Are You a 3-D Rider™?

At MM Training and Consulting, we strive to teach on three different levels (horse sense, equitation, and training). This teaching style is by no accident. Through my experience and observations, many riders are not well rounded in their horsemanship skills. For example some are very pretty riders but lack training skills and horse sense. Others are great trainers but lack proper equitation abilities. These observations are not meant to be condescending or come from the intent to hurt but are made with the intent to learn. And what I have learned is that it takes all three dimensions to be the best horseman we can be.

To give me a great picture to compare others to, I have observed great horsemen such as Lynn Palm and Todd Bergen. I like to watch their horses because they seem to love their jobs. I believe this is because these horses have riders that are not getting in their way, physically, mentally, or emotionally. It seems to be a top priority for these individuals to attack horsemanship from every angle they can. They both have a solid philosophy, take impeccable care of their horses, have keen horse sense, are very knowledgeable in their training skills, plus they both have beautiful and effective equitation. They ride as one with their horses.

On the flip side, I have also watched other riders, who for example, ride out of rhythm with their horses, or use no lower leg to guide their horses, or ride with one shoulder ahead of the other. These mistakes are not only offensive to the eye but they are cumbersome for the horse. I have also observed a lot of mental and emotional stress that horses have to endure because their rider lacks horse sense. They do not understand that their horses need recovery time to learn and to be there best.

In my observations of instructors/trainers, I often see a separation of the two. Some instructors solely teach riding lessons (equitation). They are not too concerned with teaching the student anything but how to ride the horse. And there are some trainers who solely teach others how to train their horses and not how to ride. They are not concerned with how the rider looks, only that they are getting the horse to perform. And still other trainers, who continually have client’s horses in training. So these horses are very well trained but the client is never taught, or never wants to learn, the training basics behind how their horse reached that level of training. They only learn or want to know how to get the job done in the show pen.

In the following three points, I will describe why I believe this sort of focused teaching may become a problem for a student.

1. I believe if the instructor, who teaches just equitation, is oblivious to or not knowledgeable in training horses, they could be doing their students a big disservice because the wreck is getting bigger and bigger each time the horse is not getting corrected for unwanted behavior. Riding horses can be dangerous. I believe the instructor needs to have a solid training background to help keep the rider as safe as possible.

2. On the other hand, the trainers that just teach training and not some riding instruction might be doing their students a disservice also. How can one become the best trainer they can be without being an effective rider? They will continually be getting in the horse’s way. Without becoming an effective rider, most people will only advance to a certain level and never move beyond it. And more importantly, they are not as safe as they could be. Having one’s arms, legs, back, and seat in proper position along with having balance, rhythm, timing and feel all set a rider up for the best and safest possible riding situation (that is without taking the horse into consideration).

3. Lastly there are people that have wonderfully trained horses but don’t challenge themselves to learn more about training themselves. These people are really missing the boat, in my opinion. If they think they like riding horses or they have had a little success without knowing anything about horse sense or training, how much richer would their experience be when they do learn some basic training techniques. I believe this situation is why some people get out of horses. They just get bored! In all three of these cases (just riding instruction, just training instruction, or just instructing to get the job done in the show pen) problems will begin to arise. If the student is not learning on all three levels (horse sense, equitation, and training), they are being set up to become very needy of their instructor/trainer. They become so dependent on them for help because they are never taught how to handle training situations, problems, or setbacks on their own. Or they never move forward because their equitation never improves and they are always in their horse’s way.

It may be hard to find instructors/trainers who are balanced in all three dimensions of instruction but I encourage you, as a rider, to balance yourself. If your instructor is not teaching from all three dimensions, be aware of which dimension they are strong in and pick your instructor accordingly. For example, don’t go to an instructor, whose strength is riding instruction, and expect great advice on starting your two-year-old. Or you wouldn’t want to go to a trainer, whose strength is natural horsemanship, if your equitation was your weakness.

Although there are some very accomplished horsemen out there, who I deeply respect, I feel it is my job as an instructor and your job as a horse owner to study them with a critical eye. An eye that takes what’s good information and uses it and an eye that leaves the rest behind. As I stated previously, studying others with a critical eye does not come with the intent to hurt. It comes with the intent to learn. We need to be able to know why we do what we do with our horses and be able to defend it. By doing this it helps us create our own program and philosophy. We will not become sheep, like I see many people do when they start placing a trainer or instructor higher than God.

So with that ground work laid, for this coming riding season, we are going to help you become, what we are calling the 3-D Rider™.