Is It You? Or Your Horse?

- Bob Avila, With Jennifer Paulson

­It happens all the time. An amateur rider needs just one point to qualify for an exclusive show or reach a milestone. All he or she has to do is stay on pattern. Then it happens: over-spinning, trotting out of lope departures or through lead changes, anything that keeps the horse-and-rider pair from getting the score they need.

It might be easy to blame the rider for being absent-minded. Or the horse for being lazy when he trots. But the truth is the responsibility lies with both of them. And if they have a trainer or coach helping them, then he takes part of the blame, too. It takes a team—whether of two or three—to reach your riding goals. You, your horse, and your coach must all work together.

I’ll discuss three problems that can lead to the “blame game.” No matter which issue you identify with, you must remember that assigning blame—on yourself, your horse, or your coach—doesn’t ac complish anything.

Rider Mistake Becomes Horse Problem

When you repeatedly make the same error, your horse’s body position begins to change for the worse. The team of two or three is in it together to overcome the rider’s poor planning that manifests itself in the horse getting out of position.