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Exceptional Horsemanship Newsletter
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Greetings!
Fear.
Even the word scares people. It stops an awful lot of people from doing some of the things that they so long to do the most. It also stops folks from being safe in many cases. It's a joy-killer.
People fear fear.
So, they don't admit it. If they admit it--it's true. And they don't want it to be true. HOWEVER, not admitting it doesn't EVER make it go away. In fact, of course, the opposite is true. Admitting to something such as fear is the first step to conquering it. It's why AA has the folks step up in front and NAME their fear to others. Because it works! And that's tough!!
But, there is a segment of horse lovers out there petrified to ride their horse. And that is a sad situation. They piddle about cleaning tack or the horse, muck stalls and oh, time got away and they don't have time to ride now...
Or they do get on but don't do much and tell themselves they don't really want to anyway.
I just had the opportunity to mentor Heidi McLaughlin of FearlessRider.com. Sh e wanted to up her skills and came to spend a few days with me and my herd. Heidi had a paralyzing fear years ago of even picking up her horse's hoof. On her last day here, she was on my 'killer' Black Diamond bareback cantering while I had her online. Heidi wrote "K.I.C.K. Your Fear of Horses" to help others who suffer from this life-sapper fear. A good read and I hope that someone out there with that little voice inside that grips their heart and says, "I just can't" will get some encouragement from someone who's 'been there'.
I did a clinic last weekend in the Kansas City area hosted by the fabulous Billie and Stan Deam. What a great event they put on. Saturday was the participants with their horses and auditors for "Holes in Your Horsemanship." Sunday was "Working with the Difficult Horse" with auditors only. And we definitely had a difficult horse for this. I had a BLAST as I love that stuff. I haven't had time to watch the video or camera shots as I just got back Tuesday, but maybe next newsletter I'll have some details for you. If you popped over to audit and meet, I'm delighted. Hope you had a great time as I did.
Did a great friend forward you this newsletter? Be sure to pop over to my website and hit the purple "Gimme" button so you can start receiving your own. It's absolutely free and you'll get the "9 Steps to Better Horsemanship" download to boot. |
So... Are You Horseman Material????
I had a great time at a demo last month. Black Diamond was doing her first job as 'demo horse', bareback with a halter. We had already cantered around, trot side passes and her latest attempts to piaffe. She's also getting some early proficiency at beginning canter pirouette. She was a little nervous at first, but settled in. 
Before her horse was brought into the arena, I asked the 13 year old girl some questions and before she could answer, her trainer stepped up along side her and whispered in her ear. The girl, I'll call her Kate, answered my questions such as how long she'd been riding. Lots of whispering. Answer: 6 years, a few more questions--whispering. What she hoped to have me help her with today> Whispering. The horse tosses it's head a lot and she wanted to know how to make him stop.
Those of you familiar with my 'sense of humor' can imagine how hard it was to keep my yap shut through this part of the session and finally, of course, I couldn't. To trainer, "You must be the interpreter. Am I speaking Farsi or something?" Yes, that's my idea of a joke to lighten the situation. "Well then, let's get the horse in the arena." The trainer kept her arm around Kate and didn't let her go.
She said, "I'm not comfortable with Kate bringing her horse in here with another horse."
My eyebrows flew up then furrowed. My head swiveled left and right, as if hunting the 'other' horse that would cause the problem. Then I put on my best "shocking realization" look and said, "Oh, you mean Black? This horse that I'm sitting on here? You think I can't control my horse?" (yes, the one I'm one in the pic up there without anything on her, although this is from a different place).
Onward-- time passes-- in your mind it looks like that time-lapse photography where the clouds roil and the wind blows as day turns to dusk. It took Kate about 15 minutes of 'incidental fussing' to gather her courage to put her foot in the stirrup. Finally, she mounted and walked around. Her elbows were straight down with her hands as far down as they would reach, and were twitching, snapping and snatching constantly on the horses mouth. After a lot of this at the walk while I waited, I asked her to pick up a trot. Can you imagine that she wasn't comfortable with that??? Huh! Shocking!
Now folks, we come to my POINT!!! Fear based training/instruction. A 13 year old girl with 6 years of riding instruction under her belt should NOT be terrified to trot her horse in a small, and I mean tiny, arena. SHOULD NOT! I'm sure the instructor is a nice woman, but she's scaring the bejeeezes out of this child and her parents at a time when her parents should be worrying about her and her friends galloping across an open field with the goal of being the one that can jump off going the fastest and still land on your feet! Okay maybe that's not what you did as a kid... and I'm not recommending it, we're lucky we didn't get seriously hurt. But still.
"Excessive caution destroys the soul and the heart because living is an act of courage and an act of courage is always an act of love." Paulo Coelho from his new book out-- "Manuscript Found in Accra."
When a trainer doesn't teach a student to ride without them and keeps a student at a level of incompetence, I have to wonder... is it the weekly lesson fee they're trying to maintain? Six years! And not being competent IS dangerous so don't give me that safety balonie. That's enough for now on this, but more to come on the Tourette's syndrome of hands!
Be a great friend and forward this newsletter to your friends and tell them to sign up for their own. Click the purple "Gimme" button on the website. There's a difference between techniques and technique.
For exceptional results, think "how and how can I".
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Upcoming stuff:
Someone getting stepped on
Stop trying to do THAT when I want you to feel what's happening when you're trying to do THAT!!!!
More time...
Tourette's of the hands-- and training fear "awareness" - the need for calm. maintain boundaries in order to create focus, both in yourself and your horse. ladder jumping - the art of waiting timing/feel come
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"Enthusiasm is the sacred fire." also from Paulo. Stick your toe over the line!!! Advance your horsemanship! Accelerate your knowledge, commit to going for better, headin' for Exceptional. Call or email me to schedule a lesson, training session, phone or email lesson/consultation today.
Don't forget to check the blog for more training and put in your questions and comments!Sincerely,
ME
Lauren Woodard
ExceptionalHorsemanship.com |
Lauren Woodard
Scottsdale, Arizona 85254
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