For want of a nail, the shoe was lost

“?????? ???????? ???? ?? ????????, ?????? ???????? ?????? ????????”

This is the beginning line by a poem called “A Little Neglect May Breed Great Mischief”

Now – every horse owner knows to be on the look out for trouble if their horse looses a nail.

Obviously.

But there are a lot of other littles signs most riders ignore…which can result in disaster … similar to the disaster described in the last paragraph of this poem: “…the kingdom was lost, and all for the want of a horseshoe nail.”

Here is the entire poem: “A Little Neglect May Breed Great Mischief”

?????? ???????? ???? ?? ????????, ?????? ???????? ?????? ????????.

?????? ???????? ???? ?? ????????, ?????? ?????????? ?????? ????????.

?????? ???????? ???? ?? ??????????, ?????? ?????????? ?????? ????????.

?????? ???????? ???? ?? ??????????, ?????? ???????????? ?????? ????????.

?????? ???????? ???? ?? ????????????, ?????? ?????????????? ?????? ????????,

?????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???????? ???? ?? ?????????????????? ????????.

What can we learn from this poem?

Well - obviously riding is not a war - the opposite ought to be the case.

But a 'war' in this poem signifies something of utmost importance!

Like feeling comfortable, competent and secure in the saddle - our most profound and important goal in riding!

What prevents us from that?

When I go on and on about stiffness and aches...

...you might be thinking this has absolutely nothing to do with you feeling disconnected or out of sync in the saddle!

But: let's take stiffness as an example of a nail!

A little stiffness that seems to creep in with age, for example. One of those things most riders swiftly ignore.

It starts with a slight difficulty in squatting down to pick up your horse’s feet or using a mounting block to get on (not just because it’s better for your horse not to mount from the ground but because it feels increasingly cumbersome to do so).

Still easy to not notice=ignore.

But it is like a missing nail…and before you know it you are really struggling to get your leg over the back of the pommel. Then one day you can’t do it without someone actually helping you get your leg over.

At the same time, you notice that you are not all that centered in the saddle and easily get unseated. Which you don’t necessarily blame on the hip stiffness…

It is the kind of missing nail that eventually looses the war.

LOL not that riding is a war – it’s the opposite! It’s heaven, your peaceful place, your happy place.

I know what you might be thinking: once you can barely get on without someone actually helping you…it’s too late to realize you might should have noticed the nail gone missing.

And you might be correct. But if there is even the slightest chance you could indeed “turn back time” … how incredible would that be!?

I am working with a client with this exact problem right now. She was having a heck of a time getting her leg over to mount and was not very secure or centered in the saddle. She got a new horse…who absolutely had no patience for that. Dumped her twice…

Yesterday – just 3 weeks into the process of working together – she was delighted to share that she went for a ride with a friend and easily got on. Her friend on the other hand had a hard time mounting so she got back off to help her. She was a little worried the ‘getting on so easily’ would not work again…but to her amazement it did!

Don’t worry I don’t have a magic stick!

But I’ve learned that (by helping riders for many years) that the human body is pretty magical: it has an awesome design, it prefers harmony and if given the right help it always ‘rights’ itself.

And because of that I’ve put together a process of re-setting and re-training riders that works according to the interconnectedness of the body!

Feeling like-one, supple and confident in the saddle is not about core strength or a million little tricks to help you be more aware of your position in the saddle.

It’s about restoring natural alignment and suppleness to the body – because

-that is what makes riding feel as easy as breathing -

- that is what allows you to feel a spook or buck or sudden movement coming and automatically react to it -

- that is what makes the canter or lope feel like butter (rather than out of control) -

- that is what allows you to feel so connected to your horse that every moment in the saddle feels like pure unconditional love!