The Lesson of the Moment

One of the most stressful parts of a clinic can be the expectation in return for the investment of time and money, and the interference of accepting the horse we have today and being in the moment -

For example, let's say you took the weekend off, traveled to a clinic, paid for lodging, stabling, the clinic fee - all that jazz. It is a pressure and a financial burden, but there is hope something specific will come out of it.

But maybe you arrive and the horse is anxious, or you are frazzled, or you feel the work is not what you expected, or you aren't putting on your best performance.

Lots of emotions can come up at this point - embarrassment, frustration, sometimes even anger - fear, resistance of the information or the moment, and so much more. It can be hard to take in the information you're recieving because maybe it doesn't fit into what you'd expected to be working on, or getting from the clinic.

Some of this can be very easily prevented by doing better research on the clinician - if you expected to show off your fancy moves and you come to someone who specializes in correct basics, for example, you might be quite disappointed to be working on your seat and hands instead of showing off your half pass.

But another portion of this is simply being flexible minded. To recieve the lesson of the clinic, for it to settle in and do us the most good, we need to be willing to accept what IS, not what we hoped. If we hoped our horse would be perfect but instead they are a nervous wreck, than the lesson of that clinic is a skill set of management you can't get the same way elsewhere (assuming you have a good teacher of course). If you wanted to work on flying changes but instead got feedback on your mentality and words spoken and coordination of aids - that is the most important lesson because it is the one the moment presented.

It's very difficult to put oneself in a position to be out time and money, and put on public display often in a very vulnerable position. This is one of the reasons it is essential to pick the right teacher for you - someone who can honor that tenderness and give you the truth without cutting you down. But even the best teacher can't reach you if you are not flexible minded or open to the lesson of the moment: to get what you needed, not necessarily what you wanted.

That is where true growth will meet you - in all the squirmy bits, where there is everything on the line - if you can rise up bravely to face it without turning away, and without hardness of mind.