03/05/2025
It does not matter how much you have won if it's at the expense of the horse's well-being.
Earnings do not excuse poor horsemanship. Poor horsemanship tends to get excused if the rider has a big name to them. And anyone who dares to speak out about it, gets ripped to shreds by the internet. When are we going to start seeing the problem with this mentality? "That's how the industry is", "Well they've won X amount of money, buckles, or titles". None of that matters when the horse is the one who pays the price. Ego has no place on the back of a horse.
Beating a horse in order to get them to do what you want and because you can't control your temper is not training. That is a complete failure of horsemanship. That's traumatizing a horse to the point they shut down and submit so that you stop hurting them.
Horses do the best they can with the knowledge they have. If a horse acts out, 99% of the time it's because there's a problem. If you cannot adapt your methods to what the horse needs and you turn to abuse, then you have no business training horses.
Not every horse is going to be a good fit for every trainer, and that's okay! It's up to YOU as a trainer to know where your strengths lie and to be able to tell a client that you may not be the best fit for their horse. If you want to successfully work with a large variety of horses, take the time to learn about bloodlines, breeds, personalities, and the training methods that work best with the different personality traits. If a horse is struggling, take a step back and evaluate yourself and your environment. Do they need a different approach? A day off? Feed changes? A trip to the vet? Bodywork? Farrier changes? More turn out? Is there an imbalance within myself that is transferring to the horse? Are they understanding what I'm trying to ask of them? Is their foundation solid enough to where I can ask for the next step?
Horses feed off our energy and they know when you don't like them. If you reach the point that you hate training or hate horses in general, then for the sake of the horse you need to stop. Change your path. Take time off and maybe come back to it later. But don't take out your problems on the horse.
A horse's well-being is more important than your ego. A horse's well-being is more important than your paycheck. A horse's well-being is more important than your desire to win. There is nothing that matters more than the horse itself.
It takes YEARS experiencing all different kinds of horses to figure out what type you work best with. Put in the time, work with and for other trainers, see what type of horse suits you, and then be able to say no to horses that you know are going to be outside of your area of expertise.
Above all else, do it for the love of the horse or don't do it at all.
I often get asked if I still take in outside horses for training and due to my health conditions, I no longer do.
However! I can absolutely point you in the direction of the best trainers and horseman that I have ever had the pleasure of working with. And those people are Caitie and Elliot Holtzman of Versatile Horsemanship in Nocona, TX. They are incredible trainers, they love what they do, and you will never have to worry about the well-being of your horse while it is in their care.
