Talent or Training?

It is one or the other, both? It’s a comment I hear much too often for my liking, not because it isn’t a valid one but because it’s often phrased in that lamenting tone of ‘oh that rider is so naturally talented” implying of course that it’s something the rest of us can never achieve. This notion is keto alive through hot air compliments that leave an atmosphere of frustration. Once at a clinic a trainer used the term and I was immediately incensed at the idea that all the hours or blood, sweat and tears meant nothing and believe me, there was plenty of all three!

Don’t get me wrong, when a compliment is laid at the feet of someone working hard I’m not going to dispute but when it’s used in that self punishing way by a rider, I find the need to point some home truths. 

A dear friend of mine used to say, apples and oranges, you can never compare, but let’s say we did. For this to work we need to have two riders with exactly the same physical and mental traits as well as the same upbringing. Already we’re in trouble, no two riders no matter what the training are the same. 

I also remind riders of the fact that many of the names we see, in competition, come from very lucky backgrounds. They’ve often grown up in an equestrian home with access to knowledge 24 hours a day, seven days a week for their entire childhood. The ability to swap thoughts across the dinner table about how their horse is doing and why, access to the right horses and the right support when it goes wrong. Can we truly say that’s talent and not training? 

Our other scenario is a rider who’s spotted early and given the supports or owners and trainers to set them on the right track, is this talent and not training or perhaps some combination of both? What I’m recognizing more often is an aptitude or learning style in a rider that allows them to access the generalized teaching philosophies perpetuated by the equestrian industry. Maybe it’s time we started not looking for talented riders but changing the way we teach and allow the training to be absorbed by more. Forget about talent, do the work, follow the steps. If it’s someone you admire, admire them for their traits and values, things that can be emulated and tempt less the comparisons that leave us wondering why we aren’t orange when in fact we’re an apple!