It’s Not You, It’s Me…, cont’d squeezed by legs or being bounced on… Learning to stay out of my horse’s way has been one of the most challenging and rewarding things I’ve put effort into learning. It’s phenomenal how willing and cooperative a horse can become if he doesn’t feel like he has to defend himself. For example, having the freedom of being left off-line (or if under saddle, on a loose rein) while working over poles can help a horse gain confidence and Me and my Arab gelding coordination. He is put in a position ‘’Fire’’ showing balance to find his own footing and sort and togetherness without interference. out his distances himself. He has the freedom to drop his nose, look down at the poles and make his choices without having his head pulled up or to one side or another. Coincidentally, as a rider working over poles on a loose rein, you’ll learn to stay centered and soft in your saddle and use your seat to balance rather than your reins or legs. You’ll learn to move with your horse, not for your horse, and gain confidence, balance and rhythm of your own. After all my studies, one of the most mind-boggling, frustrating and absolutely incredible discoveries has been that there’s no “right way” to do anything. Just a whole lot of ways to achieve a variety of results. What’s right for one horse and human team is far from right for another. What was once right for some may become primitive and incomplete given some time, progress and achievement. What’s not right for another now, may be just what the doctor ordered a year from now. We’re always changing and so are our horses. Because of this, there is no “getting it.” Every day spent in the saddle will render new learning and new development. That new development will require a greater level of sophistication and evolution from both horse and rider, and each new level of sophistication and evolution will open new doors of possibility, doors that have never been available to that team before. Once you step through one of those doors, you will be in an unfamiliar place and must adopt the mindset of a beginner if you wish to continue to advance; or alternatively, back yourself back through that door and remain where you were, an expert at what you “know.” I’ve come to recognize that, if I’ve begun to feel like I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, I’m on the cusp of great progress. The more I learn about horsemanship and riding, the less I “do.” The less I “do,” the less I interfere with and the more I can influence my horse. The more I influence (without interfering with) my horse, the more progress we can make. The more progress we make, the greater the learning is that’s still available to gain, and although it is actually quite the opposite, the more I learn the less I feel I know. There are, of course, things the horse must learn from us: how HCBC 2010 Business of the Year
to wear a saddle, respond to signals and follow directions; but, at the end of the day I find myself thanking my horses for their patience and tolerance and for helping me to learn. I apologize for my shortcomings and for getting in their way and I find myself whispering in their ears as I brush them down after the ride, “it’s not you, it’s me.” I promise them I’ll continue learning, improving my feel, timing and balance, making it possible for them to achieve the greatness that I know they could if I could only get out of their way and inspire their natural gifts to emerge. I now pray that I’ll never know everything because the day I do is the day I have missed the point! Christa Miremadi has been working with horses since 1984, and is a partner and facility manager in her family business in Langley, Silver Star Stables, where she also provides riding instruction and conducts horsemanship clinics. Christa is dedicated to creating harmony and building relationships between horses and humans through compassionate communication, and to strengthening partnerships by sharing the horse’s point of view. (See her listing in the Business Services Section under TRAINERS)
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