Episode 224_ Splitting focus, allowing mistakes and growth mentality.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Stacy Westfall:
And the horse gets to know the human who is focused and intentional. They get to know you in that version of yourself. And the side effect of that becomes that both the horse and the rider are more prepared for the unexpected moments of intensity that happen in life.
Announcer:
Podcasting from a little cabin on a hill. This is the Stacy Westfall podcast. Stacy's goal is simple: to teach you to understand why horses do what they do, as well as the action steps for creating clear, confident communication with your horses.
Stacy Westfall:
Hi, I'm Stacy Westfall, and in this season of the podcast, I'm sharing lessons I've learned through showing horses. All of these lessons are available without showing, but they're often very subtle and easy to overlook in other places. In this episode, I want to expand on the idea of what showing can teach you about focus. One definition of focus is to, "concentrate attention or effort." One of the biggest challenges I see riders face is the challenge of focus, and it's a different type of focus challenge than other examples of a single focus. I was thinking of something that I could contrast the horse show example with, and I kept coming back to being in a classroom in high school and taking a test. One of those fill in the bubble with a pencil kind of tests in a quiet room with a clock ticking, pencils scratching, someone coughing, and me trying to focus to take a test in a certain amount of time. And when I think back on a day like this, I can remember that my mind wanted to wander. It wanted to lose focus, to look at the clock, to look out the window. And I had to keep bringing myself back to the test. I was trying to focus on one non-changing task and it was challenging.
Stacy Westfall:
When I think about showing a horse, here's how I would describe the ideal rider and horse experience. Ideally, the rider is focused on what's happening with the horse, the horse's experience, the task at hand, the test, the obstacle, the pattern, and what the rider needs to adjust or change or continue doing to support the horse in order to complete the task. And ideally the horse is focused on the rider with a soft awareness of the surroundings. That's what I'm aiming for and that is the challenge. The rider must be able to focus on the horse, the test, and their role, the rider's role in adjusting themselves and the horse and to the test all at the same time. And I say all at the same time but my personal experience of it is actually being able to change my focus very quickly and smoothly. Now, common rider issues that I see. I often see people who are very focused on the horse so they forget the pattern. Or they're very focused on the pattern and they're not supporting the horse. Or they're very focused on riding correctly or perfect and imagining, "how it should be," and they're not actually present and adjusting to the actual environment. Or they're focused on what others might think about their ride while they're doing their ride. Common horse issues that I see would be the horse focused on the surroundings and not focused on the rider. Or a horse that's overly focused on the rider and then has moments of sudden awareness of the surroundings. Or a horse that's having difficulty allowing for both. So you can kind of see the horse switching gears like they're focused a minute on the rider, then they're focused on the surrounding, then they're focused back on the rider and it looks very scattered. So difficulty having both awarenesses at the same time.
Stacy Westfall:
And the reason this matters is because as a rider, if you develop an awareness to have these multiple focuses, if you develop the ability to read your horse, have a plan or a task at hand, I'm going to call it a pattern or a test for the show example, and you're able to stay present to how you can adjust yourself to support your horse, you will be a well-equipped rider in all situations once you learn this skill. Because once you learn how to switch your focus between these areas. You'll be much more likely to notice the small changes or questions that the horse is asking during training or on a trail ride, even though you may find the truth of this while you're showing. When you can focus and change your focus, it makes you a better observer of your surroundings, of what's working and what you need to adjust to support your horse. And then when your horse develops the ability to have you as the primary focus. Without being restricted in their awareness of their surroundings that's when it feels like you have a partner. Now the challenge is learning to navigate multiple areas of focus in a short amount of time, which is what happens when you show. If you ride into a dressage test or into an obstacle course or a training class or a liberty class, you'll be faced with this challenge. And I was thinking about why this feels different when you're at a show than it does when you're riding alone at home even if you try practicing the same exact test or pattern. And I think the difference is because of accountability and the possibility of publicly making mistakes. Personally, this was made very clear to me back in 2020 when I entered my first online show, because I was actually expecting that recording my test, my western dressage pattern at home would feel like riding at home and practicing for a show. So I always ride the tests before I go to a show and I thought it would just feel like that but I would get dressed up in my show clothes, but it didn't feel like that. It felt way more like a show than I thought it would. And it's because of the sense of accountability and the possibility of publicly making mistakes. So if you already show and you want to give it a try, or if you've never shown and you want to stick your toe in the water, there are quite a few different shows that are running online classes. I know Western dressage and liberty, which includes groundwork and ridden work, both come to mind. And if you haven't tried an online show, give it a try and let me know what your experience is like. Online shows have lots of the benefits of a live show for a fraction of the cost.
