On the Line

Yesterday this trainer had the day off, due to a scary (by California standards) winter storm. And today was the first official day of winter riding with everyone sharing one big indoor ring (my barn is based at a large facility shared by nine trainers.) Every trainer’s standard of ‘safe’ varies just a little, but that’s one more reason I look forward to the day when we’re all ‘certified’ at this. It wasn’t so many years ago that I remember my old trainer packing lessons together during the winter in a tiny indoor ring, under lights, at night, with the rain coming down in sheets. Canceling just never occurred to her (or us.) But it was trainer intimidation and fear (and a lack of hooves-free space to land if we fell) that motivated us to stick on our horses. That wasn’t any good way to learn.

So perhaps it’s a good thing that my barn doesn’t choose to subject our clients to riding in the thick of a rainstorm. I’m not a fair weather rider by any means, but when it comes to teaching the amateur who can’t hold a steady outside rein and keep their heels down on a sunny day. . . . attempting such during wind gusts of 60mph and sideways rain can do much more harm than good.

As we inch towards a method of separating the cream from the rest of the teaching crop, I hope one of the side effects is a higher standard of safe. And one day the pack ‘em in, nose to tail lessons will fade away. . .