A chilled Filly

Friday 17 June 2016

The responsibility of learning

There are many many responsibilities to owning and caring for a horse. Grooming, feeding, mucking out, hoof care, physical fitness, cleaning the field etc etc. But I think one overlooked responsibility is that of making ourselves better horsemen. Not better riders, though that is part of it, but better horsemen. After all Pat Parelli says that riding is the mere act of not falling off, horsemanship is everything else.
So how to become a better horseman.
Experience is of course a large part of this. Experience of playing and riding ones own horses. Experience (and the privelage) of playing or riding other peoples horses. Watching other people, good and bad ride or play with their horses. You can learn from either.
The experience of someone else riding/playing your horse, particularly if that horseman is very good and can show you what your horse can do.
But not all of us have the time to be with our horses as much as we would like. I for one spend many days working such that I can't go and see my horse at all for days on end. 6 days in my current block of work :( . So how do we improve our horsemanship if we can't be with horses ?
That's where studying and learning come in. I probably spend more hours studying horsemanship than I actually spend with Filly. Not a state I like, but one that is imposed upon me by my job. Even when I have a day off it is really only practical to be with her for 2 or 3 hours.
But that studying must be effective or it is just a waste of time and can be confusing. That's part of the reason I have selected a particular style of horsemanship that I find fascinating and so studying it is not a drudgery but something I actually look forward to doing. Fortunately for the vaquero / natural horsemanship style there is probably more good quality material available than there is for many other styles. For example I am currently reading Mike Bridges book "The Art of Making a California-Style Vaquero Bridle Horse" again and finding I understand just that bit more this time. I'm also watching Buck Brannamans' "7 Clinics" again and his "The Making of a Bridle Horse" series. With the DVDs I'm now noticing many little nuances I missed the first 2 times I watched them. Yes I'm watching them for the 3rd time now.
Now I've read the books and watched the DVDs several times I find that I don't watch/read them for very long in each session. Maybe just 10 minutes. Then I find that whenever my mind has little to do I know the content well enough to really ponder the meaning of that 10 minutes of information and how I can actually use it. That way it sinks in and gets used rather than just washing over me to be forgotten next time I'm with Filly.
In the "7 Clinics" DVDs there are several interviews with a lady called "Betty". She's a dressage rider but a student of Bucks'. In the section where they are describing "hooking on" she makes a very strong point. She says that once you have got your horse to hook on and look to you as a leader it is your responsibility to ensure that you are a good leader for that horse for the rest of it's life. They have placed their trust in you and you must not break that trust. For me that means I must become the best horseman I can be to honour the trust Filly has placed in me and that involves learning something new everyday.

2 comments:

Kat said...

Great thoughts! I find myself currently living 7 hours away from my horse, so I try to get as much as I can out of my weekly jumping lesson and I watch so many dvd's over and over again. I tuck books into my backpack and read in between classes or when I'm waiting for an appointment. It's not ideal, but hopefully it tides me over until I have my horse again!

Tim said...

Being 7 hours away must be really tough. Glad you can make the most of your time together.
DVDs are a great way to study but there is nothing like watching a good horseman live. DVDs can miss the subtleties sometimes.