I found working at the campo very relaxing, even though the tasks were sometimes physically demanding. But there was never any rush and it gave a certain amount of satisfaction to see the results after a day of digging sand, carrying rocks or cutting bushes.  For me, the method of horsemanship used at Time & Space was new, and I found it very interesting to see the results of the work we were doing with the horses. All horses have their different personalities and need to work on different things, so there were a lot of different options.  Unfortunately, my time in Spain was cut short due to the outbreak of Corona virus, and I didn't get the chance to develop as much as I would have liked to with my project horse... However, I am very grateful for the wonderful time I got to spend in Atajate and the friends I made there. I really hope I will be able to return in the future! 

Last but not least, the coolest volunteer ever Marina : my adventure BFF was definitely part of my every favorite parts of the day. We had a blast doing pretty much everything, she definitely embodied the Campo spirit. Sometimes we would go on day trips when we had time off and we had soooo much fun. I made a friend for life. • Your favourite horse: Actually, I kinda want to mention every horses because there is a unique and beautiful group synergy that you can easily feel while watching them. But I owe my girl Calcetines some praise. She’s the biggest horse and she’s soooo pretty. I was pretty in awe of her beauty and elegance. She has also those cute white socks above her hooves. I still remember the first time our eyes locked. She has this really deep gaze with her long eyelashes. She was the first horse to approach me so I bonded pretty quick with her. The morning when I would arrive to take care of the horses, she would rush to me. Probably for the food but still I choose to take it personally. I took up her force-free/ positive reinforcement training. Being pretty responsive, she understood and learned fast. It was a delight working with her. I miss her a lot. • What you learnt in other areas: I learnt the golden recipe of gaspacho. Secret lies in cucumber. • What you may have learnt around the horses or campo and if that changed you in any way ? Any personal growth you feel you may have experienced ? My experience taught me so many things about horses behavior, group dynamic, anatomy, and care. But mostly, it changed my view on the relationship Human-Horse. Beyond learning about horses behavior, I learned about human behavior towards horses. Indeed, it really changed the way I approach a horse, the way I interact with him. During the internship, I explored the balanced relationship that a horse and a human can have. Not a dominant one but a mutual respectful one. Nothing is done without the horse consent. It’s about respecting their : « No » or « Not now ». It really impressive to see how much horses can express their desires and how respecting them establish a deeper level of trust and comprehension. Unfortunately, afterwards, it’s even sadder and frustrating when you face horse exploitation in everyday situation. • Anything difficult that you feel you worked through ? I was there during the pandemic, so there were almost no volunteers. At times, I had a lot of tiring tasks to do on my own, but it felt so rewarding to realize I was able to do it by myself. It granted me a great self-confidence on my abilities and deepened my experience. Also, they were so many flies during my time in the campo. It was a struggle to pick up the poo and fight my way around them. But in the same time it permitted me to spread flies repellent between a horse butt cheeks. Something you don’t get to experiment often.Their gratitude was real. Finally, the campo is on a hill, so everything you do is on a slope making it pretty challenging. You leave with a tan and some muscles. • Any story or experience around the village or with other people ? When I was in the village during summer, there were multiples activities in the evening such as flamenco spectacles, zip lining, archery game and many other things. The pool was also open. Pool time is amazing time. Everyone meets at the there and chill. Pretty refreshing, it’s a nice break in your day. Everyone is pretty welcoming in the village if you have a question or anything. It’s a small place so you rapidly recognize faces and know everyone. There is the bar when you can a have beer after a long day and some delicious tapas. The family owner is pretty helpful about everything. • Comparison of cultures or lifestyles: Well I was quiet amused by the concept of « siesta » during the day, but I understood and practiced it pretty quickly because it’s so hot during the afternoon. La siesta is definitely a life-saver. Really enjoyable. Besides, since people rests during the day : they stayed up late night. It’s really funny because you can see children running around and elderly people chilling late at night. It makes the village really convivial especially when there are activities in the center place of the village.

Maxo is a very special horse to me. He came such a long way and it was so nice to see him progressing and learning to feel comfortable around people again. It really made the early mornings worth it! (And I'm really not a morning person). It wasn't always smooth sailing, some days Maxo didn't feel like cooperating but that was part of the joy of working with him. This really showed that he, like all the horses, are not forced to train, but do it out of their own free will. It was such a new and different way of training horses and establishing a connection with them. I really miss seeing Maxo waiting for me each morning for our daily training sessions, and him pacing (in)patiently while I got the round pen ready. He really is such a character and I miss him loads.  Over my time there I got to learn a bit about all of the horses, and in such a natural habitat, their unique personalities really shone! From cheeky Falco who would always find a way under the fence if you weren't paying attention to sweet Ponchi who could never put a hoof wrong, all the horses had little quirks that made them a joy to be around. Prior to coming to time and space, I was an avid horse rider and competed in show jumping. I read a bit about the programme and force free training before I came to Spain, I thought it would be interesting to build a stronger connection with horses on the ground rather than in the saddle.  It really opened my mind to force free training and changed my mind about riding.  I look back on my time on the campo very fondly and even writing this now is making me very nostalgic!  Thanks so much to Clare, Chico, Stella, little Nora and the other volunteers for making my stay so enjoyable and unforgettable! I hope to return to my Spanish home someday, where I have learned so much - about horses, the carefree Spanish way of life, and a little bit about myself as well

Every day was different even though we had our daily schedule including poo picking and horse feeding and everything else that needed to be done. Depending on how many volunteers there are it can be intense and heavy work but being around the horses the whole day and enjoying the relaxing atmosphere was always worth it. I also enjoyed to cool down in the pool in summer or to go for hikes with other volunteers in the cooler months. It was always so lovely to be around Clare and her family, there is a lot you can learn from Chico - if it's about gardening, music or cooking - and it is always fun when Stella and Nora are around. There are lots of unique and lovely experiences and memories that I made and I can't wait to come back again, hopefully soon! 🙂

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.

Clare and her family were really nice and welcoming! Thanks to Clare, we learned many things about abused horses in Andalusia. We learned a lot about how to take care of the horses. The activities at the refuge were quite varied! The only drawback was the heat on the sanctuary when we worked (we went in early July!). We didn't work at the sanctuary everyday. Thanks to Chico, we went to the coast one afternoon. We were also able to visit Ronda twice during our days off. During all this time, we visited Andalusia: this is also what pleased us in this project, we helped the sanctuary while discovering Spain! It was our first experience abroad alone and it had a great impact on us. We learned a lot from this project. We returned to France with memories that can only be created in this refuge.

So no pushing, no whipping, no kicking, no reins to pull on. Allowing each horse space to express their own voices again. To learn about the patient and respectful way of force free training by Clare made us more sensitive to the power imbalance between horse and man. Becoming more attuned to the horse's calming signals made us question our own assumptions about how we think we should be treating animals. Learning whilst brushing Ada as she is completely relaxed, that the moment she lifts her head up or shows some kind of calming signal I stop so she know that I will listen and that I am attuned to her... Really not that different to being attuned to my clients [trauma therapist]. We also found that clearing the fields by daily poop picking was a surprisingly meditative Zen-like activity. 😀 Coming from Asia we enjoyed Spanish culture and learning a few Spanish words. We especially enjoyed visiting Ronda -the views are astonishing and the churros dipped in chocolate sauce to die for! We also thoroughly enjoyed learning from Elli who took us on a walk and talk about plants that we can eat and plants that are for medicinal use. We won't be looking at weed the same way ever again! Thank you so much Clare and Chico for making our time so special. Much love to Nora and Stella and the whole 4-legged gang!