there are riders with good attitudes and only a little talent that have achieved high goals, but without a good attitude, it is really rare to see athletes reach any permanent level of success.
How is it possible to develop a good attitude?
Your attitude is based on how you perceive and relate to your environment: your colleagues, equipment, horses, veterinarians, grooms, etc. And it is the education, the respectful behavior of the athlete toward the horse, their instructor, and the sport. Respect and consideration are important items on both sides. When the athlete is younger, they tend to be more rebellious. In my opinion, however, it is the parents’ responsibility to rebuke the attitude of the student( their child); it is not the instructor’ s responsibility. It is rare to see young athletes changing their way of behaving because of a reprimand from their coach.
As I mentioned before, I believe the relationship between coach and student is based on the confidence the student has in their instructor. The athlete should respect their coach because they realize their coach is important to their future career in the sport, not because their coach has scolded them for their poor attitude. To me, that goal-oriented respect is the great point of the relationship between coach and student.
Is observing good riders riding beneficial for my riding?
For sure, being able to observe the attitudes of top-level athletes will help other riders in a meaningful way. Observing how professional riders deal with confrontation, their attitude towards their horses, the way they train their horses, the way they compete, the way they deal with other professionals, etc. is quite constructive.
The knowledge of people who really know what they are doing is an infectious thing for those who are exposed to that influence and are willing to learn from it. Attending a place where people ride at a high level will give an almost automatic forward evolution to the observing athlete. Similarly, attending a place where the equestrian level is weak will probably cause a stalled or backward evolution to the observing athlete.
Su talento natural, sumado a su determinación y disciplina, hacen de Nelson Pessoa uno de los jinetes y entrenadores más renombrados entre los atletas de categoría mundial. A medida que ofrece consejos útiles y conocimientos importantes en cada edición de la revista Equestre Americas, nuestros lectores también pueden aprender de este jinete legendario.
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