Aaron’s Story
Aaron’s complete Q&A continued from Instagram.
I have long enjoyed Shostakovich’s 12th, The Struggle for Freedom by Hitoshi Sakimoto and Dancing Mad by Nobuo Uematsu. For something a bit different, I have liked Nina Simone’s Feeling Good since I was first introduced to it a few years ago.
What is it about horses that makes you feel comfortable or connected to them?
Horses don’t speak our language, nor do they possess the same physical apparatus to communicate with body language that we humans pick up innately. The human has to grasp how horses express themselves in order for the interaction to work in any particularly meaningful way. I would suggest that the human knowing the horse and its methods of communicating is a pretty unique form of connection.
What do horses teach you that people might not expect? / What is something a horse has taught you about patience, trust, or communication?
I think these questions can be answered well together when we talk about riding once the very basics have been established. I have observed both in myself when struggling with a horse, or when helping other riders, moments where one’s communication does not match their intentions. A rider with an insufficiently developed seat may balance on the lesson horse’s mouth while kicking it forward. Their intention may be correct, but due their present lacking ability, their “ridden words” contrast each other. This is ever present with the learning rider, but how many of us have independent seats in so far as our own interpersonal communication goes? Independent tongues, if you will.
In so far as patience is concerned, I find that it can be tempting to just ride the horse into the desired outline but I would not presume that to be the most effective method. It seems to me that it might be more effective to create situations for the horse to learn. To give them opportunities to fail so that you can step in, provide appropriate correction and guide them forward. Sometimes the harder thing is not the training, but being willing to tolerate it being bad so that you can be more deliberate in the development.
What goals have you accomplished through riding that you’re most proud of?
It’s easy to point to show results as an accomplishment but I think that I am most proud of the discipline of showing up to ride every day regardless of how I feel or how eager I am to work. That is the thing upon which all other accomplishments will come.
Do you have a favorite memory with a horse that has stayed with you?
I recall doing night check one night where there was a rain storm intense enough that it took out trees and the power. The rain was strong enough that it would have been difficult to leave the barn. I ended up in one horse’s stall giving hay and for a minute or so we both watched the rain and stood in the back of his stall as the rain blew in on us both. It was an odd cross species moment as we both tried to stay dry.
What do you enjoy most about being at the barn?
I like the rhythm it seems to produce. When doing shift work there is a set of things that has to be done but due riding schedules the order is inevitably jumbled. Finding time to weave everything in that needs doing is just enough to keep things interesting, even though day in and out it can be much the same.
If you could thank the horses in your life for one thing, what would it be?
I’d thank them for putting up with my learning methods. There was an idea I encountered once called stretch and squeeze, where you use the same technique to differing degrees so as to learn the scope of its usefulness. I appreciate the horses I ride putting up with my trying things in all sorts of ways so as to figure out how things work, especially the really well trained ones who must have no idea what is going on sometimes.
How has being around horses changed your life?
In one way it is the same, and in another totally different. Being around horses itself is a pretty dramatic change in and of itself. Previously I spent the overwhelming majority of my time playing and making games. I had little contact or even interest in animals. The way it is the same is that to play a game is to map out its rules and figure out the optimal way to navigate them for the desired outcome. In this way riding horses is much the same. There are a number of “button presses” that must be done in sequence to produce the desired posture in the horse, or the correct movement, or approach to the jump. That is also to say nothing of the similarities in between games and competing horses.
So in one way my life is totally different but in another sense it is exactly the same as I am just playing horses instead of whatever video game has my interest.
Can you describe how you felt before horses became part of your life, and how you feel now?
I think the main thing I feel is that my daily structure is more rigidly defined. There are more external forces that layout what I need to do each day. When making games I find it far more free form in how you go from task to task whereas barn work is a bit more rigidly set in place. I prefer wandering from thing to thing but I do think having things set in front of me is better for my brain.
What accomplishment are you most proud of since becoming involved with horses?
I think a lot about what I conceive of as “rate of gain.” I describe it as the amount of progress made over periods of time.
Early in my riding I watched a one year old being led around on a pony. The observation I took from this is that if I, who am starting riding much later in life, am going to be competitive against those who have been riding since before they can walk, I am going to need a way of bridging that experience gap. This prompted me to develop a list of disadvantages I perceived in comparison to those with greater financial or experiential means and how I would attempt to solve for them. I believe the first point of solving this is to do everything possible to maintain a higher level of improvement then as many people as possible for as long as possible.
I think I am most proud of how accurate my thinking on the subject has proven to be and how I’ve been able to keep a pretty high rate of gain in comparison to many of the riders around me.
If you could tell someone who is struggling or feeling alone what horses have meant to you, what would you say?
From my experience so far, in a normal situation, there’s not a lot of baggage horses bring to their interactions with people. For them the current moment seems to be all that matters. There is a freedom in that the only thing that matters is the present moment – not the other things that might be going on for the human. The human might be having all manner of crises, little or large, but in a certain manner of thinking, the horse can’t even begin to process those. There is absolutely no bearing that those problems can have on the interaction with the horse and really should be left behind.
Dealing with horses seems to be quite good at getting oneself to let go. It brings to mind getting a horse to supple while riding. If they lock in their neck, bending and releasing over and over to get them to let go produces a more relaxed muscle group. As with the horse, if you constantly have to release your issues at the door to the stall, I’d think that is probably easier to go about your problems in a more relaxed way.