What to do when......
I have recently survived another frustrating period of my riding experience and I wanted to share some of what I learned with you, (NO, it doesn’t involve eating rats but you may have to eat a little crow).
I felt that I was at a point in my training when I was ready to move up to the next level (notice that I do not mean Level with a capital L), ready to take on the next challenge of more collection and some of the movements that go along with it. But my horse needed more time, extra months, to develop the carriage that would be necessary for the work. Recently, my rides had developed into exercises in frustration for the horse and myself – me wanting to ask more of him than he could do now. I was at least smart enough to realize that I would be foolish to push him to do something he was not physically or mentally prepared for. So what could I do?
First I had to really look at my riding. Was I really as prepared as I thought? It was easier for me to say I was ready than to actually do the work. I did have to be prepared mentally for this but the horse had to be ready physically and mentally to shift more weight onto his haunches and try new things that would be challenging for him.
I came up with a list of options, ways that I could distract myself from this focus on moving up, while the horse continued his preparation for the work.
I volunteered to ride other people’s horses. If you look hard enough, you can always find someone who can’t ride their horse as much as they would like and would love to have someone else take up some of the slack. My criteria for which horses I would ride were fairly simple – nothing dangerous. Other than that I was fairly open, and I learned as much on the lower level horses as I did on the more advanced. I also came back with more appreciation for my own horse, both his training and his temperament.
I watched a lot of good riders ride and in my mind, I would ride my horse the same way. I could see how they resolved problems that I could be facing in the future so that I would have a treasure chest of solutions ready when I needed them.
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