In the past week, I’ve celebrated having twenty minutes of
twilight when I get home from work, 60+ degree afternoons, and I’ll get to make
snow angels tonight. Nutmeg, Admiral and
Vaughn have worn every piece of clothing they own, except for their tack, and
have covered their entire bodies in a combination of mud, clay, manure and
straw. Nutmeg of course added a little
blood to the mix for a colorful flair. It’s
always a challenge to stay enthused about our equines during a typical Midwest
winter. Here is how I cope:
I’ve been doing a lot of reading. It seems to be the only activity that satiates
my equine craving when the ground is so frozen the horse apples turn to hockey
pucks in five minutes. Although I’m not
sure reading is any easier on the pocket book then showing, the lessons seem to
come a bit cheaper. How cool is it there
are books about everything! Anatomy,
philosophy, schooling exercises, physiology, grooming tips (for some reason
these books remain my favorite). Some
are very, very old. I gave up on ever
owning a copy of Le Maneige Royal when I saw its $235 price tag. Yes, education isn’t cheap but goodness!
But I digress…if you have a thirst for knowledge you can
find someone who has trampled all over the subject in a book at some point in
history. It’s really quite incredible
how as humans we feel the need to hash and rehash an idea so many times. I can’t point fingers since most of what I
write is just an idea someone or something else sparked in my brain, but think
about it for a moment. As far as we
know, we’re the only species that can “learn” by some method other than direct
experience.
Believe me, I have tried sitting and reading Nutmeg
classical dressage books and heaven knows I’ve done everything short of feeding
Admiral books about being a bold cross country horse, but until I put my butt
to the saddle and give them the actual experience needed, they aren’t going to
get any better.
Are we really so different?
Does all the time we spend reading actually make us any better? How can we access our skills until we put
what we’ve learned into practice? We may
feel smarter and more enlightened, but until we actually do it, have we really
learned it? For example, I’ve read about
haunches-in hundreds of times. I’ve studied
pictures and watched videos, but my many failed attempts suggest that I don’t
really know it. Earlier this month,
Nutmeg and I were lucky enough to receive some very patient instruction in
lateral work, culminating in haunches-in.
We both learned a lot, but I still wouldn’t say that I know it. I have a greater understanding and a greater
appreciation and when we finally do it, I believe I will know the moment, but
until then I can’t say that my reading has improved my riding. It simply improves my recognition of the real
thing when it appears.
My Fresh Perspective on this rainy and reflective day is
that all the learning we do isn’t for knowing it is for recognizing. Only when we recognize something can we begin
to know it. The application goes far
beyond horses and riding. If you’re
lucky enough, saddle up and start the journey.
I’m going to go read another book, so I’ll know when I get there.
