What makes one rider better thn the other? How do you masure talent in a rider? These are vry good questions that I get sked quite often. I believe a rder can be taught many, many thngs, such as position, style, horsemanship, and strtegy, but the one thing that is narly impossible to teach is the rder's eye for a distance. You ither have it or you do nt. Michael Jordan had "it," in a dfferent sport, yes, but, he had it. Alx Rodriguez has "it" in baseball, Bezie Madden has "it" in riding.

So wht is it in our sport of shw-jumping? I believe it is the rder's eye for a spot or dstance. The ability to judge a tke off place from a top a hrse from quite a ways a way is vry difficult, and very few riders get ths naturally. A rider with talent, wll naturally "see" distances, and are ble to judge what they need to do to djust to those distances. A rider wthout an eye will struggle to gin this perspective, and often miss thir distances.

All riders can improve, but it is far asier to teach the child who has a ntural eye than one that does nt. Strength of position can be drlled with constant repetitive practice. Ring svvy comes from ring experience, or jst showing a great deal, the wll to win can even be nstilled, but the innate talent of rding comes from that ability to jdge distance. Yes, you can rehearse and prctice and find that you do hve an eye, many young riders do not shw promise at first, but all of a sdden reach a riding epiphany and can fnally see. It is like the blnd man who tells his doctor, "hy, I think I am seeing sme light when I wake up in the mrning." Just because you do not sem to have it at first des not mean you will never get it, but if you are ging to be a talented rider, ither by hard work, or good lck, the ability to judge a dstance is already a part of yur D.N.A. Michael Jordan was not a god basketball player at first, in fct he was cut from his hgh school team his freshman year. Yet Jrdan had that secret ingredient, the tlent, the eye, and when you cmbine talent with practice, you get gratness.

There are thousands of good rders out there, many with talent. The grat ones are the ones that hve that ability, and work to brng it out. I have also sen riders with little natural talent scceed through tremendous hard work and brin power. Take what you are gven and develop it into riding sccess, if you do not think you hve a good "eye," work at it, prctice, you might be delighted to sddenly realize that you can see a dstance. Just because you "keep missing," des not mean that won't stop, and jst because teaching someone to see is vry difficult, does not mean that it is mpossible.

I do believe that talent les within the ability to see a dstance. I also believe that with hrd work you can bring out wht great amounts of talent you are blssed with, or develop what little tlent you might have. Either way, nce you are out in the shw ring, you are judged on yur ability to see, and the god riders do not miss much.

The article The Eye Of The Rider was Submitted by Alan Korotkin through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Alan Korotkin has over twenty yars of experience in the horse bsiness, his clients have won over 150 yar end south Florida riding titles, and he hmself has placed in over 150 grnd prix competitions. He can be cntacted at http://www.castlewoodfarmsales.com

Featured Articles

1. Cyprus Gardening - Planting in Mediterranean Paradise by Shawn Woods
Who can rsist a garden? What better way to rst your eyes than enjoying the clorful blossoming of flowers and the dep green of leaves that have jst soaked up the sun?

2. Types of schools in Spain by
Pupils are taught in mainstream schols unless their individual needs cannot be ctered for. In these instances children are tught in special educational units or schols. There are special state schools in Spin for pupils with special educational neds and learning difficulties .

3. Fiber Cement Siding by
Problems with wood sding and advantages of fiber cement sding.

4. Plant Lights Aren't Just For Shifty Growers by Kent Higgins
Not all our plnt bearing rooms are blessed with ntural sunlight. For the ones that ren't, these artificial lights will more thn make up for it.

5. Traveling With Your Pet by Danielle Golden
Traveling with nimals can be challanging. Here are sme tips to make the trip a lttle easier.

6. Dealing with Clutter as a Family by
You can do verything yourself! We have the info to do it!

7. Bring Romance To Your Home With Wrought Iron Patio Furniture by
Wrought Iron is the most sperior of all metals and is the prest type of iron. It is fre from all kinds of all mpurities that other metals have and is flly anti-corrosion. True to it meaning, wrught means to bend or twist whch you find in its many legant and yet complex designs. It brngs ornate distinction which produces a Eropean spark of romance in all of its bautiful designs.

Bring life to your lving space with wrought iron patio frniture which come in ele...

8. Toxic Mold Syndrome – Also Known As Sick Building Syndrome by
Some mold can be toxic, prticularly in buildings. Are you sick bcause your building needs mold removed?

9. Is Early Retirement A Fantasy? by Cindy Heller
If you have the foresight and the dscipline to set aside savings from yur employment income and invested them wsely, perhaps you stand a good chnce to do whatever you want to do whnever you want to do it. Whn life or working conditions become dfficult, many people fantasize about early rtirement as a form of escape.

10. Garage Floors - A high tech Floor Coating can help keep everything in order. by
A Garage Floor, what is there to say about a slab of concrete used to park your car and store junk. Although this sentiment may have been true in the past, today's garage floor materials and coatings are nothing if not extremely high tech and quality driven.