What happens when a baby takes his first step? Mostly they wobble around a bit and then they fall down. Babies are quite persistent however, instinctively realizing that they need to get up and mobile, so they try again. Over a period of tries they will get to where they can stand for a while and gradually be able to take progressively more steps until finally they can walk. By the time children go to school, walking and running are things that they do without thought on the most part. Each of us in our day-to-day lives performs such actions regularly without so much as a second thought. Remember the first time you tried to drive a car? For most adults now this task has also become one of habit.
So how is it that something that began as quite difficult ends up being something we do instinctively? While practise makes perfect, why is this the case? It is because of something called ‘Muscle Memory’. In crude terms, the first time we perform an action, a new message pathway from our brain to our limbs is created. Each time the action is performed, the message is once more relayed along this pathway. It’s a bit like accessing something on your computer from the internet; the first time takes a while as the file downloads; repeated communications are much quicker. The more often the pathway is used from our brain to our limbs or fingers etc, the faster the message gets through, creating something like an information super highway for frequently performed tasks.
The first few times you do something new, you access the left side or thinking side of your brain. Repetition creates this message pathway and then Muscle Memory - which is the fibres in your muscle endings storing their own data – then leaves you free to perform other actions whilst your body goes about the familiar actions automatically. This is why you can walk, talk, tie your shoes, brush your teeth, write a letter, without much thought to the action. The more repetitions you have, the easier it becomes.
Just think about what happens to someone who breaks an arm for example. If it’s the arm they generally favour, they then have to go about teaching their other arm and hand to perform the day-to-day functions they take for granted with the good arm. After some practise, they begin to gain some kind of efficiency with the other arm. This is because Muscle Memory is being created. For an action to become smooth, easy and second nature, Muscle Memory must be created. Muscle Memory takes around 10,000 repetitions to create. That’s quite a few times you need to practise those indirect reins! The good news is that unused Muscle Memory stays with you for around two years. Have you ever tried doing something you used to be good at some years earlier, only to find you have become a little ‘rusty’? In this case, the Muscle Memory has begun to dissipate, the amount of which depends on how long it has been since you performed the action.
Give this a little thought next time you are out there doing something new with your horse, like a new rein position, or hopping on from the other side. You may feel uncoordinated and awkward at first. That’s okay and perfectly natural. Allow yourself the time to create new Muscle Memory. You might even speed things up a bit by practising without your horse; while you are watching telly, waiting for the kettle to boil, sitting in traffic in the car, on the dance floor!! There are lots of opportunities to make life easier for both you and your horse. The sooner you have an action down as Muscle Memory, the sooner you can get on with something new!
Read More Road To Horsemanship articles.
- By Meredith Ransley, Quantum Savvy.