 Don't be fooled, this is my "I'm going to go puke behind the building" smile. We're friends right? And because we're friends, I'm going to let you in on a secret right now....
We all get nervous. During the Winter Olympics, my mom called me to excitedly (or apprehensively, not sure), with the news that one of the downhill skiers had the same issue that I do when nerves hit - however she'd spent lots of time and money to try and overcome her "problem"... We both throw up. Upchuck, Puke. Spew.  This is not a drill... nor a set up shot. Just an accurate display of how things sometimes go at the barn. Once I was listening to a morning radio show where a caller stated she rode horses and the host’s comment was “have you ever heard horse girls talk? They’d make a sailor blush”. He didn’t comment on the way we control thousands of pounds of horseflesh, or drive big trucks, or spend lots of money... oh no, the first thing that came to his mind was how crudely we speak.
And he’s not wrong. I was raised in a barn. Which means discussion about pee and poop was common; my sexual education started while watching a stallion mount a mare; and as an 8 year old, “hussy” had become part of my vocabulary because of my friend’s pony who would squat if a gelding looked at her.  Wiley understands the brain diarrhea all too well. I say a lot of words when I teach. It’s sort of a continuous stream of corrections, encouragement and praise. Plus, as an instructor, it’s important to have many different ways to say the same thing... one person’s “hands down” is another person’s “soft shoulders” is another’s “hold your wine glasses steady!”
I have several riders who, when teaching them on a regular basis, have these wonderfully productive lessons, where we cover many different thing from their position to how to ride a corner to the quality of their horse’s gait. There are lots and lots of words. And each word is heard, understood, and implemented. |
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