It has been said that horseback riding is one of the last of the sports to be taught by oral tradition. Riding is typically taught by the masters of the sport who can be considered “naturals” at what they do. The high level performers many times cannot articulate what they are doing with their bodies to produce those spectacular results. It can become more complicated when people are taught by those with different body types and qualities or even different genders.
It is my opinion that the most difficult aspect in teaching or in learning any physical task is trying to understand what something feels like. I have often looked at top level riders and wondered what it would be like to be inside that person’s body and feel what it is that they do to produce certain results.
This, to me, is why the there is such a difference between how riders have been taught traditionally and how Mary Wanless teaches. As a physicist, she has brilliantly been able to figure out the mechanics behind “good riding” that so often seems to be something that some of us are born with and others are not.
Mary has the ability to take almost any rider (who is willing to embrace change and set aside ego) and get them all closer to the ideal functional position. By coming closer to the established ideal position it makes the rider more effective at communicating with the horse. The communication between the horse and rider becomes more clear and concise; this in turn creates amazing changes taking place in the horse. It’s not magic; it’s the laws of physics.
I had the pleasure of participating in my fourth Mary Wanless RWYM Teachers Training Clinic recently held at Stirling Farm. The facilities are beautiful, the horses well cared for, and the clinic well organized.
I always find these clinics to be extremely informative; not only from a teaching perspective but from a personal riding perspective as well.
The focus of the Teacher Training clinics is to learn how to transmit the instructor's understanding of the how to of riding across to the rider. To put it simply, the instructor translates her “feelscape” into “wordscape”. The student then translates the received “wordscape” back into “feelscape” and then executes it. With any luck, the instructor will send the message clearly and the student will translate it correctly. Without precise language and methods, it’s a bit like playing the childhood game of Gossip. Things often get “lost in translation”. One of the inherent problems with teaching is the instructor can see problems with rider positions, but depending on the specific wording of how to change the position the resulting outcome may hit the mark or potentially create new problems. (An example would be noticing that the rider has a toe down heel up position. Push the heel down and notice what happens to the knee. Pull the toe up and notice what happens. The result can be far different. So the understanding of the mechanics and the language is critical.)
Mary always presents the latest techniques she has discovered in RWYM biomechanics as well as information and other related topics by body workers, researchers, and anyone who has contributed to the 'how the human or equine body is put together and how it works'. This approach helps tremendously in understanding how to further enhance her teaching methods.
Another block to teaching that is rarely addressed by others is how to get through to various individuals. Every person has their own personality, learning style, and emotional baggage. Mary addresses many of these potential pitfalls and even incorporates role playing to sharpen the instructor’s skills to be able to more effectively communicate information.
The atmosphere of these clinics is rare indeed as the participates tend to be like-minded in their passion and zeal to delve into the why behind how to achieve better riding from the people and improved performance from the horses.
There is a camaraderie that develops very quickly among the participants, as the focus of clinic is to sharpen the eye and gain new – and many times innovative – techniques to achieve results. It becomes a team effort in which the group wants all participants to succeed.
The venue gives everyone the opportunity to be both instructor and student. I believe this format fosters an environment that creates a camaraderie among the participants that is not seen in your typical clinic.
The RWYM clinics, both the riding and the Teacher Training, never fail to deliver an amazing experience on many levels.
Can’t wait for the next one!
-Leslie Salter
