Episode 294: “Predictable vs Unpredictable: From ‘Oh This Again’ to ‘Oh, I See It There!’

Episode 294: "Predictable vs Unpredictable: From 'Oh This Again' to 'Oh, I See It There!'.mp3: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

Episode 294: "Predictable vs Unpredictable: From 'Oh This Again' to 'Oh, I See It There!'.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Speaker1:
So again what once was oh this again becomes oh I see there it is.

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 take a look at the challenges that you face with your horse and when you're done with this podcast, if you walk away with only one concept, I would like it to be this. All challenges are problems fall into one of two categories. You ready? Predictable and unpredictable. I'm going to explain which one you should start addressing first. And I'm going to use examples that involve just the rider, as in you the human listening to this podcast. And I'm going to also use examples that involve horses, groundwork and ridden. So the next time that you face a challenge or a behavioral issue, I would like you to start by putting it into one of those two categories. And the first thing I notice when I look at those two words is I can see why it is very tempting to think that it would be important to start with the unpredictable problems, because unpredictable is scary. It might seem like, oh, where did that come from? We should definitely start with the unpredictable first, but what if the opposite is true? What if starting with and creating a plan for the predictable problems is the way to go? And what if solving predictable problems is the path toward resolving the unpredictable problems? These are the things I'd like you to consider while you're listening to this podcast. In this episode, I want to share with you three reasons why addressing predictable problems is the best place to start.

Speaker1:
Let's just start with a quick overview of the three. Number one. Beginning by addressing predictable problems is easier because it's a known thing. So it's easier to make a plan for. Number two, addressing a predictable problem is going to have side effects. And one of those side effects is that you're going to be addressing the thought pattern in the horse. Another way that I love to look at problems or challenges with horses is that they have questions. So by addressing the predictable problems or the predictable questions, you'll be answering those questions. And in doing that, you will be addressing a thought pattern within your horse And number three, when you choose to address something that is known, a known challenge, a predictable problem, it actually takes more effort from you to decide to address that. Does that make sense? Here's my theory on it. I think it takes more effort for a writer to choose to address a predictable problem, because if it's predictable, it's known you're likely in the habit of ignoring it or dismissing it or making an excuse for it. It's not really that big a deal. Let's anchor this into an example. Think about it if you think, yeah, my horse is a little lazy. So obviously when I'm leading him or her from the pasture, she's going to stop. Or maybe she's going to drag me to the grass, or maybe I'm going to have to drag him towards the barn, or I might even stop and walk back and try to encourage him to walk forward with the rope to move because he's a lazy horse.

Speaker1:
Or maybe it sounds like this. My horse is nervous, so obviously when I'm leading him or her, she's going to be ahead of me. He's going to be pulling on the halter. Sometimes I have to circle him around me. Yeah, I know, sometimes he bumps into me, but he doesn't really mean it. He's distracted by the fill in the blank. Does it make more sense now, oftentimes when things are known or predictable problems or challenges, there's something that you've been ignoring, dismissing or making excuses for. So the effort that it takes for you to focus on that when it doesn't seem like a big deal, it seems more important or more pressing to go to that unpredictable problem. But here's the reality. When your horse is exhibiting small, predictable issues, things that you've accepted. But you also notice that when you look at other horses you admire, that they don't drag their humans to the grass so they can graze. You admire that? It doesn't look like a lot of effort to slow them down or speed them up. Those little things that you're choosing to ignore or dismiss or make excuses for, those are very likely the key to addressing what seem like unpredictable challenges or problems.

Speaker1:
Okay, now we've arrived at the part of the podcast where the example that involves just you, just the rider, is here. The place where you can practice addressing a predictable problem is in the way that you're thinking about the problems and challenges you face with your horse. It's exactly the same path. So here's what it's going to be when your horse does the thing, let's say tries to drag you to the grass to eat, but you can fill in the blank with any example of anything that you know you would like to change, but you've been maybe ignoring, dismissing, or making excuses for. Think about that example right now and think how do you currently think about it? The problem happens repeatedly enough that you can think of the example. Notice how you respond. It's probably predictable. You probably have a predictable response, but maybe not a very effective one because it hasn't changed your horse's behavior. But just notice for a moment that you probably have a predictable physical response and a predictable mental response. What do you think when that happens? Let's stick with the example of the horse dragging you to the grass. It's very common for riders who have a repeat problem that happens over and over again, whether it's in ground work or riding to have thoughts like, I should know how to fix this by now, I'm never going to figure this out. I started too late. The best place to practice looking for predictable problems is actually looking at your own predictable thoughts about the challenges you're having with your horse.

Speaker1:
If you've got a repeatable thing happening, that means it's a known thing. If you know your horse drags you to the grass, it's easier for you to know when to start turning up your awareness to what you're thinking the next time it happens. You might not even know what your thought is right now as you're listening to the podcast, but the next time your horse does whatever, fill in the blank with your horse's thing that you're reacting to. But the next time the horse goes to drag you to the grass, I want you to just have this one thought in your mind. What am I thinking about this right now? Because if we begin by addressing your predictable thought process, it's known where it's going to show up. It's going to show up the next time it appears that your horse triggers it by dragging you to the grass. That thought process that you're having has side effects. And when we address your thought process and we start to notice that you think things like, I'm never going to figure this out, we're going to start to see how that is causing a certain side effect and how changing your awareness, literally just by noticing what you're thinking about it, is going to start to change your pattern. It will start to open you up. And because you're choosing to address something known and because you're putting an effort to actually think that it matters to address the horse that's dragging you forward or dragging you backwards when you're leading it because you're choosing to address it, you're addressing your own thought process, this predictable challenge that you have in your thinking, that's also playing a part in blocking you from finding a new answer.

