Stop picking at him. Stop clutching the reins. Stop smothering him. Stop fussing. Just stop.
Horses don’t like fluffy boots. They don’t like lengthy bubble baths. They don’t like being brushed and braided and primped and polished all the time. They don’t like wearing clothes.
Horses like wide open spaces with a little dirt, a little water, and lots of grass. They like being left alone to eat and socialize with other horses.
I am not suggesting that you stop spending time with your horse. But make the time that you spend with him count for something.
Improve your riding so you are capable of telling the horse what you want from him. Be clear and specific. Let him give you what you want in small pieces. Reward him when he is done. For a horse, the best reward is just backing off and giving him some downtime. It improves his learning curve faster than anything else.
Make the most of your time on the horse and in the saddle. Get rid of the “time-wasters.” You and your horse will both benefit from a more focused approach to your training.
2.9 No work for a period of time makes the horse more willing the rest of the year.
Getting “The Point”
So what, then, is “the point” of equitation?
It is to ride your horse invisibly. It is to have a horse that is responsive to your training, and to hone your riding skills, and continuously improve on them.
As an instructor, my goal is to create riders who are self-sufficient. I want them to eventually be able to go off on their own and be able to really ride. I want them to be secure, safe, confident, and skilled. I want them to train with and learn from other people. I want them to be able to train horses and—hopefully—teach others. I always teach my students as if they will one day become teachers themselves.
Many of my equitation students continue to develop their riding careers. I love to see my riders years after they have left my instruction and continued their schooling. Knowing that they were not only able to add to what they learned with me but were also motivated enough and interested enough to search for more knowledge gives me great satisfaction.
The point of equitation, to me, is to keep the common sense approach to good horsemanship alive and well. It is about continually striving to perfect the art while thoroughly enjoying the sport.
2.10 In the end, it is all about spending quality time with your horse.
3
Instruction Matters
Assembling Your Riding Team
Riding instruction is tremendously important. I believe instruction is even more important in this sport than in some others, because you must consider the “other half” of the team: your horse.
Riding is different than picking up a club and beating a ball until it goes into a hole. As the rider, you choose to ride. You make a conscious choice to saddle up and get on. You want to do it. The horse is not given the same choice.
Your Number One Teammate: The Horse
Olympic two-time gold-medalist Joe Fargis once said, “It’s not very often that you put a horse in a field with a bunch of jumps and he’ll jump around in a beautiful pattern.”
Horses have no understanding of why they trot around in endless circles, start and stop at a particular place, or jump fence after fence. Jumping is not something that interests them. They would prefer to eat and sleep and run around on their own time. Many horses are quite talented jumpers and do a very good job, but the work is never a deliberate choice they make.
We teach horses to jump. We are the reason they do it. Therefore, we have a huge responsibility to do our part as best we can, so that the horse’s end of the deal is as comfortable as possible.
3.1 When we ride, we take the horses out of their natural, normal environment and ask them to do things that they have no reason to do.
Good Horses Make Good Riders
Experience is the best teacher. The more different horses you can ride, the more experiences you will have and the more quickly you will learn things.
If, however, you must choose between riding one good horse and riding several bad horses, you are better off riding the one good horse. Good horses make good riders. A good horse is the best riding instructor you will ever have. The more positive experiences you can have on good horses, the better habits you will be able to build.
Your Coach: The Instructor
Because every team has two pieces—horse and rider—it is critical that you have someone knowledgeable to help you. A riding instructor can help improve your form, which will lead to better function. He will help you understand theory. He will help you learn how to determine goals and work toward them. And, perhaps most importantly, he will help you understand how to put all the little pieces of riding together into some unified, effective whole.
A riding instructor controls safety. He gives you exercises, provides experiences to help you learn, and offers feedback. He can demonstrate the skills he teaches. He can help your horse learn something so that your horse, in turn, can help you learn something.
Your instructor is also a manager. He manages your time, your horse’s soundness, and your career so both you and your horse are still enjoying the sport several years later.
Furthermore, if he is any good at all, your instructor helps you learn life lessons and skills that you can rely on, both on the horse and off.
3.2 Riders of all ages and all levels need instruction throughout their careers. You are never too good to learn from someone else. Here, I’m getting pointers from Archie Cox, a top young West Coast trainer with a fresh perspective.
Staying in the Game
Your need for instruction declines proportionately as you gain expertise. In other words, if you are a rank beginner, you need 100 percent supervision. Not only is this critical from a safety perspective, but it is also the key to building good habits and developing correct position from the very beginning.
If you are an expert, you owe it to yourself to find ways to continue
