Remy and I journeyed to Northern Michigan this weekend for an eagerly anticipated three days of Long-Reining with a clinician that hails originally from Spain. The clinic was highly recommended by a friend of mine who had organized several clinics with him before.
The trip started out promising with a beautiful drive Up North, through pristine forests and farmlands. Remy is such a good traveler, he even patiently waited while I had to make a pit stop at a rest area. My trusted co-pilot (aka the Navigation system) did a stellar job and got us there in under three hours' drive time. As soon as we pulled up to the stable we were greeted by a nice guy that helped unload and even cleaned the trailer. Off to a good start!
Remy settled into his weekend digs, and a bit later we had our first lesson, starting with putting the tail up correctly. The private lesson introducing us to the art of long reining went well, and I was excited to learn more in the following days. After Remy was settled for the night I made my way through the country side to the Gould Farm B&B. What a pleasant surprise, a beautiful farm house on top of a hill (think Tara), surrounded by nothing but rolling farm land. Everything turned out even better than advertised, and I immediately liked the owners, Judy and Lynn Gould.
Unfortunately, things didn't go so well the following two days. I found the clinician arrogant and not explaining well which led to a lot of frustrations. He insisted of teaching the Spanish Walk, for which I really had no use. I was there to learn how to work the horse with long reins (or so I thought). I loaned my new, German made, and expensive longing surcingle to a very nice fellow attendee and when the clinician got after her horse rather harshly one of the turrets (standing rings) broke off. He didn't even offer an apology, which I found to be plain rude.
I didn't want to quit and saw it through, but I was more than relieved when Sunday afternoon rolled around. On the bright side, Remy was a good student, never freaked out, and tried his best to understand what he was supposed to do. I met very remarkable people, like the Septuagenarian owner of stable full of QH race horses, one winning more than $10 Million. Charming, sharp like a tick, she had to excuse herself from Sunday's lessons due to lunch with a senator. The conversations with Judy and Lynn at breakfast and in the evening were super interesting also.
The trip home was equally uneventful as going there. Remy stepped off the trailer and was enthusiastically greeted by his friends. JP was (hopefully!) as happy to see me as Chambord was to see Remy.
So, I did break my own rule to NEVER attend a clinic without auditing first - and sure enough, it didn't pan out. I read somewhere the quote "I either win or I learn": So it wasn't a winner but I'll put it under learning experience.
Another lesson learned the hard way: Don't buy imported beer if you don't carry a bottle opener. By Saturday night I was desperate for a drink so I got a bottle of beer at a country store. My desperate attempts to get to the beer netted me a bloody bottle because I smashed my finger attacking the cap with my truck key.
The rule I didn't break: No quitting. I did get to that well deserved liquid gold eventually.
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