background source: infourok.ru
"Oh no, my horse will ride me again today!" "Why do I always have to make an idiot out of myself when somebody's watching?" "I guess my horse doesn't like me, he will run away from me on the pasture again!" - many of us practice such self-critique and negative thinking. Do you realise how it affects your subconsciousness and how the titular rider's psyche works? We will help you understand their effects, but also how you can change your attitude towards yourself, your horse and your training, and what can you achieve by doing so :) Enjoy!
Attitude towards yourself
Your attitude (negative or positive) decides how much you can accomplish. Thus, start from introspection. Do you make self-accusations, pointing to all your mistakes and trying to foresee the next ones every day? "Will I ever stop hitting my horse's back? I should give him away to some good coach, all I can to is ruin him..." If you think in such a way, you have to change it. Of course, a bit of self-criticism is necessary, but you cannot flagellate yourself like than every day! Try to think in another way: "I had balance problems today, which caused me to stay behind the horse's movements. Next time, I'll try to work on it. With my coach's help I will surely change it!" Try to learn from each of your mistakes, so the next time you can correct you actions without constant, completely unnecessary self-criticising in your mind.
Positive thinking about yourself might be very, very difficult. However, you have to address yourself with proper respect, giving yourself a boost of positive energy and motivation. Your subconscious is constantly "listening" to you. When you keep on giving yourself cynical remarks such as "I'm doing it wrong again," or "I suck," your subconscious treats it as a fact. Why? The subconscious is a hard drive, which saves certain information. Your actions and the way you think influence what will eventually be on this "hard drive." For example: in horse riding, you learn to immediately lean backwards in the saddle in case of stressful situations (e.g. while sitting on a bucking horse). It is not a natural movement, but acquired through many hours of trainings. Your thinking works exactly the same - constantly repeated "I can't do this" finally becomes true. Remember that even joking about yourself is seen as you subconsciousness like being serious, as it cannot "understand" any sense of humour. "If it hadn't been for that fence being right here, I would never stop my horse." This sentence is comprehended by your subconscious as 100% true, not a cynical joke. Thus, non-stop self-criticism has no point, it is a mere waste of time, and in the long run it is harmful - it ruins your self-confidence.
source: buasaddles.com
Since we all know that we usually tend to be too strict with ourselves and everybody makes such reproaches in our thoughts, it is worth considering if there is any other way. The answer is: of course there is. It is high time to start praising and positively motivate yourself. If saying "it's okay, tomorrow will be better" to yourself sounds weird, maybe you will have to learn how to lie :) Because as people say "a lie told often enough becomes the truth." As long as it is a white lie for a good cause, that is for an attitude - to change it from the negative into the positive. For example, if you are afraid of the horse, who has been chosen by your instructor to be your partner - instead of repeating to yourself: "of my God, I'm scared. He will kill me, bite me and eat me. I won't leave his stall in one piece," try to lie to yourself by saying: "this horse used to be a challenge for me, but today I will enter his stall completely calm and he will do as I say." A good support to such "self-deception" is visualisation. It is enough to picture yourself entering the stall confident, and the horse already is like a lamb. Even if he tries to scare you by stamping, or showing his teeth, your firm voice will bring him to order. Easy? Such thinking may become your everyday. All you have to do is just begin to approach each situation with the same positive attitude.
Attitude towards horse
It is quite an interesting topic - what is your attitude to your horse? In fact, it is possible to differentiate a few types of riders according to their approach.
source: josenhof-kutter.de
The horse is always guilty
There are some riders, who have a claim attitude towards their horses "I want you to do...," "I demand you to..." and blame their horses for all their failures. Such people usually are not "equestrian mature" to realise that their horses do not do what they want because they simply "don't feel like doing so," but because they do not understand certain figures or commands. Probably, nobody has ever paid enough attention or gave them enough time to learn them proper reactions, also the riders' signals might not be clear to them, because the riders lack some abilities. If a horse was taught some particular signal as an information, to let go from a calf, he will wait for it and no other action will make him perform that particular element.
