California Riding Magazine • February, 2009

The Emotional Side of Riding
Back to basics is the best way forward.

by Robin Heckle

If you find, as I have, that it’s time to move out of your comfort zone and stretch to the next evolution in your riding, you might also discover that sometimes the first stop on the road to higher ground is defined by going back to basics.

Years ago I played pool as a regular passtime. I considered myself pretty good though my game was unpredictable, especially under pressure. Still, I won more often than I lost. But the competition wasn’t steep: games at friends’ houses or pubs, that sort of thing. I was mostly self-taught and had learned my game on the fly. Then I met up with someone that played tournaments regularly. I discovered that this level of player did a lot more than pass the time. This person used specific strategy to make shots, to set up for the next shot and to consistently win games. For a year after I began studying my new friend’s strategy, I didn’t win a single game. What I did was learn proper technique and practice, practice, practice. Much of the time it was discouraging and humbling, but in the end it turned out to be the best thing I could have ever done to improve my game.

I find myself at a new barn as of December. It’s full of “tournament-level” riders under the tutelage of a very high-level trainer. I am thrilled to be there to say the least. The tough part from an emotional standpoint is that I’m faced with the holes in my own riding foundation. I can’t profess to being in the dark about my weaknesses, but I have to admit I have neatly tried to cover them up mostly by avoiding situations or horses that brought them out. Now I can’t escape them and I feel as if I am starting my freshman year at college. The level of riding at this barn is elevated and clearly built on having an unshakeable foundation in the basics—the basics I should have learned previously in my “elementary school, junior, and high school” years of riding. But now I am a freshman in “higher education,” and as I mentioned, there are some holes.

So what to do? Number one is to get honest with myself by acknowledging my weaknesses as a rider, and the type of situation or horse that brings out problems for me. This is closely followed by number two, which is to get willing to face my fears and my ego (I don’t know about anybody else, but I hate to look bad). With these two components I can open myself up to the advanced training I now have available to me and can give myself the chance to become the “college level” rider that I really want to be. I am in the right place with the right trainer to make it happen, so I’m going for it!

After talking with my trainer we have decided to take me back down to basics and to fill in the blanks that have been overlooked in the past. We also have me riding a horse that brings out all of my flaws and pushes all of my buttons. So far I’ve only hit the ground once—not too bad.

In addition, I am reading George Morris’s Hunter Seat Equitation. I wish I could tell you that I have read it a dozen times in the past but I haven’t. Much of the instruction in the book I am familiar with, which is affirming. What feels new is the foundation-building sense that it makes. It is affording me the opportunity to review and/or learn each of the elements of my riding all over again. So back to basics I go. The surprise is that I am falling in love with riding all over again and gaining a renewed reverence for the discipline and detail of our sport along with a new understanding of the aides and their application.

I had long ago learned the importance of a solid foundation from my pool playing days. After playing with and studying the best players for a year (during which time I didn’t win a single game), I went one night to my local pub. This time I was unbeatable. The entire night, I owned the table and I never lost a game. What I learned that night was that all those lost games with players so much better than me had made me the best player I had ever been. Now it’s time to apply that experience to my riding.

Each time I have a lesson and think, “Wow I stink,” I remember that stinking is all relative. With those I now get the opportunity to compare myself to, stinking is pretty darn good. And imagine where I could be just one year from now. Let’s all push ourselves in the New Year to be the most educated riders and horsemen we can be. I’m sure you’ll agree that we and our fabulous horses deserve nothing less!