Keeping it real, it takes the time that it takes! Working with your horse
It is easy to get sidetracked on the opinion of others and their expectations and their goals or agendas. Especially today, with social media where everyone shows you what they would like you to see. The perfect picture. Often this is not the whole story, just the highlights or final result. Not the long road it took with all the detours to get there or the back steps and regrouping.
We all travel our own journey, and every horse and rider is unique. Some horses or riders pick up the process very quickly with excellent body awareness – others well – let’s say I have meet horses that are not so sure where their legs are. These horses are often spooky and worried once. So it is difficult to place a time frame on an outcome.
But I found all of these horses improve with considered and consistent work.
Here the fun begins it is like when you are pregnant, and everyone touches your belly, all the stories and advice. Quick remedies and short cuts comparisons you name it.
Some people like to make you feel small and themselves big, they like placing their insecurities on you.
I am giving these horses the time to feel where there feet and balance is small nuances, lots of transitions up and down in the right rhythm and tempo, so they have time to bend all the joints and place their feet. Not to rush through and lean through corners and circles. Keeping the horse’s mind is engaged. Nothing is worse for a horse than to go mindlessly around the outside oft he arena in the same gait, imagining watching the same movie all over again whenever you see a particular friend.
They start feeling better in their body and looking forward to the session if you are creative. Lateral works are your best friend.
I thought the more lessons I had the better I would get. It doesn’t work like that. It takes the time it takes. Even haven a professional ride your horse, tremendous, but at the end of the day it is your horse, and the sweat tears and constant work comes from you.
Figuring it out one step at the time as frustrating at it is, it is also very rewarding.
You are focusing on mainly on using your body positioning. It is pretty ugly at the start, but so worthwhile. By the end, your horse could trot figure of eights, forward, rhythmic, zero loss of balance. Correct bend, simply from you changing the bend in your body and staying centred in alignment, occasionally adding appropriate leg aids and small corrections with the rein aids.
You are practising until you feel it. A steady rhythm, the speed appropriate for the horses, balance quicker hind legs and a softback doesn’t mean faster.
Let go of any expectation or judgment and just kept practising until you feel it. It is magic. It will become so easy, so effortless, and then you wonder why you couldn’t I do this month ago. Yet one piece of the puzzle was missing, whatever that peace was it needed readjusting fine finetuning. And maybe tomorrow you won’t be able to “get the same feel or coordinating, and that will be ok too. It is like misplacing your car keys keep looking they are there.
At the end of the day. It is how you and your horse feel about, as a result of training or work you have done together.
A huge part of riding is feeling the little shifts and nuances.
Sometimes when we try too hard, it works against us. We want it to happen now. We miss the highlights and strength of better coordination.
Often it is also the trust in a horse; finally, someone speaks their language and nurtures that we created that is carefully growing one bit at the time.