The Importance of “Riding Mindfully”
By Dana Hokana

            I want to help you to become the best horseman that you can be, and with these proven tips you can become a better rider.  I am going to teach you true benefits of mindful riding, and how to become a mindful rider.  I feel that very few people ride “Mindfully”.  In my opinion, to ride mindfully is to pay attention while you are riding.  Raise your consciousness to a new level that will allow you to notice more, and become more “in tune” to, or sensitive, to your horse and your riding.  Many people who ride have gotten into the habit of riding “mindlessly” as I call it.  We all can slip into that bad habit.  I often have to remind myself to pay attention.  Especially if we have ridden a long time, or are very accustomed to our horse, we can tend to slip into a habit or routine in our riding, or get in a rut so to speak. That’s easy to do because we’ve found some things that work and we do it over and over.  Why not?  If it works, keep doing it.  But I want to encourage you to reach for excellence.  Strive to be the best you can be! 

What Exactly Is Mindful Riding?

            Mindful riding is knowing what your horse is doing underneath you at all times.  It is knowing if your horse gives or responds to your cue, it is knowing where his body is, where your hands and legs are, and what is going on with your horse.  When I teach this, I often tell a story of a couple of people riding along talking to one another, and bumping their horses, but not even knowing if their horse gave to them or not.  The horses are probably saying to one another, “I’m so tired of so and so bumping away on my face, I just get duller with every pick up!”  That’s exactly what happens, too.  Mindless riding will desensitize your horse into ignoring your cues.  Then no wonder you go in the show arena and your horse does its own thing.  Great horsemen make each connection count!  I have a saying, “Teach your horse to say yes to you.”  But you can’t get that done unless you are finely tuned into the way you ask, and the way they answer.

 

Let’s Talk About the Benefits of Mindful Riding

1.     Develop a Relationship

You will develop a better relationship with your horse.  Horses will always like a person who gives a clear message vs. someone who is vague or indefinite 

2.     Develop Feel and Timing

You can coach, or teach, yourself to develop feel and timing.  Feel is knowing when your horse gives, and timing is knowing when you should release (or pick up) your horse.  Both feel and timing relate to riding mindfully 

3.     Gain Your Horse’s Respect

Develop more respect from your horse by making sure your cues are clear and following through until you get the desired response.  Many people desensitize their horses without realizing it, because they don’t get the job done when they give their horse a cue. 

4.     You Will Get the Lean out of Your Horse

So many training and showing problems are due to undiagnosed lean.  Many horses are drifting and leaning, and their riders don’t even know it.  By increasing your awareness, you will know where your horse’s energy flow is going.  It might not be going where you thought it was. 

5.     Eliminate Your Nervousness

Your show ring, or competition, nerves might go away because you have taken control of your focus, and put it on a specific thing.  You have taken control of your thoughts and done something.  Often we get nervous because we have allowed our minds, or thoughts, to get carried away.  By refocusing our thoughts on our pickup, and our horse’s response, we are too busy to get nervous! 

6.     Improve Your Overall Performance

The more mindfully you ride, the more you and your horse become a team.  We’ve all seen those beautiful riders that appear to be “one with their horse”.  They are in tune with one another.  You can do that too! 

How to Become a Mindful Rider

1.     You are Your Horse’s Teacher

Remember you are a teacher every time you ride.  You are either teaching positively, or negatively.  Horses learn by the reward, and if you connect or communicate to your horse through your hands or legs, and are not very aware of the response, you are teaching negatively.  

2.     Give a Clear Message

Make sure that if you give a cue with your hands or your legs, ask clearly.  For example, if you are in the habit of bumping a lot with your hands or your legs, you may have gotten into the habit of giving a lot of useless signals.  I have a saying “Be in, or be out”.  In other words, ask clearly until you get a yes, and then get out.   Keep your hands and legs quiet, as you are moving around a lot, you may be numbing, or dulling, your horse to your cues.  Be clear and be in, or be out! 

