Explanation, Demonstration, Critique, Allow the student to Practice.

This week has been an exciting one.  Several new students have started with me and a few of the older ones are changing the program a bit, goals are getting bigger and lessons are getting tougher.  From both the new and old students I am reminded of the importance of patience.  Patience for oneself when starting a new exercise, patience in dealing with our horses and most importantly patience in teaching our students.  Though not always from the equestrian world, I have a lot of practice in teaching.  I was a math tutor in high-school, I was a writing assistant in college and both a tutor and freshman teacher in graduate school.  I had all sorts of students- the super-eager, twenty minutes early to class to review notes kind, the glazed eyes, I don't need to know calculus kind and every variation in between.

My teaching philosophy doesn't vary much across the academic and equestrian world.  Heck, I even use my model as a means of communicating and training with my horses.  As such, the central tenant is always to take responsibility for the progress, plateaus and decline in my students.  I believe that students and horses want to be good at what they do, in short they want to learn.  If students are not correctly completing the exercise, they are not obstinate, lazy or untalented they are simply confused or uninspired by my teaching.  In other words, there is noise in the channel and it is my job to go back, rethink my explanation and try again.  

Each time I sit in the saddle or stand in the middle of the ring, I am constantly reading my students.  I am asking myself if they actually understand.  I am determining what motivates them, what makes them back off and I tailor each lesson to develop the strengths as much as the weaknesses.  As I do this, I determine the limits of my teaching and I too find ways to grow.  

A practice pony for Paige

Before I had finished signing my name on the final page of our farm lease agreement I already planned on finding a lesson pony.  I didn't exactly have a line of kids waiting outside my gate but I have never been one to slowly (dare I say rationally) take on new adventures- in other words, if I am going to do it, by all means, I am going to leap.  

Bandita was not originally on my radar but there was something enticing and even endearing in her expression.  She was wonderfully quiet and satisfied to be curried and rubbed, there seemed to be no exhaustion of her patience in the cross-ties.  The likelihood of a suitable kids horse ended there.  She didn't stand for the mounting block.  She was awkward and uncomfortable to steer.  With a long back, she was not naturally balanced and fell so much to the inside I swear if I had reached my hand out in her canter I probably could have touched the ground.  

But she always looked me in the eye and a great jockey told me he choose his starts by simply looking the horses in the eyes; "The ones that return the gaze are too smart to lose."  So I bet all my money on little Bandita and brought her home.  

WIth no other horse have I made so much progress so quickly.  I do not say this as a tribute to my talent (really, I take no credit at all) but merely the intelligence and willingness of this little paint mare.  She is not the typical show pony, she was bred and branded on some ranch in Idaho where she probably roamed with cows.  She probably grew thick hair and drank from streams as she spent a good chunk of her life grazing the open land.  She makes a funny contrast parked next to a Holsteiner who is as beautiful a show jumper on paper as she is in the ring.  But little Bandita traded in a western saddle and in two days has balanced transitions.  She can lengthen and collect.  By god, she can even canter.  On top of this, she is the cutest little mover.  She will lift her little belly, come right into my hand and carry herself with as much poise as those little Farnleys my mom is always going on about.  We even jumped!   

In short, Bandita is a fabulous testament to the power in one's willingness and desire to learn.  It doesn't matter the natural shortcomings in conformation or social status, our trajectory is more a matter of personal effort and determination then fate.  We are proud to have Bandita in the family.   

When in doubt, perfect prep.

It was a slight blow when Rob Gage suggested a kid to use perfect prep to on of the readers on style my ride:

This is not to say that I believe that animo acids and herbal supplements that take off extra, unnecessary jitters don't have their place.  However, when trainers blindly suggest behavioral modifications to horses they aren't familiar with I can only assume that modifying the horse is becoming the only remedy trainers are capable of doting out.  

It is even more upsetting that Gage looks at that unbalanced six year old obediently toting his rider around the big eq ring and thinks such a heavy horse in need of a few half-haults is wild and unmanageable.

Young kids are eager to learn how to ride, I hope we have more to offer then this.  

Big Red

I have always had a thing for redheads.  My first horse was chestnut- she was a lovely mare with boundless heart and inexhaustible patience.  She was the horse that I took across the country: there was no show she didn't win and no clinician who didn't admire her.  And all of this packaged into a cheeky chestnut mare who still doesn't come up to anyone or stand for anything.   It was Basil who taught me that great horses are eccentric.  Great horses are testy, opinionated and cannot be fit into boxes.  

Several years later, I met Red.  Aptly named, he is a fiery 16.2 off the track thoroughbred that was in training with my old boss.  Then he was sulky, backwards and severely aloof.  His trot was jarring, stiff and uncomfortable and his canter was a never ending game of dodge the head that came flying at you with the first step of every stride.  To say I did not enjoy riding him was an understatement- he was the first horse I got on so I could 1. get it out of the way. 2. be fully refreshed, hydrated and strong and 3. be comfortable knowing that no one except the curious stall cleaners would pop their head in the arena thus leaving me free to growl, kick and look like a complete yahoo as I did everything in my power to get the horse to go forward.  At this point in the story it is important to note that he squealed at all up transitions.  

