The "Let Go" philosophy

When Mark told me about his "tug, tug and let go" concept, I tried it out as soon as I possibly could on Crownie.

Wow. It was like riding a totally different horse. I thought I had "let go" after reading the "on the bit" chapter. Of course I had let go then. But, now I had let go even more. And my horse started gliding along, and seemed keen to come up to the bit.

Every time I would go "tug, tug and let go" I would not just let go with the bit, but also let go of the tension in my shoulders. It felt really really nice. And horse training became this really pleasant relaxing activity, that horse riding should be.

The other thing I discovered, is how hard it is to actually let go after just two tugs. Yes. After just two tugs, the horse doesn't necessarily come onto the bit. And the mind is screaming, and the shoulders tensing, that you should keep tugging until the horse comes onto the aids. But surprisingly enough, if you can just convince yourself to let go, the horse is much more likely to come onto the bit, than if you sit there tugging in frustration. Funny that.

This might all sound counter intuitive. So think of it from this perspective. The only reason you tug is because the horse is not travelling on the aids. So you tug to say "this will profit you not". After a couple of tugs any horse will come onto the aids, even if for just a split second. You may not be able to feel or see that response. But by letting go, you give the horse the benefit of the doubt that the response was there, and you are saying "this will profit you". You are rewarding the horse for the smallest "try".

The other thing that happens, is by doing a tug on one side, then on the other, you are fiddling around with the bit. And why doesn't your horse come onto the bit by itself in the first place? Think about it. It's scared. Your horse is scared of the bit, and what it can do to him, the discomfort, the pain. By doing a tug, you move the bit, but it's for such a short period of time, that the horse doesn't really have time to get worried about it. The next time the bit moves it's "old hat". And when things become "old hat" the horse is no longer worried about them.