21/12/2021
If you want to make progress as a horseman, you have to hold yourself accountable.
An instructor can tell you to open your left rein, but only you can actually open your left rein! I can tell you to step right. I can tell you to step right more, or reword it until you do it enough that your right seat bone drops down where it belongs. I can remind you to do it every 30 seconds. I can remind you again every time we change directions, or change gaits, or after your horse tripped. But none of my riders take a lesson with me every day! At some point you have to remember it and execute it all on your own. And isn’t that the type of rider you want to be???
I mean, When you are doing a dressage test, I can’t remind you to sit back in the corner or to not over bend the neck in the shoulder in.
The only time I am the head trainer is when I am instructing myself. Otherwise, I am always the assistant instructor and YOU, THE RIDER, HAVE to be your own master. I am merely the Layman who tells you where we are at in this project, and what step needs to happen next. You are the lead contractor who needs to make sure it gets done. (I know enough people who have major projects going on at their facility that maybe this is a really bad example! Lol but you get my drift hopefully)
I’m not sure how I made it through the levels as far as I did knowing how long it took me to get accountable on actually keeping my inside rein open 🤦♀️. Now I’ve realized how often I, just for a moment, open my outside rein when I’m supposed to be using my inside leg. I’m NOT letting this habit go on for years. I’m not. I’m not. I’m not working on anything else until I’m so consciously competent when I do allow my subconscious to take over, it sticks! Even then, I’ll be checking in regularly.
I had an adult student say that she’s always ride with puppy paws/piano hands (thumbs turned in, fingernails posted down) and “good luck changing it”. My tone was light hearted, because that’s who I am, but I basically told her that if she can’t hold herself accountable for something so easy to fix, get off the horse- why bother! It helped that I gave her the REASONS why it was important- it isn’t just to be pretty. But fixing it was hard for her because it’s so tough to turn her wrist- it was “hard” because it took focus.
Put in the focus. Hold yourself accountable.
