Are you in a rut or on a path? It is hard to tell at times isn’t it? Sticking the truck in the cow pasture is an obvious example. Yet in our lives we can fall into other, more subtle ruts – like one in riding.
A rut in horseback riding is more like a 
comfort zone and it can be hard to recognize, much like ruts in our personal or professional lives. The signs might show as near success yet…not quite there. Or an inability to breakthrough or overcome something. Life is not terrible, our riding isn’t terrible, but we all know it is just not what it could be.
For Usache and me the challenge, the comfortable rut, is the walk.
What? Of all the things, how hard can walking be? For Usache and me, not very and then decidedly difficult. You see, we have fallen into a rut in our walk. Usache is a big boy with a big stride that can be a little slow and lack responsiveness. It is comfortable for him and me. In fact it is quite preferable to some of the bolting and other antics that have been known to occur in the past. A nice slow comfortable walk – my life no longer flashing before my eyes. This is good.
We compromised, yet in truth we ended up settling for something less than what we need. That is how you get into a rut in the walk. We are both quite happy here, ignorant to the downside and not realizing how it keeps us from success. Without a powerful, ready for anything walk, we are not ready…for anything – not a trot nor a canter. In dressage the quality of the prior gait determines the quality of the next gait. As I have yet to master mounting a horse other than one standing still, a walk is the starting point for everything.
We would have continued to struggle in our subtle rut if not for the watchful eye of our trainer, Marie Morgan. As she encouraged the change that needed to happen, a professional with the right tools and know-how to share, we received fair warning “the walk is the most difficult gait to change.” We need to do this “why?” Oh, so we can do everything else better. Alright I am in.
Yet nothing happened. I continued to ride in the same manner and Usache happily complied by continuing to walk in the same manner. Feeble attempts were made to make a difference in the walk, yet I didn’t understand what was required.
Just as in life we fall into a rhythm, a comfort zone and it feels good. There is harmony and we are moving along but we will never get out of the rut unless the rhythm is disturbed. That requires me to change the way my body moves and to get out of rhythm with Usache to get his rhythm to change. Physically that is challenging. Emotionally, from my lack of knowledge and experience, it is way out of the comfort zone. Yet here we go with encouragement (or was it warning?) not to get discouraged when resistance is encountered.