Episode 272: Stuck at the Start: the 5 steps riders use to improve and why many get stuck on step one

Episode 272_ Stuck at the Start_ the 5 steps riders use to improvement and why many get stuck on step one.mp3: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Episode 272_ Stuck at the Start_ the 5 steps riders use to improvement and why many get stuck on step one.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Speaker1:
The chances of this being productive are very slim, and none of it has roots in whether they are capable. None of it has roots in whether or not it is true that they started at a certain age. I still find it absolutely fascinating that as a freshman, I didn't know what lead I was on.

Speaker2:
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.

Speaker1:
Hi, I'm Stacy Westfall and I'm here to help you understand, enjoy and successfully train your own horses. In this episode, I want to share with you the five steps that everyone uses to improve their riding and the training of their horses. Then I want to focus in on the very first step, because this is often the place where I see many riders get stuck. But before I tell you the five steps, I want to tell you a story so you can hear the five steps better when I give them to you. I grew up in Maine, very far east, very far north. And when I went to an equine college as a freshman. I had ridden a lot, but I didn't have a lot of knowledge, so an example of that would be that I knew horses had a right lead and a left lead when they cantered, but I wasn't able to identify when I was riding the horse. If I was on the right lead or the left lead, I could most of the time see it for sure in the front of the horse when they were loping. If I watched somebody riding and cantering or loping or lunging the horse, I could see the front lead for sure. I was questionable about whether I could see the hind lead, so that kind of gives you an idea of the level that I was at when I went to college. When I was a freshman at the University of Findlay here in Ohio, Dale Wilkinson came and gave a demonstration.

Speaker1:
And for those of you who don't know, Dale is considered the father of reining, and I will put a link to an article that tells more about him over on my website with this podcast episode if you want to learn more. So Dale was considered the father of reining, and the University of Findlay is actually built on land that he used to own. And the small riding arena that's there is the arena that he used to train out of. So there's a lot of history around that college. And Dale Wilkinson. Now remember, he's coming in, he's teaching to everyone. And I'm a freshman watching. And as I watched, what I could see was a man on a horse. And his reins were vastly different lengths. So he was neck reining, riding around on this horse, teaching, talking. I was listening to what he was saying. He was talking about straightness, the importance of having a horse be responsive, that kind of stuff. But in my mind, the thing that stood out the most to me was that as he held both reins in one hand, the left rein was far, far shorter than the right rein. And to give you an indication, I'm talking, that the right rein probably hung six inches lower than the left rein. So what's interesting about this is that I was able to see the difference in the length of the rein, I was struggling with the idea that those were so different, because part of my mind was trying to figure out what I was missing.

Speaker1:
But at the same time, I was listening to what he was saying, and I remember trying to see past what kept standing out to me, which was the difference in the rein. And I kept listening for what he was saying, which was the straightness that the horse needed and the power that came from the horse working off from his hind end. So even though I was wrestling with the rein, difference, I was able to see that he could neck Rein, equally well, steering to the right or steering to the left, that his horse was equally responsive even though his reins were not evenly held. And the reason I wanted to share this story at the beginning is because I'm about to tell you the five steps that everyone uses to improve their riding, but it's also very important to recognize a time when you weren't able to do all of these steps, because then all of a sudden, it makes it easier to see a time that it wasn't fully working and a time that it has been working. And then these steps will make more sense to you. Okay, so here are the five steps. The ability to see. The ability to identify. The ability to conceptually understand. The ability to predict and the ability to execute with better timing. It's a cycle. Every time you go through this cycle, you're going to improve each one of these layers.

Speaker1:
So let me say it again. Your ability to see and the earlier you are in this process, that's going to be like a low resolution in the beginning. So my ability to see when I was watching Dale Wilkinson's demonstration was low resolution. I wasn't absorbing everything. So there's your ability to see your ability to identify what's happening. Again, in my story, my ability was low resolution. Your ability to conceptually understand. And that's where I was really wrestling with. Even watching the demonstration and thinking about it now, I can really identify with the idea that I was stuck right there. The ability to conceptually understand then would come your ability to predict based on your understanding. I did not have that going on in this story, and your ability to execute with better timing, because I was stuck right at that level of the ability to conceptually understand, I was blocked from my ability to predict improving and my ability to execute with better timing and proving. The good news is, even though I wasn't able to go fully through this cycle in that demonstration, that demonstration helped me be able to wrestle with, what I was seeing helped me to understand a little bit more of what I was trying to identify. I was obviously stuck on the differences in his rein, length, but I could also hear some more things being said about straightness, about the horse's responsiveness, some of these different things.

