One of the hardest things we face as equestrians is when we discover that we might have travelled down the wrong path. The overly analytical might even wonder if perhaps they have not gone far enough and are stopping too soon. Or perhaps they are so far gone haven’t realized the predicament until now.
Nonetheless, a problem has arisen. Sometimes, the feeling is off. Or perhaps the goal is too much of a leap and requires smaller steps. Or, possibly, we’ve just screwed up. That one is the hardest blow.
Consistency is key with horses. It is essentially what training really is—consistency. Doing the same thing over and over, in the same way, at the same time, as similarly as possible. Consistency is hard. We strive for the best consistency we can muster. Five minutes a day is better than 35 minutes on Sunday. That phrase alone gets me training when I feel low. Whether the gym or the barn, I find it discouraging to only do 1x a week.
[This is where I should insert my confession about not riding for a month and a half from an unpleasant concoction of heat and sadness. But that is another story for another time.]
But.
Sometimes.
Consistency is the not the road on which we belong.
“Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago.” -Bernard Berenson
On the learning journey, sometimes improvement can only come from change. We develop bad habits that must be corrected. We hold fast to incorrect foundational knowledge. We find new partners who require different or new skills from us. Everything cannot always stay as it is.
To effect change, a change must be embraced. Consistency must be broken. The inherent nature of change requires that we leave what we know, where we are comfortable, and do something different. Usually, this is accomplished by little steps in which growth occurs rather than straight discomfort. But they can be similar.
In terms of riding, this feels contrary. We want our horses to go consistently. But we change ourselves, and strive not to change ourselves, all at the same time. Our horses become accustomed to how we ride. Comfort and ease exist in knowing what will happen, both rider and horse appreciate this.
However, when we start changing ourselves, either finding a flaw in ourselves, or discontent with something in our horses, we upset the delicate balance we have hitherto accepted. Intentional change is hard. The body memorized the old patterns; the horse asks ‘why can’t we do it the old, easy way?’
Change is not for the feint of heart.
Change takes courage. Change requires a brave heart. To learn you are on the wrong path, and to take step off the road in search of a better way, which you know must exist? Straight pluck. Perhaps some might think it foolish, but it is true integrity and fealty to the self to know where you do and do not belong.
The new path usually isn’t as easy. At first. Change is hard; it makes you second-guess every piece of yourself. But, sometimes the risk of change is less than the risk of staying in the old way. No one likes to go back to the beginning or lose all that was gained. But it’s the sunk cost fallacy: once a cost has been incurred, it is no longer recoverable. The money is gone. The cost is sunk. There is no getting it back. The point is not to let that loss determine the next decision. But too often this is the case. The emotional investment in the old, wrong choice affects the next decision, or else it is considered a “waste”. However, it was already a waste.
Though, as every exception has its rule, those inclined to change might need to embrace that their hard change is consistency. When every other option appears bigger, brighter, better, sometimes the change to embrace is not chasing the change.
One of the hardest things we equestrian face is not having all the correct answers. Bad answers are plentiful. But the answers are not the path of the equestrian, questions are. Questions and curiosity can lead to insight, which will likely yield more questions. No one horse, one rider, one discipline holds the answers because there are none. What works for one, might not work for another.
It is hard to know if we are on the right path. It is hard to know what the future holds. It is hard to know if we have made the right choices. It is hard to consider change. It is hard to change. It is all hard.
Off Course 