I'm feeling stuck. My beautiful, happy OTTB mare is associating the dressage court with tension, and the problem feels too big to solve. I've spent months feeling paralyzed, but I'm slowly transitioning to a more active phase. In my musings about this BIG problem, I relate to so many of my clients and friends who are feeling defeated about their unique challenges; a devastating new myopathy diagnosis, a potentially career-ending source of lameness found, a realization that this horse you've poured your heart and soul into just isn't right for you. I'm attempting to make sense, reframe, and nurture hope for all of us by considering the following...
More lessons from a bird dog (or actually bird hunting)
In my first few days of upland bird hunting, I've learned this- a seemingly unpassable problem IS indeed passable! Let me explain, and yes this relates to your horse problem.
A year ago, I decided that my pudelpointer puppy and I were going to be bird hunters. Starting the bird dog puppy training process from Step 1 has opened my eyes and my heart to relearning training processes that I've reframed to horses training. I wrote about it in "Shape & Mold: Riding Lessons from a Bird Dog". Case in point...The 2024 hunting season just opened which has brought with it an entirely new set of challenges and problems that, at first glance, seem too big to solve.
Early upland season, September, is really the best time to hunt mountain grouse like spruce, dusky and roughed species. The habitat where they live is high elevation and cooler but it's also thick, dense, and a bit intimidating. It feels like a literal wall of woods. When staring at this wall from the gravel road, it feels impassable. There's so much felled timber and thick brush in my way. I rely heavily on my GPS tracker to know where my dog is, and where I am relative to the truck. I take one step forward and the next challenge presents itself, so I tackle that one. Then, I take another step over the log, which leads me to the next challenge. One problem tackled per step, and then before I know it, I've covered one mile and then four, and I think [because I'm always relating every thought to horses] that this feels a lot like my riding problem! I can't see very far what's in front of me, but by tackling one small step (aka problem) at a time, I can progress forward quite nicely. I'm in my element up in the woods, bushwhacking all by myself, so I stay calm and muse further.
BIG Problems Become Smaller Problems with Time
Most of us have experienced a devastating diagnosis from a veterinarian. Seeing the start, middle, and outcome of so many of my clients' situations, I've seen a lot of BIG problems become smaller, more manageable problems with time. I'm taking these client stories, along with my "wall of woods" story, to heart and staying optimistic. At a dressage clinic last weekend, the clinician said "some horses are worth the struggle and some are not". I know that this horse is worth it.
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