How to Ride With Feel
by barbra schulte
Barbra Schulte is a Professional Cutting Horse Trainer, Personal Performance Coach, Author, Clinician, and Equine Consultant. In 2012 Barbra was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame, one of the most prestigious honors possible for women equestrians.
www.barbraschulte.com
ACTHA Monthly | September 2015 | 48
Some people say that learning to ride with feel is not a teachable skill. You either get it somehow, someway … or you don’t.
I don’t agree ... at least not completely. I do agree that learning feel can be elusive. I also believe that feel is learned in tiny technical pieces over time and then there’s a tipping point when feel begins to flow. The question is how can you get to the tipping point in the most efficient way possible?
Here’s how … keep the energy of the feel of the ride you desire at the forefront of your mind … even when you haven’t experienced it yet.
How is that possible? One way is to think of a great rider and imagine you are that rider. Imagine big. Feel their ride … and feel it over and over again! Feel is communication between a horse and rider that achieves an awesome experience as a team.
Here are some examples … when a lope feels like “riding on air” … when a cutting turn feels like deep, smooth, awesome power … when going over a jump feels like flying through the wind. Feel is the whoosh of the glide of a sliding stop, instead of just where to place your feet and seat and how to use your hands.
It’s like learning to play a piece of music with passion on the piano. Yes, you need to learn to read the sheet music. Yes you need to know how to move your fingers on the keys. Yes, yes, yes to all of the technical aspects.
But when those tiny technical pieces are mastered even a little bit, they can flow together seamlessly as you hear
the piece in your mind with the cadence and the rhythm and the beat of the passion of the piece. I believe riding is the same.
You can get so hung up on technique, that the flow is lost. Then, learning to ride with feel takes longer because you never stop thinking about making the little pieces perfect. In addition to practicing technical pieces, you can practice techniques that develop more feel.
Try these tips and watch your feel come to life. As you experience more feel, you will develop more confidence and have more fun.
1. Use mental videos to imagine what you want to do before you do it.
All great riders have developed the ability to get an image of an energized ride before they do it ... out on the trail, over a jump, or in a reining spin, or nose-to-nose with a cow. Images are incredibly powerful. They work to your advantage by automatically programming your mind and body for success … and flow.