7 minute read
JUST” A SCHOOL HORSE
By Didi Arias
Illustration by the author
My parents didn´t have a lot of money for my riding lessons, and I know they must have scrimped and saved for my one hour sessions. Those lessons were the height of my week and they held great power over me to stay out of trouble – with one strike I could hear the parental words that put fear into every kid: “Behave or you will be grounded…” and they always finished the sentence with “…and that means NO RIDING”. I behaved.
Weekly lessons were such a privilege and a treat – I was one lucky kid! The county-owned stables I rode at had a large string of school horses, and they also had an equally full clientele list. Horses were assigned to each rider and posted on a board a few minutes before class. Dozens of children would surge forward as soon as the office lady hung up the daily posting. There was a mixed sense of excitement, with a slight fluttering of dread, at finding out which horse you were about to spend the long awaited hour on.
Thinking back, I probably remember almost every school horse I rode, and there were a lot. They were all memorable, individual and rider-maker worthy. “Grayboy” taught me how to sit a spook, and how patient he could be when I didn´t, as I had to figure how to get back up on his 17h frame from the ground without the mounting block. “Nash” showed me that some horses definitely had a gait preference (turned out he was a trotter – whoosh!). “Mike” taught me that the more you pulled, the less brakes he had, forcing me to problem solve and to learn to find my Zen at a young age. “Info” introduced me to falling off and that it wasn´t as bad as I was afraid it would be. He not only left his mark on my memory but also on my back, as he branded me with a partial hoof print left by stepping on me after dumping me. His mark turned lovely shades of yellow, purple and blue, and I proudly displayed this badge of honor to all the curious neighbourhood kids. Slow, so slow, “Todd” and “Arrow” taught me that near standstill paces allowed my fumbling beginner body the time to get organized and develop a nice position, which brought home my first equitation ribbons in school shows.
There were the dreamboat horses, too: “Tami”, “Cy”, “Bucky”, “Sabre”, “Ican”, “Dale”: the names I hoped would be pencilled next to mine on the mount assignment list. I knew stardom as I glided around the arena on their backs, smiling and enjoying the stress-free, stay-in-the-saddle hour, along with the photo op moments they gave my anxious mother.
Every single one of those horses, from dreamboat glider to the ones that made me spit dirt, was Golden, because not only did their combined qualities and characters teach me to ride, they also taught life lessons, and to know myself. They taught me about facing fears and that things were not always going to be easy nor pretty and that sometimes life could be, quite literally, a very bumpy ride. Being a better communicator and selflessness are things I learned and understood on the back of a horse; add patience and compassion to that. Tolerance and appreciation for individuality I also gleaned from my equine teachers, for as in the human world, the horse world also has
its gentle, eccentric and downright stinker characters. I also learned that you don´t have to be worth a million bucks or pure bred to give a good ride.
Yup, I´m a school horse fan, so much so that I´ve run my own school for over three decades with my own string of school masters that never stop teaching me. They are a huge part of my life and also the backbone of my business. So I get a bit “tetchy” and defensive when someone says the word “just” in front of “school horse” in conversation, somehow relegating school horses into the lesser beings of the equine world.
The Insensitive One - “Oh, but it was only ´just´ a school horse”, he said when we recently lost a prized teaching mount. (Probably the same person who says “oh it was just a dog” when you lose your beloved canine family member).
The Dolt - “You´ve ´just´ got school horses for clients? Haven´t you got any ´good´ horses?”
The Left Handed Compliment Giver - “Thank you for the lovely ride; what a nice animal, for ´just´ a school horse”.
The Outstanding Gem of a Dolt - “I´m a very experienced rider, so I don´t need to ride ´just´ one of the school horses; I can ride one of the private ones instead.” (I´m sure my boarders would be happy with that - not).
When at the receiving end in a conversation like this, how one responds to these “justers” depends on the instructor´s character and where they currently are in the Phases of Instructor-hood. Let me explain:
The Maiden archetype is the newbie full of joy, youth and innocence and though knowing that her horses are good, may feel unsure in this situation and bend to this client attitude.
The Mother type is caring and patient, and may nod her head in trying to understand where the just-er is coming from, and attempts to work it out whilst protecting the ideals of the school horse.
The instructor in the Crone phase is frequently and unfairly perceived as old, spiteful, and with a penchant for occasionally eating small students. But that´s really just bad press as this instructor is full of age accumulated knowledge and insight, or “Wisdom Plus”.
As I´m chronologically moving in the latter archetypal phase, the Crone in me rises up and for just a flash, I may want to devour the fool and get rid of the nuisance once and for all, but this moment quickly passes. I then call on my ability to channel my inner school horse qualities, and my wise and tolerant self comes out. I fall back on what I know, to educate, and will attempt to counter the myths and prejudices with solid facts.
If it weren´t for school horses, how would people ever learn to ride? Less people would take up horseback riding, and a lot of those that do start would finish off sitting on their arses if it weren’t for school horses. There is no school horse department store where you can just pick one off a shelf, ready to go. School horses have to be made, and that can be time consuming and costly. The school horse is part of the learning trinity: instructor, horse, student. No school horse, no trinity, no lesson. A school horse is a professional – nobody wants to ride something too hard when first starting out, thus they are selected and trained to be able to facilitate each rider.
“Yeah, but… “…the school horses where I ride only resist”. “…riding school horses don´t seem to know enough for me to move up to higher skills”. “...they don´t train the school horses where I ride. They just unload them from the truck from the dealer´s yard and plonk them straight in to the school”. “…I don´t want to stay a beginner forever”. “...they get really bad habits, that scares me”.
Yikes! And I hear these remarks with concerning frequency. So what to do? On these pages I realize I´m speaking to the enlightened, but if there is a way that we can get the word out to others less so in our profession, we should pass it on as needed: Listen up instructors, it´s time to pay attention to your clients, and to your horses. If necessary, raise the standards and train for the job, and maintain that training. Afford the same options of care to the school horses as you would to the private animals. They are a part of your businesses and keeping them in good working order, physically and mentally, is both a moral and business responsibility. The time and effort put in to the school horses will really show – people will notice, and they´ll come back, recommending you to others. Let´s face it, good school horses make for happier students. So many mounts get a bad rap because standards are allowed to slip, or are never even put in place. Have pride in your animals, and don´t let them be “just” school horses - let them be stars in the show!
About the author: Didi Arias is a Level 3 ARIA Certified Instructor and national dressage judge and teacher, who resides in Almeria, Spain.
