My days during the stay always started more or less the same with getting ready and eating breakfast. Even if this doesn´t sound special at all, it was quite a change for me, because I wasn´t used to not eating jam for breakfast and not having butter, also the bread tasted very different from what I knew. After eating I started my 15 minutes way to the camp. Luckily the weather was very good and I could walk in the first sunlight of the day. Which combined with the peaceful atmosphere gave me so much release.Read More
My favourite part of the day always had been the training with the horses, most importantly the time we applicated the fly repellent. At first I was a little nervous about doing something wrong during the training since there is so much you have to take care of and look after in a short time. But it was a lot of fun and I always had support form Clare. The way she explained everything and told me stories of how they started this special way of treating the horses was so interesting and inspiring to me. I also enjoyed watching the horses and was surprised how relaxed they were.
I realised how much pressure we put on horses even when training in ways normally seen as soft and empathic. But first when I came back and talked with other riders about training with positive reinforcement I figured out that they don´t really understand what I mean by force free. I just couldn´t make them understand, that even pushing or chasing a horse away is some sort of force. I´m very sad about this and hope through the work at time and space a few more people come to understand the meaning of this as well. It shouldn´t be the normal way anymore to force horses to act the way we like them to do if there is the possibility to do it better.
Besides the work with the horses I also want to share some other experiences I made during my stay. What I really liked is how nice and helpful the people in the village had been, although I couldn´t understand them very well, but this showed me how much the languages at school differ from what is actually spoken. In combination with this I also learned, that it doesn´t matter if you make mistakes trying to speak a new language, it is the only way you can learn it.
My stay also helped me to become more independent and to be fine to be alone from time to time, because you can always find new, nice people and things to do. I was also able to find new dishes I like, which I cook sometimes since that trip, Spanish tortillas for example.
I first ate them on my trip to Ronda. It is beautiful town and I had a very nice day visiting. Getting there by bus is easy and doesn´t take very long. I enjoyed the old architecture and information you could get about the history everywhere.
During my stay I also took a hike to the little village next to Atajate called Jimera de Líbar. For this you walk past the camp and follow the trail till you arrive, so it is easy to find. The path stays small at the beginning but gets bigger at the end.
Arriving at my destination a had a little break and then walked around discovering the village. I especially liked the Plaza Virgen de la Salud.
My walk back was a little harder because it goes uphill most of the time and you have very little shadow so it was hot and exhausting although it isn´t very far.
I can only recommend to come there if you want to learn something new about horses or if you like the country and want to practice your Spanish.
