The Focus Game
The game is called "Who Can Stay Focused the Longest on What They Want?" In other words, can you keep your focus (attention) on the exercise you're working on when something or someone (even your horse) wants you to think about something else?
Whenever you ride or work around your horse, there are always two minds involved-his and yours. You each begin with what you want to focus on. Your goal is to control your own and your horse's attention. Every time you work with your horse, one of you is going to win this game and one is going to lose. It's always the weakest mind that loses, the mind that is most easily distracted. You don't have to tell the rules to your horse because it's also more fun if you can win, at least occasionally.
If-actually, when-you find yourself thinking about what the horse is thinking about, you've just lost the game. Your mind has become the weakest; the one that cannot stay focused as long and keep your attention on what you want.
To become good at anything takes practice, discipline, and a strong work ethic, but you can get there. Learning how to tune out the rest of the world as you concentrate on your horse takes both knowledge and practice. You need the knowledge that this is important to do for your safety, for your horse's safety, and to develop a great riding and performance horse. You also need the knowledge to recognize what constitutes a distraction and how to deal with it.
It may help to play a game with your own mind when a distraction comes up. Picture your mind as a funnel just like you use to help pour liquid into a bottle. This funnel is large at the top and drops down to a small spout that gets even smaller as it comes out the bottom. The bigger or louder the distraction is, your focus must begin to drop down the funnel, toward that narrow spout, which is the spot you're working with on your horse. Focus on the detailed part of the exercise you're working on. Don't see or think about anything else than the exercise you're working on at that particular second.
What if your horse says, "Did you see that?" Your answer: "Don't think about that. We're doing this." It may be one of the most important lessons you can teach your horse. Pretty soon, he'll become less and less distracted by the rest of the world. He won't even notice his buddy horse, the horse that bumped into him, the car, the barn, or whatever. It's just you and he. The rest of the world goes away. Your world has become smaller and smaller, which is what you need and want it to do when you're both concentrating.
It's a Small World After All
Riding and working with your horse becomes a miniature vacation because you learn you cannot think about anything else in the world except your horse and your exercise. You learn to focus. You learn to give 100% of your attention to the moment at hand, whether that moment is with your horse, your spouse, your children, your co-workers, or to a job you need to do.
Learning how to give your horse all your attention teaches him how to give you all his attention. Your horse is always a mirror image of you. If you have trouble keeping your attention on what you're doing, so will he. If you're easily distracted, he will be, too. So you can't point at him any longer and say it's all his fault. His attention is going to follow yours.
Not being perfect at this focus game is not a bad thing. It's not something you have to fight over or beat yourself up about. Remember, it's a game. So play. Play the game. You'll win some, you'll lose some, just like I do every time I ride. Smile when you lose. Play harder the next time not to become distracted. Learn to say to your horse, "Don't think about that. We're doing this."
Remember, we're never perfect. We only strive to become better little by little.