Speaker1:
And so even though I wasn't picking up everything he was talking about because I was stuck at that wrestling match of conceptually understanding, it did help me move forward as I progressed with more and more lectures, more and more teaching. So let's pause for just a moment and think about it. This is why everyone loves a good demonstration, because if you watch a great demonstration, you get to see what's happening. And it's even better if in the demonstration you're not just watching someone ride and there's nothing being said. It's even better if you're seeing what's happening and someone is explaining what's working and what's not working, because that helps you. You're seeing it helps you identify. And that identification with the explanation helps you begin to create that conceptual understanding. And I do say conceptual understanding, because there is a difference in being able to conceptually understand something and being able to execute it. But I promise you, conceptually, understanding is the step that comes before being able to execute it. Now there'll be times when you might accidentally execute something like you might accidentally get a lead change while you're doing something like barrel racing. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you could teach that lead change as a trained response. So there's a different level of conceptual understanding going on there. And the reason I say conceptual understanding is because the better we understand how things are fitting together, which is where we understand it in our mind, that's going to happen, and that's going to impact the next two steps the ability to predict based on that understanding and the ability to execute on that understanding.

Speaker1:
And this is actually what creates better and better timing in the rider every time you go through this cycle. This also explains why you can even have people who can improve their ability to see, identify, conceptually understand, and even predict. And what's fascinating about this is that all of those steps can actually be done without riding. I'm not suggesting that you need to do them without riding, but I am saying absolutely. If you have a snow day, you can 100% practice the first four steps and improve yourself, because even the ability to predict based on your understanding will improve with the more that you watch and the more that you go through this cycle. And then those things, as those get stronger and stronger, that's what impacts your ability to execute with better timing on your next ride. I went through it kind of quickly, but these five layers are really, really important. They create a cycle that I see successful riders use over and over and over and over again. But what I want to focus on in this episode is the very first one, the ability to see. Now, what I had working for me at that stage of life was that as a freshman going into college, knowing that, I really didn't know. I knew I was supposed to be learning when I went to college.

Speaker1:
So by default, that means I was in a stage of life where it's acceptable to not know, and you are expected to not fully understand. So I was open, and even to this day, I can rewind and rewatch that visual of what I saw. Even though it was lower resolution than probably a senior who was watching that same demonstration, their ability to have seen more would have been more developed, so they would have seen even more layers. But even my freshman self, I can rewind and rewatch that demonstration. His horse that he was using was built really, really well, and I didn't even know how to judge that at the time. So even though I didn't know how to judge a horse's conformation back then, because I can actually rewind and rewatch that video in my mind, I can actually see that now, even though I didn't have that understanding back when I was watching the demonstration. It's fascinating. Okay, so here's what I want you to think about. It makes sense that somebody as a freshman in college would be watching from this standpoint. So now I want you to contrast this with many, many, many riders that I meet. Now, many of the riders that I meet are women who are in midlife and are pursuing horses, and they consider themselves starting later or restarting later in life. And in this stage of life, it is much more common for me to hear them say things like, I should know this by now.

Speaker1:
I started too late. Why don't I understand this yet? And what happens is that doubt, that disappointment, and that sadness or frustration that blocks them from being able to see clearly. So imagine sitting in the stands and watching a demonstration. And if you are focused on. That you don't understand. If you keep thinking. I don't understand what he's saying. I don't understand what he's doing. I don't understand what he's saying. Oh, my gosh, I started too late. I should know this by now. What did he just say? Why don't I understand this? This is why so many adults struggle to learn to see. And when you add to this that these same people are often sitting in the stands, not only running through all those judgments, but also on another level, comparing what they are able to do or what they are not able to do to what they are seeing. It makes perfect sense to me that this would become intolerable. So I considered myself primarily a trail rider who also barrel raced when I went to college. So if I had sat there focused on the fact that most of my riding hours were from trail riding, with a side dose of barrel racing often out of control, I could have blocked my ability to see also. And I think this is why when you read books or study about great artists or writers they often observe something that I'm talking about, but they say it a completely different way.

