Whilst standing next to a horse obstacle known as "the car wash" (basically an archway with bits of crepe paper hanging from it) with my client Gail this afternoon and chit chatting I began to tell the story....
It all started in the car this morning.
I had more miles than usual to cover today with an 8am lesson in Moorpark followed by two further sessions at my daily base in Shadow hills, California. As such I was driving my husbands, more economic, Tesla today and I began listening to a podcast he had been listening to yesterday. This might seem a bit long winded but hear me out....
I am not a podcast person. I always listen to music when I'm driving and I like to relax and sing along and use my brain for concentrating on the road, but today I found myself listening intently to a podcast about, of all things, the marketplace, industry and topics affecting the current American economy. Not a subject matter I usually take much interest in for sure!
However, the tone of the speakers, the little intermission jingles, the occasional advert, the distinct segments that made up the several topics, all delivered in an engaging and aurally pleasing 30 minute package started a stream of questions firing off in my head....
Mostly, how on earth does a producer orchestrate a mini masterpiece into a 30 minute podcast? What percentage of the podcast is allocated to advertising so as to allow the podcast to be profitable without discouraging the listener from listening in the first place? Why waste 15 seconds on a jingle with no words? When each topic is only given, say, 5 minutes, why waste any of those minutes on chit chat?
I know that if I were a podcast producer I would want to cram as much information and as many points across as I could within the allotted time frame but I recognise, that's why I'm not, a podcast producer . That the finesse is in being able to deliver thought provoking points in palatable pieces, with a moment or two, to let that thought sit with you, and to reflect on that piece of information.
"Engaging"
That is the important piece that makes you want to listen to another one, because you are able to take away a question or a thought and apply it to your point of view, how it maybe affects you or contemplate how it might affect others and that is what makes it "engaging" rather than just someone spouting information that you may or may not "process". Conversations between 2 or more people are naturally engaging because as a listener we feel included, as opposed to listening to a monologue. That 15 second jingle actually serves a highly important role, in not only separating the previous topic from the next, but to give you a moment to ponder that last topic and what it means to you.
All these questions led me to look at my "training" sessions with my horses, and with my clients and their horses, and consider how I structure those sessions.
I don't have pre-prepared lessons plans or specified things I want to "achieve" or "do" and I usually just "wing-it" which, my UKCC level 2 equestrian coaching certification might not very much like, but I am always intently listening to the feedback I am receiving from my clients and their horses and structuring each of their sessions on that basis. I might start out with one idea of something to play with and then the session takes a different direction and that's the direction we continue along.
"Coaching", "riding instruction", "horse training", are all people concepts and as people, we are always thinking about that direct line approach, about how to get from point A to B, how to "tick that box" but horses do not think this way at all.
Obstacle Play Day
This weekend, I am organising an "obstacle play day" at our equestrian centre. It's a lot of fun and it's open to all our boarders and clients and friends to participate in, regardless of their chosen equestrian discipline or their experience level. In it, we set out various obstacles, (like an obstacle course for horse and rider, or horse and handler) to negotiate. That may be a tarp on the floor to walk over, or a pole to sidepass along, or a "car wash to walk under".
The purposes of an obstacle play day are:
- To have fun! It's not called a play day for no reason, (that's why we have horses in the first place right? to get enjoyment from it? which can easily get forgotten when we start compounding pressure on ourselves to 'achieve')
- To expose the horses to new sights and sounds that they may not have experienced before which should, in turn, broaden their knowledge base of 'things' they've interacted with and.....
- Thus build their confidence in both themselves and their rider/handler. This in turn...
- builds on the partnership between the rider/handler and horse, that the horse recognises that we want to keep them safe and that we can make responsible decisions and can be trusted.
- That it's not about ticking boxes! It's not about 'getting' your horse to walk over the tarp or under the carwash or stand on the pedestal!
- It is about the intricate communication between the horse and their partner, about listening to what the horse is saying through their body language about what they are or aren't comfortable with. It's about being able to communicate what you would like the horse to try to do, and encouraging them when necessary, with just the right amount of pressure that they are willing to try, without feeling forced. It's about recognising what the horse may be capable of, with that particular obstacle, on that particular day.
The accomplishment comes in being highly attuned to these micro-conversations, and adapting accordingly. Balancing praise with pressure, moments where you ask for something and moments when you ask for nothing. It's about getting out of our human 'straight-line thinking' brains and revelling in every minute of communication, positive or negative!
