Ep 187: Navigating the Ups and Downs of the Horsemanship Journey
No matter what stage of training you are at, we are all living some version of the same journey. It’s a journey filled with peaks, valleys, frustrations and victories. It’s a journey that will evoke the full spectrum of emotions. Understanding how to navigate the ups and downs of the horsemanship journey is the key to maintaining momentum and continuing to progress 1% one day at a time.
While our journeys will share some similarities, we all have unique journeys filled with different experiences that have gotten us to where we are at today. The experiences we’ve been through, good and bad, are all beneficial to shaping us into the trainers and people we want to be.
We live in a constantly changing world, and the potential of the product that we are developing (the horse) is constantly evolving as well. Genetically, horses are becoming more powerful and full of potential than they’ve ever been before. We are producing horses with tons of ability, and as a result, we have to learn to adapt our programs to fit the training needs of these athletic creatures.
I’ll be the first to admit that being open to change is a challenging concept. And, I can say this because there was a time in my life where I wasn’t very receptive to help. I didn’t want anyone else’s advice or input due to my own insecurities. I thought that because I was training horses for the public, I had to be an expert. I thought that I couldn’t ask anyone for help because I was supposed to know it all already.
Over the years, I’ve learned that this mindset was the only thing that was keeping me from becoming an expert. I learned that you can’t be so rigid with your program that you are unwilling to introduce anything new or absorb any new perspectives, opinions or ideas. That is the quickest way to stay exactly where you are at. Sometimes, you have to be at a point in your life where you’ve tried things that haven’t worked so that you’re finally ready to be receptive to help.
I really enjoy working with young trainers and seeing the passion they have for what they’re doing. When these young trainers come to me with challenges, I often tell them that the only disadvantage they have is that they haven’t seen enough sunrises yet. While their experiences have been valuable, they simply haven’t had enough time to go through the volume of life experiences needed to know how to handle some of the challenges they are facing.
I think about young horses the same way. Young horses haven’t had enough experiences to know that they can have confidence in uncomfortable situations. They have to have confidence so that we can progress them mentally first, then work on developing their physical potential.
Young horses often struggle with reactive tendencies that are a result of insecurity. When you put more pressure on a horse that is reactive, you’re pushing them to engage self-defense mode. These horses are prey animals, and because of that, they are ultrasensitive to the signals we send. If I send a signal and increase pressure until they find the answer, I am going to get a drastically different response than if I send a signal, hold it, and allow them to find the answer on their own time. With the tools we have available today, we can physically manipulate horses around to a certain degree; however, when we do this, we are not teaching the horse anything. The goal is to teach, not control.
The key to progressing the potential of a colt is to learn the techniques that allow you to flip the mental switch from “reacting” to “thinking.” The flip of that switch is everything. When you flip that switch from the reacting side to the thinking side, it’s like a bipolar human that changes from one emotion to another. The mental and physical transformation that happens there is immensely powerful, and it opens the door for you to teach, not just merely control, the horse.
Great horsemanship is all about communication and leadership. I work with many trainers who feel that they have ‘maxed out’ their horses’ potential. While I do believe that some of these trainers have reached a point of near maximum potential with their horses, I also believe that there may be days when we are maxing out our own potential, and our horses are simply reflecting that. They are doing the best they can with the signals, communication and leadership that we are putting out. If you’re not striving to be a great trainer, you’ll always be just a ‘pretty good’ trainer. And in today’s world, ‘pretty good’ isn’t good enough anymore. We have to learn to eliminate ‘pretty good’ from our vocabularies.
For those of you who are looking to become truly ‘great’ trainers, I would encourage you to pay attention to not only the horsemanship side, but the business and personal development side as well. Horsemanship is a culmination of not only your technical skill, but your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health as well. Whether you are training personal horses or training for the public, I believe you have to look at the journey from every angle to maintain longevity in this industry. Having a well-rounded approach to horsemanship will help set the foundation for you to navigate the ups and downs of the horsemanship journey.
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