me I do not want anybody else to know. I had no idea I could swear
that well. My ability to deal with frustration was stretched to its
limit. Do not ask me how Mavis knew this, but every time my back felt
like a bundle of knots Mavis would say, “Make sure you are relaxed
and sit comfortably." How do you choke a voice in a computer
program? Today I am sitting here typing this article myself on my
computer. The backspace and delete buttons are still going to be the
first keys to wear out, but I see the mistakes immediately because
I do not have to look down to find the keys. The situation in learning
to ride correctly is very similar. Find a Mavis who is willing to
endure your tantrums, listen to your frustrations, coolly tell you
to relax and then give you valuable advice how to move on. You then
do as she says and you will learn.
Something else very interesting happened
the first time I attempted to type an article myself. No matter how
hard I tried I could not think and type at the same time. I wish I
could tell you with any degree of certainty what might be the cause
of that, but I can not. Maybe it is that in concentrating so hard
while I was learning to type, my brain, when faced with the situation
of typing again, could do but one thing at a time. So I went back
to Mavis, practiced to relax while typing and you see the result in
front of you. I typed this article as I composed it. So if you still
have to concentrate real hard on the physical part of your riding,
take heart, learn to relax while practicing hard, and soon you will
be able to sit your horse, feel your own and your horse's movement,
think ahead, and enjoy your ride all at the same time.
Remember, when I found myself unable
to do two things at the same time, my response was to go back and
practice one of them until I could do it without having to think about
it. In your case that would be to develop the independent seat to
such a degree that your subconscious mind will keep you in balance
without any help from your conscious mind. Now you are ready for step
two, learning to talk to your horse. This will be the subject of my
next article.
