In my last post, I wrote about pressure/feel versus cues. I linked to a video clip of Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse dancing. It is one of the finest examples of feel I can recount. I aspire to offer that same level of feel to my horses and those horses that come to my clinics. 

Writing that essay sent my brain whirring about how much there is to learn from non-horsey sources. When I was young, Fred Astaire was my inspiration. He was more of an inspiration than the great riding masters and classic works that I read nightly. As I got older I saw the same degree of feel that Fred offered when watching the best snooker players. Their finesse at striking a billiard ball with exactly the right amount of feel was something to see. I became motivated to be a better horse person from watching Pele, and later Maradona, manoeuvre a soccer ball with such feel and dexterity.

In my book, The Essence of Good Horsemanship, the last chapter discusses the children’s book, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. One of the lessons in the book is when the Little Prince learns the value of his relationship with his annoying and demanding rose. “If you tame it, you are responsible for it” was the lesson I most took away. As a young man, this struck me deeply and was an early call for me to change how I approached horses that were not always easy. It changed my life. Many years ago I heard Buck Brannaman say at a clinic, “Horses and life. They’re no different.” The Little Prince helped me understand exactly what Buck was talking about.

I could list very many sources that inspired my horsemanship that had nothing to do with horses, but at the same time said bucket loads about working with horses. The writings of Yukio Mishima and Mahatma Gandhi easily come to mind. All of Fred Astaire’s dance sequences. A young girl whom I got to be friends with. She wanted to be a professional surfer and was braver than anybody I have ever known. She inspired me to be braver in my life pursuits and my work. Tess, my long-gone working dog taught me how to watch and wait for an idea to change. Sheep taught me how to work with the nature of an animal and not try to change it. They also taught me that when things go wrong it is not a personal attack on me. My friends have taught me that whether I am right or I mess up, caring to do the right thing is sometimes enough. If you look for them, there are lessons everywhere that can help us in our horsemanship. If only we took the time to learn from them.

Finally, I want to add that while life has much to teach us about horsemanship, equally horsemanship has much to teach us about life. I have learned so much about dealing with the struggles in life by caring about the struggles in my horsemanship. As Buck said, “Horses and life. They’re no different.”