Assertion Versus Assumption
We’ve all heard the tried and true mantra about ASSumption and the dangers that it can cause in life. (If you have somehow missed this gem, ask your parents — it will give them a giggle!)
How does assumption come into play on a horse, and why in the world would anyone make one?
Actually, it is a pretty large part of many people’s riding. Assumption is the belief that something is a certain way without proof attached to that belief.
Assumption can happen in many ways in the saddle:
You can assume that your body part is doing exactly what you “told” it to do.
You can assume that the horse is still mentally with you.
You can assume that tempo hasn’t changed, or that you are still capable of making a transition…
…the list is long and can just keep going on!
In training, a moment of assumption is a missed moment of interaction with your horse.
It is a moment when you as the rider are thinking about something so hard that you are unaware of what is actually going on, whether it is in your body or what your horse is thinking or doing.
Doesn’t really matter what you are thinking about – heck, it’s probably a good thing that you are focusing on, like getting to the next jump, or how are you going to make that downward transition at C, or when are my friends going to stop cantering down the trail and realize I’m getting run away with?!
Are all of these things important and need attention? Yes, yes they do.
But putting all of your focus on one area of the current moment is not wise, nor is it profitable for you or the horse in the bigger picture.
Here are a few examples of ways that various riders can “exit the building” while riding:
Problem A:
A trail rider can be so busy chatting with her friends that she doesn’t realize the horse is uncomfortable in its surroundings. She is leaning towards her friend in the saddle as she talks, and keeps pulling the reins that way to “straighten” the horse out.
The horse may speed up or slow down, and may finally take to spooking or spinning around to go home before she pays attention.
At that point, she is frustrated and mad at the horse, who was left unattended up until that point and is now convinced that she will not keep him safe.
Solution A:
Learn to check in on your horse’s well being throughout your ride. Ask him to stop from time to time, and see how easily or with difficulty this is produced.
Take the time to do a little “work” on the trail to keep him mentally engaged with you.
With your position, ensure that you are staying centered in the saddle by using this one little question: “Am I carrying 50% of my weight on either side of his spine right now? How about now?”
Problem B:
A dressage rider goes “unconscious” during the trot to canter transition and throws their body around, causing (yep, I said it, it’s your fault) the horse to go off track and inverted.
When asked about the canter depart, they have no recollection of what they did, how the depart was, or what the horse did.
Solution B:
Take the time to slow down the transition and see what happens. Practice sitting the trot, see what your body does, see how your horse reacts.
When that stays fairly steady, move your legs into the canter position but DON’T ask for canter – see what happens to your position and how your horse reacts to the movement?
When you can keep everything the same, then apply the aid and see what happens – does he speed up instead of canter? Fix that, don’t try to rush the transition.
Keep staying where you are in the moment, assessing your body, assessing the horse’s reactions, until you can keep everything the same until the canter aid is answered in a calm and balanced manner.
Problem C:
A horse is jumping (pick your poison, a course of fences or a cross country course) and consistently runs out to the outside. The rider is “looking ahead” at the next fence.
Solution C:
Looking ahead has been very bastardized in the over fences world and has caused some major imbalances in jumping riders of all disciplines.
Looking ahead should be a moment – you are asserting where the next fence is so you can line up on it. Looking should involve your head only, leaving your body in the 50% place as above with the trail rider (see, it DOES work with everyone!).
You should find the fence, make a decision and then return to the moment you are in, checking in to see where you are in the saddle and where the horse is underneath you mentally. If you stay “ahead” to the next fence your body will be out of balance to the inside, and will literally open the door for the horse to step to the outside, heck, you are kind of insisting that they do.
Mentally you have moved on to the next fence, but the horse is still in the HERE, and gets worried because they cannot catch up to you. They decide the best option is to go back to the barn (barn=safety and surety) and they run out.
So how do we change this conversation (or lack thereof) when we’re riding?
Let’s start with rider biomechanics. As a biomechanics coach, I have seen everything under the sun, from riders that pull when they kick to people who go “unconscious” when they make a canter depart.
Do the riders know they have these issues? Sometimes they do, and that it has been droned on about a good number of times. Are they aware in the moment that these issues are taking place? Probably not, because they are thinking about making the horse rounder or making the canter happen.
So while the rider is struggling to keep that horse on the bit, to get it down that line of 6, or to keep it from biting the horse next to it on the trail, their devilish little body part is off doing its own thing. The problem here is not just aesthetics – sure, it doesn’t look good when your hands fly around. But what are your hands saying to your horse that you weren’t even aware of?
