I was reading a Facebook post that quoted a classical dressage master’s perception of correct riding. What struck me most was the use of the words NEVER and ALWAYS in the advice to riders. 

In my opinion, people who use this type of language are making rules that horses and riders are supposed to fit into. They are people who tend not to listen to the horse but expect the horse to listen to them. For every rule we make there is a horse in our future that will show us that rules are for fools.

You never ride the same horse twice. Each time you ride a horse it is different from the last time you rode it because every interaction and every day changes a horse. That’s why teaching horsemanship is the task of teaching horse people to think and feel the horse . We should not teach a recipe for horsemanship or riding, but an appreciation and understanding of the ingredients.

Words like NEVER or ALWAYS don’t belong in a treatise on riding or training. Guidance is one thing, but unbreakable rules have no place in riding or horsemanship.