I often reference a paper that was written by a distinguished psychologist Paul Wachtel, PhD where he makes the assertion that our graduate psychology programs are training technicians rather than scientists who are exploring the edges of our knowledge and understanding. On a similar note, I remember a talk I attended back in the early 90’s where the speaker reminded us that all of the founders of the various popular family therapy models being taught in our 2-year graduate programs where classically trained psychoanalysts with 30 to 40 years of clinical experience. He feared we where prioritizing tools and techniques over deep knowledge and understanding.
As humans, we want clarity and direction. This is especially true in the equestrian world where the development of effective relationships with our horses so often seems a mysterious process. Our desire for clarity drives us to seek out simple digestible answers and direction which many trainers are happy to provide. Heels down, inside leg to outside rein, when your horse does this…do that, and so on and so on. Please don’t get me wrong, technical skill is essentially important. But, just like in the world of psychology, mistaking technical skill for mastery is unfortunate and misguided. What then is the path to mastery?
I spent the day yesterday auditing a Tom Curtin Quality Horsemanship Clinic. It was amazing to watch him ride and demonstrate the days lessons on his horses. He talked about his horses feet being his own when he is in the saddle. He said, “I don’t get on a horse. I get the opportunity to have an extention of me.” If seeing is believing, I believe.
Equally impressive was the way he taught. Sure there were moments where he spoke to technique and technical skills. However, most of his time was spent setting up simple exercises which were designed to help each rider feel their way to the awareness of their horse’s feet.
Riders in the clinic also asked questions in a different form than I am used to. They would ask, “How can I help my horse to…” rather than “What should I do…” questions. Tom would give suggestions or thoughts related to their question and then he would ask, “Did that give you some ideas?”
I love that. “Did that give you some ideas?” Some new ways to think about it. Some new ways of approaching it. Something to explore. Something to master through exploration. A path to both mastery and ownership that did not depend on you “getting it right” or “following directions to the letter.”
In almost every arena of modern life, we are acculturated to perform to a standard. We strive for performance objectives. Test scores. Job titles. Performance quotas. Salaries. Ribbons. Year end awards. The list goes on. What would it be like to give ourselves permission to explore, make our own mistakes, gather some ideas from masters along the way, do some stuff, and seek the mastery rather than performance.
I am going to go and ride my horse today and play with some of the ideas I took away from Tom. Hopefully, I will be able to find my horses feet and put together a few things I have learned along the way in a new way that deepens both my knowledge and understanding. Will you join me on this winding path to mastery? ~ Paul
PC – Erin Gilmore Photography
Tom Curtin Quality Horsemanship
#sportpsych #equstriansportpsychology #mastery #equestriansportpsych #equestrianlife #learning #deepunderstanding