Monday, January 27, 2014

Can you put yourself in someones shoes, or boots as the case may be?

Lately I've been thinking that in order to be able to truly help someone else out we have to be able to understand where they are coming from. Sometimes I think that can be a little harder than it might seem at first. Here's an example of my own.

I've always been a fairly fit person. I grew up in a very active family and in college fell in love with working out. I know I'm crazy. Because of this I had a hard time understanding some of the people who would come to my water fitness class that I used to teach at the Y. They would tell me how hard things were for them, things that I hardly felt at all and I just couldn't fathom how that could possibly be so hard. That all changed after I had a C-section. I came back to class after all my abdominal muscles had been cut and for the first time in my life struggled with all those basic moves. I was amazed! It was REALLY hard and before I just couldn't imagine how under any circumstances that could be so hard.

I think at some level we can only truly relate to things that are only a few degrees of separation away from something we have experienced ourselves. So why have I been thinking about this?

As I listened to the panel of experts answer questions at the Pacific Northwest Endurance Riders Conference this last weekend (which was great by the way) it occurred to me that for a lot of these people they probably can't grasp where the average newbie is coming from. Think about it for a minute... Those people posses a lot of things that they have most likely come to take for granted; incredible fitness on their part, who know how many years on the saddle on countless numbers of horses, very athletic horses, a great knowledge of the sport, a great knowledge of horses and riding in general and I think you get the idea of just how long that list can be. By no fault of their own some of the giants in our sport probably can't fathom what it would be like to only know how to ride a little bit, to have a very average horse, to have less than stellar personal fitness, very limited time and funds and no idea what beet pulp is.

So where am I going with this. A couple places.

First of all, for the love of all that’s good please be nice to new people and do your best to understand where they are coming from. If you can't fathom where they are coming from try to think of someone who might be able relate to them a little better.

I came into this sport with 20 + years of horse experience, having ridden over 100 different horses (due to helping out on cattle ranches and working at camp), a fairly decent level of personal fitness, experience with horse camping and wilderness riding. All those things gave me a huge leg up, but I don't think I'm your average newbie. Now that I've been in the sport a few years I can really understand and get a lot out of advice from the Summer's and the like. But for some new people they might get more out of some advice from someone who's a little bit closer to where they are at. Someone who's figured out some of the basics but isn't so far up the totem pole that they really can't relate.

So how does all this philosophical banter relate to each of us?

If you have been in the sport for even a few years you probably have plenty of knowledge to help someone who is trying to fathom how to get themselves and their horse fit enough to go 25 miles. You may not know it all but you can also help them with the basics and point them in them right direction for things you don't know. In ways your advice may be the best because you might be better able to understand where they are coming from and help them without overwhelming them :)

If you are a newbie don't be afraid to ask questions of those who have been in this sport for 100 years but also maybe seek some advice from people who have only been at it for a few years but seem to have grasped the ropes pretty quickly.

We all have something to share and we all have something to learn (weather you think you do or not). So let's all be nice to each other, learn from each other and we'll be better off for it!

I will now get down from my soapbox :)

1 comment: