It is important to develop a sense of personal integrity. In riding we should not be leaning, pulling, bracing, clamping. We must first come to understand that we must hold ourselves up and we must move with ourselves. When we adopt an attitude of this personal integrity, we give our horse a sense of holding himself up! Always then, think about helping the horse find a central place before giving the next direction.
Out of necessity when I lived in England I learned to drive a standard shift transmission. That was a life changing experience. Riding is a lot like driving a car....especially the gear changes, using a clutch, creating varying levels of power for different purposes.
Sadly, people who do not drive a standard never get to appreciate what could be learned from doing so. Anyway, because my Dad did not teach me, and is the authority on all such things(!), he pointed out to me(some 20 years ago) that I had faulty shifting! When I asked how so-----the answer was not what I would have imagined! He said simply that when changing gears I did not pass through a neutral position. That message stuck with me. I was so determined to get this right and really pleased him the next time he was in my car with me. The lesson I learned from this went well beyond driving a car and impressed upon me that whenever I shift gears on a horse or re-direct his energy, it is best to reposition him into a place of ease and neutrality before giving him the next direction.
This neutral(central) place is a ready reminder to the horse that he is an individual in the partnership. He holds himself up, not depending on me to keep him on his feet. The more I remind him of this integrity, the more graceful he becomes. He begins to consider more carefully what he does with his feet.
Sometimes when horses first learn some new positions to move their bodies in, they may step on themelves, stumble, fall or even run into objects. If muscles have been trained a certain way for a long time, a new body position can feel so awkward that they lean on objects or even on their strongest limbs to deal with this awkwardness. Gently reminding the horse to 'reset' to neutral frequently enough helps him find the neurological pathways to self-carriage much easier.
Our part goes beyond telling the horse how to fix himself. WE must demonstrate for HIM what self-carriage means by the way we carry ourselves. Are we considering which direction we point our toes when we walk, do we roll over heel to toe as we move or do we throw ourselves onto our toes and tense parts of our bodies to make up for this forward balance? Do we hunch over or stiffen our legs or hold our arms too far away from our torso?
Much confusion and clutter in training can be cleared away if we can stop trying to control every muscle the horse moves and simply 'expect' him to hold himself up, trust that he can (and will) and get on with the business of mastering ones own self-carriage.
The horse as an integral being implies that he has his own circulation patterns and inner stirrings of chi. As a partner, he has to bring his energy to a place where we can interact with it. Likewise, we must pull ourselves together for the task so we have a way to offer our own energy to the dance.
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I've thought a little bit about this business of training and how sometimes I mistakenly fall into the belief that the goal is to control the horse and its decisions, movements even. Even if it is not with anger or maleficence, even if it is done in fairness and good intention. I've realized that this tends to create a defensive working partnership, a micro-managing and less efficient way. You are right in that the horse does, at times, need to be re-directed in it's tasks or focus, but this is a decision that I believe a horse should make willingly, and not borne out of force or fear-based motives. About three years ago, I was working with a spiritual counselor who told me that we are responsible for one half of all of our relationships, and that most of the strife and pain in our relationships come from trying to control or change the other being's half, instead of focusing on what it is that we can change or adapt in ourselves that would strengthen and ultimately correct whatever disaccordance. Alot of people can become unwilling when they are faced with the idea that both the problem and solutions oftentimes lie within ourselves. Perhaps it's ego, maybe it's human nature. Sometime's it's easier to believe that if you change the environment, circumstance, or situation, the problem will correct itself. It does, but most times, only temporarily. Thanks to her, whenever I think about relationships, especially with Fri, I always think about batteries! Part of the greatness of our lessons recently is that I am finding a way to "let go" of the idea that I need to change Fri's behavior or self-carriage, and work on my own. It is when I released my worries about her, settled into myself and focused on creating an inner change, that I began to feel what it is this dancing is like. You rely on and trust the horse, and this opens up a channel for them to do the same with you. Contrary to what I had tried to do before, you cannot do both at the same time. I don't believe you can try to create your own self-carriage while attempting to manage the horse's as well.
ReplyDeleteCelynna,
ReplyDeleteA lot of thought in this comment. It is the kind of thing I hope people who read it will do....think!
Your last remark is a hard one. Most people are of the mind that multi-tasking is good. I recently heard of a study where it was found that with each additional task we take on, our brain's capacity to concentrate is diminished by 50%. That is almost hard to believe! It was found that even with supposedly 'good' multi-taskers, when the tasks were removed, those people could think and focus like never before realized!
One of the exciting things to learn in riding is that when we are all bound up trying to deal with ourselves on a horse, that we find it very hard to sit AND move the horse! Just letting the student know this is a problem makes them feel a whole lot better about why things feel so difficult! I have discovered that just learning to sit better and work with the energetics of the riding position(see....rider focus!), the horse seems to just go better automatically! Now, how about that!
Hi, to me this dialog leaves a point in training open, which needs to be addressed as well. No it is not about taking over functions, which only the horse can handle. No it is not about being bossy or exerting any undue dominance. What remains is this. When the horse is mounted it needs to figure out how to do this. It usually sooner than later is addressed with irregularities in its structure which are in conflict with the flow of energy. During this initial phase the rider often can't help but take the horse through some tai chi style lessons, which will permit it to straighten up and elevate. Would you agree? I'd love to discuss the practical points that occur in this context. They can not be fixed by attention to the rider's correct seat and flow of energy, nor by the rider's proper relationship with the horse. It is taken care of by the choice of proper lessons...
ReplyDeleteChristine,
ReplyDeleteI rather deliberately left out the details you are speaking of as they go way beyond an initial comment on self-carriage. Before I would begin to explain how to choose proper lessons(Tai Chi for the horse!!! Yes!!!), I would first want the rider to understand the vital part he has to play in the picture as a model of integrity. It's like acting as a ballet teacher to guide the student in his form and exercise. The student views the teacher as a model of gracefulness. The teacher observes the student's irregularities and carefully chooses a targeted lesson....perhaps stretching, a turn and a step over, a touch on one part of the body, an activation of the body into motion. PLEASE, do offer any practical points that might help the rider to know how to begin this very important task. I agree that the horse is more than likely to be in a state of conflict in terms of energy flow, and especially once he is carrying the added burden of a rider. Tai Chi would take the student through a group of postures which when strung together would demonstrate and instigate energy flow. Each individual posture serves as its own lesson but it is not until that posture joins with the next that the Tai Chi student would realize some of the irregularities in his body that bind energy flow!! Just working out this connection of postures with an observant and knowledgeable Tai Chi instructor to act as a guide(ie 'the rider' in the horse/rider relationship!)readies the body to go on to do other things! This is exactly the sort of thing we need for our horses....something to ready them to go on to bigger lessons. Any suggestions for a blog post title for this as I think it is an important direction to take us all!?
Hi Margaret,
ReplyDeleteI am working on a progression of exercises/lessons/things to do in start-up. The title simply is, "What, after all, do these lessons do?"
My goal is to provide a clear definition of what each exercise effects in the horse. Then comes stringing them up and explaining why in this order and not in any other. If I am lucky it will be a guide... In the long run each of the classical and maybe some new lessons will be covered. After all they are our only fun tool to keep up the dance.
Meanwhile I find that the current set of lessons do help me with the start-up of horses. They help my assistant and anyone who rides here. But they are far from covering all. I suppose for the very reason you name. First the rider needs a good sense of his own balance. Then he needs to be able to identify any lack of balance in the horse, which of course comes only with time. And he needs a clear and realistic concept of what he wants from the horse. As for myself. Sometimes it is best to cut all concepts and simply "do it". I.e. follow the intuition what a particular horse may need at that particular time. Later, however, the ride is inevitably followed by a thorough and sometime heart-wrenching analysis (if the ride was not so good (:-), which sets the stage for the next ride. I suppose both are necessary, the proper program and the wish to do it right.
Christine