When I was younger I took lessons for the flute. I had also been having lessons for the piano and the cornet. This wasn’t because I was particularly musical, and definitely not talented but probably more something akin to ADHD.
The flute sticks in my mind though. After I had had a few lessons, an older friend of the family gave me a CD of a concert flutist. I remember listening to the music and thinking that I had never played a single note on the flute that made a noise like anything I was hearing. But I had been having lessons, and trying to put songs together yet nobody had stopped me and told me that none of the noises were right. I didn’t really care enough at the time, as I really just wanted to be outside with my pony.
But now as I look at riding and coaching, it got me thinking.
What is the core purpose of what we do? is it to create Art? Something can only be called art if it moves someone in some way. A piece of music, a song, a painting, a film. Sporting endeavours are put into a different category, but astonishing achievement in the sporting world can be likened to art. It can move us.
Riding is the same. Watch someone complete a flawless dressage test, the horse dancing effortlessly through the manoeuvres, the riders aids invisible. It will move you. Watching a cross country round that is harmonic, brave, spectacularly skilled, will move you. Riding is art. And art should move the person creating it too.
The flute didn’t move me, and it only moved anyone listening to leave the room.
Riding. Are we making enough of the right steps to make a tune that will move someone, move us? Is the coach actually telling us when the notes are wrong? That we are off-key, the rhythm is wrong? Or are they allowing us to not create the best art we can?
The rules of art are blurry. Music is the easiest to compare against; a certain number of notes gives some boundaries.
There are boundaries and rules to riding and creating a horse who has learnt skills and talents and who grows more adept throughout his journey.
But all rules and journeys require a keeper with a road map. That is the coach. The one who tells you when the note was wrong. When your breathing is off, when you have a conflict between speed and balance.
But the art of riding also lies in the feel; the partnership, the communication without words, the ultimate creation of an unskilled animal to one who has learnt a different way to use his body. When it’s done correctly, the creation means that the horse can take his body to the height of its capabilities, in a comfortable and non-damaging way.
So my question is this; Are you creating art that moves you and the people watching? And are you being guided to make the best art you can?