Introduction
Since taking up western riding, you’ve dedicated yourself to learning more of the details of riding well and improving your riding skills and abilities. No longer a beginner, you’re now able to sit confidently at the walk, the jog, and the lope; direct your horse; and influence her speed. But, as you’ve probably discovered, there is more to being a good rider than just staying in the saddle, steering, and stopping.
Now, you want to be more than a steady passenger; you want to be a partner with your horse. You want to have the type of relationship with your horse that the advanced riders you admire have with their horses. Horse and rider seem to move to the same thoughts, with invisible cues, ease, comfort, and happiness. Talented amateurs and professional trainers make this look easy. For them, riding seems to be a dance. Will you ever ride like that? Can you ever develop such a deep partnership with your horse? The answer is yes! It will take dedication, work, and commitment on your part, but it won’t happen overnight. If you persevere and keep the right mind-set, you will reach your goal.
It’s helpful, though not essential, to take regular lessons with a trainer who encourages you and keeps raising the bar as you progress. A good trainer can spot areas in which you’re struggling, help you work through these issues and push you a little further than you might push yourself if you were riding on your own.
Don’t rely on your trainer completely, however. A large part of becoming an advanced western rider is honing your abilities and building your confidence and knowledge, so one day you will be able to train a horse yourself. As you continue learning, you’ll want to develop your own style of horsemanship, one that fits with who you are and is based on the type of partnership you want to have with your horse.
Working with a trainer can help you progress, but you should also develop your own horsemanship skills.
In your quest to become an advanced rider, remember that you can’t force the learning process or shorten the length of time it will take to become the rider you seek to be. But you can ensure that you keep improving by putting in the saddle time, not taking shortcuts, getting strong in the basics, and continuing to refine what you know.
Although there is no substitute for hard, dedicated work, there is one more critical aspect to becoming an advanced rider: your mind-set. At a certain point, you may find that riding becomes less about cues and technique and more about mentally connecting with your horse, riding with her rather than simply on her.
In this book, we’ll explore some ideas that will help you refine your riding and open the door to a lifetime of improving your skills. The only limitations are your confidence in yourself and the goals you set for yourself and your horse. First, we’ll look at some of the mental aspects of riding that set advanced riders apart; then we’ll discuss ways to refine your riding by developing better balance, aids, and timing, as well as cover areas you may not be as familiar with, such as your breathing, intent, and focus.
Then, we’ll explore advanced work such as self-carriage in you and your horse, collection, transitions, and lateral movement. You’ll also learn more about tack and the importance of correct saddle fit. And you will get tips for preparing for various types of competitions, from horse shows to cattle work. Finally, you will learn about other ways to have fun with your equine partner.
So ride all you can and practice seriously but joyfully! Riding is a gift, and it’s meant to be fun. Keep smiling, no matter what and, above all, enjoy the journey.
Moving Beyond the Basics
The best riders never stop learning or seeking new ways to do things. They continually strive to refine what they know, ask with less pressure, and get in better timing with their horses.
As you advance in your horsemanship, you, too, will find truth in the saying, “The more you know, the more you realize there is to learn.”
This ongoing challenge of discovery, to deepen your understanding of horses and learn how best to work with them, will help you reach the levels of horsemanship skill you seek to attain. These layers of knowledge are what keep expert riders progressing and learning—and loving every minute in the saddle. As you become more advanced, you’ll more) about mental creativity and control as it is about pure physical technique. In fact, the most successful riders may simply be better than the average rider at harnessing these mental aspects of riding.
This chapter offers some topics to get you thinking about the mental side of riding that will be helpful in advancing your skills. But don’t stop here. Use these ideas as a springboard to see what else you can come up with.
Keep Riding; Stay in the Moment
If you’re driving a car and it starts to skid on a slippery curve, do you immediately throw open the door and bail out? Not likely! Unfortunately, bailing out—physically or mentally—is exactly how some riders react when their horses do something unexpected. In a split second, such riders relinquish their influence on the outcome of the situation.
For example, your horse might spook at a dog and then stop. If you are caught off guard by the spook, you might be left behind and end up on the ground. But if you stay relaxed and remain physically and mentally connected to your horse during the spook, which will be over in a second or two, your horse is likely to quickly regain his composure because you haven’t lost yours.
Keep riding through every situation. In other words: Don’t bail out—literally or figuratively. When you only have a few seconds of reaction time, don’t decide you’re going to fall off and start looking for the best place to land. Instead, try to safely help your horse through the situation. (Of course, there are times when dismounting is the best idea, but try to do it as a planned event rather than as an action taken in panic.)
In addition to maintaining your commitment to continue riding—mentally and physically— no matter what happens, it’s important to stay in the moment. However, there’s a fine line between staying in the moment and creating self-fulfilling prophecies of negative outcomes. Every time you ride, work toward the goal of riding with enough awareness to anticipate a problem and to be able to defuse or avoid it. Do not mentally jump ahead to the worst possible outcome. Unfortunately, this is exactly what some riders do, and they bring it about by expecting the worst to occur. Knowing there is always a loose dog at the blue house up ahead on the left, for example, the rider tenses up, certain the dog will come running out and the horse will spook. Feeling his rider tense up, the horse obliges with an enthusiastic spook and bolts down the road!
Instead, strive to ride every step; don’t project too far into the future. Horses are creatures of the here and now, and the best riders help their horses every moment. This isn’t accomplished by micromanaging his every move but rather by staying aware and directing him before he has the chance to take his thought completely away from you.
Staying in the moment will also help if you decide to compete with your horse. Whether in reining, western pleasure, or a cow class, if you make a mistake, you can’t go back and fix it. It will only hinder your performance if you dwell on the mistake. However, if you stay in the moment, you can continue to ride every step from there on and make the rest of your ride as good as it can be.
Leave Out the Emotions; Assume the Best
Have you ever watched someone severely reprimand a horse for a transgression and thought that the rider or handler actually enjoyed getting angry and correcting his or her horse? This is the behavior of an amateur, and it shouldn’t be