Speaker1:
So number one, if you want to apply this to yourself, just think of something that you know happens over and over again. Typically, you can even just look for something that frustrates you or annoys you. That's another code word for a predictable problem. And then watch your own thinking process during it and your own behavior process during it. You become the subject that you're studying while that's happening. And although this might sound circular or might sound tedious, I promise this is key to advancing because when you begin addressing predictable problems first, it is easier to plan for a predictable problem. You can choose how you want to address it when you start thinking of oh, I know exactly when it's going to happen. I know exactly what my normal response is. I know exactly what my horse's normal response is. So now I've got some ideas on where I can shift this, and those shifts begin to address your thought patterns as well as your horse's thought patterns. I just had a live event here at my house for the students inside my Resourceful Rider program, and one of the discussions that we had was about this concept, because it becomes even more important as you want to advance your writing.

Speaker1:
So one of my students who's developing her horse for more advanced western dressage and lead changes, she was a great example of this because during her riding session, she stopped and actually shared with everyone how she actually gets excited now when she makes a connection. Now listen to this. When she makes a connection to what the problem is, to what the challenge is when she can see the problem clearly. She actually gets excited because when you can see the challenge or the problem clearly, especially when it becomes clear enough to become predictable, that's when you can really start to make progress, because you can make a plan for it. So this is true from the leading example all the way through the highest examples of writing that you can imagine. When a problem or a challenge appears, when it is clear enough to be predictable, you can actually get excited because you can make a plan for how to address it. So in this writer's example, she was doing things like transitions of Canter to walk to Canter or Canter to collected Canter back to medium Canter. So she was doing Canter walk Canter, and if she noticed either a jig step, so the horse would come from the Canter to the walk, but put a little quick step in there. She actually would be excited about recognizing that, because then she can make a plan for how she can support the horse more, or maybe how she was causing it through her body, or how she can help the horse find a different answer.

Speaker1:
All of which are only possible when she begins to see the jig step. Not as a random thing, but as a oh, I see it right there in this series of things. I see it right there. Okay, let me address this. Okay. I can see right here what happened when I did that. So her ability to take in that information and no longer is it a moment of oh this again, it actually becomes, oh, there's the wobble. Okay. Here's my plan for addressing it. So now for her, when the challenge occurs when she's cantering and she asks the horse to come very collected and then asked the horse to move forward, and she's also paying attention to how the horse responds to the rein, contact during this, when a challenge occurs, maybe the horse as it really collects comes off the contact, and then when the horse is asked to go forward into a more forward canter, the horse has a undesirable level of contact on the bit. When that process is happening, which is much more advanced. Instead of becoming frustrated by those moments of inconsistent contact, it actually becomes information for the rider. So again, what once was oh, this again becomes oh, I see there it is. Because the known wobble, the known challenge, the seen and understood problem is easier to make a plan for.

Speaker1:
And those things that she makes a plan for will have side effects as she addresses the jig, or as she addresses the moment of broken contact. Those will be what help her move the horse forward in to the more advanced dressage movements and the big, expressive dressage lead change. But again, the number one challenge is for you, the rider, to take something that's known and so easy to ignore or dismiss, or make an excuse for. The way the horse steps up into the lead. Departure is a tiny thing if you compare it to being able to get a walk to Canter lead departure at all. But if you want to go much further ahead and you want a lead change that is expressive and happens from back to front, then you can't afford to ignore or dismiss or make excuses for a funny little half step, or a jig or broken contact. Breaking the thought pattern in the horse is literally the same thing as you doing the work to break your own thought process that you have when you encounter a challenge. If you find yourself going, oh, this again, the answer is to make a plan for how you would prefer to respond to that the next time it happens. Because when you can break the thought process that you have and start to shift it, even if it feels like manual work to do it when you can shift out of that thought process, when you can begin to hear yourself say, ah, this again, and you have that moment of awareness right after you say it, where you have another option.

Speaker1:
Oh, this again, that's when you're going to start breaking your own thought pattern, and that's when you're going to be able to help your horse shift what looks like a behavior problem, but is really also a thought problem in your horse. I covered a lot of information in a short amount of time, so feel free to go back through and listen again with your specific challenge in mind Or the next time a challenge pops up, jot it down, come back and listen to this episode again. But if you only walk away with one thing, the next time you run into a challenge or a problem, put it into a one of two categories predictable or unpredictable, and less for fun. Say it falls into the unpredictable category. Write it down and then go find a predictable thing to work on. That could be your mind, or it could be something that your horse is doing. Work on the predictable and let your mind chew away on how maybe that predictable thing that you've been dismissing, ignoring, or making excuses for could very well be playing into that thing that looks unpredictable. That's what I have for you this week. 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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