School is back in session and our stable is unusually quiet during the day. But during these lazy, hazy days of summer I have watched several of my students get quite an education. Riding is more than just a fun activity- it teaches us life skills and I have seen positive changes in rider after rider over the years. Here are some of my observations:
PERSERVERANCE “I’ll never get this!” is a
familiar cry, particularly from adults. When riders get discouraged, I suggest
they dust off the videotape of last year’s riding lesson or horse show and see
how far they’ve come. A 3% improvement with each session really adds up in the
long run, but sometimes we get discouraged by expecting too much, too soon.
Mistakes are bound to happen when we push ourselves to try something out of our
comfort zone. The important thing is
not to frame these mistakes and hang them on the wall, but to learn from
them. I remind my students that when
they mess up in the show ring, rather than give up to say “Never mind, next
time!” and salvage the rest of the performance.
FOCUS The ability to concentrate on the job at hand and
block out the background noise is a skill we learn through riding. Background noise can include negative events
of the day, commentary of spectators, nerves, a rushed warm up, or poor
footing. These are factors out of our control. We need to spend our energy on
the factors we can control. Focusing on
how we communicate to our horses is an important part of riding successfully.
To send a clear message we must isolate our cue by once again, blocking out
background noise, which could confuse the horse (unsteady hands, bouncing seat
etc.)
OVERCOMING FEAR Identifying and facing our fears
in the sport of riding equips us to face our fears in other avenues of life.
When talking to a nervous student before a competition, I often get them to
pinpoint the reason for the sick feeling in their stomach.
Is it the physical danger of falling off or getting in a
wreck? Is it the thought of making a fool of yourself? Is it disappointing your
spouse or your coach? What is the worst thing that could happen? (Here we let
our imaginations go wild and often get giggling.)
Just as the childhood monster gets less scary when the light is turned on, turning the light on your fears helps to minimize them.
TOUGHNESS Riding builds mental and physical
toughness that can prepare people for the rough spots we will encounter in
life. Many of our shows have carried on through the rain, cold, heat, and into
the late hours of the night. Some rider’s
scratch from their classes, others stick it out. I admire the older lady in my barn that doesn’t balk at carrying
a bale of hay or lugging a heavy western saddle. I’m proud of the teenager who
rises to her feet after her horse dumps her in front of a jump. In the horse
world we learn to deal with disappointments, lame horses, and early hours. It helps put minor inconveniences into
perspective.
SENSE OF HUMOUR If riding horses ever becomes so
serious that we can’t laugh at ourselves, we have our priorities out of line.
If, when riding in a downpour, we can’t get our horse to budge because he wants
to turn his backside to the rain, if our hat blows off in the middle of a
class, or if we go off pattern and completely forget where we are, we have to
laugh. And the story gets even funnier when recounted (and embellished) to the
other riders back at the barn!