Forty-five years ago today I finally got my first horse, Hat Tricks, after wanting, desiring, yearning and begging for a horse for thirteen years.

When I got my first horse I felt WONDERFUL.  But I had almost no experience with horses.  Just trail riding for 4 years as a kid in South America (horses already groomed and tacked up) in no way gave me enough experience to deal with owning a horse.  Luckily, due to reading every non-fiction book on horses I could find, I was well aware of how ignorant I was.  This reading did give me a background of knowledge so I did not come over as completely dumb to my first riding teachers.  At least I know about grooming and tacking up and I had a vague idea of how to do it properly, but as everyone here knows no one can learn how to handle and ride a horse by just reading books!  I would have loved to get a job with horses but each and every girl who had years of lessons and basic stable management instruction had more experience than I did.

I had no money back then.  I wanted horse experience.  I had a horse (and I was horse poor.)  I thought about my lack of experience and decided to hold onto my horse no matter what and to make any sacrifice needed to keep my horse in the best stable I could afford.  I had read that lessons were important, but that the most important way to get experience was hours in the saddle, and since I had my own horse I could get the hours in the saddle.  I could not afford both a horse and lots of riding lessons, and since I worked second shift so I could earn 10% more, I missed out on most of the lessons that were included in my board.  Luckily for me I had, purely by chance, bought the horse with the most wonderful disposition in the history of the universe.  He was five years old, just gelded, green-broke, and I was an elementary level rider, but this was one case where green on green did not equal black and blue.  Since I had fallen off a horse several times when trail riding as a child, I was not scared of or traumatized by falling off, it was just something that happened occasionally when I rode horses.  I also had one other invaluable asset from my earlier trail riding; I assumed that the horse would usually obey me.  Since I was so aware of my limitations and lack of knowledge of finer equitation I decided to ride and train Forward Seat, ala Littauer’s “Common Sense Horsemanship,” which was the only advanced equitation book that I could actually understand somewhat.  Besides, Forward Seat was the only system that emphasized NOT irritating the horse, something I truly needed with a 5 year old, just gelded Anglo-Arab with just three weeks of formal training!

For most of my riding life I did not have regular lessons, in fact I did not get regular lessons (other than my three months at a residential program at a Forward Seat horse school) until around seven years ago when I first started riding with Debbie, my present riding teacher.  During this time I got experience training a green-broke horse to a super-responsive riding horse, buying various weanlings which I raised and trained from the ground to saddle, and in retraining a ruined mare, all without a trainer or riding teacher.  I never had enough money to get into showing; if I had I would have been able to afford good lessons and trainers!  After my first seven years of owning a horse I started to move to cheaper stables where people rode differently (sort of Western, and then a Paso Fino breeding farm,) where I was the only person riding hunt seat.  Then I finally got my land, moved my horses out, and I was finally completely on my own.

When I finally learned I have Multiple Sclerosis I was so exhausted all the time that by the time I got my horses ready to ride I did not have the energy to ride.  I also had the problem that since I had either trained to saddle or retrained my horses they had this expectation that I could ride and stay on through various exuberant displays of delight, anxiety, or just plain stubbornness.  So I found places where I could ride other people’s horses, some handicapped programs where I did not get anywhere the amount of riding I needed, and some boarding/lesson stables.  In the handicapped programs I could not show what I knew since the horse was being led by someone on the ground.  But in the other stables it was different, and though my seat was pathetically weak and my legs resembled cooked spaghetti I found that I could get these horses, previously ridden by many different riders, to do things that their owners had never seen their horses do before.  Nothing fancy, just soft prompt halts without yawning mouths and good turns just using my legs, and for the first time in my life I heard horse professionals asking me “how did you DO that?????”

Ah, experience.

And it is not just the experience I got riding, training and handling my horses.  I have read hundreds of horse books.  I found that I had to work just as hard to understand books on higher equitation as I did to actually ride, train and handle my horses.  Books that I could not make heads or tails of 45-50 years ago are now understandable because I have ridden and trained several horses, and I have learned how to THINK about what I have read.  I started off by reading a book and trying the least irritating techniques on my wonderful first horse.  I usually failed big time.  But occasionally I figured things out and my horses taught me how to effectively use what I learned from these books.  As the years went by I learned how to recognize what methods I read about would help me ride my horses better, and my successes started outnumbering my failures.  The good thing about books on advanced riding is that the authors have decades of experience riding and training horses, and in good books I can often find techniques that I have not run into before, often because I just could not afford good lessons.  As my experience grew I got better and better at recognizing what could help me ride better, and I also got better at effectively applying what I had just learned.

But the best thing I learned and the most effective technique I’ve used has been LISTENING TO MY HORSE.  It was the second chapter of “Common Sense Horsemanship”, “Imagine You Are a Horse” that introduced me to the idea when I first read it in 1965, before then the idea of considering the horse had never been emphasized that much.  At first I only did it sporadically (horse, is this irritating you?) and the horses were content with that, but as my Multiple Sclerosis got worse listening to my horse became a matter of survival.  I learned to “read” what the horses were telling me even when they were being subtle, especially the first hints of equine irritation!  As my listening skills increased I was able to ride more advanced horses even though my physical abilities were just not up to riding out an equine meltdown.

