan, which have been a hoot to watch too. Even rode Archer tonight, much to the general amusement of all - he might know what he's doing but I don't
Roll on the weekend!
Jude
!! Trust me, when someone of Sylvia Jackle's calibre yells at you 'You are DEPRESSING ME - don't be so grey!!' you do something about it!!! (Sadly I didn't do that something too quickly, because I couldn't work out why she was telling me I'm so great 
- doh, took me a few minutes to tune into Germanic tones and realise the sad but only truth... being 'grey' to my horse, not black and white, was just that!!) It's astonishing what you can learn (and retain, whoopee!!) in a one day clinic with a top trainer, although it's also astonishing how difficult it is to stand up vertical afterwards! I feel privileged to have had such a fun and informative week with international and national trainers, and absolutely take my hat off to the Mendip team who got the whole week up and running and continuing to run - including the show - in the most extreme meteorological circumstances. Really, really good. 
