Osierlea’s Life List for Training Horses and Riders
At Osierlea we apply the following list to both horse and rider throughout each lesson. Riding with this always in
mind creates clarity for the horse, and often shows that ‘resistance’ is actually confusion.
Separation of issues
Horses learn complicated things in small, single-issue increments, with minimum extraneous “clutter”
Ask – “Have I broken it down into enough components?”
Prioritization of issues
Prioritize the components, starting with simplest or most basic
Add subsequent elements, understanding that some previous component may be temporarily
interrupted
Expectation (short-term and long-term)
Horses have no foreknowledge, so -
Short-term is mainly “What will most likely go wrong at first”
Long Term is hope, or the final (hopefully successful) result
Slow time down (for reflection and retrospection)
Horses learn retrospectively – they must be given time to reflect
Patterning (horses are good at it, people are bad at it)
Horses require absolutely consistent repetition of elements
Includes rate of repetition, degree, instigator and goal
People try ‘something new” after a few attempts - confusing
Empathy and “Horse Think”
This is what makes for good Psychology of Learning
Ask – “What did he make of that?”
How can I clarify it FOR HIM?
Recognition
What is the horse doing (or not)? What am I doing (or not)?
Is it a biomechanics issue or a Psychology of Learning issue?
Is it an issue of the horses suppleness, strength, motor skill, or understanding?
At Osierlea we apply the following list to both horse and rider throughout each lesson. Riding with this always in
mind creates clarity for the horse, and often shows that ‘resistance’ is actually confusion.
Separation of issues
Horses learn complicated things in small, single-issue increments, with minimum extraneous “clutter”
Ask – “Have I broken it down into enough components?”
Prioritization of issues
Prioritize the components, starting with simplest or most basic
Add subsequent elements, understanding that some previous component may be temporarily
interrupted
Expectation (short-term and long-term)
Horses have no foreknowledge, so -
Short-term is mainly “What will most likely go wrong at first”
Long Term is hope, or the final (hopefully successful) result
Slow time down (for reflection and retrospection)
Horses learn retrospectively – they must be given time to reflect
Patterning (horses are good at it, people are bad at it)
Horses require absolutely consistent repetition of elements
Includes rate of repetition, degree, instigator and goal
People try ‘something new” after a few attempts - confusing
Empathy and “Horse Think”
This is what makes for good Psychology of Learning
Ask – “What did he make of that?”
How can I clarify it FOR HIM?
Recognition
What is the horse doing (or not)? What am I doing (or not)?
Is it a biomechanics issue or a Psychology of Learning issue?
Is it an issue of the horses suppleness, strength, motor skill, or understanding?