Hey everybody, thanks for joining me for this week's episode of Be Your Best Horsemanship. I’m coming to you from our training facility here in Weatherford, OK, on a beautiful Tuesday morning. As I’m recording this, we’re just hours away from kicking off our first mentorship week of the spring, and I’ve been thinking a lot about what it really means to be mindful and present while training.

The Importance of Connection in Training

Last night, we got the colts up out of the pasture and sorted them. We have a diverse group of horses—some that have barely had a halter on, some that have been handled a time or two, and some that have had a bit more work. That variety is what makes these mentorship weeks so valuable, because the reality is, no two colts are ever the same.

When we step into that first session today, the number one priority is safety and connection—because those two things go hand in hand. Without trust, a horse is always going to be in fight or flight mode, which means their guard is up, and they’re just waiting for something to go wrong.

I always compare it to being locked in a cage with a lion or a bear. If that animal starts coming toward you, you’re going to feel that pressure—that sense of threat. That’s exactly how these colts feel when we step into the round pen with them for the first time. They don’t know that we’re there to help them. Their first instinct is survival. So, today is about building trust, and that starts with being 100% present in the moment.

Bringing a Colt to the Round Pen

Before we ever step into the round pen, we have to get the colt there safely. And, that process is just as important as what happens inside the pen.

We’ll pony them in with a seasoned helper horse, because even if they don’t know that horse personally, it’s still another horse―which gives them some sense of security. At the same time, it teaches them to yield to pressure, follow a leader, and begin to trust the process.

This is where horsemanship is about more than just mechanics—it’s about leadership and communication. Every step of the way, I have to be mindful of what I’m asking, how I’m asking it, and how the colt is responding. And let me tell you—if I let my mind wander, if I’m not 100% focused in that moment, that’s when things go wrong.

Understanding the Danger Zones

When you work with young horses, you have to be hyper-aware of safety. There are two main danger zones:

The kick zone—a wide arc behind the horse where they can strike out with their hind legs.
The strike zone—a 45-degree angle from the shoulder forward, where they can lunge or strike with their front feet.

I know these zones all too well—because I’ve been kicked and struck before. And, every single time, I was standing in one of these zones when it happened. When you stay mindful and aware, you set yourself up for success. If you get careless or distracted, that’s when you get into trouble.

Being Present in Every Training Session

The same principles I’ll be using with the colts today are the same ones I need to apply to every horse, every day—including the broke horses I ride all the time.

Just last night, Sloan and I were roping, and I was riding Roscoe, a solid, seasoned gelding. Roscoe’s the kind of horse that adjusts to his rider—he’ll do just what you ask and nothing more.

I hadn’t roped on him in a couple of weeks because of the weather, and I noticed something—he wasn’t moving up as well as I wanted. If I wasn’t paying attention, I might have just gone through the motions, thinking, "Oh, he knows his job, he’ll be fine." But because I was present and focused, I recognized that he needed a tune-up. That’s the takeaway here: Even your best horses still need you to show up and be present.

Training With Purpose, Every Day

The reason I love these mentorship weeks is that they force us to be 100% locked in—because when you’re working with untouched colts, there’s no room for distractions. But the truth is, we need to bring that same level of focus to every ride, every session, every day.

One of my clients, Carrie Schiotz, shared something with me the other day that really stuck. She said that this winter, she made a point to be fully present every time she worked her horses—not just going through the motions, but really focused on getting the most out of each ride.

That’s the mindset that separates good horsemen from great ones.

Are you just getting through the session?
Or are you making every minute count?

A Simple Concept That’s Easy to Overlook

When I think about Road to the Horse, I realize how much this experience has sharpened my awareness. I’ve been working harder, fine-tuning my helper horses, and raising my own standard for what it means to be truly present in training.

The key is to carry that level of focus into everything we do—not just when there’s an event coming up, but every single day. If we do that, success is inevitable.