Keep Him in the Conversation

Please don't sue me, Dressage Today. I know this article is your property, but the concept is so perfect for me that I have to share it.

By the way, this is my official endorsement of Dressage Today.  If you have any interest in riding dressage, you should be a subscriber.

There. Maybe that will keep them from sending me any sort of cease and desist letter.

Here is the article in question. Pay special attention to the illustrations; they make the author's point better than the text. The text follows below.

Dressage Today - November 2012

Think of the rein contact as if you were talking to someone at a comfortable distance across a dinner table. If you expand the distance and stop talking, the person loses attention and becomes distracted. If you suddenly shorten the distance and talk without a break, the person becomes uncomfortable and claustrophobic. - Jane Karol.

I am sharing this because it is the same metaphor that JL uses when I ride Sydney, but she calls it "keeping him in the conversation." Early on I had to work really hard to keep the volume down. That's like being a close talker for all you Seinfeld fans.

Now that my feel is really developing, I use this image of a conversation all the time. In fact I tell Sydney, hey now - stay in the conversation. No leaving. I find that it gives me much more patience and forces me to listen to his end of the conversation. 

Can he hear me? No. Shorten the reins. 
Is he feeling trapped and uncomfortable? Give him some space.

It seems as though my rides on Sydney are getting better and better in an exponential way. Something has clicked. Maybe I have become a better conversationalist!