3.     Practice Your Pick-Up and Release

The most common area of mindless riding is in the use, or misuse, of your hands.  I teach my riders to practice their pick up.  I feel that the fair, or correct, way to pick up (or come in contact with your horse’s mouth) is to pick up slowly until the slack is out of the reins, and he knows you are there.  Then you can bump or add more pressure until you have a “Yes”.   After he gives to you, then release.  Also, become mindful or “feel” what is going on between your hands and your horse’s mouth.  Wait for him to soften or become light in your hands.  I see many riders pick up, or connect with their horse’s mouths, and the horse will drop his head into position, but then almost pulls the reins out of the rider’s hands.   Then they will release, or give as a reward.  For my standard, I want my horses to become soft, or light, in my hands.  So follow through, or stay in, until your horse becomes soft and says yes to you, then release.  Once you’ve raised your standard to this level, don’t go back and settle for less.  This is how you develop a relationship with your horse.  Remember, you talk to your horse with your hands. 

4.     Keep the Distractions Away

We all can get distracted.  This is every riders challenge.  How often have you gotten a call on your cell phone, and then lost your place so to speak, with your horse?  Or maybe you were irritated after your phone call and got sharp, or abrupt, with your hands.  You are breaking relationships with your horse if you are not consistent with your cues!  So I recommend you try to keep the distractions away while you are riding or training.   Distractions pull your focus off what you are doing.  If you are in an intense training moment and you need to make a phone call, or have a conversation, stop what you are doing and stand or walk on your horse until you are ready to focus. 

 

What to be Mindful About
            Here are a few of the things that I try to pay attention to in my horse.

        1.     Softness in the Face

    In order to gain the highest level of collection and acceptance in my horses, I need them to be soft
    and light in the face. 

        2.     Acceptance to my Legs

    Horses will tell you through their reaction and body language if they are accepting your leg, or are angry and resistant.  
    I watch their ears and their mouth.  If they put their ears back, or are chomping at the bit, they may be mad or afraid
    of my leg.  I listen to their tail also.  If they are wringing or swishing their tail when I put my leg on them, this is telling
    me something.  I recommend you learn to study a horse’s body, and watch their body language.   

        3.     Body Weight

    Where is your horse’s body weight?  Many horses are traveling on their front end.  A horse should be balanced over
    their hindquarters, not heavy on their front end.  I don’t care what event you ride in, whether reining, barrel racing, or
    western pleasure; a horse will perform better and safer if their body weight is balanced correctly.  Horses can learn to
    travel on their forehand or front end, by using your hands mindlessly and allowing your horse to pull down on you
    when you pick up on them.  Developing feel, timing, and awareness can eliminate this.  If you are not sure where his
    body weight is, pull him to a stop.   If he stopped heavily on his front end, or walked out of it, he is most likely on his
    front end.   This is a form of lean. 

    4.     Get the Lean Out

    Is your horse leaning side to side?  Horses can lean by dropping a shoulder, hip, ribcage, or their whole body.  If you
    find your horse drifting to the outside or the inside in one circle or another, he has lean.  Also, if you put your hand
    down, walk or trot him, see if he stays between your reins and legs.  Does he stay straight, or drift to one side or the
    other? 

        5.     Physical Appearance

    Become mindful about your horse’s health.  How is his hair coat?  When you pull him out of the stall, check his
    manure.  Often if horses aren’t feeling well, they might slow down their drinking.  The first sign of a dehydrated horse
    is that their manure turns to small, hard balls.  Check his water.  Is it working?  Look him over well and make sure
    there are no cuts or swelling.   I always look at my horses flanks to make sure they are drinking.  With automatic
    waterers, you cannot check how much water your horse is consuming.  Does he finish his feed?  Great horsemen pay
    attention to their horse! 

        6.     Check His Energy Level

    Horses will tell you through their body language if they have too much energy to pay attention to work.  Maybe he
    needs to be turned out or lunged to run and play, or maybe you should start your work by medium trotting until he is
    relaxed.  A horse that has too much energy will show you by their head, ears, breathing, reactiveness, tail, and many
    other areas.  You won’t get that great ride if he is too energetic to focus.   

    I hope these tips will help you.  I feel that to be fair to your horse and to develop that partnership that we all
    desire, we have to stay mindful, and stay thinking!