What Makes A Master Horseman

An entire universe of hopeful pony pros ask themselves this one question. What makes a great horse person? What are the special talents that enable a rider to become one with their pony? A completely merged and integrated whole of all the finely coordinated parts?

Regardless of if this were a reference book and not an article, I am not sure I could adequately describe what goes to make a fine horseman. There is so much of it that’s intangible, not conducive to proper description. How can I describe a feeling, an aura, a merging of spirits?

What I can tell you about is perhaps the most important qualification a fine horseman needs. It is something that most, or all riders can achieve. It’s the light touch.

You can hope to become a fine horseman only when you learn how to pay no attention to your inbuilt instincts to get a bit more physical when your pony is not responding the way that you need it to. When you follow your natural instincts, you start adding on more pressure on the bit or you utilise your legs more forcefully or, heaven forbid, you even start whipping your pony. To be a fine horseman, you’ve got to go against your inherent instincts. You must perfect an absolutely weightless touch that teaches the pony more thru vibration, if I am able to call it that, than thru physical pressure. Perfect coordination with your horse is a little like ESP, which explains why it isn’t simple to describe.

You achieve that coordination when you approach your pony not as an animal that has to be subjugated to your will, but as a detachable part of yourself that responds to your mental urgings just the way your arms and legs do, there isn’t any recognisable message, no traceable process. The response happens practically at the same nano-second the command is given.

You achieve that coordination when you appreciate the fact that you are the creature with the versatile mind and the pony is the creature with the unidirectional one. You can think up and down and round and round, and the horses thinks only straight ahead. Therefore , you don’t expect your pony to mould his thinking to you; you adjust your mental processes to tune in on his frequencies. You don’t speak with him the language of a superior human being attempting to dominate him, you talk to him the language of an equal human being trying to be a horse.

The point is this: train your pony with the will, not the whip. Teach him to recognise and spontaneously respond to the most subtle cues and commands from you. Refrain from compelling him to do anything, lure him into doing what you need. The most effective way is to reward him each time he does something right. Rather than punishing him when he does anything wrong, simply get him to repeat it till he gets it right. Do not overdrive him, if he has yet to pick up on a new trick despite repeated attempts, give him a break. Give him a rubdown, let him feed, let him share a little time with the other horses if there are any.

Approach your horse with supreme belief that you will get your way. Horses are sensitive to mood, and if you start doubting yourself, the doubt is going to rub off on him and adversely affect his behavior.

Remember: when you reach across to your pony, he will reach back to you.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers click here