Horsemanship and being a horseman

What is the difference? Is there a difference? What do those phrases mean to you? 

Maybe it’s the horses that have come into my life in recent years, maybe it’s that I’m being true to myself and what I feel is my life’s purpose. Either way, this is something that crosses my mind a lot. 

Personally, I feel horsemanship and horsemen are 2 different things. Why?

Over the years, including myself and my own journey, I have learnt, used and taught horsemanship. Creating some fabulous partnerships, some impressive demo horses, solved problems, helped humans find a new way to be and so on. 

You hear buzz words thrown around that make things sound attractive, put a gloss over things and because the end result looks a picture of calm it’s ok? Right? 

But what if we look a little deeper …. 

A horseman to me is someone who connects with horses onto a level that is deeper than just helping the horse get emotionally fit, it’s connecting in a way that keeps the horse’s dignity intact, who listens and hears what order do we need to do things in, how fast/slow shall we go? Where shall we go ? Who are you and what can you show me about myself? Who do you want to be ( what do they excel at - what excites them, what do they feel successful at) 

Around Horsemanship, you hear the use of words such as connection, calm, partner, relaxation, softness, lightness and so on…. 

A large amount of horsemanship comes down to yields, the softness to them and the responsibility of the horse and rider as individuals, where it becomes a fine line between horseman and horsemanship, creating a horse that learns it is best to just be obedient and become a servant to humans for the sake of having a quiet life. 

I do understand and appreciate the value of the above when it comes to safety issues, yes there are times it is important we have clear boundaries but we must not abuse these boundaries just because we can. We can show the horse there is “relief” if you submit and yield and apparently a calm horse is a happy horse. 

I’m not saying a calm horse isn’t happy - but it’s how we get to it and I also feel it’s important we let our horse feel things. They should know they can show us how they feel, but that you work on creating a relationship that means they can find calm again quickly, trust your guidance and try what your asking of them 

Can you imagine being in a relationship where you cant show how you feel, you just have to yield with a smile on your face all the time?

This creates a very good servant, who does as they are told, they are reliable but they don’t dare step out of line. 

Not wishing to take away the time and effort it takes to get a horse to perform well and be reliable in all aspects. I’m just asking that we consider the idea of softness a little differently.

I believe a horseman goes a little deeper and asks what is this horse showing me they need? Is this something I can see in myself and need to work on myself, would that create softness on a different level, further understanding and connection. 

They are someone who listens to horses, and know it’s not about what they can get done, but how they can help that horse feel heard. Sometimes this is as simple as mirroring, hanging out and reading a book with them, before asking if that horse can try 1% towards being more connected/soft/ willing to try and be in our human world.