A Little Sooner Not Quicker

I'm sitting in my sun room on a very grey, wet day playing sudoku. It's great for clearing my mind and to take a break from all the day to day stress. It helps me to focus and then I can think about things that I've put in the back of my mind to think about later.

Sudoku keeps my mind sharp like when I assist NRHA judge's at horse shows. Though I consider myself a judge's assistant, one of the main jobs is scribing. Another job that keeps the mind sharp. I love it. I've done it off and on for 27 yrs.

I was watching some exhibitors at the last reining show with the judge. I saw over the course of the weekend many things, but one thing I always see are a few exhibitors or horses start their stopping maneuver too soon. They rush their rundown - charge off like a bullet too quickly and miss their marker. They start their stop (:?) too quickly.

As many of the famous trainers like Bob Avila say: "Timing is Everything."

Just serviced and ready to cut grass.

About Timing

I just got my old John Deere lawn tractor back from spring servicing. My grass is at least 10 inches tall! It will be quite a job cutting it for the first time. There's a lesson here somewhere about timing in that situation too.

Back to the Show. What I noticed a few times were exhibitors missing their markers which is a 2 point penalty. "Gotta hate when that happens." It's always about timing and feel isn't it?

When I noticed it a few times, I was reminded of a saying I used to tell my students. I would mention it when students got too quick with their hands. This would often rattle the horse causing a failure on what the horse/rider combo were doing. And the rider would get frustrated. I developed a saying to explain on how to time their cues better.

"A Little Sooner, Not Quicker"

 If a rider were to plan their cues a little earlier and start cueing a little earlier then what they had previously been doing then the results were what they were looking for.

I noticed that in the reining exhibitors doing their rundowns/stops and nailing it! It's a matter of looking ahead.

About my lawn tractor. In my defense, I didn't have a small engine guy that I could trust to take it too. I got the name of a great guy and was able to get the lawn tractor back today. 

I know what I'm doing tomorrow.... Another great place to contemplate things..

Putting My Spin on Timing

Reinersue

@KISS Reiners