Carefully Chosen Clinics Price enjoys classroom instruction, but she finds that there’s nothing like in-the-saddle learning. When she rides in a clinic with a well-chosen trainer, she has the ultimate hands-on learning experience: “This is what’s going on, and these are the exercises you need to change that.” However, Price cautions against taking a “flavor of the month” approach to choosing clinicians. “You have to find someone whose teaching and training style works for you. If you don’t connect on the teaching level, they won’t work for you. Sometimes I will even refer my own students to someone else because their learning style is different.” Price also looks for clinicians with whom she can work regularly. “I need the follow-up,” she explains. “I need the system. If someone comes every eight weeks, I do my homework and have a set of questions for them next time.” Certification: Another Path to Higher Learning Fourth Level certified instructor Hania Curjel Price of Bend, OR, sums up the certification process: “You go to workshops and learn a lot, and you go to the testing and learn even more. It tightens your knowledge and your riding. You learn to listen to your horse, how your horse asks you questions, and how you answer them.” “Continuing education is extremely important in our field. You can never learn enough in teaching, in riding, and in the whole business aspect.”