What gets you going?
A friend of mine tells stories about a trainer who would yell at challenge his students, causing them to dig deep and excel. This would not work on me.
If yelled at, I collapse like wet toilet paper.
If likely to be yelled at, wet toilet paper.
Back in the dark ages, I was a working student. I was a terrible working student. At the end of my stay, we had an small, at-home, jumper show. Everyone assumed I would enter 2′ 6″, the lowest level. I rode in the 3′ middle level & won second with a stellar jump-off. Whereupon the BNR asked incredulously why I hadn’t ridden that way in the preceding months. Well, possibly because we had one lesson where you ranted at me so hard you lost your voice. In fairness, I can see why it happened. I was a hot mess. However, justified or otherwise, it was not an effective strategy.
A month later, I was back home at a basic boarding barn. The frog/pond ratio had altered dramatically. The little girls were in awe of my fancy horse. Suddenly, I was jumping four feet.
Stand in the middle of the ring and tell me I’m terrible; I will believe you.
Stand in the middle of the ring and tell me I’m wonderful; I will believe you.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
