Coaching, training, judging – I’ve my living observing horses and riders!
Riding coaches, act as mirrors. Reflecting what we see. Choosing words as descriptively and simply as we can. “Teaching has made has made me more reflective and intentional in my own riding.” Lindsay Grice, riding coach.
Creative problem solving, humility, humour, life perspective (“this too shall pass”). Good coaches are mentors – teaching life lessons alongside riding without stirrups! Because its’ more than horse shows. Our students may take away a ribbon as they exit the ring. But if they don’t take away character learned from the pressure cooker of competition, we’ve failed as coaches.
Use your corners. Advice from an Olympic dressage rider and useful tip for hunter riders and western show competitors. But come to think of it, it’s good daily life advice… For me, inspiration tends to happen in the corners of life.
Seems there’s a link between higher scores on the horse show judge’s card with higher scores on the Equine Body Condition Scale (the horse equivalent of the bathroom scale).
First impressions are lasting impressions in horse show flat classes. Enter the show ring with confidence – in show mode, not training mode. Though judges aren’t yet officially scoring, they’re forming opinions as they organize bookwork and check tack. Get in there promptly. Don’t dilly-dally and contribute to a delay. That’s irritating to a horse show judge – the judge you’re hoping to impress. As a bonus, making an early entrance into the show ring carves out extra warm up time while the judge is recording numbers…and waiting for the tardy entries.
My father’s ear was always open for a “good deal”. My first horse – a Standardbred race horse, early retired and “broke to ride”. “Broke to ride” – a description to bypass when shopping for a novice horse…
Dad was a business guy – not a horse guy.
Whose voices are you listening to? Speaking to a group of students last month about the influence of our media choices,I used a Life Lesson Learned from Horses. horse show I judged –a speed event horse, so distracted in the show ring by the calls of his stable mates that he crashed into the first barrel on course! Are the voices coming from our screens, song lyrics, celebrities and social media, steering us off-course?
At a dressage judging clinic, Caledon Equestrian Park on Saturday. Professional development day. Wearing a few different hats as a horse show judge, it’s SO interesting for me to compare the disciplines. The scoring systems, the traditions, the styles – even the background music! Something to be learned and appreciated from every horse show ring in equestrian sport.
As a kid, I never knew what Good Friday was all about. Overshadowed by Easter Bunny anticipation, I knew it had something to do with Jesus and a cross. An analogy’s found in crossing the horse show rules and finding the horse shows judge’s amazing grace.
A credit-earning transition has no FLEE (rushing out the “front door”) And no BRACE (resistance–leaning on your hands or sticking on your leg aids). Full article on my site…
Maybe the same ingredients for riding transitions can apply to our inevitable life transitions too.
We’ve all rushed into the next opportunity or confrontation with someone, and regretted it.
Other times we get stuck – paralyzed to make a choice or a change .