Why do we lead, tack up, mount, and dismount on the left side?
There used to be a valid reason for soldiers in the cavalry: they wore their swords on the left side, which would have made it difficult to swing a left leg over the horse’s back from the right side. Today, sword and scabbard are not customary riding attire, unless we work on movie sets. Yet, most of us still follow the old cavalry manuals.
Why? Because it’s tradition. Because we’ve always done it that way. Because our first riding instructor taught us to mount from the left, and we wanted to be good students. I know I did. I would have never thought of questioning my teacher, or tradition.
Today, science and experience make me question all sorts of things I used to do without thinking about them. I’ve learned about asymmetries and imbalances this particular tradition creates in the horse’s body. I realize it would be kinder to the horse to mount and dismount from both sides, but still don’t do it nearly often enough. It’s hard to undo a lifetime of putting my left foot in the stirrup first. I picture my brain like a rutted dirt road, with habits marching back and forth, wearing deeper and deeper grooves into familiar pathways.
Habits practiced by groups of people become customs. Customs practiced for a long time become traditions.
Our lives would feel haphazard without traditions. The rituals they offer can be comforting, like a well-worn fuzzy sweater. Following a tradition signals respect for the people who practice it, along with a desire to be a part of their group. Traditions help give us a sense of belonging, which is the most basic, most existential human need.
But once traditions become sanctioned into the only official, correct version of doing something, they easily can calcify into dogma we don’t dare question or see no reason to question. When they cross that line, traditions turn from a warm, fuzzy sweater into a Victorian corset made from fish bones. They restrict our breathing room. They cause us to stagnate. They keep us from seeing new evidence, or changed contexts. They don’t serve us, or our horses.
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