In their book, True Horsemanship Through Feel, Bill Dorrance and Leslie Desmond discussed the fear most of us have of making mistakes with our horses. I think this is especially true of mature riders. Most of us are working with our horses on a tight schedule, we want to do it the "right way" because it's best for our horses and will save us time, we're afraid a mistake might get us hurt, and we tend to become less risk tolerant as we get older.
To quote Bill and Leslie:
"So many people worry about making mistakes with their horses. These people seem to hold themselves back by not trying something new, because when they get to that spot, they don't know what to do to make things feel better. If a person doesn't allow for the freedom to risk making a mistake by experimenting, two things are nearly always assured. First that the person's learning process has stopped, and second, their intolerance of their own mistakes nearly always carries over to intolerance of the horse's so-called mistakes. This usually leads to punishment of one sort or another that is rarely understood by the horse. If the horse really understood about the punishment a person has for him, that method would produce lasting positive results. And it doesn't.
From the horse's point of view, when there's a lack of understandable human feel combined with an intolerance of mistakes that he has no idea about in the first place, and where there's punishment added onto that, well, I'd say it just reduces the chances for a meaningful connection between a horse and a human right down to zero."
So despite being mature riders, we need to experiment with the ways we present things to our horses. We need to be prepared to move out of our comfort zones if things aren't working out for us and our horses. If part of your groundwork isn't working well, try to present it a little differently to your horse. If your horse is misbehaving in one maneuver, try another exercise that your horse does well for awhile or try another way of doing the exercise that didn't go well. If your horse isn't responding as you'd expected, take a second look at how you're working with the horse to see if there's some better way of communicating what you want him to do. Above all, don't lose your temper and don't punish your horse for your mistakes.
Bill Dorrance is an inspiration for mature riders. He was training horses and riders, teaching roping, and doing ranch work into his 90s. His brother, Tom Dorrance, was also a legendary trainer and clinician.
This is an interesting idea that I hadn't considered - but so obvious once stated. I see this a lot with people who have been "taught" a technique (whether by a trainer, or more lately, a DVD). They get so focused on the steps they feel they must follow that they lose sight of the horse. In my experience, each horse is different and you really have to "listen" to him. If you do this, you don't have to worry about making mistakes - your horse will correct you before you go too far.
ReplyDeleteReally good point, Nanette. And a good riding instructor should be able to help you learn to listen to your horse, if there's good give and take. I also wanted to add the concept that, for those of us just starting to ride horses in middle age, we are usually accustomed to being very good at what we do, whether it's within our jobs, our families or our volunteer work. To put oneself in the position of being a rank beginner on horseback usually requires a suspension of ego, and to willingly accept our mistakes in order to learn feel takes even more.
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