Riding lessons for life #11

Impulsion!
When you are jumping a horse it is especially important to have what riders call “impulsion,” or this kind of reserve energy or power in the hind end of the horse that will help thrust the pair of you over the obstacle.  Riders create impulsion by using their legs to activate the horse’s hind end and their hand to keep the energy back there.  It is so important to have this impulsion in order to safely make it over the obstacle but equally important not to rush the jump by simply going faster and running at it.  By hurrying a jump the horse is more likely to be careless and it is more likely you won’t clear the obstacle.

I think the same is true in life.  When we are faced with the obstacles in life it is important not to energize and run at them without first creating some impulsion.  When we see a problem ahead and become angered, anxious, or worried it often leads to us making brash decisions causing regret later.  When faced with an issue in life, we need to maintain the pace, take a breath and create impulsion.  What I mean by that is, we need to create a skill set for dealing with the bumps in the road.  Energize your support system!  That could mean calling a good friend or family  member that can help you over the obstacles in life, write down your thoughts and feelings, write down the positives and negatives of what actions to take,  visualize calmly approaching this issue and making it to the other side, start expressing gratitude for the opportunity to learn from this experience.  Armed with all of these skills (you have now energized and created impulsion without rushing!) you can clear any obstacle in your path.

Your assignment is to practice putting your skill set into action with small bumps in the road that occur on a daily basis (lots of traffic on the way to work, something gets spilled on your new shirt, etc.) so when bigger obstacles come your way, you will be ready to put your impulsion into action and clear the difficulty with no problem!

Claire Affleck
Claire Affleck Training website
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