I thought I knew what soft feel was. I am discovering that it is even more subtle than I imagined. The importance of timing in order to achieve a good feel is so critical that it cannot be over stated.
I will try to explain what I mean by painting a word picture for you that I hope will send you on a quest to discover this soft feel and perfect timing for yourself.
After shoulder surgery, weekly visits to my physical therapist “Bill” were routine. My Mom, who drove me to my appointments, watched all of my therapy sessions. While driving home, she asked me why I never tell Bill when I start to feel the pain? Bill, my therapist had instructed to me to tell him to stop, when I felt the twinge of pain as he manipulated my arm. The answer to her question is what will teach us about true soft feel and the importance of timing when we are handling our horses.
I never had to tell Bill when I felt the slightest twinge of pain because just as he was approaching that point of pain he would RELEASE the pressure ever so slightly, and I would RELAX. He could feel the pain even before I did. He knew that was the "feel" he was seeking. He could sense or read this "FEEL" and therefore his "TIMING" for the release was perfect. His perfect timing is actually what created the soft feel, which resulted in me being more relaxed, supple and trusting of his touch.
The miraculous thing is that it seems Bill has better "timing" on me, than I do on myself. When I do these same exercises on myself, I find that I often push myself beyond that twinge of pain. The results are not only unpleasant but not very effective. I am sure that I must be doing the same thing to my horses as I am doing to myself.
I believe that Bill has such a good "feel" and "timing" because he doesn’t have a rigid timeline set in his mind for when I need to reach a particular goal. He is only interested in helping me achieve the maximum potential for excellent use of my arm again. In other words his "feel" and "timing" are married to the proper attitude.
I would rather the whole process was done yesterday. If I will allow myself to be satisfied with slow and steady progression, and learn how to RELAX, it will probably take less time than if I push myself. If I can do this with myself, then I had better be prepared to treat my horses with the same attitude. When I am able to do this, I am certain that I will be very pleasantly surprised at the results I will get.
As we endeavor to become good partners for our horses it is our responsibility to do what it takes to develop this kind of "feel, timing and attitude", if we expect our horses to enjoy the relationship as much as we do.
How do we achieve this?
DESIRE, PATEINCE, PROPER EDUCATION & INSTRUCTION, AND PLENTY OF PRACTICE!
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