You can always tell a noob. That’s short for newbie. And if they aren’t newbies to having instruction, you can always tell one that hasn’t had proper instruction. What’s the dead giveaway? They talk too much.
I can bust on the noobs and sound like I’m above it all because quite frankly, I’m not. Above it all, that is. Nor am I a noob for that matter. But, like everyone, there was a time when I was one. If you’ve never had decent instruction, you don’t realize that you are supposed to shut up and ride. Or, to put it more nicely, listen and ride.
That’s the message in this installment on How to Get a Free Ride. In our last installment, I gave you some rules of the road to follow while you are in your lessons. This goes hand in hand with that. This part talks about your demeanor while you are riding, especially while taking lessons.
Good riding takes a lot of concentration. You are on a large animal that is moving across the ground, sometimes at a pretty good clip. Your eyes are taking all of this in and so is your body. All sorts of signals are being sent to your brain to help you balance and prepare your body with all of the help it needs to keep you in the tack. While all of that visual stimuli is going on, you’ve got some auditory stimuli to boot. That would be your instructor giving you tips and cues and tasks. It is a lot to take in all at once and the job should not be made even more difficult by taking your mind off the ride by talking or responding to someone speaking to you.
Whenever I got a new student in, this was one of the first things I had to teach them. There aren’t many nice ways to tell someone they need to quit talking and commenting while they are riding. The best one I came up with after gentle hints failed was to say, “OK, you need to make a choice, you can ride or you can talk. Which would you like to do?” And then I would explain why you can’t do both. Talking while riding is like taking your hands off the wheel of a car and your eyes off the road. Horses aren’t fond of it either. They aren’t sure if the message is for them or for someone else. So, while you are talking, their ears will twitch back and forth which means they are taking their minds off the road as well.
Here are some guidelines to follow – while your instructor is speaking to you, simply listen and execute the task. If you make a mistake, try your best not to make noise about it. I’ll admit, I have to get better about that part as well. If your instructor asks you a question that you feel you need to respond to (these are typically yes/no questions), simply nod your head or shake it to indicate your answer. Any responses that require speaking, you should do while pulled up and walking or pulled up and standing in the center of the ring with your trainer.
The rider who doesn’t make a lot of noise, doesn’t chit chat from her horse’s back and keeps her focus is more able to concentrate on the task at hand and projects a more organized, competitive, competent image. And with some practice, it won’t be just an image, it will be part of your personality.
Next up (finally!), I’ll give you some ideas on how to get those free rides and tell you some stories on how I have gotten all of mine over the years.
