Put in the Time
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I recently read Kathleen Lindley Beckham’s book, Discovering the Work: How a Stroke Allowed Me to Discover a More Symbiotic Way of Working with Horses. Chapter 18, Doing Our Time, spoke to me on several levels. Beckham says:
“There is no substitute for doing the work. No book, no DVD, no daydream can replace the actual hands-on experience of working with horses. All that other study helps, of course, but we still have to go out and do the work.”
It’s true. Even though there is a desire to ride (or follow any passion), everyone starts at the beginning and works their way through the lessons they will have. Those experiences become a toolkit of sorts to build on and move up to more advanced skills. There are no short cuts.
I was at a county fair this past weekend and watched a young rider trying to cue his horse to canter on its left lead in the practice ring, which was next to the main show ring that was in session. It was obvious to me that he had skipped doing the work at home and was not only frustrating himself but his horse as well. The constant thumping of his heels against his horse’s sides and the horse’s nose held high in the air to avoid the yanking reins ruffled this former-riding instructor’s feathers. If he had ridden regularly, with an attention to working out these issues BEFORE he was due to go in the ring, he and his horse may have had a far more pleasurable experience showing. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen this sort of behavior at smaller shows. The time to train is at home, not on show day. (This is a major pet peeve of mine.)
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This doesn’t just apply to riding either. Learning basic handling skills on the ground, grooming, and tacking up the horse are only a few of the tasks that every new rider needs to have. When I worked at a hunter/jumper stable, I was responsible for grooming, tacking up, and then taking the sweaty school horses when the riders were done with their lessons. I appreciated the extra help (as will most hired stable hands) when riders not only wanted to learn more but looked forward to helping to care for their horse. There is a lot of necessary work that goes into ensuring horses are taken care of properly. Learning these skills and more will help your riding and develop a deeper connection to your horse.
As a child, I poured over and devoured any and every horse book and magazine I could get my hands on. All of that learned knowledge helped me, but it wasn’t until I started to apply that knowledge with actual time spent by or on a horse that I began to build confidence and work my way toward becoming a professional horsewoman. It’s been 13 years since I have ridden, but you can bet that stored knowledge is still there and will come in handy when I do get back in the saddle again.
As much as we would love to have shortcuts, it doesn’t help us in the long run. Repeated tasks until they are mastered is what is required to excel at anything, not just horses. Don’t give up when things don’t go as planned. Try again and again and again. Practice makes perfect, but maybe what we really want is practice that makes us confident and skilled. The only way to get there is to put in the time.
