Life in a Nutshell!
When I was a child, riding the working horses, I would just sit and enjoy being on the horse. The reins were long, and the horse could graze if it wanted to. I mostly rode bareback, leaning slightly back and relaxing as we trotted. I followed the horse’s movement, loose and free in my body.
As I grew older and found the joy in competing, I was taught to keep my heels down, toes in, eyes up, and elbows resting on my hips. I also learned that I needed to do half-halts, and the horse had to be on the bit. I was told to grip with my knees so I could hold on if I rode bareback.
With all these “rules,” riding became harder. I listened because I wanted to improve. My body was never really built for riding; I’m tall, knock-kneed, and not particularly flexible. But I wanted to learn.
Everyone had different tricks and methods to become good, and I constantly worked on improving, making some progress along the way. I practiced for so long that certain habits became second nature… using my seat, gripping with my knees, doing half-halts!
Then I got a new trainer who told me to relax my knees. And I swear, it took just as long to unlearn gripping with my knees as it had taken to learn it in the first place.
Later, I learned that it wasn’t necessary for the toes to point inward at all, and it was perfectly fine to sit naturally with them pointing slightly outward. Since I was competing at the time, and it was required to wear spurs in competition, I found this strange because I had always been taught to point my toes inward to avoid jabbing the horse with the spurs.
I also had to learn to ride with a double bridle, as you weren’t allowed to compete at the higher levels without one. I never quite made peace with it and eventually stopped competing. Instead, I bought a young horse because then I had a long time before I needed to use spurs or a double bridle!
I reversed my “progress.” I never became a dressage star because I began riding in other disciplines and even did some driving instead.
Now, I’ve come full circle… riding with just a halter, bareback, taking it easy, leaning slightly back when we trot, and following along.
It’s funny to think that it took me a whole lifetime to realize that what I did from the start was the best, the most fun, and the simplest—and that it even gives a better connection with the horse.
Of course, if I had only ever ridden in a halter and Crocs, I wouldn’t have experienced the hunts, competitions, being a cowgirl in Australia, the jousting, or the jumping. But it’s fun to reflect on.
The circle is complete 🙂
