The Riding Challenge
Riding challenges all of us to reinvent ourselves on a regular basis. This usually comes with the discovery that we are not nearly as advanced, as we had thus far believed. It is painful and damaging for our ego, because we have to face reality and acknowledge not only all the things that we didn’t know, but also all the things we are still doing wrong.
Often, these junctions are “forced” upon us by a particularly difficult (for us) horse who does not allow us to cheat and lie our way through, and who brings us face to face with our inadequacies. This horse is the mirror that shows us a complete reflection of who we are, and the educated rider can see exactly what the horse has to say. a mirror that shows us not only our face, but also our heart and our soul, and we all have ugly parts that we would rather not look at, because it is painful, shameful, or embarrassing for us to look at them acknowledge them. It requires great inner strength to endure this close look at our reflection in the mirror, because it can be such a hurtful experience.
The answers are always right there in front of us. The horse tells us exactly what’s wrong with our riding and what he needs from us. It’s up to us whether we choose to listen or not. There is nothing anybody else can do. However, the metamorphosis cannot begin until we learn to face who we are, including all the negative qualities. That is the first step towards trying to overcome our weaknesses.
It is at this junction, that the rider has a choice. He can either muster the courage and the strength to face himself, warts and all, or he can continue to lay blame and look for answers outside himself. The rider who chooses blame, will waste valuable time and in the end, he will not find knowledge or competence. Instead, his skills will stagnate at the same level.
The rider who undertakes the difficult and painful task of analysing everything about himself honestly will be transformed by the experience in more ways than one and gain a much deeper insight on more levels than he could’ve imagined. The rider has to want to learn, truly and honestly, without making excuses, without blaming the horse, the saddle, the bit, the footing, the boots, the breeches, the farrier, the vet, or whatever. The desire to learn must be greater than anything else, pride, vanity, ego, everything. It comes down to the question of how important it is to the rider to really learn.
If we truly want to learn and grow, we have to discard the bad things, keep the good things, and try to come up with a new concept, a new “working hypothesis” for our seat and our riding that can take us to the next level of competence. Teachers can show us the way and give us the tools we need to solve the problems, but we have to find the solutions ourselves with the help of these tools. Nobody else can do it for us.
That’s why even with the best teachers and the best horses in the world, the student still has to do the work, the studying for him/herself.
