Canter Chronicles: The Things I’m Doing While I’m “just sitting there”
04/17/2023Canter Chronicles: Redefining good riding as good sportsmanship
05/30/2023
Written by Lydia de la Guerre
What I love most about riding is not the speed, grace, or power; it's the ability to learn from my mistakes, get back up when I fall, progress, and build a resilient character that always takes responsibility for mistakes and learns from them. Achieving your dreams requires more than just passion; it takes immense inner strength to get up and try again after being knocked down, and this is what this sport teaches us. Always remember, a winner is a loser who tried one more time.
The best advice I can give to new riders is to build trust with your horse to ensure you become an effective team.
To achieve this, you must work on your inner peace and find a way to remain calm in spirit. Horses synchronise their heartbeats with ours and can sense even a slight change in our heartbeats, which affects their emotions as well. Therefore, it's crucial to maintain a positive and composed attitude while riding.
Additionally, you need to exercise to build strength as our horses work so hard to carry us around a course. We should do our part by building our muscles and strength.
Lastly, it's essential to enjoy the journey and not just focus on being on top from day one. The local and international equestrian community has many people to learn from and laugh with. Embrace the people who support you, recognise their contributions, and trust the process.