A good example of such situation is a cooperation between an inexperienced rider and an inexperienced horse. Such combination will pretty much never work. That is because inexperienced riders usually lack balance and have an imperfect seat. It is not a good situation for a horse, who is just starting to move with some additional weight on him back.
One cannot help the other, they will only hinder each other progress. The effects might be as following: the horse moving at an irregular gait, falling in or out with his croup or shoulder blades, and a rider who cannot control his or her body. Of course, an inexperienced rider usually blames his or her young horse for the issue's cause during riding. But if he only could, the horse could say the exact same thing: "how am I supposed to move straight and evenly if you keep on disturbing my balance?" :)
Having such attitude, you have to remember that it does not place you in a good position. If you never look for the horse's problems' source in your behaviour, you will not go far. The sooner you reach such conclusion, the more pleasurable your rides will become.
Taking your emotions out while riding
Some riders come to their stables at the end of their work days or weeks. It is a moment when they can relax... but unfortunately in a very unsettling manner. They go to their stables to take all their negative emotions on the completely innocent horse. Such people treat the horse's shortages (caused by humans' mistakes!) as an excuse for punishing them. It is never a pretty picture. The horse may only become more nervous by such actions, so each punishment make the already bad situation even worse.
source: buasaddles.com
We, hopefully, do not have to mention that such attitude is the worst attitude possible, as it treats the horses instrumentally. However, if we all do a self-examination, we might realise that we all have been such riders at least once in our lives. We lost our temper while riding and we acted, to put it lightly, unfairly. Nevertheless, the more mature and patient we are, the rarer such situations are. In order to avoid such situation, try to get rid off the negative energy before riding. If you come to a training feeling angry or frustrated, try to step away, go at the pasture's edge and shout, picturing people who made you so mad :) It should help! :)
Searching for a magic wand
There is also a group of people who believe that they can improve their partnership with their horses as if by magic. Switching between one stable to the other, one instructor to the other, one course to the other, they try to find an immediate solution to their problems with their horses. But the truth is, it is impossible to improve something by one exercise, changing a bit for a sharper one, or using another invention. Such approach is detached from reality. Additionally, it usually becomes a source of frustration of both the rider and the horse.
Solution to this problem is realising that the only way to improve communication with the horse is: time, patience and coming back to dressage basics. The rider has to systematically realise his or her programme and be satisfied with slight progress, visible from training to training. Such riders need to remember that the horse's training process takes years and months, not days and weeks.
True horse lovers
They are (fortunately) the most numerous in the riding world. Sensible people who love their horses, will never sacrifice the horses' health nor mood to get bettr money or awards. Such riders know that demanding from the horse more than he can currently both mentally and physically give, is violence. Such riders are beloved by the horses and they always try their best to satisfy them :)
We wish both to you and to ourselves to be able to call ourselves the "true horse lovers" every day with clear conscience ;)
source: horseandhound.co.uk
Attitude towards training
The whole process of training - both the horse and the rider - has to be cheerful and satisfying. We all promise to ourselves that we will be patient during the next training. However, it does not mean that we will not make any mistakes, even if we try very hard. Instead of blaming ourselves and holding grudges, treat riding as a chance to improve your riding and training abilities (because we all are our horse's coaches). If everything would always be perfect, when would we get the chance to improve ourselves? Trainings would be boring, unnecessary and obvious :)
For example: if your horse keep on cantering on the wrong leg, instead of getting angry, try to look at it from another perspective - how lucky you are to get an opportunity to practice shifts, namely giving precise signals so your horse would move at a canter or switch to a trot.
Also, do not try to demand anything from your horse. The cooperation becomes way more pleasurable, when you ask your four-hooved partner to do something :)
Also, do not forget that your horse is your coach, constantly "giving" you advice. It is up to you whether you would want to use them. Even the slightest positive change in your horse's behaviour indicates progress. Thus try to be happy about every little step that you make, and your trainings will always be pleasant - both for you and for your horse :)
background source: weareweymouth.co.uk
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