#ivankellydressage

Describing my horse, not his ears, although they are the best ears a horse could every have, despite being told by a lady in the warm up of a show he had ears just like a donkey, but describe him in training terms. Growing up in Ireland we were offered lots of wonderfully lyrical stories about horses, their parents, their uncles and aunts because we do genuinely come from the land of storytellers, for better and worse. One breeder I worked with could tell me the lineage of every horse on the farm and what its half sisters older brother competed in. I’m still none the wiser to whether it cold bend left or not. This kind of describing, as well as brain melting makes it very easy to get stuck in descriptors that are more reflective of our brains rather than their physical training.

I often forget that I love horses for themselves and the riding came secondary and mostly because I needed to demonstrate I could make enough money to put food on the table to my horrified parents. Some said it's been very brave to stick at this profession. I actually think it's more cowardice because it's the only thing I know, it's the relationship that rewards me the most and that includes my relationship with myself.

Yearning to know a horse best and fullest through the riding because often it's the most intimate moment in the dynamic and relationship. On a side note, I believe that because I, as well as many others struggle with human relationships that the rider/horse dynamic is more enticing because it's not two humans. I struggle with humanity often, wondering about things I cannot affect. I can however effect my horses training. Approaching the training from a horse personality point of view leaves me no opening for how I’m going to signal or ask for something. With a perfectionist brain I often end up frozen in fear of making it worse.

At the beginning of every lesson I ask my riders, how has your horse been, this isn’t a cue to tell me how sharp or sassy or quirky he is but that they're lacking in confidence in something and that together we are going to explore what that is. Forcing the phrase my horse is lacking in confidence in shapes a whole new conversation in whether I correct my horse or help my horse. Once we’ve explored the underneath then we can throw around words, sometimes as I’m Irish, they’re often very colourful but everyones on the same page as to what we’re aiming to achieve.

Spot of warming up and test calling this morning with my two Irish horses. This little guy has taken such a big step forward with his confidence.