How to Nail the Free Walk

Package Warning and Disclaimer: This subject popped into my head yesterday as I sat and watched horse after horse bungle the Free Walk. I am not a dressage expert. I haven’t gotten on a horse in more than two months and I could not score even a 7 in beginner novice after bribing the judge with chocolate cake and an all-expenses-paid trip to China. The following is written by someone who watches and listens to trainers, riders and horses, and thinks about how things could be changed so that everyone involved gets more of what they want, and horses get what they need.

In an earlier post, Why Aren’t Horses and Riders Any Better at the Free Walk? I wrote about a dressage judge who told me that she views the Free Walk portion of a test

as a kind of double-exposure snapshot of the horse: its present way of going superimposed over its development and early training.

Once past a certain stage in a horse’s age and development, merely training a horse to lower its head at the free walk will not cut the mustard. In order to mail the Free Walk, you have to do some work on your horse. The good news is you have a huge tool belt full of goodies to work with for making a change. A rider can effect real, positive change in its horse’s topline without the use of draconian tools, dominance or expensive therapists or trainers. You get to spend some quality time with the horse, too.

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A funny thing happened on my flight

…from Hawaii last February.

Unless you have had the misfortune to become ill onboard an airplane, or witness the illness of a nearby passenger, you may not be aware of the large number of medical emergencies that occur at 35,000 feet. Airlines are not required to report them.

Here’s what happened to me:

On a sleepy flight from Hawaii to San Francisco, I was disturbed by a minor kerfuffle in the aisle a couple of seats behind me. It was evident that there was a very sick passenger because the flight attendants began running around looking fraught, wringing their hands, and fiddling with oxygen tanks (so not necessary). The plane sported the standard FAA-required medical kit, including an automated external cardiac defibrillator, a non-working stethoscope, a thermometer, and a blood pressure cuff (useless without the stethoscope). They also had aspirin and acetaminophen.

I don’t necessarily feel it’s the airline’s responsibility to be a flying ER, and provided the equipment they have onboard actually functions and attendants know how to use it, they have a good chance of caring for most onboard illnesses. Additionally, several major airlines have established contacts on the ground to guide them through the process of caring for a sick passenger and getting that passenger to the hospital once landed. In the case of my flight from Hawaii to San Francisco, flight attendants resembled Keystone Kops more than trained professionals. No apparent contact with doctors on the ground was made.

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