Ep 353: Always in Growth Mode
One thing I’ve learned through all my years of training horses is that there’s never really a point where you’ve got it all figured out.
I don’t care how long you’ve been riding, how many horses you’ve trained, or what level you compete at — there’s always something you can do better. There’s always something you can learn. And a lot of times, getting that next result requires being willing to change something about what you’re currently doing.
It’s not about constantly chasing the next big accomplishment. It’s about being willing to evaluate yourself, make adjustments, learn something new, and keep getting better—whether that’s in your horsemanship, your career, or your life.
Different Horses Grow on Different Timelines
I’ve got quite a few young horses in my program right now that I originally purchased as part of my preparation for Road to the Horse. After Road to the Horse was over, those horses didn’t suddenly stop having a purpose. Now I get to continue developing them, figure out where each one fits, and hopefully give each of them the opportunity to become a great horse.
What’s interesting is how different that process looks from one horse to another.
Some of these horses are going to progress fairly quickly. Others are going to be here a lot longer. I’ve got a couple that are extremely talented but still aren't as gentle or trustworthy as I want them to be. That doesn’t mean they aren’t good horses. It means they aren't ready yet.
I'm not in a hurry to push those horses out the door just because they've reached a certain age or have a certain amount of training. I want to figure out what discipline fits each horse, continue progressing them in that direction, and give them the time they need to become the best version of themselves.
That’s part of growth, too.
Sometimes growth happens quickly. Sometimes you work on something for a long time before it finally turns the corner. Our job is to keep listening, evaluating, and adjusting the program to the individual in front of us.
If You Want Your Horse to Change, Start With Yourself
This past week, I had a private clinic here at our facility. We worked on several different things, but one principle kept coming back around:
If I want something to change in my horse, I have to be willing to change something within myself.
Maybe it's the way I present the signal. Maybe it's my timing. Maybe it's the way I ask or release. Maybe I haven't done a good enough job setting my horse up to understand what I'm asking.
It's easy to look at a horse that's struggling and think about everything the horse is doing wrong.
Growth requires turning some of that evaluation back on ourselves.
If I'm consistently getting a result I don't like, I need to ask what I'm doing to contribute to that result—and what I can change to make it better.
That's one reason I enjoy working with the people who come through our clinics and mentorship programs. They're there because they're looking for ways to improve. They're willing to evaluate themselves instead of assuming the horse is always the problem.
That's a growth mindset.
Break the Process Into Pieces
One area we’ve worked on quite a bit at recent clinics and in our day-to-day training process is speed control.
Whether you're training a barrel horse, calf horse, rope horse, or another performance horse, you have to be able to control speed in both directions. Your horse needs to accelerate, but he also needs to rate and get his body prepared for what's coming next.
I like to compare it to riding a bicycle.
If you're flying down a hill and need to make a sharp turn, you don't wait until you're halfway through the turn to start slowing down. You prepare for it beforehand. The same principle applies to a horse. If we help that horse rate before the turn, we give him an opportunity to get balanced, get his hindquarters underneath him, and use his body correctly.
We've been doing drills where we break that process into individual pieces: speed, rate, turn, then accelerate out.
Instead of trying to fix everything at once, work on one piece. Develop the feel. Get the response. Repeat it until both you and the horse understand it, then put those pieces back together.
Those repetitions aren't only training the horse, either. They're training you.
Every repetition is developing your timing, feel, balance, and muscle memory. If your hands are fast and reactive every day at home, they're probably going to get even faster when you're competing and adrenaline enters the equation.
A good drill makes the rider better, and then the horse gets to be the beneficiary of that improvement.
You Have to Be Willing to Do Something Different
If you want to get something you aren't currently getting, you've got to be willing to do something you aren't currently doing.
That may mean changing something. It may simply mean adding something.
If I want to grow spiritually, I have to make more time to read and study. If I want to grow professionally or financially, I may have to develop a new skill or change how I'm using my time.
And if I want to become a better horseman, I can't keep doing the exact same things I've always done and expect my results to magically change.
Sometimes that means getting outside your comfort zone.
I've experienced that plenty myself. The world has changed a lot over the course of my career. The way we market horses has changed. The way we teach has changed. Technology has changed.
There are plenty of things I'm doing today that I didn't grow up doing and don't necessarily come naturally to me. But saying, "Well, that's not how we used to do it," isn't a good enough reason not to learn.
You have to try.
Sometimes doing the things you're uncomfortable with is exactly what takes you to another level.
The Best Are Still Trying to Get Better
I think sometimes we assume growth is something you focus on until you reach a certain level. Then, you've made it.
But, watch the people who stay successful at the highest levels for a long period of time — they're usually the exact opposite.
They're constantly learning. They're asking questions. They're willing to make changes. They're watching other successful people. They're using mentors. They're looking for that little adjustment that might make themselves or their horses better.
You can go to the NFR and still have things you could improve in your horsemanship. That doesn't take anything away from being an elite competitor. If anything, the willingness to recognize that is probably part of what keeps those people competing at an elite level year after year.
The people who consistently stay at the top are almost always in growth mode.
And I think that's an important reminder no matter what level you're at. You don't have to know everything to be good at what you do. You just have to remain willing to learn.
Your Identity Drives Your Habits
I've talked quite a bit about James Clear's book Atomic Habits, and one of the ideas from that book that continues to stick with me is that identity drives your habits.
In other words, who do you believe you are?
Are you somebody who constantly finds an excuse for why something didn't work?
Or are you somebody who makes an adjustment and goes back to work?
The things we repeatedly tell ourselves eventually affect the way we act.
I want my identity to be that I'm a doer. I work hard. I'm good to people. I help others. I don't quit when something gets difficult.
When you start identifying yourself that way, your actions tend to follow.
If your mindset is I can and I will, you don't need everything to go perfectly. You just keep working. You make the adjustment. You show up again tomorrow.
Keep Showing Up
At the end of the day, that's probably what growth looks like more than anything else.
Keep showing up.
There are going to be days when your horse doesn't progress the way you hoped. There are going to be competitions where the outcome isn't what you wanted. There are going to be things you try that don't work. That's okay.
If you put in the work, learn something from the experience, and show up tomorrow willing to make an adjustment, you're still moving forward.
I'm 61 years old, and I can promise you this: whenever my last day of training horses comes, I hope the day before that I was still trying to figure out how to get a little better.
That's the mindset I want to keep.
Don't get so comfortable with what you already know that you stop looking for what you could learn next. Don't be afraid to change something just because you've always done it another way. And don't mistake being successful for being finished.
There is always another opportunity to learn, adjust, and improve.
Stay in growth mode.
