This might be the most controversial essay I have written. It’s certainly one of the more perplexing topics. All comments are welcome provided they are polite and on topic. Play nice.
I have a problem that I need help figuring out (yes, I know you are shocked that I only have one problem 😀)
How does a rider combine good horsemanship and good performance?
It’s a serious question. I know most of us believe that good horsemanship and good performance should be extensions of each other. They should not be separate or exclusive. They should compliment each other. If a horse has a strong and soft connection to a rider its ability to move with beauty will be maximised. The outside of a horse can only reach its full potential when the inside has reached full potential for focus and softness. I don’t anybody (professional or amateur) who does not believe that.
Yet, the evidence of good horsemanship and good performance being one thing seems to be elusive.
My skills as a horse person and a teacher are narrow. I know a little about a lot of things and a lot about only a few things. I know the basics of teaching dressage and jumping. I know some fundamentals of western training. I know a little about trick training. I know the essentials of harness training. I know a little about a lot of things.
The thing I know a lot about is how to connect mentally and emotionally to a horse. I know how to turn an acquaintanceship into a partnership that we both want. I know how to transform trouble in a horse into okay-ness and confidence. I know how to have a conversation with a horse that interests us both. I know how to make working with me interesting and comfortable for a horse no matter what we are doing. These things I am good at.
When students come to my clinics over and over I see wonderful changes in their relationship with their horses. I see happy people and even happier horses. So many of the troubles I saw at the first clinic are a dim memory. They are happy and getting things done. It is so rewarding for me to see the great improvements many have achieved. This is what I do well.
At some point many people feel it is time to pursue some horsemanship goal outside my expertise. They go hunting for a teacher that is expert in a discipline of their choice. I believe this is fantastic and I encourage them to pursue their dream. There are so many talented trainers out there that are far more adept at helping people with carriage driving or mounted shooting or sliding stops or half pass or showjumping or trick training or whatever pursuit people aim to follow.
But here is the problem I keep facing. When my students have followed their dream of perfecting a sliding stop or executing a passage, I inevitably discover the good feelings and mental softness that their horse once ahead has been lost or diminished. It has happened time and again. Something fundamental that made their horse ready to learn sliding stop or the passage has vanished. The horse may be able to perform a competent shoulder in, but it is now braced against the inside rein. It may be able to perform an eye-popping spin, but it is tight and fractious and unable to engage in a conversation. It may be jumping over a metre fence, but it now leads poorly and struggles to trailer load or is harder to catch.
Why is this happening? The trainers know their stuff. They are far more expert in their field than me. But I am starting to fear they don’t know my stuff. The trainers are brilliant at teaching work in their field. And I am good at preparing a horse to be ready for those trainers. However, somewhere along the way we are letting the horses down.
Is it too much to expect that good horsemanship and good performance blend seamlessly together? I have always felt they are extensions of each other and not two separate disciplines. Yet, the anecdotal evidence would suggest otherwise.
I know many of you will tell me that you know of trainers and owners who do a brilliant job of maintaining the quality of the horsemanship throughout the training for a specific discipline. I hope that’s true. But it seems pretty damn hard to find. I watched videos looking for examples and constantly feel disappointed.
Is the problem that the horsemanship trainers and the performance trainers have so much to learn about their own field that it’s impossible to be expert enough in other fields to make performance and horsemanship the same thing?
Is it because people are not aware enough of the inside of their horse when they are working they are working through the exercises to improve movement that they allow mental and emotional problems creep into their horse?
Is it because as the work gets more physically demanding that the emotional and mental work is under a greater strain and it’s impossible to expect good horsemanship to smoothly gel with good performances?
Are good horsemanship and good performance compatible with each other? I’m still searching for the answer.
At a clinic in Canberra I am working with Elle to improve both the inside and the outside of this lovely mare.