It is in our human nature to want to control everything. It is also in our human nature to resist accepting that we cannot control everything.

But the fact of the matter is that we are sitting on living, breathing animals that have a mind of their own and capabilities far beyond our own.

 

We  must gear our riding and training with an eye towards allowing the horse to still maintain a sense of autonomy. Because at the end of the day, they are going to need to take responsibility for keeping themselves (and us) safe. We cannot react quick enough and influence them enough to be able to address every bad situation.

 

This could be as innocuous as allowing them to get to bad distances at home. If your horse wants to rush a jump, one training method is to just allow them. They create much harder work for themselves when doing that, as it is harder to jump out of that bad spot (typically deep), and they may also hit the pole, which is not a pleasant feeling for them either. Most horses, if allowed to make the mistake, will start to realize that maybe that isn't the best course of action.

 

The reality of the situation is that you will never be perfect. You will not get your horse in the perfect canter and perfect distance every single time. So they need to be okay with that, and they need to be able to figure it out.

 

So when training at home, let them make mistakes. Don't protect them trying to get them to jump clear. Save that little bit of extra support for the competition ring. Train them at home to take responsibility.

 

Pictured: My mishap on Jack at our 2nd competition together 4+ years ago. This was coming out of the water and I learned that day that for whatever reason, he needs larger studs than whatever I choose for Cay. His back feet slid all the way into the base of this table as he went to plant them to push off. There was nothing I could do in this situation except stay balanced, stay out of his way, and let him figure it out. Somehow he managed to clear the jump and we went on to complete the rest of the XC course. If you're interested, there is the entire series of photos at this link: https://www.facebook.com/.../pfbid0332Tx99vQdz4ed1kMMbGA5...