03/26/2026
Confidence is built past 22 feet.
A little change of pace today. This is going to be more horsemanship based. Someone wise once told me this (my mentors lol) and it’s stuck with me ever since. If you have a minute I’ll tell you a story.
I owned a horse I named Pal, an off track thoroughbred with a ROUGH history. He was beaten, abused, and neglected to the point of emaciation. That horse was afraid of living in his own body. I worked so hard to help him gain confidence but we hit a plateau. I took him to a clinic hosted in Kentucky at my mentors home facility, and that’s where we learned how important it is to play at the end of a 22 foot line or push limits with a 45 foot line.
They put a piece of tape on my line and I was told to attempt everything from the tape or further. Obstacles, flat work like lunging, backing, side passing, serpentines etc.
What this taught me was that at that distance and further it takes away your ability as the handler to micromanage. You pitch all this line to your horse and ask them to perform a task which they may then do or not do lol. However the key to this is allowing your horse to make the mistake and not getting upset when it’s not perfect the first time.
Micromanaging your horse creates a horse reliant on you for everything and they are unable to think for themselves. Therefore in technical, high pressure, and/pr unfamiliar situations asking those horses to keep their composure most of the time is directly influenced by your ability to keep yourself together in those situations.
Building a horse to be a partner is so much fun, and so important. Helping them become an independent thinker and problem solver is amazing to witness. You can the ask these horses really challenging questions, and even if they don’t totally understand they have the emotional capacity and the self confidence to trust that this might not be a bad idea.
Most people don’t own horses like this because it’s difficult. Humans micromanage even when we think we arnt. Practicing things like this keep you accountable as a horseman, and also will shed light on a lot of holes in your training which at times can be humbling. Two things the majority of the horse community isn’t ready to admit and face.
Challenge yourself, challenge your horses. Give them and yourself some grace when mistakes are made, it’s not the end of the world. These creatures are here to enjoy not constantly fight with.
Do better, be better.
