Zen Mind, Zen Horse by Allan J. Hamilton

Author:Allan J. Hamilton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Storey Publishing
Published: 2018-04-13T04:00:00+00:00

10.10 The concept of baby steps: every global objective needs to be broken up into smaller component parts, which can always be broken into even smaller steps.

10.11 A horse diving into Lake Ontario in 1908, featured in a Toronto Island equine show

LETTING GO OF THE OUTCOME. Caring too much about outcomes can cause trouble. How important is it that you get your horse to lead off properly a second time today? The question seems silly; it’s only natural you’d want your horse to lead off more than once. But on a deeper, symbolic level, do you really need your horse to lead off today? The more you care about the outcome, the wiser you’d be to postpone working on it.

This is one of the paradoxes in horse training: when you don’t care if your horse leads off is a good time to teach it. If you do care, it’s not. Wait until you no longer have an emotional investment. Horsemanship can be maddening in this regard.

Clinics are amongst the most frustrating situations I encounter as a trainer. When I’m teaching techniques to attendees, I want to demonstrate a successful outcome. But I can also become too intent on demonstrating the result and overlook what’s going on with the horse. Things break down because, as a trainer, I risk losing my integrity in the eyes of the horse when I am too concerned about how I might appear in the eyes of my audience.

Because of these very issues, one of the worst accidents I ever suffered on horseback occurred at the conclusion of a clinic. We had wrapped up for the day. The students were filing out, and the horses were tied quietly to the round pen rail, waiting to be led back for the evening feed. At the last minute, a couple of reporters showed up with a photographer. They wanted to do a magazine article and needed just one picture of me on horseback. Couldn’t I do them this favor?

Sure. I went over to the round pen, intent on getting them the darn photo they needed. I jumped over the top of the railing and leapt onto the back of one of the horses in the round pen. He had been asleep. I offered no three-point fixation, no thought about how surprised he might become.

The horse exploded. I was suddenly in the rodeo event of my life. He dumped me with a thump on the ground; no photo op. I landed hard! I heard an ominous crunch in my back. With everyone looking on, I dusted myself off and stoically limped out of the round pen. Later I learned I had actually broken my back; it would take ten hours of surgery and several pounds of titanium to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

What was the root cause of this mishap? I was no longer a leader or a partner in my horse’s eyes. I was a predator, bent on extracting what I needed from my horse: a photo.

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