What began as a journey on the end of a long line in the hands of the master, Karl Mikolka, three years ago, reached another milestone for me this weekend. Since my encounter with Mr. Mikolka, I have been privileged to enjoy Karl's teachings through clinics, his writings and under the guidance of Cherie Beatty, a disciple of Karl's method.

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a clinic in Ohio organized by Jennifer Hillman, hosted by Brenda Augenbaugh and presented by Mr. Mikolka to a new group of horses and riders.

Once again I was struck by the difference between the teacher and the instructor. Karl is truly the rare entity, a gifted teacher who carefully guides the riders and horses to an understanding of a concept.

This is in distinct contrast to the instructor who gives orders, templates and lists of directives but never really engages the student to think and therefore actually learn.

Through each lesson, because of the energy of the teacher, each student and each observer is given a piece of passion as well. It is this passion that distinguishes one who truly teaches from one who simply instructs.

So what did we actually learn in a few short hours? First, one must ride with a plan and purpose from the first moment of encounter with the horse. This includes ground contact, the warm-up that should become a mental as well as a physical tune-up.

Suppleness and relaxation are critical to correctness and are best achieved by riding correct ring- figures always making sure the horse enjoys his work. Perhaps the most constant theme throughout each lesson was the use of weight aids by stepping into the stirrups in harmony with the horse's gaits and movements.

The concept of throughness was beautifully demonstrated by these lessons and one experienced rider on a very green horse was heard to exclaim at the end of her lesson: 'I will never ride the same as before again, this is amazing work.'

Another constant theme throughout the clinic was the use of the arena as a teaching tool. Karl demonstrated over and over the use of corners, walls and even rafters in the ceiling as aids or point of references to accomplish complex patterns and movements.