Be a researcher in your lab

That is a metaphor we use in ST and it's about creating your own laboratory with your horses so you can experiment with the concepts, techniques and approaches you learn in ST. 

It's a lab to put the theory into practice, to use the concepts, frameworks and tools and to fill in the details and to find the hidden lessons. Because we can walk the path with you, but we cannot do it for you. And it's better to not walk in the footsteps of the old grandmasters, but to search what they were searching for.

Inside-out vs outside-in

It allows us to absorb information from 'the outside in' but then it has not been investigated in practice, it has not been discovered by trial and error, it has not been experienced from the 'inside out'. 

And 'inside-out' discoveries last longer than the spoon-fed 'outside in' solutions. You'll easily forget outside-in solutions, but you'll never forget your true light-bulb 'aha' moments of breakthrough that came from the inside out. Quick fixes hardly stay forever. 

Besides this, people can give you solutions, concepts and frameworks, and tools in your toolkit, but YOU have to use them, YOU have to , YOU have to fill in the details, YOU have to find the hidden lessons.

Real change and real growth starts from within

So I encourage you today to become a researcher in your own ‘laboratory’. That is a metaphor we use in Straightness Training and it’s used to encourage ST Mastery students to create their own laboratory with their horses and to experiment with what they learn in the ST Mastery Program. A lab to put the theory in practice, to use the concepts, frameworks and tools and to fill in the details and to find the hidden lessons from the inside out. 

So if you found an approach, a concept, an idea, go do some trial and error with it in your lab (while keeping things safe of course and while putting the needs of your horse first), do some real depth exploration and look what’s working and what isn’t. 

Just trigger the 'Sherlock Holmes' in you by realizing “Aha, interesting, when I do this, that happens, when I do that, this happens.”Stay curious, stay open minded, and then adjust. Change your approach with 2mm, like adjusting the water under the shower until you have the exact temperature you want.

Now in your lab you need both theory and practice. Because without the theory, the practice will always be uncertain. So think first, act later and do some trial and error. Then, if you can’t find the solution in practice, dive back into your theory lab and start repeating the educational video / manual / book you based your practice on. And you’ll be surprised that you will see and read new things in the same theory part, things that you didn’t noticed the first time. That’s because you have new references, gained by your trial and error experiences in your lab. Repetition of theory is an important factor improving your practical skills, because by re-reading and re-viewing you don’t read what you already know, you’ll see new important 2mm details!

 Think first, act later, check and change your approach. 

We call this the lab cycle >> 

And you might even like to keep a ‘lab journal’ where you write down your fascinating insights and breakthroughs. 

So trigger the detective in you, research first, ask later, don't go for quick fixes and instant gratification, just let things develop from the inside out and grow as you go!