Post by horseguy on Nov 30, 2015 21:10:30 GMT
This topic is here in "other" because it is primarily about science and a TV Show. I happened upon a National Geographic TV show called Breakthrough that explores technologies related to human experience. In Season 1 Episode 2 "More Than Human" (on demand in xfinity TV, maybe others) there is a show about developing "feel" and applying the hard to describe experience of feel to movement and enhanced experience.
The underlying idea explored in this show is that the brain is singular and universal device of perception and command. Once the code for this device is "cracked" (in this case by a computer) it can be applied to a wide range of plug-and-play devices like a musical instrument, an exoskeleton, a motorcycle, etc. The show explored devices that allow the deaf to hear, the paralyzed to walk, and a rescue worker to become super strong.
The underlying concept in this show that got me thinking about how we ride a horse, sometimes well and sometimes not so well, has a lot to do with how much "feel" we can access and secondly how that "feel" gets wired up to the plug-and-play device called a horse. This may seem dramatic, but it got me thinking about teaching riding in a whole different way.
If there are indeed two steps to feel, first conscious brain experience of the "wiring of feel" and second the temporary rewiring of our brain to both our body and the plug-and-play device of the horse, then the problems in riding that students encounter fall into two distinct categories of experience. I kind of knew that from decades of teaching but never had such clear words in my head to describe it.
It's the second part, the temporary (as long as we are on a horse) rewiring of the rider's brain, that intrigues me the most because it's where I, as a riding teacher, have encountered the greatest challenges in students. Let me put it this way, I have had many smart students, doctors, lawyers, professors, who could completely understand my instruction but could not gain the full benefit of it. In these students you just want to scream at them, "STOP THINKING SO MUCH!". But maybe they were not thinking too much, but thinking too strictly in the ways they usually think. They could not effectively rewire their brain to connect with the plug-and-play device of the horse because their brain is not able to rewire itself for a diversity of available devices. The perhaps have only one or two "feels" available to them.
If this show is correct, and it certainly seems to be, then I believe I have a new insight into why some people gain more feel for a horse than others can. It may be as simple as mental brain wiring versatility. I think it is.
At any rate, it is a fun show, this Season 1 Episode 2 "More Than Human" of Breakthrough might provide us with new insights into the elusive element of "feel" in riding a horse. The monkey in Brazil insight when they took away his joystick part was my favorite.
The underlying idea explored in this show is that the brain is singular and universal device of perception and command. Once the code for this device is "cracked" (in this case by a computer) it can be applied to a wide range of plug-and-play devices like a musical instrument, an exoskeleton, a motorcycle, etc. The show explored devices that allow the deaf to hear, the paralyzed to walk, and a rescue worker to become super strong.
The underlying concept in this show that got me thinking about how we ride a horse, sometimes well and sometimes not so well, has a lot to do with how much "feel" we can access and secondly how that "feel" gets wired up to the plug-and-play device called a horse. This may seem dramatic, but it got me thinking about teaching riding in a whole different way.
If there are indeed two steps to feel, first conscious brain experience of the "wiring of feel" and second the temporary rewiring of our brain to both our body and the plug-and-play device of the horse, then the problems in riding that students encounter fall into two distinct categories of experience. I kind of knew that from decades of teaching but never had such clear words in my head to describe it.
It's the second part, the temporary (as long as we are on a horse) rewiring of the rider's brain, that intrigues me the most because it's where I, as a riding teacher, have encountered the greatest challenges in students. Let me put it this way, I have had many smart students, doctors, lawyers, professors, who could completely understand my instruction but could not gain the full benefit of it. In these students you just want to scream at them, "STOP THINKING SO MUCH!". But maybe they were not thinking too much, but thinking too strictly in the ways they usually think. They could not effectively rewire their brain to connect with the plug-and-play device of the horse because their brain is not able to rewire itself for a diversity of available devices. The perhaps have only one or two "feels" available to them.
If this show is correct, and it certainly seems to be, then I believe I have a new insight into why some people gain more feel for a horse than others can. It may be as simple as mental brain wiring versatility. I think it is.
At any rate, it is a fun show, this Season 1 Episode 2 "More Than Human" of Breakthrough might provide us with new insights into the elusive element of "feel" in riding a horse. The monkey in Brazil insight when they took away his joystick part was my favorite.