Stacy Westfall:
So back on track. It makes sense that if you're learning to split your focus between multiple areas, you'll also be likely to make mistakes. And I've mentioned in other podcasts that shows are great because you'll quickly see that everyone is making mistakes. So let's look at the definition of mistake from Webster's Dictionary. A mistake is a wrong action or statement proceeding from faulty judgment, inadequate knowledge or inattention. And what I find fascinating is that even at the highest level of every discipline, you'll find professionals making mistakes. It happens. Another thing I Googled in preparing for this podcast was the phrase, growth mindset. And the definition Google gave was, growth mindset describes a way of viewing challenges and setbacks. People who have growth mindset believe that even though they struggle with certain skills, their abilities aren't set in stone. They think that with work, their skills can improve over time. When I look back at my career in the horse industry, my biggest areas of growth came from making mistakes at shows in public and then coming back and continuing on. I've told the stories numerous times on the podcast, so I'll just mention them briefly, but my bridleless riding was born from me showing and actually dropping one of my reins in the middle of the reining pattern. And the first time I decided to show bridleless in freestyle reining I was in front of over 5000 people. And because it's freestyle, you make your own routine but there are required maneuvers and I left one out. Both times it took me out of placing in the classes. Both times I was devastated. Both times when I worked my way to the other side, each of those rides taught me so much about myself. And what's fascinating to me is more so than the physical skills, the mistakes I've made in public have revealed the mindset work that I needed to do that then gave me the opportunity to see the growth that could come out of the mistake that changed me into the next level of rider. Focus is an interesting word also, because many people associate it with a form of pressure. The definition of focus or one definition of focus is to concentrate attention or effort. So let's just say that when someone focuses on something that when they concentrate their attention or they concentrate their effort, let's just say that that person does give off a feeling that's more intense. Is that a problem? Or is it a benefit? And let's say that when someone concentrates their attention or concentrates their effort, let's say they require more precision from themselves and from their horse. This could be another type of intensity, another type of feeling that's going to come from them as they focus their attention on being more precise. The next challenge is can the rider be focused and intentional without tension? Because what I've experienced and observed consistently over the years is that when a horse and rider begin to increase the level of focus with a plan aimed at something specific like showing, they are more likely to ride with focused intensity. They're more intentional and the horse gets to know the human who is focused and intentional. They get to know you in that version of yourself. And the side effect of that becomes that both the horse and the rider are more prepared for the unexpected moments of intensity that happen in life. An example would be trail riding and having something unexpectedly startle you. A deer. It's so easy to want to trail ride and hope it all goes well. And if the trail rides going well, it's probably not intense. But if you've ever had the experience where something startling happens it is a completely different experience if you and your horse are prepared for that type of situation. If your horse knows how to focus on you, when there's a sense of intensity in the air, and if you know how to split your focus between your horse and the environment and how you can best support your horse, then this is how you will create the best outcome in that moment.
Stacy Westfall:
To become a rider who can switch between these areas of focus smoothly you practice them individually and then in combinations. This is a skill set that I teach in both of my programs the resourceful rider and the advance at-home private coaching. I've been making updates to my website and I just posted a video that happens to have footage of students riding my horse Willow. And it's very easy for someone to get on one of my horses and ride because my horses are focused but not reactive. For my horses to learn to be focused and not reactive I had to be focused and not reactive when I was training them. Showing is a great way to learn the skill of being able to split your focus and be responsive and not reactive. Thanks for listening and I'll talk to you again in the next episode.
Announcer:
If you enjoy listening to Stacy's podcast, please visit stacywestfall.com for articles, videos, and tips to help you and your horse succeed.
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Great podcast to help the rider/trainer advance in horsemanship. I love listening to your podcasts as they teach that 99% of what transpires with horses comes from inside the brain of the person working with the horse. After having horses and riding horses most of my life, your podcasts have helped me to become more thoughtful, respond vs react better, see the big picture better, more caring for my horse and how they learn, think ahead, understand feelings and emotions and what affects them, it goes on and on. When we know better we try and do better. The human is more the wild card and more the work in progress than the horse and is the place to start when it comes to human and horse interactions.