By Jane Zubia
of
SatinGaits.com

The first time I really noticed this concept of “rest and digest” was when I finally got to go to Ava, Missouri and experience the Missouri Fox Trotter's annual Celebration over the Labor Day week. I was sitting in the bleachers by the shoeing shed watching horses and their riders go around and around the oval track. Some riders were sitting on their horse in the middle either watching other horses and riders going around or they were visiting with a friend who was also sitting on a horse in the middle. Being this was my first time, I was very excited to just soak it all in and learn all I could by watching so many good horses being ridden. Each day I would come back to the shoeing shed sit on the bleachers and watch. Because I was seeing some of the same horses and riders each day they became familiar faces to me and I felt like I sort of got to know them. As I watched each day I noticed that most times a horse would perform much better after he had been able to rest in the center of the oval arena. I started thinking about this and eventually realized the horse had been processing data while he was resting in the center and when his rider asked him to go again he was ready to give his rider a little more than he had before. Some people will think the horse was performing better just because he was rested and was warmed up now, but I saw some horses that were warmed up and after they were rested they usually performed even better than the time before.

I went home to Wyoming with this little catch phrase floating around in my head “Rest & Digest…….Rest & Digest”. I put this “rest and digest” concept to work as soon as I could to see if it would work for me. Yep, it sure did! It not only worked for my horse it worked for me as well. I found as I was resting my horse, we were both processing information. Sometimes when I rested my horse, I was talking to someone else and wondered if I would still be processing since my conscious mind was engaged in conversation. Yep again, my sub-conscious mind was processing while I was talking and when I took my horse out on the rail again we both did much better together than we had before.

I have proven this “rest and digest” to myself and also now know anytime I am instructing a rider and she comes to me so we can discuss something or she just takes a break from the intensity of our session together, she and her horse will be processing. They will be processing information whether she is aware of it or not. These rest times are like having a long pause in a training session to give the horse and rider the time to process data and clear up any confusion they might have in their mind. So let down, relax, just be in the moment and catch your breathe before continuing again and things will be better between you and your horse.

At present I am using this little catch phrase to remind riders to “rest and digest” so when I am not there to remind them they will remind themselves. Rest and digest seems so simple but it is a powerful tool with any horse. Horses seem to really like this “rest and digest” concept too and come back to work better than ever.

So now when I go to the Celebration at Ava, Missouri and watched the horses and riders at the shoeing shed go around on the oval track or rest in the middle, I wonder to myself how many riders out there are using this “rest and digest” as a training tool and how many just know their horses work better for them after they rest in the center.