Speaker1:
So think about how this quote from Picasso relates to what I'm talking about. Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist when we grow up. I think what's being spoken to in quotes that refer to a child like state is the openness that we have when we are children. Children are so interested in the world they observe. They assume they don't know. And what's fascinating is they love repetition. How many times have you heard a young child say, do it again? Do it again. Children are so open that it makes sense to me that you would hear great writers, philosophers, artists talk about every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist when we grow up. So now let's go back to the person who is watching the demonstration or has just watched a YouTube video. And let's add one more layer. Now you take this same person with these same struggles, doubts, disappointments, and now try to get them to watch a video of themselves riding. The chances of this being productive are very slim, and none of it has roots in whether they are capable. None of it has roots in whether or not it is true that they started at a certain age. I still find it absolutely fascinating that as a freshman, I didn't know what lead I was on. And yes, if you're listening to this and you're one of those people who thinks you're coming to horses too late in life, you might use my age against yourself to say yes, but Stacy, you were doing that in college, and now I'm doing this at X amount of whatever years.

Speaker1:
I'm telling you, that sentence doesn't help you. It just blocks you more. I want to learn more now, in the next four years, than I've ever learned before about horses. That's possible. I could go deeper. You can always go deeper. You don't want to measure against that. I'd have to measure myself against all the greats that have ever been. I don't want to do that. I want to measure me against me, and I want to learn more in the next four years than I learned in that first four years at college. And that would be astounding. But it's only going to be possible if I can stay in that childlike wonder and openness. Now, I want to assure you that I have not been exempt from this struggle. Back when I watched Dale, I happened to be at a stage of life when it is normal and expected for you to be open and curious and not know, because that's literally what I signed up to do, was go learn there. But I know the struggle because I remember the very first teaching videos that I made many years ago when they had to be on VHS tape, and it was physically hard for me to watch them. It was physically a reaction in my body of so much self-judgment.

Speaker1:
I literally could not watch them straight through. I couldn't take the notes to give to the editor because it was so painful. I knew the information was good. I didn't actually have doubts about whether or not the information about training the horse was good, but I didn't like my voice and I could come up with 10 or 20 or 100 things that I could have changed, whether it was the way I sounded or what I wore or the phrases that I used. It was like a form of torture to edit those videos. So if you find it challenging to watch your own videos, you are not alone. Fast forward many years and even starting this podcast, I think it's been six years ago now, six years ago starting this podcast, I still had some of that vibe. I would still cringe at my own voice when I heard it in the recording. So I understand the physical response in your body when you're feeling self-judgment. I understand the mental and emotional agony that you can put yourself through, and it doesn't even feel like you're doing it actively. It doesn't feel like a choice. It feels like this is just what happens when I watch my video. This is just what happens when I hear my own voice. But I'm telling you. There is another side. I now know the freedom and the growth that is possible when you do the work to move past it.

Speaker1:
And what that means for me now is I can listen to a podcast. I can hear myself make mistakes. I can understand that there are 10 or 20 ways that I could say it different, and I can have a completely different thought about it and think, well, you know, this is episode 272. I guess I'll get to say that sometime in the next hundred episodes. And I share this with you, because I want to assure you that there is a sense of freedom and growth that is possible, and so much easier when you do the work to move past that self-judgment. If you listened to episodes 259 to 263 of this podcast, you heard students talking about the mindset mastery portion of my course, because that's where we do the heavy lifting of understanding that self-judgment and how it's impacting literally your ability to make progress, to see, to identify, to conceptually understand, to predict, to execute with better timing. And the other thing that you'll also hear them talk about is the video reviews. Because what's going on in the video reviews is that even though we all watch the same video, we don't all see the same video. What I see on the video and what I can identify, is different than the student who sent in the video, and different from the other students that are watching. It's so fun to watch my students develop this ability. Every time we watch a video together, I identify different things, which makes them see different things.

Speaker1:
I explain the concepts and then they can see and identify and begin to grasp the concept. And as they keep going, they solidify that ability to see, identify and conceptually understand. And then they begin to predict, and then they begin to see it impact their writing as they're able to execute with better timing. Now it's your turn. Write down these five things see, identify. Conceptually, understand, predict, execute with better timing, and think back to a time in your life when maybe you could see in low resolution, like I talk about with my story watching Dale, or think back to a time when you can remember being able to see all the way through all five of those steps. This is the cycle that riders use to make the most consistent progress. You can do it watching other people's rides. You can also do it watching your rides. And the more you do it and the faster you get at going through that cycle, the more you'll see progress with your riding. So if this concept resonated with you and you want to hear more about it, or visually see more about it by seeing the visuals that I send out in emails, make sure you get on my email list by going over to my website. You'll be notified the next time my Resourceful Rider program opens, and you'll be able to see some visuals that go along with this concept. Thanks for listening, and I'll talk to you again in the next episode.

Speaker2:
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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