Knowledge does not come free or easy, someone somewhere has had to pay somehow There should be no apologies made for the knowledge that you have gleaned from others, but to deny that the source of your wisdom has come from others’ experiences is tawdry at best. Of course we gain a vast amount from our own experiences, but these ideas are very often tweaked through watching others around us, and discovering what things that they do that we like and what we don’t like. There are many riders who are basically, and occasionally wholly, self-taught, but if you have the opportunity to ask them what were the reference points to their learning, you would discover that not only did they have the confidence to change what they were doing once they discovered it wasn’t having the desired result, but also they would observe and learn – then go home and get it done. It must be remembered that most books on equitation are, and have to be, written from a position of an ideal stand-point, assuming that a normal horse will respond in a certain way to a particular aid or situation. Whereas, they will all give you a good grounding as to what you should expect when all things are equal, the problem is that they rarely are equal. It is at these moments when your own, or somebody else’s, willingness to learn from the horse becomes the difference between success and failure. Equitation has been studied, and has therefore evolved, not just for years but for centuries. We might ‘tut’ at some of the methods that can be seen in books from yesteryear, man’s knowledge and therefore his evolvement will carry on around us, just as it has always done, for as long as the human race survives. It is this evolution that should tell us that there is no ‘new way’, but ideas and trends change over time – many go full circle and become close to how they were many years before. Every evolved idea can be misconstrued and consequently misused and subsequently become frowned upon, but there is a time and a place for almost everything provided it is executed with empathy, compassion and sensitive technique. The truth is most things that can be done in this way have already been tried, and so it is that we learn from others’ experiences. Within reason, there is no right and wrong way to train, just current beliefs and choices; some change over time, most do not.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Jun 2013 06:05:54 +0000
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