When I was in my " sale SL" mood, I was looking on the net and found a place where you order a horse and are there for the birth and you and the horse are trained together. You train on a horse you know about, until it is old enough to ride per your experience. No time limit. I was thinking yeah, if I was 10, that would work. At my age though 8-10 years is a long time to wait for your ride:')
Indeed it is. You'll be able to figure out SL and what she's been trained when you start paying attention to the response you get. So what if bumping her is the "right" way, if you get the wrong response every time, instead of confusing her and you, find a cue that she and you understand and use that. She's your horse so whatever the two of you come up with is fine. If clicking or speaking to her works, then that's the one to use. Lady would always slow down if I said "easy" - no idea why that worked better than pulling on the reins so to speak but it did. Easy always worked when she wanted to shy also, or when I wanted her to pick her way through rocks.
It drove Bob crazy that I talked to Lady :)