An NLP phrase that I have clung on to since I first heard it and is so relevant in all aspects of our lives not only the equestrian parts is:
"There is no success or failure, only feedback"
Believe me when I say none of us are angels
and I can be just as much like a dog with a bone when there's a particular thing I'm working on with my own horses, and I will practise and practise and wonder why I am not getting any better or showing any improvement on the thing I'm trying to work towards.
Being able to coach other people is my cure because I can look at a clients situation and know the exact direction to take, and then when I take a step back and look at myself with those same eyes, I can recognise that what I actually need is a taste of my own medicine and to listen to my own advice!
Engaging Sessions
Going full circle back to my initial topic, the podcast producer.... I realised, that without ever meaning to, but by following my gut and going with the flow in my lessons I was actually doing the same as the podcast producer and delivering an aesthetically pleasing and palatable session with easily digestible, bite sized pieces of information, thus making my client and their horse look forward to our next session and not just enduring it, in the same way as the podcast producer had done.
Gail, her horse "Atarah" and the 'car wash' aka how to structure an engaging Podcast?
Whilst Gail and her horse 'Atarah' and my other client Roxanna, are intently listening to my long winded story, standing beside the 'car wash' I recognise all the similarities. The task at hand is "the car wash" of which Atarah is somewhat sceptical.
We asked her to come and stand near it by giving her direction, and she walked as close as she felt comfortable and we praised her.
This is the podcast headline, telling you what is going to be coming up in this next 30 minute package.
We then proceeded to 'chat' a while which, although it might seem like were not actually working on the carwash, we are actually relaying to Atarah the energy that we're completely comfortable by or even under the car wash, and, for the most part ignoring her, whilst we chat, thus giving her the time and space to 'take in' the obstacle in front of her without actually asking her to do anything at all.
This is the chit chat like conversation at the beginning of the podcast which invites you to participate and helps you feel comfortable with the tone of the hosts.
The next step is to refocus our attention on Atarah and look for the feedback. If we place a little 'feel' or draw on the rope and ask her to come closer to the car wash how does she react?
Her eye gets wider and she steps back, away from the car wash. This tells us she is not yet ready to get closer to the car wash and we are respectful of that. At the same time we want to encourage her to at least try something, and, as I would do when teaching a green horse on it's first time cross-country schooling about how to negotiate a step or a ditch fence, I want the horse to feel "un-stuck" but without actually asking the horse to do what it's not ready to do.
Our A to B human straight line thinking brains think that we're either going closer or further from the goal but this is often the trick we are missing!
So instead, just as I would do on a cross country course, we ask Atarah to step sideways. With a ditch fence you might walk along the length of the fence or step side to side along it without putting a 'forward' pressure on. This allows the horses to move and become "un-stuck" without pushing it to do what it's not yet confident to do.
So Atarah steps sideways from one side of the carwash opening to the other, and we praise her, give her a piece of carrot and give her a moment to contemplate what just happened.
This is the little jingle in the podcast which, seemingly has no purpose, but actually has a whole lot of meaning! It's the moment of light relief where we can just sit with what just happened or was discussed.
As much learning happens during the release of the pressure as when we put on the pressure or the 'ask'! Atarah breathes and relaxes a little! Positive Feedback! Hooray!
Again, we ask her to step side to side and she is comfortable to do so. We praise her and maybe give her a little carrot as a reward and give her a second. She's starting to think this whole car wash business isn't so worrying at all and actually it's quite engaging!
Without even realising it, with a couple of asks of 'side to side', Atarah is now head and neck halfway through the car wash, with crepe paper and all sorts blowing around her head and withers and her expression is saying "what next?" with interest and enthusiasm!
Without going out of our way to complete the obstacle, not only have we done so, but we've gained a huge amount more in experience, feedback, confidence, curiosity and enjoyment, which in my eyes far outshines any tick in the box.
So if there's one point I'd like you to take away from this very long-winded and somewhat meandering blog (lol!) it's to celebrate every little victory and accept all the feedback, good and bad as a valuable learning experience :-)
I'm sure on Sunday we will see a huge scope of horse and participant, confidence and competence levels, but I for one will be encouraging every one to cheer just as loudly for the horse that couldn't be within 10 feet of the carwash at the start and is now only 4 feet from the car wash with a look of relaxation and achievement on their faces, as those who are challenging their already advanced experience to refine and extend their ability, whether it be by riding on a looser rein or bridleless!
