10/30/2026
Have You Tried Making It Worse?🔥
(An equestrian's guide to solving problems by adding more problems.)
I've noticed that we equestrians have an extraordinary talent for making things more complicated than they need to be, often entirely by accident.
Take a horse struggling with canter. Naturally, we climb aboard, gather up the reins and start explaining where we'd like it to put its shoulders. When that doesn't work, we book another lesson.
Now we have two humans discussing engagement, bend, the outside rein and how to "hold the horse together", while the horse is desperately trying to organise four legs beneath a moving passenger who keeps interfering with the very movements it needs to stay upright. And when the horse rushes, falls through a shoulder or gets increasingly anxious, we conclude it needs more help being held together. Which is rather unfortunate, because our attempts to hold it together may be precisely what's making it feel like it's falling apart.😬
But have we considered whether the horse can actually canter comfortably without us?
I know. Outrageous.🤯
One of my favourite things is asking equestrians why they don't do groundwork. The answers are fascinating (especially because I can relate - this used to be ME).
Recently, a lovely human shared an interesting concern. Groundwork, apparently, can become addictive. People start doing it and before they know it, they've abandoned riding and spend their days endlessly circling horses until their hocks and stifles are begging for rehabilitation.🤨
I thought this was fabulous. I'd never considered a hindquarter yield to be a gateway drug.😆
And to be fair, I can see where the concern comes from. There are people peddling questionable ideas that leave horse owners permanently marooned on the ground, convinced that riding is incompatible with a good relationship. Others embark on a lifelong quest to desensitise their horse to absolutely everything, apparently hoping to produce an animal incapable of ever being startled again.🫠
Good luck with that.🫣
There are also people teaching groundwork who probably shouldn't be.
My first experience was a spectacular disaster.
I attended a clinic where my horse was introduced to a flag. He spent the morning snorting and fleeing as though we'd invited a murderous handkerchief into the arena.
When the clinician took over, things didn't improve. The professional diagnosis? My horse was scared of flags.🚩
Well, thank goodness we'd established that.
Unfortunately, nobody knew how to help him. I went home believing groundwork was thoroughly unpleasant, and it took me years to realise the problem wasn't groundwork. It was the instruction.🤓
These days, I use a handful of purposeful groundwork exercises because I value efficiency, effectiveness and horses that are comfortable, confident and capable.
When a horse struggles with canter, I often start by observing it moving freely. Sometimes the horse is already struggling with balance and coordination. Sometimes I see something that warrants veterinary investigation.
And occasionally, that investigation reveals painful feet, arthritic hocks or another physical problem that helps explain why the horse has been labelled dramatic, stubborn or difficult.
Nothing is more heartbreaking than someone discovering, perhaps after a nasty fall, that their horse wasn't being a drama queen. It was struggling.💔
Groundwork isn't a veterinary examination, but it can help us recognise problems before we make them worse. And when physical limitations aren't preventing progress, helping a horse develop balance and coordination without a rider can be remarkably efficient.
There's another benefit that I particularly value. Working with horses on the ground, especially at liberty, exposes our own limitations. Without reins and equipment to compensate for our shortcomings, we discover how well we understand timing, pressure, release and communication.
Sometimes that's confronting. Occasionally it's humbling. But those skills make us better riders and easier humans for our horses to understand.
So yes, groundwork can become a refuge from riding, and poor instruction can make it miserable.
But good groundwork is just boringly sensible.
And if developing a comfortable, confident horse while becoming a better rider is an addiction, I suppose I'll have to live with it.
➡️The real danger is discovering how much easier riding becomes when you stop insisting on solving every problem from the saddle.
Collectable Advice 327/365 - Please SHARE - I suspect most people sharing this will already be preaching to the converted. But perhaps it'll reach someone who thinks like I used to, who might recognise a little logic, question a few assumptions and even get a little curious.❤
