Brindabella Farms

An interview with Barbara J. Joyce and Chardy Shealy

Q: You have been working with adults in your pioneering SCRT™ workshops since 1986. Have you noticed some common concerns among these riders?

BJJ: First of all, working with adults is very different from working with youngsters. Adults have a lot of distractions, career responsibilities, for example (that typically pay for their horse interests).They may have school age children with all the related schedule problems and other demands. Often adults would like to ride a lot more than they realistically can. They would also like to ride more skillfully; they get frustrated about the time needed to do that since the adults coming to our workshops are often high achievers.

Some react to these conflicts and realities by giving up riding. Others find that once they return home, they ride erratically. They often tire of the effort required to get the time to ride.

Q: What are some common plusses for adult riders?

CS: They are motivated! What a joy to have students who love to learn, who read all the assignments, and want more. They want to know "why". Many instructors with local students don't have the time to answer the questions that adult riders have during a lesson. When these students return to their local instructors, they typically notice a big improvement in the riders. Partly, that is because the workshop setting allows time to consider their questions. We also provide resources for them to continue learning at home.

Q: Is there any hope for riders who find their riding often conflicts with other priorities?

BJJ: Yes. Number one, we accept these realities for adults. Then we concentrate on activities they can incorporate into their non-riding life that will keep them in touch with their riding skills. Something as simple as how they sit and walk, for example. A balanced, centered seat on the horse is perfectly possible to approximate when sitting in a chair. You simply have to know how to do that.

Other techniques that we use such as breathing exercises, physical conditioning and visualization can be practiced very effectively unmounted. Adults tell us they find these concepts useful in the rest of their life too, and good for stress reduction.

Riding and stress don't mix. The horse is unhappy and the rider is often fearful and uncomfortable. No fun.

Q: Are you saying that adult riders benefit from an unmounted physical conditioning program?

CS: Yes, Such a program is essential to riding progress. Somehow, riders often get the idea that riding improvement should be made solely from the back of a horse. In fact, some riders have been told that physical strength can interfere with riding well. They are surprised to learn that highly competitive adult riders often follow a very diligent, unmounted physical conditioning program which may include weight training, yoga, jogging, and other challenges.

For adults who can't ride regularly, unmounted physical conditioning can go a long way to keeping them riding-ready. That means they are less prone to injury, feel more confident and comfortable, make faster progress when they do get to ride, and are simply more fit than those who don't do unmounted work. The horse is happier too!

Q: Speaking of comfort, are saddles ever an issue for adults?

BJJ: That is an interesting subject. I wonder how many adults, men and women, have stopped riding because they were miserable in the saddle... and they thought you were supposed to be! We hear that a lot. Adults often need a roomy saddle, 18 inches not being uncommon. They may want the security of a deep seat, and the seat needs to be properly centered or balanced.

We often find adults are riding in saddles that tip them backward, or bruise them in the crotch. Some saddles are too wide (the "twist"), and others are not wide enough for a particular adult. Some saddles thrust their legs too far forward, and others too far back. Adults need to know first of all that it is possible to be comfortable in a saddle! Our responsibility as instructors is to help them find a saddle that is comfortable for them. I have gradually found a small cluster of saddle models that seems particularly suitable for women riders, for example.

CS: That is a good point, Barbara. Men's and women's skeletons are very dissimilar in the place which is crucial to saddle fit: the pelvis and hips. That is why a man's saddle is rarely comfortable for a woman, and vice versa. Another point: as adults become more fit and flexible as riders, their tolerance of different saddles often grows. Still, the saddle is critical to the rider's comfort and safety (and thus to the horse's comfort and stability).

This is a good place to point out a great difference between children and adults. The child's body is rarely as challenging to fit comfortably to a saddle as an adult's body is.

BJJ: Adults often plan on buying one saddle in a lifetime. If they are riding a lot and their body is changing, they may in time want a different saddle. In any event, the saddle needs to be comfortable.

Q: What about choosing a horse for an adult?

BJJ: Quite simply, this can be a challenging process. Fitting the horse to the rider's personality, temperament, body type, skills, maturity and goals requires keen judgement and even intuition. And HEAR what that rider is saying. A properly matched horse and rider for that particular stage of a rider's development are a joy to all concerned.

CS: By the way, the rider should never be coerced into their horse choice by anyone. Another common mistake is to have a well-meaning spouse or friend purchase a horse for a rider without the rider's knowledge or permission. Choosing a horse-partner is a very personal decision.

Q: Why do you place an emphasis on HEARing the rider?

BJJ: Our workshop participants are often frustrated in communicating with instructors. This was a much more common problem when we started out than it is now because so many instructors are now learning how to teach the growing numbers of adult riders. Still the problem exists. The student tries to tell the instructor how they are feeling about something, and the instructor goes on as though the student never spoke, ignoring the issue or question. Adult riders typically like explanations and dialogue. For some instructors, that is maddening; they can't just give orders.

Q: What other situations are common to adult riders?

BJJ: They feel unprepared to make certain decisions: how to choose an instructor, for example. They don't know what they are looking for. We encourage them to interview instructors, to ask certain questions, and to take time in making the choice. This process has led to some really happy experiences for these students at home; the better instructors are fascinated at being interviewed!

CS: In a nutshell, Barbara's answer may explain a lot of our success. We educate our riders. They certainly don't know everything when they leave here; they are comfortable with what they do know, and they are equally at ease about asking for help and information. They also have a better idea of where and how to seek that.

And when to say, "No"! Their safety is always important to us, and we want that to be their responsibility too when they go home.

BJJ: We teach them how to assess a boarding situation, equipment, and horses. Instructors really need to educate adults if we want to keep them happy and active in the horse industry.

Q: Summing up your work with adult riders, could you leave us with some thoughts?

BJJ: The rider's safety and progress are quite clearly related to their and their horse's happiness and health. Tension for any reason, including unsuitable equipment, poorly conditioned horse and rider, and so forth, is counterproductive to riding progress... and is even more crucial to an adult than to a youngster. These riders can be a lot of fun to teach, and we instructors had better know what we are doing!

CS: Adult riders climb onto the saddle with all their adult responsibilities, and all the bruises that go along with growing up. The horse spirits them away for however long the rider can spare to the wonderful world of the horseperson. And we have the fun of making that possible!