Before I ran into Tom Dorrance, “doing the whip” was something I did automatically to make sure the next time I saddled my horse it was smooth and safe. Securing the long leash out of the way was a mindless chore I did every day so I could practice a more important activity: improving my riding skills.

But then I participated in one of Tom’s clinics. And my prospects of putting on the whip and improving my horsemanship turned upside down.

Tom explained that during his many years of helping people with their horses, he has realized that when tying the whip, not everyone threads the strap through the plate (or ring) in the same way. In fact, he found that most people Push the whip down from the top of the saddle.

When Tom shows them how poking around the whip up from below allows it to feed more easily when squeezed, people would try it and acknowledge that it worked. They would even express interest in adopting the new method. However, the next time Tom saw them, they had returned to entrepreneur the whip down from above… same as before.

Tom’s analysis was that since the change required some work, they were back to their old ways. He went on to point out that this tendency to avoid working on change is what blocks people’s progress with their horses. As Tom put it, “Sure they’d like it to work just fine. But if it’s going to be that much of a problem, they decide they don’t need it.”

When I discovered that I wasn’t getting my whip up as efficiently as possible, I took Tom’s approach. However, achieving this change required a surprising amount of awareness, consistency, and follow through.

This little lesson made me realize something very important: If I was going to advance my horsemanship and change and improve my approach to handling horses, I must dedicate myself to making sure I never fell back into any of my old ways.

I decided that putting on the whip would be my touchstone, my reminder.

Even after many years since then, every time I undo my whip to saddle and every time I do it again to unsaddle, I still find myself renewing this commitment to my riding. What started for me years ago as a meaningless task, now has a deep meaning.