Last night, a group of us girls went to listen to Dominique Barbier speak. This man is a master of classical dressage and now resides in California. He is up here conducting a 3 day clinic and last night he graciously shared some of his insight with regard to training and showing horses.
20 years ago, a friend recommended I read his book "Dressage For The New Age". This book shares his philosophies and training techniques. While I enjoyed the book, it was way over my head and I took very little away to use in my daily horse life. For some reason, this past fall, I dug it out and decided read it again. What a difference 20 years makes - I only wish I hadn't waited so long. Reminds me of the old adage; "when the student is ready, the teacher will come". It totally makes sense to me now. Much of Dominique's philosophy focuses on the mental and emotional aspect of being with our horses. 20 years ago, I wanted the technical know how of being with a horse.
It would have been wonderful to go audit the clinic and watch him work one-on-one with folks and their horses. Alas, it is impossible to do everything.
I took my old book with me to have him autograph it and learned that because mine was an original version (he has issued updated versions since), it is now a collectable and worth around $450.00.
Here's to being inspired!
Tovie
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