Many things impress me about my riding teacher, Debbie, and she impressed me from the very beginning.  When I got to the stable for my first lesson Debbie had planned to put me on her old reliable 30 year old blind Appaloosa gelding, but when she asked me what was the most advanced level I had ridden at and I told her the short form of retraining the ruined mare (from bolting in spite of a double bridle and standing martingale to loose rein riding on a snaffle in six months) she decided to put me on one of her “problem” horses, Glow, an aged and super opinionated Arabian gelding who did not suffer fools gladly.  After she brought Glow in and she was grooming him she was telling me about the problems Glow had with most riders.  After a particularly “horrifying” tale Glow looked into my eyes and “told” me “If you don’t hurt me I’ll be good.”  I spent an absolutely wonderful 18 months riding that horse and he never gave me any problems because I made good and sure I never hurt him!  In fact Glow literally went out of his way and modulated his responses to help me ride.  That wonderful horse took care of me every minute I was up on his back just because I did everything I could not to hurt or irritate him.  I got him to really accept contact (it took trying four or five bits before I found the most comfortable one for him), we worked on improving his gaits (he needed some physical rehabilitation), and I even “taught” him how to understand theories of equitation.  One of his problems was that he DID NOT like his rider making any noise, even just talking.  To me this is unacceptable, so with Debbie’s permission I started to explain out loud to Glow everything I was going to do, why I was doing it that way, the theory behind what I was doing, and the results I was looking for.  After about a year of this Glow started giving me what I was describing to him even before I gave the aids.  I was very sad when Glow got to go back home to his breeder.

Since I started riding Glow Debbie has been listening to me more and more.  Don’t get me wrong, Debbie’s LITTLE FINGER knows more about horses, riding and training than I do, but there is so much horse knowledge out there that a single person cannot ever hope to learn everything about horses.  I read horse books and I discuss what I have read with Debbie, and I can often show her something new and explain why it works.  Debbie is a very busy horsewoman with almost 40 horses at her stable and she just does not have much time to read equitation books.  So I read them, tell her what I think I can use, and I tell her if I disagree with the book and why (usually because it irritates the horse.)  I also read a lot on the Internet, and I discuss this also.  Debbie regularly tests my knowledge, asking my opinion about something and expecting me to defend my opinion on why something does or does not work well for the horse.  Because of my long ago experience at horse school (which had over 70 horses), my experience training my horses with no riding teacher or trainer in sight, the hundreds of horse books I’ve read, and the fact that I THINK about everything I read and do, Debbie will listen to me and sometimes use what I discuss with her when teaching her other students.

Forty-five years ago NO ONE listened to me (except my horse, sometimes.)  Nobody considered anything I thought as valid, because I did not have experience.  Now that I have 45 years of experience people will listen to me, especially after they see me ride their horses even though right now I can only ride at a walk and trot.

Do not despair if you do not have a lot of experience.  The prime requirement to getting experience is never giving up.  So what if you are 40-50-60 or 70 when you start riding horses.  In a decade you will have 10 years of experience, and as each decade passes you will get more experience.  Experience alone won’t make you a good rider, but if you also educate yourself through getting decent lessons, reading good equitation books, and listening to your horse, you will improve.  If you ride enough, study enough, and learn to listen to your horse, the very fact that you were older when you started will help you.  Maturity is a great thing when dealing with horses, you are less likely to do truly dumb things on horseback and the experiences of your life have probably taught you humility.  Middle age can be a wonderful time to start riding, and by the time you get old you will have more experience than most of the teenage and young adult riders you run into. 

 

I have run into young girls who have ridden since they were very young, with mothers who also started riding when they were little, and I still have more horse experience than they have together because I started riding seriously 45 years ago and I never gave up wanting to be the best rider and horsewoman I could be.  Practice, learning, and listening to your horse, these are the ways to get experience.  And believe me, the first time I get up on a horse, the horse knows that I am an experienced rider even though my Multiple Sclerosis has severely disabled me.  Fortunately they tend to forgive me my handicaps because I know how not to irritate or hurt them.

Riding experience rocks!

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran                  

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Comment by Paula Stevens on July 4, 2015 at 9:20pm

I've been asking for a horse for ten years or so. Lessons weren't an affordable option until I was thirteen and the instructor wasn't certified or very cautious. She put me on a large gelding who hadn't been ridden in over a year and because of that he was not safe to ride. He bucked. He slammed my head with his head and even considered rearing up. You can imagine I didn't go near horses for a while, last year when  I met Cody and Julie was the first time in three years. I have a drawer full of books on riding and different disciplines and training and general horse care. I desperately wanted more experience and knowledge and still do which is why I'm volunteering at the therapeutic riding center near my house. I still work with Julie when I have the time and I still work with Cody. I'm gaining the experience, at a slower rate than what I like, but I am learning. When I get my own horse I'll have Sandy, Julie, my library, Grandparents(who've supplied most my books), Parents and Uncle to thank along with the farrier and veterinarian. And you Jackie, have been a great help. 45 years pays off :-D 

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