That’s where the issue lies. When your body moves, it says something to your horse.
Rider biomechanics are, in my opinion, one of the hardest and most under addressed issues in the world of riding – and I do mean the whole world of riding.
Whether it is due to our jobs, previous injuries or simply lack of attention, our bodies are constantly being moved by the horse, because we don’t always understand how to hold them “still”.
Stillness in motion takes time, attention and lots of repetitions to create.
When you see a dressage rider executing a seemingly flawless test “without moving a muscle”, there is a tremendous amount of isometric muscle use going on to create that moment. Most rider issues stem from an imbalance in the pelvic area, but we see the results in the extremities.
Without taking the time to focus on what your body is doing and what you need it to do instead, body parts will keep flapping. And, as I mentioned above, those flapping parts will keep saying things (most likely nasty things) to your horse that you aren’t aware are being said.
So, how do we fix it?
One errant body part at a time. And patience, lots of patience. But most of all…assertion.
I create a rider “check list” for each of my students, and send them home with it to work on. It is not a mantra, to be repeated mindlessly while they shoulder-in. It is a list of things that they need to do a direct check in on, to assert that that particular issue is under control at that moment. How often do I want these check-ins to take place?
When I first work with a rider, a check list of 3 things could be all consuming, and we get stuck on a 20 meter circle while they struggle through finding, fixing and confirming. Soon, however, with this level of effort, those same 3 things can be checked on, adjusted and asserted in 3 strides, giving the rider much more time to focus on that pesky shoulder-in!
Like anything in the horse world, the amount of attention you put on that particular issue is equal to the amount of correct response you get in return.
Now let’s move to the horse – where exactly are they?
Of course they are underneath you, but are they all there, or are you sitting on a body and the lights are on but nobody’s home?
From a herd standpoint, every horse needs good leadership to feel okay about their situation.
That seems like a pretty simple concept, but how often do you take a coffee break when you are riding your horse?
I remember when this principle was first brought to my attention. I already had a successful training business, national and international education under my belt, and had trained and competed several horses to the FEI level. I was a most concentrated rider, as far as I was concerned.
A few years ago I had a younger horse that was mentally quite challenging. He was very tense, reactive, and no matter what I did I could not bring him to a state of relaxation that allowed him to learn and grow.
A fellow trainer was staying near me for the winter season and she helped me with some basic “natural horsemanship” techniques (God bless you, Suzy, you had some great patience!)
She asked me how often I “left” him, and explained how thoughts became words, words became actions, and actions influenced our ride. I started to examine myself when I rode, and I was pretty damned shocked – as soon as I completed the current activity (transition, turn, etc.) I completely checked out!
I started thinking about what the girls in the barn were doing, what time it was, if I had time to ride one more horse that day…anywhere but here.
From a horse’s standpoint, if the herd leader has left the building, the safest thing to do is to leave, too. I will state this again, because it has so much importance to your ride: if you are not checking in on your horse to see if he is staying with you mentally, he is not staying with you.
Of course, every horse is different. But, ultimately, they are all looking for leadership, and you can’t lead the ship if you went back to the shore.
If you have read any of Mary Wanless’s works, you will have read about what the brain can and cannot keep track of when on a horse.
One of my biggest reasons why I love to work with Mary is that she breaks down the biggest principles into the smallest bite sizes, and makes it clear to everyone what the path is to get great.
As a scientist, she has studied how the brain works, and how the brain works on a horse (I believe there is a large area of the brain that throws money around when we think about horses!).
Mary’s work has led me to work with these two main principles: One, the brain cannot manage what it cannot see, and two, while riding, the rider can only consciously focus on 3 things at a time.
So when we add a dressage test, or a new movement, or a fear of another horse coming up behind you too close, we squeeze out the room for at least one of the things currently on your check list.
It is an exercise in mental stability that encourages the rider to stay present on the horse, and allows some things to become subconscious, like position, in order for other things (shoulder-in, tempi changes, jumping a big ditch) to stay in the forefront of the mind and not get squeezed out.
As the Most Interesting Man in the World would say, “stay present, my friends” (Google it).
Being here, while preparing for there, is a difficult but very worthwhile trait.
It takes some serious mental practice, but from one herd leader to another, it is worth the whole herd to get it done.