Never take any words as sacrosanct. Even if they are written in posh print in a book by a famous author. If an explanation is provided, check it makes sense. Seek other points of view. Use Systems Thinking to see if it makes sense theoretically.
It follows that we may miss gems of knowledge if we are put off by the packaging. Don’t judge a book by its cover. It is surprising how many words of wisdom are lost with poor communication. It also follows that to get our point across we must think about our audience and the best way of reaching them.
I use Systems Thinking in a number of ways:
-To analyse and learn from a riding session that day
-To help me to understand what a book is telling me
-To help me to structure my own thoughts so that I can communicate them better.
Let me give you an example. One day I was riding Eric in the riding arena. It started off well. I felt relaxed and focussed on my relaxation. But somewhere along the way I lost it. The worse it started to feel the more demanding I became. And it felt horrible! The more I demanded, the less relaxed I became. The less relaxed the more braced and stiff I became. The more braced the less the horse could work through me and the more blocked he became. Despite this he was forwards. But the forwardsness was blocked leading to short steps and falling on the shoulders. This in turn led to a leaning on the rein. This made me feel frustrated and become even more demanding! A vicious circle if ever there was one. I tried giving the rein but it didn’t work. I tried slowing the speed but it didn’t work. The analysis I did in the evening helped me to understand why…
Can you draw the cause and effect diagram?
(There is an example answer below)
What does the rider influence most in this diagram?
What should I do differently next time?
Figure 37 CLD example
Add what you learnt to your “accepted riding wisdom” but be prepared to update and revise it in the light of new information. Accept that what you know now will only ever be “to the best of your current knowledge”.