Inside the square

These days we seem to be so focussed on looking outside the square for solutions to our problems, that we forget to sometimes look inside the square. That is, just look at the ordinary, the proven methods. Follow others who already successfully do what you want to do.

Today we went to Tonimbuk to watch the cross country phase of the Horse Trials. Horse trials (eventing) is what I want to do, and the cross country phase is what attracted me to the sport in the first place. The flowing, bounding feeling of galloping accross fences through the bush and paddocks. It's great! When you get it right, it's great. When your horse is madly galloping out of control, it's damn scary!

We rock up in the middle of the pre-novice XC. This means the jumps are about 1m high, and some of them are starting to ask some serious questions of the horse's bravery.

The first thing that hits me about the event is that I love it. The second thing that hits me, is that the horses don't really need to make that much of an effort to jump these jumps. And the third thing that hits me is that the elite level athletes, the Olympians, are competing together with the new kids on the block, the aspiring young talents, and the old Jo who just likes to go around a cross country course on the weekend.

In horse riding, it is the horse that is the athlete. And so each elite rider has horses at all sorts of levels. Which means that us aspiring eventers can watch these elite riders on their green horses and work out exactly how they get them to the top.

The last thing that strikes me is how many familiar faces I see. There's an old friend who's just finished his cross country. "Hi Will. Good luck!". There's my farrier sitting and officiating at jump number 3. "Hi Clancy". And there's a couple of friends from Uni officiating at the bank complex. A long conversation ensues about the fires, horses, coaches, physical intelligence and logical riding.

As I watch horse after horse going over the jumps, I can clearly pick the elite riders from the amateurs. The elite riders' horses are relaxed and bowling along. They prick up their ears before a difficult jump, and then fly over, with a genle pat and a good word on landing. The amateurs are walking a fine line between in control and out of control. Sometimes they issue harsh words of encouragement, as their horse looks to dive sideways and avoid that scary looking jump. Each successful jump is rewarded by a "good boy" or "good girl" shriek. I am not saying that I could do a better job than these amateurs. But the difference is stark.

By the time I walk away I am super inspired. But not just that. I walk away with a clear vision of what I need to teach my horses in order to partake in this sport.