Thank you to Sue C. for this clinic report about her work with Sienna:
I had the opportunity to work with Sienna at the November 2020 Joel Conner clinic. It was a great chance for me to take a step back, review, and work on my feel. Sienna knows the moves, is happy to do as asked if I ask correctly, and tries to fill in when I don’t. That said I can see the difference in her execution, and expression when I am more precise, and provide consistent appropriate releases.
We worked a lot on hindquarters and front quarters. I think I improved my angle asking for hindquarters. My biggest improvement came when transitioning to front quarters. I got better at keeping a consistent angle and pace when going from hind to front quarters. Thank you, Casey for the help with this!
Sienna is a sensitive mare. She is easy to move with your feel. I was able to walk, trot, and lope her without using my flag which was fun and rewarding. I learned to ask for a sharper, more powerful lope. It is harder to pull her off the rail and change direction when she is tracking right, but we improved at that.
Overall, the experience was a confidence boost for me. I was able to focus less on mechanics and more on seeing and analyzing her reactions. Thank you to Terry for letting me work with her, to Joel for the education, and to Sienna for showing me the ropes.
