Ep 209: Understanding the “Why” - Part 3
On this episode, we are covering part three of our series on the introduction talk at our clinics talking about foundation horsemanship. In case you missed the last episodes in this series, you can get caught up here: Episode 207: Understanding the “Why” – Part 1 & Episode 208: Understanding the “Why” – Part 2.
Understanding the Purpose of the Clinic
I often have people ask, “can I bring 3 or 4 horses to the clinic?” And, I understand that thought process – at one time, I thought the same thing. The first clinic I went to, I thought that I should bring the horses that needed the most work so that I could get the most value out of the clinic. Well, I figured out real quick that the only thing I was going to get out of that clinic was frustration. There were a lot of fundamental exercises that my horse wasn’t ready for yet–and that was because I, as the trainer, wasn’t ready to teach the horse those fundamentals yet.
The purpose of the clinic is not to teach your horse – it’s to teach you how to teach your horse.
My clinics are 100% for the trainer. The horse is just a vehicle or a tool to practice what you learn at the clinic each day. When I say the clinic is for the rider, what I mean is: gaining knowledge is worthless without application. If you’re not learning and applying your knowledge, you’re wasting your time and money.
Understanding is one thing. Demonstrating to our horse that we understand and communicating to them in a way that they understand is application. Until they feel that and it’s familiar, they’re not going to be consistent with finding that response.
The horse is always going to be the beneficiary of us improving our communication.
Controlling Speed and Direction
If someone was to ask me, “what’s the number one thing you need to know to survive in this industry,” I would tell them: learn how to control speed and direction.
A horse can only go forward, backward, left and right. There are only so many options, and quite frankly, those are pretty simple maneuvers. The challenge is learning how to stimulate those movements without using leverage.
The more leverage you use, the stiffer your horse gets. When your horse gets stiff, it becomes difficult to control its speed and direction. Simple as that.
To control speed and direction, we have to learn to control the mental switches that signal to a horse to change its speed and direction. That starts with the concept of “teaching the release.”
Teaching the Release
“The release is what you teach.” I read this quote from a great horseman named Martin Black in a Western Horseman article years ago, and when I read that statement, it completely changed my entire perspective on how to train a horse.
For years, I had worked to try to control my horse’s speed and direction through mechanical manipulation. But, Martin’s statement made me stop and think:
It’s not about manipulating the body. It’s about manipulating the mind that controls the body.
It’s not about having good flexion.
It’s not about having a flashy stop.
It’s about having a good connection with the horse’s mind.
It’s about helping them understand and mentally process the responses you are asking for.
Teaching the release is a very simple concept, but it can be very challenging to execute at 100%. Providing a timely, efficient release is essential to communicating with the horse’s mind. You have to be incredibly precise with your release. The second your horse tries to provide the correct response, you need to release. If you wait until after the horse has done the correct maneuver, you’re too late. You have to provide that release (read: reward) as it’s happening.
Precision with your release comes from developing feel. It’s hard to explain, but it’s all a matter of time spent in the saddle. Once you feel it and once you get that timing down, you’ll know.
Goals vs. Plans
Goals are great, but a goal without a plan is just a wish. You not only have to think about where you want to go, but you also have to consider the smaller, daily actions that are going to produce the result you desire.
Your plan is what matters most. It’s the system you establish for yourself that you can commit to executing on a daily basis. In this world, it’s easy for us to become results-oriented. To succeed in horse training, we have to shift our mentality to become process-oriented. We have to learn to embrace the challenges, the hard days, and the steps backward. We have to learn to fall in love with the process. When you focus on the process, the results take care of themselves.
Confidence and Consistency
Confidence is gained through consistency over time. You don’t just wake up one day and decide, “I’m going to be confident today!” Yes, that might work on occasion, but it’s not a consistent means to an end. Consistency requires dedication, not motivation.
Motivation is worthless without discipline. If you rely solely on your level of motivation to get things done in a day, chances are, you won’t progress at a very fast pace. Humans have a short attention span when it comes to being motivated. But discipline, on the other hand, is something we can create. We don’t have control over how motivated we feel each day, but we can control whether or not we are disciplined enough to show up for ourselves and get the job done.
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