WHAT IS SUCCESS?

One of my girls was working on loping bareback. She was psyched and ready thinking she would be the only rider. Due to extra riders, I had put a little girl and her grandmother in the lesson. The granddaughter who was seven rode for the first time last summer for a week and loved it. They were back for a week of riding this year.

My 10-year-old student had chosen Shag to try on. She had a good ride, stayed on and made several good attempts but loping didn’t happen. Her mom was videoing and I suggested she look at the video and see if she was doing something that interfered.

A follow up email from mom told me that the student was in tears when they left because she hadn’t succeeded. And, the change in having riders with her affected her. I was sorry to hear that because I felt there was more to the story.

The following day the 7-year-old granddaughter came wanting to ride bareback after only 4 rides this summer. (She has not ridden between rides here) She was really impressed with Student and thought she could do it too.

Student was basing success on what she could accomplish for herself and she did not get that. I think she came out of this a hero to a younger girl. She stayed with her attempts, stayed on the horse and while she was here demonstrated a positive attitude. What better gift could a person give to another than a shining example of how things should be done?

The 7-year-old chose to ride Shorty (and not use the pad) and had a wonderful ride on him. So, thanks to Student, she had a super experience that she might not have if she did not see a good ride in action.

The grandmother rode Shag the day after Student and could not get him to work ‘ forget nicely. So, there was lesson for her about rider energy after seeing Student able to accomplish all she did bareback.

And for all of those rooting for her to achieve the lope, I made sure conditions were totally favorable the next time she rode and she did lope successfully.