Tales of a Horse Trainer’s Kid; Volume I

The Wisconsin Futurity horse show rolled around a week or two ago and brought us our first taste of true blue Wisconsin autumn weather. The cool to warm fall sunny days were flanked with chilly and brisk evenings. As per usual I was under staffed & making miracles happen on a skeleton & partially volunteer crew. I had 7 or 8 horses in tow, plus two small children & one out of control boxer/farm dog.

Strength; A Letter To My Fellow Horsemen

I, as everyone, have faced the uncertainty of this time. I have faced the sudden loss of income. I have faced the government’s inability to deliver assistance and fulfill promises in real time. I have faced my own negativity and the negativity of my loved ones. I have faced my demons. Then, I faced the strength of my piers. I faced the influence and power that my industry has while we are all standing on the same sinking ship. I have watched us all start to row together headed towards the shore. I have faced the degree of intensity that my fellow horse trainers have in the belief that everything is going to be okay. I have watched the capacity of my industry to withstand this storm.

Anger

You have to carry yourself with calm and confidence all the time when in the saddle. If the horse gets you so riled that your anger starts to be a problem the situation will only snowball from there. The horse needs encouragement not unfair and over the top rage. The horse can’t fathom unnecessary roughness no more than a child can. The anger only breaks the horses trust and confidence in their rider and makes them act out even worse. In this particular situation what the horse needed was the rider to calm her emotions and focus on her body control. The rider needed to get her seat bones connected with her saddle so she could drive the horse forward with her leg.

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