(This
blog was originally posted on July 13, 2011)
No matter who you are, everyone benefits
from having someone observe you ride. Ideally, you can train with a riding
instructor who can constructively critique your position, aids, etc. while you
work with your horse. No matter how good or experienced an equestrian you are,
it is almost impossible to notice every detail about your position or technique
that another person’s experienced eye could easily see. There is nothing so
valuable for improving your ride as receiving feedback—good or bad—at the
precise moment you are asking for a movement. This kind of instruction can truly
make all the difference in how you ride.
Many years ago, figure skater Michelle
Kwan decided to train without a skating coach. She had previously won a
silver Olympic medal, and she owned many national and world championship
titles. Surely, these experiences and her talent as a skater qualified her to
work without a trainer. However, she did not skate so well on her own; within a
year Miss Kwan re-hired her former coach and started winning medals again.
Even trainers have trainers. At the very
least, they acknowledge the philosophies of other horsemen who have influenced
their own work with horses. In 2010, I was privileged to audit a couple of Jan Ebeling’s dressage clinics at
Equine Affaire (Pomona). In addition to teaching his own students, he competes
at Grand Prix dressage competitions around the world. At one point, Mr. Ebeling
disclosed that in addition to being coached by his wife (also an accomplished
dressage competitor), he sends videos of his training sessions to his own
instructor…in Germany!
I rode in my first horse show a few
years ago. To prepare, I took taking riding lessons almost every day. I followed
the mantra, “Perfect practice makes perfect performance,” and I relied on my then-trainer’s
experience as a riding teacher and a successful competitor in dressage to help
me prepare for this competition. I wanted to ride accurate tests on show-day,
and I trusted Julie
Van Loo’s insights as she advised me how to fine-tune my position and aids
when I rode Candy through walk-trot transitions. She even corrected my mistakes
before I even make them—or, at least before I was aware that I had made an
error.
As the tagline for those MasterCard® advertisements
read, “Having a trainer to watch you ride: Priceless.”
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in
Southern California. She graduated with honors from the
Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about
Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
