Back to Square One

Back to Square One

We hear this term often, and for various reasons. People often feel that they are “back to square one” with their horses, either relationship or training wise, after they have had time off, after they have had an accident or fall, or after something negative has happened - maybe a pull back, a poor transport experience.

Whilst any of these things could be considered a ‘set back’ that may need work around it, they aren’t necessarily (and more often than not aren’t even close) to “back to square one”.

Our horses are intelligent, curious and social beings, who don’t ‘forget’ their training, simply because they have had a break or some time off.

Absolutely their training is shaped by experiences, but one poor experience, won’t necessarily override 100 good ones.

More often than not it is the human that is remembering the ‘bad thing’ and is focused on that, rather than the 100 ‘good things’ that happened before it.

Let’s use a fall as an example - you’ve probably ridden your horse multiple times without incident, and yet after a fall we can feel like we are beginner riders again, and yet our horse probably doesn’t even remember that we fell off, and he certainly doesn’t put the significance on it that we do.

Riding is as much a mental game as it is a physical one, and it is important we control our focus to the reality and not the stories our mind plays out.

If you can relate to this, take a minute to write out all the great experiences you have had with your horse, and on another page write the ‘bad’ stuff - you will likely find that the good will far outweigh the negative.

Happy trails
Tk

Train with us
August 7 - One Day. Laterals to connection and collection. Maclean Nsw
August 13 Cowboy Dressage Gathering Glenreagh NSW
August 18 - 27 Cadillac horse course 10 days, Glenreagh NSW
September 3 & 4 - Connection & Self Carriage - Gold Coast hinterland QLD
September 3 & 4 - Cowboy Dressage clinic Wauchope NSW