installing buttons

Bad news in Baltimore… We’re already 3 weeks into the new year, and… Yep — *looks outside window* — it’s still winter. Womp.

There’s not really a whole heckuva lot going on right now in our world. And obvi all the warm fuzzy feelings of *inspiration* and *motivation* and *energetic excitement* associated with “New Year, New Me OMG!” can’t last forever, amirite? 

So… eh, let’s dial it back a little. Not ALL the way, tho, bc today’s topic is still entirely inspired by (and based in part on) my experiences of digging into those new year intentions. Specifically related to my foray into a new physical activity. 

Namely, I want to share a couple observations from attending yoga classes… Which, naturally, I’ll attempt to tie back into some sort of equestrian relevance.

sweet mare is so patient with all my shenanigans LOL

Bc it turns out, learning new things as an adult… kinda sucks lol. I’ve never been a fantastic multi-tasker anyway, but seriously guys. Trying to listen to, understand, and act upon a whole new set of vocabulary words in real time and real heat (did I mention the studio is heated??) while **simultaneously** not falling on my actual literal face during said actions, which themselves seem to defy physical laws of gravity and flexibility… Yeeeahhhhh, it’s been. Hm. Wobbly. 

The first few classes were a constant struggle. I burned so much energy just concentrating on following the prompts and remembering to breathe, that I often couldn’t make it through the full sequences. 

Soon enough, tho, things started clicking! Suddenly the words, poses and sequences became more familiar. My experience in class shifted from an overwhelming bombardment of sensory stimuli to organized flow. My stamina increased, my pants magically lost their post-holiday snugness… I felt good!

And what a trajectory, right? Exponential achievements unlocked! At this rate, I’ll be well on my way to nirvana in no time flat, right?? Right?!?

“nirvana?? yea right, get real, lady!” — doozy, 100%

Ahem. Cough cough. Yeeeahhh. About that. 

Anybody familiar with the phrase “regression to the mean” (or, I guess, familiar with the basic regression curve itself) recognizes this pattern. Starting from zero, followed by a period of rapid growth / improvement, before tapering onto a near-flat trajectory toward infinity. 

In other words, results tend to plateau over time. Not bc we suck or whatever, but bc it’s legitimately a long, slow, incremental process of building skill and proficiency in just about any and every endeavor. Like it or not, I’m probably stuck with the wobbles for the foreseeable future.

Relatable, right? Sliiiiightly discouraging, sure lol. And probably a big reason why a lot of new habits or intentions often don’t stick. Bc unless you legitimately enjoy the activity itself, that long slow grind isn’t super fulfilling lol.

Obviously there are plenty of parallels to riding just in that concept alone, too. Like how with Doozy, all those exciting new milestones from the early days — our first sit! our first jompies!! our first jompy lesson!!! — eventually gave way to the slow steady grind of incremental progress 2.5 years (really) later.

Have no fear, tho, this whole blog is basically a shrine to the grind LOL. So I promise not to dedicate this entire post to that subject. It’s been interesting and enlightening, however, to experience it more directly and personally, that’s for sure!

pictured: the face of a horse who is *astonished* at the suggestion that our progress has been slow
“don’t look at me, it ain’t my fault!” — doozy, without a doubt

So let’s move onto my other big main observation from these yoga classes: what that regressive concept means for understanding reproducibility in general, and the conditions for success in particular.

Sure, it’d be easy to believe that having finally accomplished a tricky twisty balancing pose for the first time, that now it’s part of my ‘repertoire,’ it’s something I can do. Or, in a more horsey jargon that I personally find mildly obnoxious, it’s a “button” that’s now been “installed.”

We’ve all heard it before, right? Maybe about some sort of flat work exercises — lateral movements, flying changes, fancy dressage stuff — that a horse has a ‘lot of buttons.’ 

And sure, there are some very nicely schooled horses out there who are capable and confident at executing upper level maneuvers with relatively minimal input.

But real talk…. there are some things I can do at the *end* of a yoga class that… I can not do at the beginning. And don’t even TRY to ask me for that same degree of flexibility or muscle tone when I’m standing at the bathroom sink, brushing my teeth after waking up in the morning. Bc it ain’t gonna happen like that. 

maybe i just have ‘warming up’ on my mind bc i’m trying to manifest to the universe??

Obviously this is NOT rocket science and I’m not telling you anything you don’t know by saying it’s actually the progressive warming up, stretching and activation of different muscle groups throughout class that suddenly makes those trickier poses more “available” to me. It’s not that we install a headstand “button,” but rather that the conditions for achieving a headstand* — aligning the spine, stacking hips and shoulders, etc etc — are met such that the headstand is possible. 

((**Obviously NOT referring to myself here, ain’t no way, no how, I’m stacked in ALL The Wrong Ways LOL))

Academically, again, this is not new information. For me, for you, for any of us. But going through the experiences personally, recognizing the differences in my own body between when I’m not ready for a particular movement vs when I am, has been enlightening.

And it’s made me think in new ways about how we go about “warming up” in a typical schooling ride. Bc again, let’s be real, it’s super easy to fall into a pattern of treating the warm up like a check list. Like, ok, let’s walk for 5minutes, trot for a bit, change directions, work both sides, introduce some figures, maybe a little canter, then voila! we’re ready to jump a couple jumps.

That might not necessarily be wrong either — perhaps it’s a normal pattern bc it basically normally gets the job done. But now it’s got me thinking more deeply about exactly which muscle groups I’m asking the horse to activate, when, and to what degree of intensity, and how that sequence can progress through a ride. 

looking forward to a day when we’ve got better things to do than navel gaze!!

And more specifically to that whole idea of “buttons” in the horse, it’s so easy to think that once we’ve schooled a horse to a specific movement or maneuver, then the horse should always be able to do that thing. When, in reality, it’s all the underlying conditions, circumstances, situations that have progressed to make that “button” available.

A horse that’s on the aids, in front of the leg, and relaxed but attentive will have an easier time stepping immediately into a new gait transition or lateral movement or whatever, compared to a horse for which some or all of those criteria are not met. 

More thoroughly trained or well schooled horses might get there faster with less fuss or rider input, might also have the conditioning necessary to do more “advanced movements” with less preparation (for example: plenty of folks can wake up and whip out some fancy poses while brushing their teeth cold at the sink,** right?)… sure. 

(**Tho there probably aren’t too many PRs recorded cold at the bathroom sink!)

But for the most part, I’m guessing a lot of us probably need to spend less time thinking about achieving specific movements or transitions or whatever, and more time focused on those basic fundamentals: on the aids, in front of the leg, relaxed but attentive.

The basic ingredients that make an activity possible and reproducible in the horse. For me and Doozy, for example, that could mean reframing how I think about practicing for dressage tests. Shifting focus from just rehearsing the test pattern itself to instead really working on practicing that ‘readiness’ to perform a test.

Not really an earth shattering concept or observation, obviously. But maybe interesting. At least to me LOL, on this cold wintry day, staring down yet another snowstorm! What do you think?