Schooling sessions were impossible for Western rider Corinne and her lovely Quarter Horse Flicka: Flicka didn't enjoy being ridden in the school and made her feelings known by throwing big tantrums! Corinne says her confidence had completely "crumbled" and she couldn't bear to ride in the school at all. Hacking was restricted to short walks. Corinne had tried various self-help techniques but came to the conclusion that she needed to take positive action to sort her problems out once and for all. After a day's private clinic with Caroline, Corinne was able to ride Flicka in the school, quickly progressing to canter. Now she's hacking out alone for the first time in more than a year!

Corinne and Flicka are rebuilding their relationship. Corinne is looking forward to Flicka trusting her again and looking to her for leadership instead of just seeing her rider as a passenger: something we all aspire to! Soon after her clinic, Corinne said, "I am a million times better than before you came. A couple of people said I seemed different in myself just in general and indeed I did feel like a big lead weight had been lifted off me. I'm looking forward to getting on her again tomorrow and I can't wait for my next lesson to see what we can achieve with a more positive me."

Two months on, Corinne reported, "Things are still going really well with Flicka. I'm having lots of fun in the school. I haven't had to deal with a major tantrum yet, but when she's getting excited I'm not getting worked up about it. I've even hacked out past the evil horse-eating cows at last! We have the odd blip, but only minor and I'm really enjoying my gorgeous pony again! Thanks a lot." Corinne is a great example of yet another courageous rider who has begun to make far-reaching changes in how she thinks, feels and behaves, to the benefit of herself and her horse.

Western rider Corinne sends us an update: "We had a great time at our first ridden show (and our first western show). In my two in-hand classes we got a 1st and a 3rd and in our ridden class we got 4th, which I was so pleased with as I've never ridden her at a show before and I thought it would be a complete disaster - it was a western trail class where you have to negotiate various obstacles, backing through poles, opening/shutting a gate etc. Flicka was really good, she got a bit tense and excited but it was ok. I didn't have the courage to ride her much in the warm up with other horses around us, but I was ok about riding her in the ring on our own. I took her to a clinic the day before as well, which I haven't done for a long time and we did fine. I'll have to work on riding her with other horses, but I'll get there, it was my first time riding at a show for over two years so I'm very pleased with how it went!"