The Hardest Thing About Learning Horsemanship and How to Train Horses

Everything constantly changes. 

Every horse is different and requires different techniques and approaches to get results. What worked with one horse may not work for another. What worked for the last 10 horses may not work for the one you are working with right now. Until you have extensive experience dealing with a wide variety of horses, it is hard to know how to unlock each individuals’ potential. 

As if this doesn’t make it difficult enough, what you are doing with a single individual horse will change literally by the day. Honestly, sometimes by the minute! 

It all depends on what frame of mind they are in, what they are currently learning, what they are currently struggling with, as well as what is going on around you. There are so many times when you swing a leg over a horse’s back with all of these plans and intentions, but then have to totally change what you intended to work on. 

Also, anytime you are trying to refine a maneuver or train a horse for a specific discipline, you have to alter what you are doing AGAIN. 

What makes all of this so frustrating when you are learning is that YOU DON’T KNOW WHEN you are supposed to change what you are doing due to a lack of experience. I think this is the hardest thing to learn and the most difficult thing to teach because it is a “feel” and a knowledge that truly comes from experience or someone with that experience guiding you through the process, and it is slowly built over time.