I've Discovered "Feel"-Riding Gets Better and Better

An amazing breakthrough in my riding has occured. I think I've finally discovered "feel". It is something that I recognize in other activities but in my day to day riding, it has escaped me. I actually began practicing it while driving in my truck recently, hauling Chanty to a clinic four hours from home.

I was apprehensive about travelling so far with her in the trailer, especially through the very congested highways around Seattle. I knew I would have to leave at an early hour to miss rush hour in the big city. I prepared for the trip by making sure my truck and trailer had recently been maintained and that I had a spare tire for the trailer, as well as a way to change it, if necessary. The only issue that remained was how to keep myself from focusing so intently on the drive, the traffic, the other cars,as well as worry about how Chanty was doing in the back of the trailer. The weather cooperated nicely and for the most part, it is a straight shot down the highway. In order to quiet some of my fears, I listened to an audio CD that I keep in my truck. It is Jane Savoie's series on "The Rider's Edge" about techniques each of us can use to overcome fear and negative thinking. It can be applied to any aspect of our lives and can best be summed up as "what your brain thinks, your body feels."

So when I drove down the highway and began thinking, "is Chanty okay back there, is she hurting or nervous from the noise or the bouncing? Am I going to hit heavy traffic and have to change lanes quickly and what if I don't stop in time? what if someone cuts in front of me and I have to slam on the brakes? am I driving slow enough? what's that in the road? how fast am I going?" And on and on and on....
With all that overanalyzing going on, it is no wonder my palms were sweating and my heart was racing and my stomach was in knots. Too much information! I've been driving for 37 years and I've hauled my horse in a trailer for over 5 yrs. Sure this was the longest we've gone and sure there was going to be traffic, but as long as I allowed my abilities as a driver to take over and just feel for changes in the traffic, or the speed of the cars in front of me, I would just naturally adjust to those changes. Stop overloading the system. When you let your instincts take over, it's a sure sign othat you've gained experience from years of practice. It's like putting the car on cruise control or auto pilot. I wasn't asleep at the wheel. I was still very aware of what I needed to do at a moment's notice. But, now I could take it all in as a blending of sights and sounds, all creating one experience.

And that is exactly what I did today when I rode. I was circling Chanty at the canter to the right through cones. When I wanted to make the circle large, I would pass the cone at about 20 feet to the left of it. Then I would spiral down closer to the cone in the center and back out, all the while keeping the circle round and a consistent rhythm and speed to her canter. Instead of analyzing my position, my hands, my weight in the stirrups and every other detail of the movement, I just let my experience take charge. I'd practiced this so many times before and now my body was free of tension. It made it so much easier to just think about what I wanted and let it happen. I could make small adjustments if I needed to, but if I found myself trying to analyze and fix too much, the beautiful feeling would go away. And with it, our harmonious movement. I rode pain free and found I was able to remember how it felt so that I can practice another technique that many successful people use-visualization. I can recreate my rides and "feel" the entire experience, in the comfort of my recliner at home. Then when I take that with me in the saddle, I can have my brain think it and my body will feel it. WOW this just gets better and better.