It never ceases to amaze me how brave young riders are. Often you will see them haring across a field on a small pony that seems to be out of control, jumping over any obstacle with ease. The bottom line is confidence. Confidence in yourself and the horse you ride is the major key to success.
In all situations, whether you are educating yourself, another rider or a horse, your aim should be to create a situation in which you and they can achieve the desired result. best way to accomplish this is to start any exercise in its simplest form and then to build it up in stages. A confident horse can achieve almost anything that you ask of him. confident rider makes any horse feel safe, which makes the team successful. W hen learning a new skill, start it at walk or even halt.
For example, if you’re learning to do grid work, start by walking over a single pole on the ground. This will build your confidence, and remove the element of surprise. Then you can put three poles on the ground, but still in a basic fashion. Walk over them in balance and with confidence, then trot over them. O nce the horse can negotiate the poles in a straight line, place a cross-pole with a placing pole 22,5cm in front of it.
Once you and your horse can jump that with ease, develop the exercise. Place another pole one stride away from the jump. If you progress in baby steps, you set your horse up for success and build great confidence. If your horse seems to be getting bored with this exercise, it’s time to up the pace a tad. If you make a mistake that gives your confidence a wobble, take a small step back and repeat the exercise until you find it easy.
Put the fence down a hole or, if you’re working on the flat, go back to the exercise at a walk instead of a trot. Returning to a level or exercise that both horse and rider can do restores their confidence. B uilding confidence will pay huge dividends in the long run. It’s like building a wall – build on a solid foundation, without missing a brick. – Kim Dyson (082 888 6511) |fw
