Horses are amazing creatures and the more that you are around them, the more they remind you of people.
Every horse has a different personality, but they all fundamentally work the same.
A large part of what I do with training horses is problem solving. If a client's horse has some sort of issue whether it has a bucking problem, it spooks a lot, it bolts into a full gallop, wont stand for the farrier, etc. then I will work with their horse to solve the problem.
The point is, there is a million different problems when it comes to horses and part of what I do is help my clients solve for these problems by taking every horse back to the fundamentals.
One thing I will state is that horses are not as dumb as people like to think that they are and are actually quite intelligent in many ways. They are still dumb in other ways from a logical perspective, but their intuitive sense is on a level beyond human understanding.
Many times I have had clients bring their horses to me with a problem and as soon as I begin working with them, their problem seems to disappear. Which, if you know anything about horse people, you will know 99.9% of them are crazy.
Many times when an owner has a problem with their horse, they don't take into consideration that they are the problem and not the horse.
Horses are smart, they can tell when someone experienced is handling them or riding them and they know how to act appropriately.
Some horses are 1000% stubborn and pushy - some will test every ounce of your patience to see if you will let them get away with things other people have let them get away with.
The reason for today's post is to explain in a little bit more detail the relationship between man and horse.
There are some things about this relationship that you cannot put into words because it is something that you feel.
When you put hours of your time working with these animals, helping them build confidence, helping teach them how to think, building a foundation of trust and respect, something incredible happens...
Once you have done your due diligence with a horse and have earned their trust and respect, they will ride to the end of the Earth with you.
You give a horse a job to do, it knows its job and will give you everything it has to do a good one.
When a man and a horse have a job to do, they work together as one - what you are thinking, they are thinking.
Where you look, they go.
What you feel, they feel.
I am fortunate enough to have a great horse who has never had anyone prior to me take the time to work with him and teach him how to be a horse under saddle.
I spent countless hours working with him, riding him, grooming him, and just hanging out with him.
My horse, Cooper was absolutely crazy when we first started working together!
He would run in every direction, jig and jag, and spook at a gust of wind and try to take off running.
While he was a wrecking machine, he was perfect for me!
His personality matched my personality to a tee.
All he wanted to do was go (much like myself) and what I had to teach him was to be calm, relax, and just walk.
He was a fire breathing dragon at one point until I cracked the code as to how horses think and I began to get inside of his mind.
Once I learned the fundamentals of how horses think, everything changed for me. I was able to apply what I learned to my horse directly and see it work in real time.
I watched a crazy thoroughbred off the track who hadn't ever been taught how to be ridden, turn into a calm and collected horse under saddle.
This does not go without mentioning that he would still spook at things, even things he saw on a regular basis.
He used to have a meltdown whenever he would see a puddle of water on the ground as if Jaws was going to pop out of it and come eat him.
We worked through these things and he was never perfect on them, so it is fair to say that him and I still have work to do.
I always said that Cooper, my boy is perfectly imperfect. Simply put, he is the perfect horse for me even though he is not perfect in the sense of being "bomb proof".
I will say whenever him and I worked cows together, he was on...
Whenever I gave Cooper a job to do, he knew exactly what I wanted and never once threw a fit.
Where I looked, he went.
Whatever cow I was trying to separate from the herd, he would pick up and follow with very little direction on my part.
He knew exactly what I wanted and how I wanted it and he did his job.
This is why a man's bond with a horse is different than a bond with anything else.
You work together as one - you have a job to do together and you do it.
That horse will give you everything is has until the day that it dies and that is something very few humans on Earth can actually understand.
There are very few people, especially in today's world, that will go to the end of the Earth for someone else.
I am fortunate enough to surround myself with people who do understand that concept and while it may not be many, it is a mutual understanding that we ride together, and we die together.
It is the ultimate source of trust and respect when you have someone willing to die for you at any minute of any day - these are the only kinds of people that I choose to surround myself with.
This is why I work with theses animals - it is a connection that lies deeper than human understanding.
We evolved with these animals for tens of thousands of years and there is a reason why God gave them to us.
I believe that He gave us horses to understand the true meaning of partnership, the true meaning of trust, and the true meaning of loyalty.
Some may grasp some of these concepts because many out there know what it is like to have dogs and pets, but what I am saying is that the bond man has with a horse is different than any other bond with any other animal.
Kind of like how you have different relationships with each one of your friends, it is the same with animals - the bond is different with each animal.
The difference between the bond with a horse versus having pets is that you are working together side-by-side towards something.
You can feed a dog, give it love, and it will be your best friend for the rest of their lives.
With horses, you must work together to have the horse fully understand you and what you are asking of it. Once you establish that relationship, you know that horse will work side-by-side with you until the day that it dies.
Once you realize that a horse will work willingly for you if you work with them, the dynamic of what humans consider a bond changes.
You realize that what horses have to offer is something truly special and wont be understood by everyone and that is okay because I realize horses are not for everyone.
Just like I know that not everyone is willing to ride to the end of the Earth for someone else.
Humans like to think they know what it means to be a ride or die until their backs are up against a wall and that is because humans have ego.
Horses have no ego, they ride for you and will die for you until the very end.
What these animals have given me is a life worth living and it all started with Cooper, my boy.
My horse is something special because I realize now that if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be on the path that I am on.
Cooper took a broken man and gave him a purpose and I like to think I did the same for him.
He has taught me more about life than one could possibly imagine and for that, I am forever grateful for our paths to have crossed when they did.