The other day I wrote about pathways and being lucky enough to go back and follow an abandoned path. There is now something related that I need to talk about, and this is ancestral memory.

Today I was walking down the alleyway of the furthest part of the distant barn, where there are a row of stalls. I had just cleaned out this stall, and as I was going to get more shavings, I looked in this one clean stall and the words “ancestral memory” came to mind. I must feel comfortable in such environs because I sense that I was a farm laborer in a previous life. Why else would it be that I feel so comfortable in horse/livestock barns? And why is that I so enjoy doing related physical labor? And I

do love it, the smell of horse sweat, the fragrance of manure, and bedding, and feed.

It appears to be an odd fit because I am small and female. And I’m older, which is now a triple whammy. No one looked askance at me when I was younger.

The day went very well. It was warm and the sun shone brightly. Karol gave me today’s lesson, and after, I watched her work with other riders. I also took notes. I managed to internalize A LOT of information – usually, in doing clinics/taking lessons, I forget most of what I’ve forgotten in very short order. But I have this sense that a lot of what I have learned here is going to stick.

Tomorrow is going to be quite interesting. Karol is going to work with me on ground training/agility – to me this is as important as riding. And at home I have been feeling as though I am missing a few pieces of the agility puzzle. I am thinking now that I’ll set up a small course and do as I am planning on doing at home – first walk it, then (bingo) walk it on horseback, and then ride it. Yes, I like this idea. I may also propose that we do this at the day’s end because this way I can get my barn work done and also first watch the other riders.

I am most likely learning more than I think I am. There is no place else in which the owners would be so generous. I am also eating very well – home cooked meals in the evening. And we talk and talk and talk about instruction. You don’t get that at clinics.

I do not see what either Sally or Karol see when they teach, but I see it seconds after they point it out to the rider. This is very humbling to me – I really do feel as though I don’t know very much and that they are praising my efforts because both see the good in what their riders are doing.

It is going to be up to me, when I get home, to start to put what I know together – the Feldenkrais, agility, Centered Riding, and positive reinforcement training included. It is a really tall order, and honestly, I need to be pushed forward by the winds that I often speak of. I can only do so much.

Next: 105. 4/15/17: Failure