Thoroughbred Logic, Presented by Kentucky Performance Products: One More Time

“I just take the good in the middle and ride to extend the countdown on his timer and stretch the quality of ride out further with each time I swing a leg over.”

Welcome to the next installment of Thoroughbred Logic. In this weekly series, Anthropologist and trainer Aubrey Graham, of Kivu Sport Horses, offers insight and training experience when it comes to working with Thoroughbreds (although much will apply to all breeds). This week ride along as Aubrey shares her logic on horses and riders to do it right “one more time.”

One. More. Time. We all do this. We get it right — finally! We jump through the grid well, we successfully do the canter loop, or we nail the corner out cross country schooling. Then we say (or our coaches say) “OK, one more time.”

Now there is pressure. Now we have gotten it right once, so now it has to be good a second time or it has to be better. And unless we make it work that very next time through, that “one more time” becomes “one more time… again…” until we get it close to what we had right before we declared, “one more time” in the first place. It sometimes starts to look like drilling. Sometimes it just gets messy. Sometimes it unravels entirely. But of course, sometimes it works and we can breathe and call it a day. More often than not though, we should have called it quits holding that earlier version of a winning hand.

Neumann (Bubba Bob) easily hopping through the grid here at Kivu Sporthorses’s new home in Lansing, NY. Photo by Allen Graham.

I got thinking about this the other day when I brought in a new farrier to try to pick up some of my personal sales horses that my usual farrier was struggling to fit into her schedule. Horse one was tough, horse two was rocky but fine, horse three was annoying but behaved (Needles Highway, insert knowing eye roll here). I asked, “Do you want to do one more before you head out?” (Read: One More Time?). He contemplated and should have said “no.” But even though he likely didn’t have the time or the patience, he says, “Yeah, I can do one more.”

Skip through all the drama — 45-minutes later he wheeled out of my drive leaving me with a horse with the left unfinished foot (nails poking out the top) and the horse’s right shoe in my left hand. I shook my head, was grateful for the knowledge of who was incompatible with me and my horses, gave the horse some dorm gel (we should have done that far earlier in the process) waited a few minutes and then and had the shoe on and the first foot finished. (P.S. Learning to tack on shoes has been the most useful skill of the last two years, hands down.)

Photo of the eventually shod Keep It Salty. Photo by author.

Welp. The “One More Times” struck again.

I have started to think this through more in my lessons too. I usually joke that when I say, “OK, do it one more time,” I actually mean “Do it the ‘trainer version’ of one more time — meaning until you get it ‘right.'” I’m joking, obviously — I try to ensure that I don’t drill the feet off a horse or the brain off of a rider. But the concept is so omnipresent that when I say that whole “trainer one more time” thing, no one misses the joke.

That said, more and more I am aiming to try to end the exercise before the “One More Time.” And I’ll be honest, it feels strange. It feels like I’m shorting my students or not training my horses. But what really am I shorting them of? There is always tomorrow or the next lesson to attempt to meet that bar again and improve from there. And there’s a big difference in saying, “we’re going to do this exercise three or so times, but if you nail it, we’ll stop at that point” versus “Good. Now, one more time.” There’s a big difference in “I’m able to shoe three today” and “Sure, I can try to fit in one more.” One version sets expectation, the other leaves it loose and then adds more work on top of a job well done.

Artie (Reunion Tour) and Sarah Hepler took a spin at the last Thoroughbred Logic Clinic at the Ithaca Equestrian Center. One more time is a hard concept to avoid, but super critical to keep at bay in instruction — especially with talented youngsters like Artie. Photo by Anna Redmond

I’m certain there is a place for being able to replicate the good one just did and push a little further. How else do you get fitter, stronger, more consistent? But perhaps there is a better way to frame plans and expectations when dealing with horses (and humans). I’m good with “one more time” so long as the mental and physical energy is still there. I don’t expect a perfect replication of ‘good.’ But if the patience is waning or gone, “one more time” probably should not exist.

What if we normalize bringing the oxer to the top height we want in the grid and then bringing it back down to work on fitness for the last few rounds? What if we lowered our rider/trainer expectations after the peak energy has been used? That even sounds strange as I type it, but wouldn’t that work better? Wouldn’t the horses be happier? Wouldn’t the riders feel more encouraged at the end of the ride because they learn to celebrate the middle where things went so well?

Gibbs (Muntij) gets to celebrate doing all the things, even better when done well. But there’s no need for this warhorse who ran 72 times to prove himself with any “one more times”. Photo by Lily Drew.

A lot of this circles back to my ridiculous burrito metaphor that I wrote about some years back. I like burritos a lot. But I really like the middle section of the burrito when you get all the meat and cheese and jalapeños and sour cream in a perfect combination. Keep eating and you end up with burrito juice, some cheese (maybe) and the folded soggy tortilla as your last bite. It sucks ending on that, but if you know that when you take that perfect middle bite that that might be the best part, it makes noshing away until the end of the roll more OK. You already know you hit the high — you’re not trying to replicate it and becoming increasingly frustrated or disappointed with what you have. Any additional awesome bites are just a bonus at that point.

With the young Thoroughbreds (or any green horses), getting rid of the “one more time” becomes increasingly important. Learning where to stop, when to call it a day, and figuring out how to identify the high in the middle of the ride (and not needing it at the end) allows them to learn while also building the muscle they need to move into their new sporthorse lives.

Needles Highway hanging out while I lower the oxer in the grid. Photo by Pamela Graham.

Neil (Lute’s Angel) is a great example of this. I like this horse a LOT and I think he has all the talent to take someone as high as they’d like to go. So who knows? Maybe he sticks around here a while and I see what that looks like. However, Neil is fussy and has a ride timer. When his timer goes off (or his quarter is up, whatever you want to call it), he’s going to tell you that he’s mostly done. That meltdown usually is accompanied by a few vigorous head tosses, full body shake-outs, and prancing sideways.

The tantrum indicates “we have done the allotted amount for the day and shall do no more” and gives me the clear warning that the One More Time won’t work. At that point, I need to convince him that just a little more effort, a little more try with something different, simply “a little more,” is all I need. He’s not allowed to quit on the tantrum, but he’s also not expected to be as perfect as he was before he threw it.

Yeah, yeah, Neil. Your natural ability is showing. Photo by Pamela Graham.

And on some level, I appreciate that. I’m not at risk of drilling. My expectations are such that all of his try and effort is praised. What we can stretch out at the end of the ride is also valued as good and worthwhile, but it is not expected to meet the same mark. If I wanted One More Time, my rides on Neil would patently suck. But they don’t. I just take the good in the middle and ride to extend the countdown on his timer and stretch the quality of ride out further with each time I swing a leg over.

So I guess I’m grateful to the horses who know their limits. And I’m grateful for what the unfortunate “one more time” exposes in people. That said, I’d like to avoid all versions of tantrums, so time to restructure the one more time into a set of better expectations, set earlier in the ride or day and then adjust for the circumstances.

So, go ride folks — but beware the One More Time.

One more photo of Neil being ridiculous — the cavaletti is down there — just because I can. Photo by Pamela Graham.

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