03/12/2025
This is SO important to understand! Thank you again, Kate Sandel, Soft and Sound, for the down-to-earth clarity of your writing!
The End is Not the Means
Or
You can’t ride the horse you have today like the horse you hope they’ll be tomorrow
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Years ago, I gave a talk and mentioned the principle of "The End is not the Means". Someone in the audience said this was a lightbulb moment for her. It had never occurred to her (and why would it?) that riding from your seat, with low still hands, and softly draped legs, might not be where you start. That this ideal ‘end’ might only be achieved by showing your horse the way – using the 'means' needed right then and there. This might require you to do many messy, big, less than subtle things to provide your horse with what they need in any given moment.
You don’t dispense with your dream end goal, and every single initial offer you make to your horse has built into it this feeling (touch each horse like they’re the best schooled horse in the world). However, if right now, today, your horse can’t meet you there, then the immediate means must be in the horses favour. If you want to ride from your seat, but you get on your horse and they’re dashing off and out of balance regardless of what you do with your body; then you are going to have to teach them to ‘refer to your seat’ rather than just hoping they’ll work it out. You can spend a long time with horses dashing off and out of balance if you’re leaving it to them to work out. They weren’t designed to carry us after all.
If you would like the ‘end’ to be a horse who is in self-carriage, softly at the end of the reins with a mobile jaw - but right now they’re dumping half a tonne onto the bit, or going around with their ears 3 foot about yours , then riding around with low, still hands isn’t going to get either of you anywhere fast. This is where learning to use your hands in an educated fashion (up, sideways, or forwards, never back or down) is essential right now. In the moment, the means may look messy and gross (ever seen anyone doing action-reaction in canter?) but it’s what your horse needs right now that matters. The end will come when the horse understands and can offer it. Dreaming of the end, without providing the means, rarely works out in the horses best interest.
This weekend I taught a novice rider on a big weak, ISH. We could all see that this horse would benefit from having a longer spine and releasing tension through his back. Having this horse in a free moving neck extension is without doubt the end goal we’re looking for. But right now, this horse is so weak, with a rider who can’t easily balance him. If he was allowed even a smidgen too long (the ‘end’ we’re seeking) he would stumble and trip. Today, prioritising his balance had to come first, and this meant keeping him in a less attractive but far more functional medium position. A halfway house which provided the means for both him and the rider to find their balance and gain confidence in movement. Tomorrow will come when it comes.
The means often looks messy, even ugly. We don’t like this phase, the 'right-now-what-does-your-horse-need' means. We want the polished end. We want it to feel good to us (and if we’re honest, look good to others). But what horses want is help right now, in this moment. They don’t care how it looks; they just want to understand the assignment and feel better in their body and minds stride to stride. The end will come when the horse is ready.
I have found, constantly remembering that the means is not the end. is one of the most helpful things I can bring to my horsemanship.
In this photo my hands are very hight as my young, big moving horse needs the bit clearly in the corners of his lips in order that he doesn't feel constrained from going forward. This also means he can use his JCB bucket like head to balance. In the 'end' my hands will be much lower, but right now, keeping his tongue, neck and front end free are far more important than how it looks to onlookers.
