What Kind of Horseman Are You?

 

I have long recommended horse owners to subscribe to Eclectic Horseman (EH) magazine. Published six times a year by Emily Kitching and Steve Bell out of Elbert, Colorado, this magazine covers a wide breadth of disciplines and approaches. I offer a couple gift subscriptions in my annual Arena Obstacle Challenge. I am disappointed when riders sometimes choose hardware over the magazine. As John Lyons said, words to the effect anyway, "Buy knowledge before equipment." Not just knowledge in Eclectic Horseman magazine, but articles that will make you think. You may not agree with some of it, but again much of the content will make you think. Which brings me to the recent edition of EH, Issue No 93, January/February 2017.

One of the bigger articles in EH Issue No. 93 edition was titled - "Not 'Just Getting By': Mastery, and Why Few People Achieve It", by Deb Bennett, PhD. The Contributor bio of EH describes Deb Bennett as "she teaches unique anatomy and short courses and horsemanship clinics designed to be enjoyable to riders of all breeds and disciplines, and all levels of skill. International known for her scientific approach to conformation analysis, "Dr. Deb" has made a career out of conveying a kind of "X-ray" vision for bone structure to breeders and buyers. Her background helps her clearly explain how conformation relates to performance ability." Learn more at equinestudies.org

Dr. Bennett's article pretty much challenges the reader to do some self introspection and see if they can find a description of themselves in the categories of riders she discusses, from people who ride for years and never get better, to the rider obsessed with getting better. On those who just aren't progressing, I know several people who would like to compete in the Arena Obstacle Challenges or events I go to, but after several years of riding and instruction they say they aren't ready. I say no time like the present and to treat the event like a training session which it is. After all, there are novice levels in about any local competition be it Western Shows or Dressage, Gymkhanas or Sorting. There are always people who will take the time necessary to make sure you are sacked out on what to do and are safe doing it. Of course, they will be people who like the idea of getting better much more than riding to get there.

She writes about competition and how some people, no matter how much they say they don't care about the results, just want to compete for the training value. Some of these will eventually get consumed by winning to the detriment of their horse.

I also liked, and found useful Deb Bennett's explanation of the learning or improvement plateaus which we all invariably face. In fact, I liked the article so much, well maybe like is not the right term, maybe 'found it educational' is a better way to describe it,...... anyway I'll be ordering extra copies of this EH issue so I can pass them out at the next event I host. There are other very good articles in this and other issues of EH as well - well worth the small subscription cost. And if you are a visual learner, Eclectic Horseman offers the EH Horseman's Gazette, which is a quarterly video with instruction from some of the best Horseman and Horsewomen in the country - also worth the nominal cost.