Carrie S worked alongside Bijou in the August Joel Conner Clinic, and said the following about the nine hours they spent together over the course of the weekend:
“I had the privilege of working with Bijou for the first half of the August Joel Conner clinic. It was my first clinic with her and have only worked with her a handful of times prior. This mare!!! When you talk with someone who has worked with Bijou doing groundwork, everyone says how special she is and the giant space she occupies in their heart. She has certainly started carving out her space in mine. Bijou’s past has created some strong expressions when pressure is applied. Her radar is set to the High Sensitivity mode and she monitors every millimeter of movement of your body trying to work out if there is danger behind it. Joel commented on the first day how much softer she is due to her time with Sara Hummel in previous clinics. This mare has a ton of try as she is learning to trust and feel safe with people.
Bijou’s education at the moment is to learn to self-regulate when pressure is applied asking her to move her body away from her handler. This big mare has a tendency to come toward you when upset rather than calmly move away to create safety for both. She quickly picks up on anxiety and stress, so she is a wonderful teacher for practicing calm inside a storm. As I am learning to keep the pressure and stay centered when she is reactive, she eventually finds her own peace. She shows this by lengthening her neck, lowering her head, putting her ears forward and licking.
Bijou is a true delight to work with. She loves to be told she’s a good girl in language she understands, and melts under a good scratching of her neck and withers. I can’t wait to see just how soft she can become.”
