08/05/2025
There is so much to learn. From nutrition and care to training methods, riding skills, anatomy and movement patterns, saddle fit, etc., etc., etc. You could and should go on and on learning new things and skills in your horsemanship journey.
However, one thing I see becoming more prevalent with the unfettered and unending access to information, is people losing the ability to try in fear of being wrong.
Much of our horsemanship journey honestly boils down to trying something, screwing it up, and then learning how to do it better. When we start getting a clue, we pay attention to the information our horses are giving us as we’re trying things out and get better and not screwing up as bad. Once we do something and it works for several horses, we’ll probably use that same tactic until another horse comes along and shows us why that doesn’t work and an even better way of doing it.
When people quit trying to work through and try things on their own they quit listening to the horse. They look to a person to tell them everything they should be doing and changing. They no longer think for themselves and step out of comfort zones. They are no longer looking for the answers where they matter.
This is not to say we shouldn’t be learning. We should be. We should be taking lessons and digging for answers. But, if someone claims that their way is the only way, has never been seen or done before, has all of the answers, that you need them and can’t do without them, that you shouldn’t be doing anything with your horse except their exact thing, I would run fast and far.
People teach from their perspective which comes from their experiences, mindset, and how they view the world and horses. The more we try new things and open ourselves to what our horses have to teach us, the more we all begin to learn the same principles as those before us in time who have opened themselves to the true teachers; the horse.
