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Is it me or the horse?

By 1st May 2017 No Comments

Before rushing in to the answer we have to admit that before Synchronicity was developed we thought this was a reasonable question. Here’s why….

Horse wants to get somewhere faster than we want to!

In this example the Synchronicity score would probably show “Rein tension Too High” and a mark of zero would be recorded.

OK, so “it’s the horse, stupid”.

However, no matter what we choose to do when riding, the rein tension patterns and weights comprise indistinguishable contributions from both the rider and the horse, who are, obviously, working together. We can therefore choose to apportion blame or reasoning on either the horse or ourselves.

BUT notice that is only we who can decide this – and that gets right to the heart of the answer to the title question.

The rider is leading the partnership. Even if we are riding a “schoolmaster” it is not possible to mount up and then wait for the horse to teach us to ride. Even there the rider leads the training, everything that is done is in the hands of the rider, in their heads and in their intentions.

So the answer is – IT’S YOU! It never can be the horse, no matter how much sometimes we’d like it to be.

Postscript: This post is especially open for discussion. Whilst it must be true that in all things the rider is the leading authority for the partnership, the horse may have limitations that must be recognised by the rider. It is rarely possible to make a silk purse from a sow’s ear but being respectful and accepting of the partner you have is great horsemanship. In fact, Synchronicity can still give you a great score even if your horse doesn’t have the movement and conformation of a dressage star. The system is a great leveller in that way: when you can achieve a synchronous riding partnership with your family cob, you’ll get a Synchronicity score identical to that of a good Olympic partnership – and so you should.

 

 

 

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