As part of the preparation for the April 2019 Interactive Arts Workshop, Bettina Drummond traveled to France at the end of February to work with Bernard Sachsé. (Photos courtesy of A. Cescutti.)

“I arrived early Tuesday last week and spent the day listening again to Bernard’s teachings. It was a beautiful day, almost springlike, and after the awful winter we’ve endured in Connecticut, it added to the surreal effect of jet lag.

In every lesson, we communicated easily around our mutual convictions and thoroughly enjoyed the processing of parallel vision. I took many notes of Bernard’s expressions to be able to translate them into English for the workshop teachers to comprehend. And, by the way, Bernard is perfecting his English just so he can communicate and bring you teachers his ideals and share in your efforts! A special thanks  to his wife Agnes, a talented demo rider, his students who were brave enough to present their desire to learn impromptu and Andrea, whose eye saw the moments of connection and took beautiful pictures of this special exchange, which I share below.

Bernard and I then traded eyes. He observed my physical weaknesses on his mechanical horse (brilliant rehab creation and thank you Bernard for being one of the few who recognizes my invisible handicap label and helps me overcome it) and he also  shared the fruit of his research on how to overcome handicaps for the love of the manes and his philosophy of cultivating physical focus and spiritual beauty.

I shared with Bernard the conviction and love  of bringing them forth to a collection that frees them to bear aloft their rider to their mutual satisfaction and my complete belief that at all levels, it is the basis to present the manes our immeasurable respect.

We were convinced, fellow enthusiasts, in the effort of teaching what horses have thought us!

Whatever effervesces comes of our co-coaching for our April workshop is based on mutual respect and a similar sense of the poignancy of life spent with horse and a shared art sense of humor!

We are ready to serve and share our teachings. Are you ready too?”