Have Faith - Not Hope | RES 040

Ride Every Stride | Horsemanship and Personal Growth with Van Hargis

I get asked frequently why someone's horse does or doesn’t do something. I usually have to answer this the same way every time: “Well, it depends.” You see, the only absolute here is that there are no absolutes. So here come in a few keywords that are central to horsemanship. They are forgiveness; gratitude; confidence; courage; and faith. These things all play into the one thing you have full control over - your own thoughts. Working on these aspects of your horsemanship strengthens the bond between rider and horse and allows both to grow in a positive direction.

Key Takeaways

We need to be forgiving of our horses, and in many cases, our past as well. I find that many riders at my clinics are just getting back into riding. So many of them all cite having a bad experience with a horse when they were younger. The same goes for traumatic life events in their past. But until you let go of what’s holding you back you won't be able to truly enjoy yourself.

Of course getting bucked off a horse hurts. Pain isn’t fun for anyone. It can leave dents in our memory and make us afraid of moving forward. But sometimes we have to put up with discomfort in order to achieve the things we really want. Forgiving that past and learning from it not only lets you move on but sets you up to learn from any more negative experiences that may come.

If you aren’t confident in what you are asking of your horse why should they trust you? You have to build up that confidence first and believe me, horses can pick up on it. A good way to build confidence is to be paired with a horse that is going to help raise it. Learning in the right environment with the right horse will cut down on certain frustrations.

Once you have that confidence you need to muster some courage. Get off the bleachers! Jump into the arena and do what it is you have worked towards. But be careful. You don’t want to go all out, get hurt, lose confidence, and have to start all over again. Taking steps forward lets you sustain confidence and build skill in a sustainable way.

I’ve never been a big fan of hoping with horses. Do you want to hope that they will get on the trailer? Or, do you want to know they will get on the trailer? We need to have faith, not hope with our horses. Faith that we have bonded with them, built our confidence and taught them well. And if we haven’t taught them we need to be grateful for a new opportunity to do so. Practicing horsemanship and humanship at every turn we can is a great thing.