I was told he would never jump and yet after several deer-like leaps over poles, Red smoothed out.  Poles turned into cross rails eventually got raised to verticals, spread to oxers and ultimately filled with boxes, brush, coops, roll tops, etc.  He starting knickering as I walked by, looking for me after I left.  He became my trusted partner.  

In the show ring we are rather inconsistent, the testament that we both have so much to learn.  But he is forward, happy and fluid in his movement.  His mouth is so soft and I merely have to think of movements and he performs seamlessly.  Some of my most happiest of times are galloping him through the back fields of sherwood forest- our friends all blown past, several lengths behind.  

I constantly remind myself of the discipline needed to make great horses but I never want to destroy the fire, attitude and quirks that separate the good horses from the great horses.   

Fallibility or How I learned to love the mistakes.

I had finished school, moved to Oregon and began riding again.  At that point I lived for the enjoyment of those moments in the saddle, the peace and reformation that was created in each second coexisting with a creature far superior in stature and power.  I might have been crooked coming into the bending, but by god did I want to jump that giant oxer! Because I enjoyed my work I was "undisciplined" and because I did not fear for my appearance or the perception of my mistakes, I was "unprofessional."  Incorrectly, I was told to associate professionalism with infallibility; professional riders aren't crooked, they don't miss distances, they don't ask for help and most certainly they do not display weakness.

I became paralyzed with the anticipation of all possible mistakes that I was incapable of feeling in the moment.  I developed a distrust of my feel and my instincts and became an insufferable and stiff partner to the horses that had to tote me around.  This is to say that it has taken a lot of courage to venture off on my own and I don't take the responsibility lightly.  However, being the sole captain to this venture I now have the freedom to define my OWN responsibilities, to chisel out what exactly I believe an equestrian professional to be.

On the forefront, I demand an entire uprooting of the concept of the faultless professional, a concept that presupposes that equine professionals are free from the need to push boundaries and continually educate themselves.  I demand that professionals challenge themselves.  They must seek out horses that teach them the art of patience and proper training.  They must clinic, lesson and show continually.

These professionals, unabashed to challenge themselves to clinic with George or move up in height, are the inspiration to their riders.  It is our responsibility as equine professionals after all, to teach our students that struggle and adversity is a necessary part of the learning process.  It is this devout love of learning and overcoming challenges that builds confidence and character, in ourselves, in our horses and most importantly in our students.   

Commitment to Education

As far as education in all things equine, I am never satiated.  There are always new products to research, new horses to ride and riders more seasoned then myself to question.  I remember oh so many years ago, following my mom's then TB trainer down the aisle incessantly asking him question after question, "why are the horses wrapped," "why can't they drink when they are being hand-walked, "why does X horse go with a pony?" ad infinitum.  It never stopped.

It is a professional responsibility to ensure that the education never stops, for ourselves and our riders.  It is our responsibility to take lessons, to talk to people we respect about what is going on in their heads and in their barn.  It is our responsibility to seek out inspiration, to read books and articles.  Most importantly, it is our responsibility to practice.

After all, this is a highly mental sport.  And when properly educated we are able to make conscientious training decisions without fallible emotion or bias.

The beginning..

It is terrifying and exciting to venture off into the world. Will and I are starting an equine marketing, sale and training business. Will has created fabulous barn and business advertisement spreads for magazines and press releases. He is also quite crafty with graphic design and created the chic logo for our company. I have been working with horses since I was old enough to throw my leg over them. If you would like, you can follow our page. I plan on utilizing it as a springboard for education and communication amongst riders. I spend the majority of my non-saddle time reading from professionals across all disciplines and philosophies. I would very much like people to share ideas they come across, articles they feel strongly about, products they believe in, etc.

Announcing Hawkins Equine, LLC

We are putting the final coding into the new website and blog. I think it is important that the horse community has ample dialogue on training methods, barn schedules and the programs and habits that engender positive horsemanship skills and practices. After all that is what my business is about- maintaining happy horses that are confident, relaxed and fit both physically and mentally. When I look around the show rings I am looking to align myself and my business practices with individuals that show longevity and consistency. I look for barns that are full of horses that have had long successful show careers and horses that look relaxed and peaceful. When you scratch beneath the surface of barns like this you find training programs that do not include drugs, gimmicks or gadgets. 

I am thrilled to begin this journey. I believe very much in my core concerns, horse welfare and solid horsemanship practices, and I hope by opening up discussion on unethical horse purchasing practices, unfair training expectations, over medicating...( I could go on for quite some time) fellow riders will take control of the management of the horses and begin to expect more from the professional community.