Make the basics cool again

I have been nudging this blog post towards the finish line since returning home from my yearly spring sobatical to New Mexico in late May. Today, two months later, I’m hiding in the office at the barn on a record high July day in New Hampshire, hoping the AC will be the answer to my procrastination prayers!

If feels almost too appropriate to write about the importance of instilling a strong understanding of the basics in horsemanship and riding, on a blistering 100 degree day. There isn’t much to do with ourselves and our horses in this heat other than address the basic needs of the horse, and in doing so we are given the great gift of time to observe them.

When there’s nothing but time on the table your observations have room to create little synaptic sparks of relationship between how your horse behaves and responds to the daily rituals of life in a herd or barn setting, and how they show up in the ring or on the other end of the lead.

Does my horse rush through the gate?

Is she listening to the other horse’s cues to move away or come closer?

Wow, he really struggles with the fly spray in his blind spots.

When he stands idle next to me in hand he seems to always be pitched slightly on the forehand.

She seems to spook more often to new things on her right side versus her left and man her left shoulder is really heavy when I lead her!

I could…..quite literally….go on and on. Because these seemingly mundane responses to our everyday asks threads the fabric of our whole horse. Or as my yoga teaching lineage loves to say, the body is a house. The foundation of the house influences all the ascending floors we build upon it. So, the same horse you ask to move off the left shoulder in hand when turning out, is the exact same horse you’re asking to perform a pirouette in right lead canter. How your horse shows up in these small ways everyday and to “small” asks is him showing you his foundation. His understanding of basic communication, and that foundation is what will build the rest of his body-house.

try to find what the horse is trying to tell you - Tom Dorrance

In a society that exalts information overload, it actually seems that more information and solutions only adds more noise to an already overly anxious society. Blah, it even feels anxiety inducing to type! I think what people really yearn for with their horses is quiet clarity and I think this quiet clarity comes from peeling back layers rather than adding them on.

When we find ourselves in a tangle, say-

Our horse keeps refusing.

She struggles to maintain balance in the collected work.

Going on a solo trail ride is nearly impossible.

“All of a sudden” trailering becomes mission impossible.

Lead changes are unpredictable at best.

there are more solutions to be found in opening the door backwards, so to say, and returning to the fundamental basics that precede the current issue at hand. To do that we need to remember (or relearn) those first foundational systems we (or hopefully someone else) instilled into our horse at a young age. And if we find they weren’t given the basic foundation needed at a young age, give them (and maybe yourself) that gift of re-learning now.

This often looks like slowing down, taking “things” away, and taking a step back so we can see what the horse is trying to tell us and then address the root of what is coming up. Once the crack in the foundation is found, the house can be built up well and with confidence again. Good basics in horsemanship and riding is universal, it doesn’t reside in only one discipline.

Brilliance in our relationship with horses comes from taking the time to intentionally see and know them, and choosing to prioritize their understanding of basic foundational skills needed to interact benevolently with us and the world. Simple, not always easy.

Brent Graef a young horse trainer I really admire says, “the first lead isn’t about the first lead, it’s about the first ride”

Grab a popsicle and just go check on your horse, maybe give them a bath, let them graze and see how they do all the small things.

xx