Challenging conditions have a way of exposing holes in your foundation—both in your horsemanship and your mindset. Those who are willing to saddle up on the days that others might not be have a unique opportunity to accelerate their growth in meaningful ways.

Tune in as I share a story from the training pen this week where my interns and I braved the elements on a day with less-than-ideal weather conditions—and what we learned in the process.

I like to talk about what’s happening right here—what we’re working on, what we’re facing, and the lessons that show up in real time. Because most of the time, the best growth doesn’t happen on easy days. It happens on the days you’d rather make an excuse.

Yesterday was one of those days.

I’ve got two interns here right now—Millie and Natalie—learning horsemanship and learning the industry. And yesterday, the wind blew like a son of a biscuit. Steady 35–40 miles an hour, dirt flying, open riding area… the kind of day where you look out and wonder if you’re going to have any arena left.

We rode anyway. And when conditions get loud like that, it’s easy to lose the focus of training. Horses get distracted. Riders get distracted. You start thinking about the wind instead of thinking about communication.

But that’s exactly why days like yesterday matter.

We’re riding a nice set of young colts—two and three-year-olds—and a couple of them are extremely talented. They’re fast, quick-footed, and athletic. And the more talent a horse has, the more “edge” they usually have, too. That edge can be a great thing… until it flips and they go reactive.

Yesterday I told Millie and Natalie, “Today we’re getting these horses wind broke.”

Meaning: they’re going to learn to stay connected to me when everything around them is distracting. That’s horsemanship. It’s not just controlling a body. It’s controlling a thought process.

We compete from the neck down, but we win from the neck up—and that applies to horses, too.

Progress Lives Where Comfort Dies

I’m not going to lie—yesterday was miserable. We ate dirt. We were glad to get out of the wind at the end of the day. But I told the girls something I believe with my whole heart:

Days like yesterday separate the people who make progress from the people who protect comfort.

It’s real easy to whine about conditions. It’s real easy to slide into the negative. And the scary part is—you don’t even have to choose negativity. It shows up on its own if you let it.

But growth is a choice.

We joke around here and say, “Pretend it’s sunny and 75.” Not because we’re delusional—but because your attitude doesn’t get to be dictated by the weather.

There’s a saying that goes: “The thing about quitting—the more you do it, the easier it gets.”

That’s the truth. If you build the habit of opting out every time it’s uncomfortable, you won’t like where that leads.

A Little Perspective Helps a Lot

When I was in Vegas, I ran into an old friend who told me he’d been diagnosed with a disease that doesn’t have a cure. And I’ll be honest—that shook me. Earlier that day I’d been irritated about catching a barrier, and after that conversation I thought, Phil, get some perspective.

There are a lot of people who would give anything just to have one more chance to back in the box, take a run, swing a leg over a horse… even if it meant catching a barrier.

That thought came back yesterday, too. How many people would trade places with us in that wind just to ride one more time?

Saddling Up and Doing the Job Anyway

Here’s what I told Millie and Natalie after we got done riding yesterday:

If you want to make it in this industry, you don’t get to let conditions decide whether you do your job. Professional trainers pay their bills with this work—taxes, insurance, groceries, facility maintenance, the whole deal. That means you learn to make progress even when it’s uncomfortable.

And honestly, that mentality is part of what makes the western industry so special. People are drawn to it because of how folks show up and handle tough days.

This applies to everything in life:

You will always have a choice.

You can choose progress. Or you can choose comfort.

Every day is a gift. No guarantees. So when you get the chance to ride, to learn, to work, to improve—don’t waste it waiting on perfect conditions.

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