List making is one of several ways to use a notebook to tap into your potential. In a clinic with Jeff Moore, I found out that he is all about list making. For successful training of the horse it is essential, Jeff says, that the human/rider learns to communicate in a horse kind of way. Because horses have a thinking process that is linear (black and white or yes and no), if we learn to think more linearly and break down the complexity of our thoughts that we use to ride, then we will improve our ability to work with them.

Now, this makes so much sense. And I'm sure there are many other trainers who share this philosophy. Take for example Susanne Hassler of Hassler Dressage who often teaches in checklists and who leads our Training Community at BarnbyNotes.com.

Yesterday, I learned a new list, and that list was developed to prevent myself from allowing a sloshy mid section while sitting the trot and develop a much more quiet, stable core. The first two steps on my list are...

1. Pull the belly button back and up and the shoulder blades slide together and down (connecting) by engage them with an invisible string.

2. When in motion, think that that newly engaged core goes up and down without any other wiggling, just as the horse goes up and down. But right before the down, engage the core for up again. This will help to prevent the sloshy middle wiggling that can occur.

I also developed a list for how to engage my core for the walk and the canter. Very similar, but slightly different. All my lists are in a seamless and well organized online notebook at barnbynotes.com where I can always use my search engine to find them easily or edit them to re-organize, re-write and re-read them for deeper understanding.

Jeff is a stickler for making lists and it really makes sense. Personally I enjoy making lists because if I do the thinking and reflecting on the pages of my notebook, I am that much closer to not having to "figure it out so much" while on my horse and I can ride for quality more quickly.

For more about learning to use a notebook, please go to barnbynotes.com and try our 2 week trial.

Welcome to Dear Barnby Notes. I'm here to answer any questions you might have about using an equestrian training notebook. There are 10 simple ways to use a notebook and they all have the ability to grow your talent in the saddle exponentially!

The first of 10 ways to use a training notebook is to write what you experience in the saddle. This is one way that Lendon Gray, two time Olympian, used her notebook! Typically it's best to do this right after you ride because the longer you wait, the more you forget, because memory is fallible. That means it forgets. And the point is to remember, ideally before you get on again -- because as we are trying to create new habits and grow new talent, we are constantly practicing bad habits and we don't even know it. For some, depending upon how focused you want to be, keeping a notebook might just be about defeating the odds of that fallible (fall out of your head) memory!

Often times Lendon just wrote one sentence thoughts like, "Be careful not to tilt head to the right." And while her notes were simple, her notebooks piled up. The more the better for those who want to reach their aspirations in accelerated time!

For more about learning to use a notebook, please go to barnbynotes.com and try our 2 week trial. We also have two platforms where you can publish your notes to our equestrian notebook keeping community and earn yourself a 6 month subscription for our online notebook: The 30 Day Challenge and Ah-ha Moment.