The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new!
Socrates
When I was a kid I used to pretend to be a horse. I would be cantering around the living room and occasionally rearing up like the Lone Ranger’s horse Silver! But I don’t do too much of that now. However… my coach Belinda Trussell uses pretending to be a horse as a method of teaching . Yes!
This past week I was really struggling in my lessons. I just could not accomplish what Belinda wanted. Belinda does not mince her words so I heard a few “It’s not good enough!” and “I’m not seeing anything.” After the second lesson of the week I felt discouraged. But on Friday for the last lesson of the week I knew I had to buck up and get it together.
I still did not seem to be able to produce what Belinda wanted. I had Biasini is a good frame but when I asked for the collected canter I would loose activity in his hind end. Not good enough. So Belinda asked me to take a break. Then she did her imitation of a horse cantering like Biasini. She had her arms and legs in canter timing and motion but was tipped forward from the waist. She told me that was not what she wanted. Then she stood upright and cantered again. Now she was upright, on the vertical, and her knees were coming up in front of her. A whole different picture. This was what she wanted to see. I picked up the reins and asked for the canter. Biasini did not give me the activity I knew we needed. I gave him a swift kick and he bounced forward. I collected that energy and in my mind, I saw Belinda and her uphill cantering. BOOM! Biasini sat down behind and came up in his shoulder without loosing any of the energy.
I am sorry I do not have any video of this transformation or of Belinda pretending to be a horse. All I can say is ….it worked!
Going forward I must follow the advice of Socrates and focus my energy on building the new, the look and feeling that Belinda had shown me when she was pretending to be Biasini.
I have given you a photo of Whistlejacket’s portrait painted by George Stubbs. He has the energy and the uphill balance. Not all four hooves on the ground but hey…. the idea is there. And one more thing. This post is my response to Debbie @ Travel with Intent’s Six Word Saturday Challenge. Just the title has to be six words not the whole post. Check out some of the other responses!
HorseAddict 
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