Specially now when we have difficut time to live it is so good for all of us to do something what matters, what makes you feel good and what is connecting you to the other people and our horses.
I have had horses over twenty years now, when I got my second horse, young mare – I also got so many problems with her. There was as many ”wise” people as there was people surround us and for few years it was only going some steps forward and some back again.
When I heard some stories about Academic Art of Riding, my friends wanted me to come and see what they were doing. Over ten years ago I visited in Gotland (Hanna Engström´s farm) and there I met Celina . She was so sharp with her eyes and what she was doing with horses looked like some art for me. It was first time ever for me to see how grounwork works.
We started a schooling programme with Hanna and Celina and it tooked two years. In that time I was able to learn to know my mare better and also she started to stay relaxed with me. There were no strange behaving problems anymore – we started to trust on each other. In the end of those two years I was also able to pass the Groundwork and Longe test under Bent Branderup`s eyes.
After that programme we started a new one with Celina and in that two years programme we got a lot more knowledge about horses behaviour, biomecanics, literature about horsemanship, our own bodies and groundwork, longeing and riding. It was not an easy school – no, we also learned to solve our own problems in our work with our horses. We watched each other and our own filmings to learn where the mistakes are and how we try to fix them. We got a lot more selfconfidence.
It has been few years now without any kind of programmed cource – then it popped up: Celina´s Masterclass in webinars. It feels so safe to work with my horses (now I have three of them: the old Queen and her two foals (9 and 3 years) under Celina´s eyes again. And Celina has schooled herself even more so she has so many new things and aspects to give us again today – all horses should got a possibility to become better, also all humans who have horses. Thank you Celina for being in our life.
Tarja Iivonen and Viesina, Eetla and Visa