Episode 244_ Why ride patterns_ (especially boring ones).mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
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The more consistent you are, the easier it is for your horse to become consistent.
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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.
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Hi, I'm Stacy Westfall and I'm here to help you understand, enjoy and successfully train your own horses. In this season of the podcast, I'm answering questions that your mind may offer you when you head out to train your horse. Often these will be simple questions like last week's Why Bend? If you listen carefully to your own thoughts, you might find that your brain offers a lot of these seemingly simple questions. And it is very important that you find these thoughts and answer them. Let's look at last week's Why Bend? If you listen carefully, it can quickly become I don't need to practice this today. But if you listen to last week's podcast, there are many reasons to practice bending, including safety reasons. My point is it's important to listen for these seemingly innocent, simple thoughts. Before I tell you today's question, here's a quote from the very successful basketball coach, John Wooden. If you spend too much time learning the tricks of the trade, you may not learn the trade. There are no shortcuts. If you're working on finding a shortcut the easy way, you're not working hard enough on the fundamentals. You may get away with it for a spell, but there's no substitution for the basics. And the first basic is good old fashioned hard work. John Wooten. When I Googled this quote right below it, Google offered me the question and answer What made John Wooden so great? And the answer was his philosophy.
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And it's summarized as this. In a career so focused on competition, winning and losing. He never coached his teams to try to be better than their opponent. He simply taught his teams to try to prepare themselves to the best of their ability to be the best they could be, and the end result would take care of itself. This is how he became such a successful basketball coach. So one more time, the quote is If you spend too much time learning the tricks of the trade, you may not learn the trade. There are no shortcuts. If you're working on finding a shortcut the easy way, you're not working hard enough on the fundamentals. You may get away with it for a spell, but there's no substitution for the basics. And the first basic is good old fashioned hard work. The question I'm answering this week is why ride patterns? If I phrase it the way most riders view it, it would actually sound like this. Why ride boring patterns? Riding patterns is how we can solidify the basics of communication with our horse riding. A set pattern can be as simple as putting a cone on the ground and riding a circle with the cone at the center. Or it can be something like riding a dressage test or a ranch pattern or a reining pattern. Patterns define what we're trying to do, which then reveal what's working and what's not working in our communication with our horse.
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Let's go back to that circle, for example. If you put a marker of any sort on the ground and try to stay the same distance from that marker for five circles, you will learn something. You'll learn the pieces that worked. You were able to stay the same direction. What didn't work? It looks more like an egg. What's your theory for improving it next time? Well, that's going to actually involve you really trying to understand what happened this time. Maybe you start to notice that that egg shape is leaning towards the barn or the gate. Or maybe you notice that you weren't really that focused during that ride. You're going to have a theory for what happened that's going to build off from your theory for improving it next time. The opposite of riding a pattern is riding randomly. Most people don't think they ride randomly, but lots of riders do it. I used to do it. This is how I know. And when you ride very random. One of the giveaways is that you're going to make last minute decisions. You're going to be riding along and then suddenly decide to turn or riding along and suddenly decide to stop or riding along and suddenly decide to go faster, which makes your hands and legs, whatever cues you're using, it makes your cues quick because you didn't preplan.
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When you don't preplan, it often causes the horse to have a big reaction because they're suddenly surprised by your surprise request to change speeds or change direction. This surprise is unpleasant for your horse, so they often toss their heads or have another physical reaction. The magic of riding a pattern, especially a simple, boring pattern, is that it allows the rider to begin observing your own habits and then also your horse's habits. There are two separate beings that are experiencing this pattern and you both have habits. So when you go out and you ride that circle and you start to see the tracks in the dirt around your marker and your circle looks like an egg, that is feedback. What is your theory for improving it next time? Next time might be five minutes later after you've thought about it and you go back with a plan. Or it might be your theory that you're going to apply over the next five rides, you're going to want to double check the Foursquare model, your mind, the rider's mind. If you're thinking this is boring, you're actually going to probably be adding to the problem as opposed to thinking, this is interesting. Seems like trotting a circle around a cone and staying the same distance shouldn't be quite this hard. You'll also be able to notice your body, notice what you're doing with your hands.
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Notice what you're doing with your legs. Notice how you may be contributing to the egg shape. This will also give you a place to observe your horse's mind. Oftentimes you'll ride 2 or 3 circles and then your horse may physically. So the horse's body may may pull on the rein and offer to turn because the horse is saying in their mind, we normally turn after one circle, we've gone two. You know, we normally go to the left Now if we've been going right or to the right now, if we've been going left, we don't normally do this. So the horse may actually reveal to you habits you don't even know you have. My question to you is how would you benefit from writing ten minutes a day on a boring pattern? What might you learn about yourself in this process? There will be many cues or aids that you can observe how you use your right rein, or how you use your left rein, and how you coordinate your rein, and your leg use. But what about the mental side? Is there even a pattern that is truly boring? Patterns reveal our physical habits. Often riders lack preparation. Patterns make it easier to see our horses questions because we know what our goal is and we know what we are using for cues. So what it leaves is it makes it clear for what's coming from the horse when you're being steady and the pattern is steady, that's when you can begin to see their questions, their thoughts, their observations of your normal habits day after day.
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Simply put, a pattern is a planned ride. When you ride with a plan. You begin to show up consistently. The more consistent you are, the easier it is for your horse to become consistent. I personally love a great trail ride. I ride hundreds of miles on the trails each year, and I grew up primarily trail riding. The skills that I have learned by riding patterns have helped me become a rider who plans ahead, who rides with quiet aides, and who consistently creates more clarity with each ride. Patterns have given that to me. So why do I promote riding patterns, especially boring patterns? It comes down to this If my relationship with my horse is like a conversation with a friend, then the pattern is the table that we both sit down at to have our conversation and coffee. It's not about the pattern. The pattern is here to allow the conversation to happen. If the conversation that's brought to the table is boring, that's actually on you. Thanks for listening. If you have a question you would like me to address, feel free to email that to Stacy at Stacy westfall.com and I'll talk to you again in the next episode.
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If you enjoy listening to Stacy's podcast, please visit Stacy westfall.com for articles, videos and tips to help you and your horse succeed.
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