This year I moved from riding a very big horse — Bart is my 17.3 hand Clydesdale cross — to riding a much smaller one.

Troy is 14 hands, mischievous, cute, and very awkward for me to ride, with a quicker pace and a shorter stride than I am used to. I felt clumsy, almost as if I was touching the ground. My feet kept knocking the top of his legs, which was one of the reasons I decided he was too small for me, and that I wouldn’t keep riding him.

Then I took him to adult riding club, where Pam, the instructor, told me clearly and bluntly that he wasn’t too small at all. My feet were in the wrong place, because of my poor riding posture.

Right. That was confronting feedback. So it turned out Troy wasn’t the problem. I was.

I took on the responsibility and worked on my “seat” — the riding term for how you hold yourself in the saddle. Three months on, I’ve bought Troy and he is here to stay. My feet stay where they should, we are having lots of adventures, and Troy is not too small.

Where are you blaming someone or something else? It might let you off the hook for taking action in the short term, but it won’t shift anything. Maybe your horse isn’t too small after all.

Go Fearlessly – Corrinne

PS This is Troy and I in the Won Wron State Forest. 

PPS If you are wondering about Bart, he is now retired. We ride him bareback around the farm sometimes, and he eats grass and enjoys the sunshine.