“Too many cooks spoil the broth”, a statement that I couldn’t overly relate to until I witnessed it for the first time recently. Now I can fully put my hand up confidently and say, for me, yes, too many cooks can indeed spoil the broth.
In this instance, I’m not talking chefs but, instead, riding instructors. I recently attended a non-Equiteam camp with a fellow Equiteam Connected member and what an eye-opener it was.
As per true camp style, it was full on and I was super excited to take part and embrace the challenge: three instructors with four lessons, over two days and an affiliated competition on day three.
Initially I thought, great, loads of top, talented, well-known expertise to keep me in the right?
Wrong….
Instead of being filled with positivity and confidence, I found myself being pulled in three different directions.
Let me explain…
Instructor one was asking me to contain my canter as it was too big; instructor two informed me that my lower leg was “offensive” and so got me to change my entire position which made me use muscles I didn’t know existed. Instructor three told me that I looked perfect in my ‘normal’ position but that the canter needed to be opened up. Yeah, exactly… right!
My head was spinning and I was just as confused as you are reading this! My horse was confused and we rode horrendously… no really, it was awful.
Just a few weeks before, I had the amazing opportunity with the lessons of a lifetime; full of positivity, support and encouragement that mimicked that of the usual Equiteam Confidence Camps and left me completely buzzing!
So why now, was I so deflated after being told there was so much ‘wrong’ with what I was doing? Was my usual instructor lying to me? Why didn’t my usual instructor tell me these things? Why am I only being told this now?
How could these successful instructors be so contradictory between all their teaching methods?!
After a brief, and somewhat emotional chat to my truly amazing instructor and friend who I’ve had the absolute privilege of being taught by since the start of my journey with Mr Hadley (the horse!), she (yeah ok, we all know it’s Liz), was able to listen to my rambling and helped my brain turn the frustrations that I was facing into a more positive perspective.
Ultimately, what they were trying to teach me, is the end goal and thus homework:
1. Hadders can’t yet contain the canter without building more of a top line – work on it.
2. There is no way my lower leg can point inwards without work on my hips, strength and fitness – work on it.
3. The test is to be ridden accurately so just ride it and stop overthinking – work on it.
Day three, with an open canter, an “offensive” leg and a stupid smile on my face, I rode the test and I got placed in both with some pretty insanely epic percentages!
It made me realise that whilst there are so many opinions on the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ way to ride, you can still achieve high marks, rosettes and jump the world if you’re consistent in your learning.
For me, what I have learned from this camp is that that consistency is key. It is having a circle of instructors with similar teaching techniques that compliment each other. However, just because you don’t like tomato sauce with your porridge, doesn’t mean it can’t work for some.
Too many cooks can indeed spoil the broth but don’t ever let this spoil you.
Caeleigh x
Want some exercises to improve your lower leg security?
Try out EquiTeam’s exercises to here
Photo credits: Lindsay Robertson Photography & Jamie Agnew Photography
