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Our clinics
may be different from other clinics that you have experienced.
Because our focus is on developing your horsemanship on three
different levels (3-D Rider™) –
ground training, equitation, and training under saddle – you
probably experience more stress at our clinics than you do at
others. We believe that you need to stress yourself on all levels
– physical, mental and emotional – in order to experience the
deepest growth as a person or as a horseman. We hope the stress
you experience at a clinic transfers to your growth in all realms.
All horse trainers feel frustration at one time or another. When
you are working with another mind, as we are when we’re working
with a horse, we have to be
aware that frustration will happen. The horse has its own
agenda and also feels its own sense of frustration when it can’t
understand us. We don’t want to prevent frustration because
frustration handled properly promotes growth. So how do we
positively handle our frustration and our horse’s frustration?
The first thing is to recognize when you’re frustrated and be
honest about acknowledging it. You can actually be happy about
experiencing frustration because it is the first step toward
growth and improvement. Recognize that frustration is a symptom of
feeling out of control. Don’t dwell on the frustration, but
acknowledge the feeling and move directly to a plan for solving
the problem. Remember to ask the four “core" questions: Does the
horse know? Is the horse afraid? Does the horse have too much
energy? Is the horse being disrespectful?
Go back in your training to where you feel successful and in
control with your horse. Find something your horse will do and go
overboard with recovery and praise. Remember the
"Caught Ya!" principle,
and go out of your way to "catch" your horse doing something well.
Praising and giving our horse recovery time will help us as
well as the horse, as it puts us in a positive frame of mind and
also gives us recovery. When we become frustrated, we are caught
up in the emotions of the moment, such as feelings of failure or
embarrassment. At this moment, we need to realize that it’s not
about us, it’s about the horse. We need to separate ourselves from
those emotions and respond oppositely of the way we feel. We need
to discipline ourselves to feel empathy for the horse and respond
in the way that the horse needs us to at that moment.
As trainers, we also have to be able to separate ourselves from
our horse and realize that the horse is not always a reflection of
us, or vice versa. Every horse makes mistakes, and we will not be
judged so much by the mistakes made as by the way that we handle
those mistakes and the way we handle ourselves in adversity.
The second thing is to realize that preparation combats
frustration. Set yourself and your horse up for success by
spending the time it takes to get your horse trained at home
before taking it to a clinic or somewhere new. Taking our horse to
a clinic can be an eye-opener and show us where we really are in
our training. No matter how solid our horse is at home, taking it
somewhere new will show the holes we have in our training. Be
honest with yourself in terms of how much work you’ve put into you
and your horse’s success. It takes a ton of time and consistency
to get a horse really broke, so be honest about where you are, and
don’t expect to reap more than you have sown.
Finally, we must realize that knowledge is the key to working
through frustration. Knowing what color our horse is, what color
we are, and how we can best work with our horse’s personality will
help reduce frustration. We also must have an understanding and
acceptance of the amount of time it takes to train a horse and how
long it takes to gain the skills necessary to become a good
horseperson. Frustration can cause us to skip steps in our
learning, or in our horse’s learning, and we’ll eventually pay for
those holes in our knowledge base.
Physical ability must also be taken into consideration. It can
be very frustrating to run into road blocks in our training and
development caused by lack of physical ability in either ourselves
or our horses. We must know that the horse has the physical
agility, strength, stamina, and confirmation to perform a task
before we ask for it. And, we must be willing to develop our own
physical abilities.
Going to a clinic takes a lot of courage. You’re putting
yourself out there and exposing yourself to new things. You will
experience a gamut of emotions – frustration, success,
embarrassment, exhilaration, exhaustion, and pride – just to name
a few. But, you will also experience a kind of growth and
fulfillment that you can never reach without having the courage to
do something new. Before a clinic, make the commitment to arm
yourself with knowledge, skills and the physical ability to
accomplish your goals. The rewards you gain in return will be
huge. |
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