Think like ahorseman

True horsemen will be the first to tell you: you will never know everything. Maybe that’s one of the most important things I’ve learned in a lifetime with horses.

There are a lot of opinions. A lot of drills. A lot of techniques. A lot of words being used. And with so much information being put in front of riders today, I believe we have a responsibility to stop and ask one very important question:

What is this actually doing for the horse?

A drill should have a purpose. Pressure should have a purpose. Your hands should have a purpose. And everything we do should be building the horse, not simply creating a response for the moment.

I hear the word lift used a lot when talking about creating balance. From a horseman’s perspective, I look at it differently. When we continually try to lift a horse, we can give that horse something to brace against and push back on.

I don’t want lift. I want engagement.

Engagement brings the hind leg underneath the horse. It connects the body. It creates forward movement. The rib cage becomes movable, the shoulders become available, the back can round, and connection and collection begin to develop because the whole horse is learning to use its body.

That’s a much deeper conversation than simply changing where a horse carries its head. And that’s why horsemanship has to go deeper than a drill.

The horse still has to prove the education.

• Does the horse understand it?
• Does it make them softer? Stronger?
• Does it create balance rather than brace?
• Does it build confidence rather than take it away?
• And will what we’re doing today still benefit that horse tomorrow?

After all these years, I am still learning. I’m still watching. I’m still listening. I’m still allowing the horse to educate me.

Because when you understand the why, you no longer need to blindly follow a drill. You have knowledge. You have feel. You have understanding. And you begin to communicate with the individual horse underneath you.

That’s education. That’s horsemanship. That’s Breaking the Mold.

Paul Humphrey