I sometimes browse the web and see Facebook pages and web sites of other people – mostly horse people – that post catchy little phrases intended to inspire people to strive to greater heights of success. Things like “success begins with the first step” or “the most important thing about a goal is having one” or “be the change you want to see in the world” or whatever. You know the sort of thing I mean. They are everywhere over the internet.
While they all tend to have a grain of wisdom, I tend to ignore them. I find them personally annoying and meaningless. I’m sorry if some of you reading this love them and find my dislike of them offensive. I just think people read them, think they are witty or cute and forget them the instant they read the next item. I don’t see how anybody expects them to make a difference or achieve anything. I don’t believe people operate by reading a phrase intended to inspire, feel inspired and change their life because of it.
Clearly these proverbs are intended to motivate people to change for the better. But change is difficult and in my experience it takes more than a few clever words to cause it to happen.
Over the years I have worked with a lot of people who are trying to better horse people. Some have made amazing changes in a short time. Some people make slow and plodding progress and others appear to be exactly where they were 10 or more years ago.
I’ve been thinking about the obstacles that get in the way of people’s progress to becoming good with horses and have compiled a short list. You may be able to add to the list or have a different list of your own.
1. Natural Talent
Problem: There is no doubt that some people just have a more natural ability to learn horsemanship than others. But it is my experience that while some people may not have the potential to achieve Olympic gold, most everybody can master the basics of good horsemanship. Some people may learn quicker than others, but my experience is that the ability to be good at the basics is within the reach of just about anybody.
Solution: If you are a person with less natural ability than your friends, try to not compare yourself to others. Instead you should be comparing your horse today to your horse 6 months ago or last year. It can help to keep a video record of your horse so that over time you can see the improvements. If you can see the positive changes it will help you to stay focused and patient.
2. Ambition
Problem: Ambition is the prime motivator for working hard at your horsemanship. If a person lacks ambition to be a good horse person they tend to lack the work ethic required to achieve it. This is sort of related to whether a person is content with their relationship with a horse or the horse’s performance. When we are not happy we work harder to make a change. But when we are content we tend to let things be as they are even if they are not very good.
Solution: Find something you want to do with your horse. For example, if you like trail riding, then planning on a 2 week trek might motivate you to improve your knowledge of gear fitting, fitness training, hoof health, horse fatigue, nutrition etc. If you are bored with dressage, maybe look into cow working or garrocha or western equitation etc.
3. Laziness
Problem: Laziness is a huge obstacle for many people. It’s not just about being too lazy to ride, but sometimes it is about being too lazy to work hard when we do ride. Sitting on a horse alone is not enough to improve a person’s abilities. We have to ride with a purpose and be vigilant about that purpose if we want to improve. I know many people who ride regularly, but don’t expend enough effort to practice what they were taught at their last lesson or last clinic. They prefer to keep to what they already know rather than stretch their limits.
Solution: This is a tough one to overcome. I think getting regular instruction can be a big help. It means that you have somebody yelling at you every week if you are not improving. If you are a person who lacks drive, then avoid instructors who constantly pat your on the back, tell you what a good job you are doing and don’t challenge you. They are your enemy and you must destroy them. It can also help to belong to a group that ride together regularly and offer mutual support.
4. Lack of Access To Good Help
Problem: Some people just don’t have access to help. Either there is none available or they can’t afford to pay for lessons. The advent of the internet has made information more widely available – and that’s great for helping people with ideas and principles. But the details and nuances that make the difference between success and failure requires hands-on teaching – not training videos or books or FB articles.
Solution: This is also a difficult problem to solve. You can try to access instructors who teach via video where you send them a clip of your work and they offer extensive feedback. You can also try to go to as many clinics as possible. I have had people drive many hours (and even 2 days) to attend one of my clinics. Again, riding regularly with a group of like-minded people that offer mutual support can be a great help. Sometimes just having a second set of eyes to critique you can be very insightful.
5. Lack of Experiences
Problem: I had a client who had been riding for 30 years, but only owned 2 horses in that time. When she bought her third horse she was really struggling. She told me that there was something wrong with her new horse because she never had problems in all her 30 years. She assumed that riding for 30 years qualified her as a good horsewoman. She did not appreciate that her previous horses were tolerant of her poor skills and now she had a horse that was not.
Solution: Try to ride as many horses as you can and work on projects while you do that. I have sometimes said that the biggest difference between most people that come to my clinics and me is that I have been fortunate enough to have ridden a lot of horses with a lot of problems.
6. Competition Success
Problem: This again comes back to contentment. When people’s focus is on competing successfully and they succeed, they often have a false belief in their abilities. They might get lessons from a more successful competitor or instructor, but successful competitors rarely ever attend horsemanship classes or clinics. At my clinics, the competitors that show up are usually the ones that are struggling in their chosen event eg horse won’t take a contact, rushes in the canter etc. This is despite seeing so many successful competitors whose horses rush at jumps, resist loading into a float, move when mounting, shy at everything on a trail ride etc.
Solution: There is no solution. They are a lost cause. We need to put them on an island and let the principle of “Lord of the Flies” do its thing!
There is nothing wrong with a person not improving their horsemanship skills if things are going okay. We all have horses for our own reasons and for some it is not about self-improvement. But I am assuming that many people reading this page do so because they are looking for different ideas and a different way to what they are already doing.
Not every roadblock to becoming a better horse person is easily resolved. But for most issues there a way to work around them if it is important enough to us.
