Secret Riders Business | Book series
Secret Riders Business
Reviews
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25.01.2022 Look at Chautauqua go! Sky Racing
25.01.2022 Do you think that horses have feelings about the people they are around?
24.01.2022 This is Marla, Marla is not a very good rider. She wants to be. Fuck knows she really, really wants to be the very best she can. Marla sometimes compares herse...lf to others & thinks if she could just ‘do well’ it would make her a good rider. If she could just qualify for that championship she wouldn’t question her ability, if she could just get to a certain level she will have proved her worth. But here’s the thing, Marla gets on her own tits. She downplays her achievements as not being ‘enough’, she magnifys her mistakes as being proof of her shitness. She beats herself up & worries & listens to the whispering words of self doubt. Then she stops enjoying herself. Marla thinks it’s all very well having a dream, having ambition that drives you. But surely you shouldn’t let that become some all encompassing that you lose sight of all the little joys along the way. Marla thinks maybe it’s ok not to have some great goal, maybe it’s ok to meander through life with your horses enjoying all the little things that make you smile. It doesn’t make your existence any less. It doesn’t make you any less of a horse person. You might have a goal, & maybe just maybe you won’t achieve it...but if you’ve travelled the path doing the best for your horse, improving as much as you can & not emotionally scarring too many dressage judges with your twatlaps of chaos, isn’t that enough? Marla has realised it’s fine to decide you can live without the gut churning, bum hole twitching start box. You don’t have ride at Badminton grassroots but enjoy the canter along a grassy track, a beach ride, listening to the sound of hay being munched on (because that is soothing yet the sound of t’usband chomping makes Marla want to slam his testicles in the fridge door) You never have to jump another round of jumps again if you don’t want to but never, ever deprive yourself of the time to sniff that velvety bit on their muzzle under their nostril. And Marla thinks this, if you do keep going to competitions, instead of stressing about how you will get on, why not find the joy in the fact that you have got yourself to this fucking amazing place where you can even have the bloody guts to go to a competition. When you sit making plans, formulating seasons, working on your goal don’t let it strip away the very essence of why you are doing this. Because you know what, striving never stops. You achieve one thing & before you’ve even finished stuffing polos in your horse & patting their necks...you’re making new plans. Maybe you should step up a level? Maybe you should get that dressage score a little better (or in Marla’s case a *lot* fucking better)? Because here’s the thing that Marla has realised, the result or the level isn’t what makes her the champion. Nope. If she can’t look herself in the eye & be happy with how she is on the start line then she sure as hell ain’t going to find that fucker on the finish line either, whatever the result. Maybe she isn’t destined to have, what others might see as a major riding achievement, because maybe Marla will be achieving so much every single day. The picking herself up after disappointment, the small improvements she makes, the moments she thinks ‘fuck yeah! I did gooooood!’ Marla thinks sometimes it isn’t about roaring like a lion about about making your comeback bigger than a setback, it isn’t about inspirational scrotes about strength, power & achievement maybe it’s about just being happy with yourself, your horse & not letting some crazy notion of what you ‘should’ be doing mean you disregard what you are achieving every single day. If anyone wants Marla she is saying this, don’t let ambition & purpose deprive you of the simple things that truly make the love of the horse. Maybe you you don’t need to achieve all sorts of brilliant shit, because just being happy with doing your best is what makes you a fucking legend. G’waaaaaaan!
22.01.2022 Have you asked your riders what their horses feel like after a training session with you? Try it today.
16.01.2022 Tuesday’s top tip ** tuck your poochies**
08.01.2022 I realised today that I have been dealing with Harry all wrong. I have been trying to train away his unwanted behaviours rather than focusing on his needs. He n...eeds to feel safe and secure. He needs me to slow down and just be present with him. To understand that his behaviour is just a symptom. Training him, even with positive reinforcement, is still imposing my will on him. This is not to say he can bite and barge me around but maybe, just maybe, I need to say that I understand and I will help. This morning I went into his stable with no plan, no preconceived ideas, no food, just me and him. I touched him and ignored the biting and the barging. I breathed with him and spoke to him gently. I made a promise that I would keep him safe and he is loved and will stay with us until he is old and grey. I visibly saw the tension leave his body as he went into a trance like state. I then sat in the corner of his stable and he came over, stood over me and rested his head on my shoulder. No teeth, no pushing or shoving, just mutual contentment. I realised how much anxiety I bring into the mix - despite looking calm on the ouside, I brace myself before handling him and he picks up on this tension. Harry is becoming another one of those horses who make me look deeper within myself to find the answers. #sfequine
05.01.2022 This couldn’t be more true!!
05.01.2022 I talk about how important it is to exercise our superpower of showing up a lot, and someone recently asked me what I think the biggest impediment to showing up... is. Before I answered, I asked them what THEY thought it was. Discipline was the first answer, or a lack of. Perhaps a lack of knowing WHAT to do was thrown in there. A lack of mental strength to be able to push through when things were hard was the third suggestion. I get all three, but I respectfully disagreed with them. A lack of kindness or love I believe is one of the primary things that stops us showing up. Think of it this way: On Day One, you can get out there and do your thing. But showing up on Day Two or Three requires that you are kind enough with your mind, your heart, and your spirit to forgive any mistakes, take the pressure off yourself to be perfect and to recommit to continuing to show up in the messy wholeness of who you are despite what you might see as your lacks, or your not-good-enough-ness. The key reason I believe people don’t show up and ride as often as they can is because of how hard we are on ourselves. Because of the scathing commentary of the Itty Bitty Shitty Committee. Because of the fear of getting it wrong and not being good enough. Kindness and love melts those concerns. It doesn’t make it instantly easy but it says, you know what. It’s ok. This is all part of the process. Let’s do it again tomorrow. Being kind with your mind is the highest form of practice there is. Onwards. Jane Want to learn more about being kind with your mind? Check out JoyRide, the Confident Rider Online Program www.confidentrider.online/joyride
03.01.2022 One step at a time! BeginWithYes.com
03.01.2022 Main Goal of Training "The language of the aids must be the simplest for the understanding ..... Release the hand and the leg leaving the horse as free as poss...ible as long as he maintains the correct position, gait and speed. This is proof that the horse is truly in balance. Balance is the goal to seek." Beudant Photo Jean Claude Racinet
02.01.2022 I saved for a year to buy this hat. I clutched an envelope of cash l had saved all the way to the Royal Windsor Horse Show in 2010 and made a beeline for the Pa...rkgate stand. As I sat getting it fitted, I watched other kids coming in and pull the newest, shiniest hat off the shelf and their parents would simply hand over their credit card as if they were buying milk and bread. Most of those kids didn’t even view the purchase as something to be grateful for, it was a necessity in their eyes. I couldn’t afford the top of the range hat. The hat I saved for was top of the range a year ago, but it took me a year to save the money. My hat was last season now. I didn’t care. I cared for that hat as if it was another pony. I had worked so hard to save the money to buy it and boy, did I look after it. I rode in that hat for years. It saw some of my very best moments. It wasn’t the newest, or flashiest, but I’d worked hard for it and it was mine. Ten years on, I pulled it from the bottom of a storage box with scratches and scuffs... just an old, used hat just gathering dust, but I still looked at it with a smile remembering the kid that refused to give up saving for it, even though it took a while. The value of something is not always determined by its price tag, it’s determined by how hard someone has worked for it. That hat serves as a reminder that no matter how long it takes, no matter what people may say or think, if you want something badly enough, you can make it happen.
01.01.2022 Positive Shifts with Marilyn Suttle <3
