09/25/2026
Exactly that!
If You Have to Keep Pulling, Kicking and Insisting, Read Thisš
There is something wonderfully obvious hiding in plain sight when youāre trying to get on with your horse.
If you constantly have to pull, tug, kick, insist, correct, escalate, reach for the whip or resort to hope and prayers because your horse has āignored youā, something has gone wrong.
Because if your horse understood the light signal, was physically comfortable enough to respond, felt confident doing what you asked and had learned that responding mattered, why would you need all that extra persuasion? Not to mention the hope and prayers.š¬
This is where things get interesting.
A gentle squeeze of your legs is a language. The feel of a lead rope through a halter is a language. Pressure on the bit asking for a turn or halt is a language.
None of these things arrive pre-installed in a horse like factory software.
We create their meaning.
And then we have to protect and maintain that meaning.š¤
Sometimes horses genuinely donāt understand. Sometimes theyāve become habituated because every signal is loud, relentless or meaningless. Sometimes they are protecting themselves from pressure. Sometimes their feet hurt, their backs ache or their joints are stiff. Sometimes they understand the signal but donāt yet feel confident following us somewhere that feels confronting or vulnerable.
Yet we often call the resulting horse lazy, naughty, stubborn, spooky, heavy, dramatic or sensitive.
Those words become much more interesting when we turn them around.
What if theyāre actually pointing towards a gap in our horse-training knowledge?
That isnāt an insult. Itās incredibly liberating.
Because horse training isnāt something āhorse trainersā do before handing you the finished product. Your horse is learning every time you interact with them. Every lead, halt, turn, transition, gate, puddle, float, mounting block and trail ride is training.
You are already a horse trainer.
The exciting part is that you can become bloody good at it.
There is an extraordinary buzz when a horse becomes so tuned into your signals that it feels almost like theyāre following your thoughts. Not because you possess mystical horse-whispering powers, but because youāve created such clear meaning that the tiniest signals make sense.
So when your horse frustrates you, get curious before you get louder.
Your horse might just be showing you exactly where your next bit of horsemanship needs to be learned.ā¤
Collectable Advice 297/365. Please SHARE with someone who might need the freedom of discovering that what they donāt know yet is something they can learn.
