I was asked what I thought was the hardest thing for people to achieve in getting changes in their horses. I had to consider this for a moment. Then it struck me.

I think effective training of a horse is limited by two things.

The first is a person’s ability to read the inside of a horse and to present ideas to a horse with absolute clarity. Clarity in our conversation with a horse is paramount. Without being able to present an idea clearly, we are destined to leave a horse confused and troubled. I discuss clarity in great detail in my many posts and in my book, The Essence of Good Horsemanship.

But the second vital aspect of training I don’t talk about much. I believe time is an essential element in the training of any horse. We must commit to putting in enough time to the work. This is no less important than clarity and may even be more important.

We all have busy lives and for most of us, working our horses is something we fit in between all the other things we have to do in a day. Even many trainers, teachers, and clinicians experience difficulty finding the time to work their horses because they are busy working other people’s horses. I am very guilty of this. I travel a lot for clinics and when I am home there are 150 acres that need my attention. My horses get cared for, but not worked.

No horse gets better without our efforts to put in the time to work with it. If we are coached by the best coaches or our horse is in training with the best trainers, but we fail to put in the hours, days, and years of work, progress will be at a snail’s pace.

If you can't commit to the time to work with your horse then improving your skills is still achievable through lessons on school horses, etc. However, learning better skills without making enough time with your horse will leave your horse’s education stagnant.

Good skills are important, but I believe time is vital.