What constitutes to the perfect horse rider? Expensive lessons? Flashy tack?
For me, I’ve seen so many people (including myself) put themselves down for not having anything of the above. No belief, no confidence, no desire to try.
To me the perfect owner and the perfect rider is aptitude. To love their horse, to give it their all and to respect the relationship you build with your animal. The perfect rider has a good attitude.
Nothing makes me more upset than an owner that speaks bad of their partner. “He’s lazy”, “She’s mean” “They won’t do it”.
The attitude you bring to your ride, or your ground work session is so important! If you come in with the wrong attitude, if you’re down or you have ill feelings towards your horse, you will not get the greatest results you can.
If you think positively, or at least neutrally, you’ll find you can alter your outcomes a lot more.
I won’t lie, equipment, training and sometimes pure luck are of importance to being the perfect rider. Physically, a good match works too. But it isn’t entirely important, I speak on my own behalf when I say that not a lot of people thought it was possible for someone my stature (5ft1) to be able to ride, let alone hold in passage, a 16.1 Luso.
Perfect matches don’t have to be aesthetically pleasing. You don’t have to have a long legged warmblood, or the sleekest Arabian. You don’t need matchy matchy sets. Your horse doesn’t have to be immaculately groomed or cost into the high 4 figures . Yes it helps if the rider and horse are matched and don’t out size each other, but with the best mindset, and the best attitude you can muster, you’ll accomplish more than you’ll ever believe.
Your friends, Paige and The Boys.