06/17/2026
š£ Quit blaming your horse and quit taking it out on them!
I hit the first on this run. Cate rarely hits but Iāve been schooling her on tightening up the first and I just overdid it. Her time would have gotten her a chunk of money and potentially the average, but when I said āturn right hereā she said āyes maāamā and down it went. I still came out of the arena smiling at my horse, telling her what a perfect old lady she is, and laughing at myself for making the mistake.
I see people get mad at their horse, jerking on them or hitting them when theyāre coming out of the arena, spurring the bajeezuz out of them, running off to work them harder, staying mad for hours. And you better believe your horse is going to remember that their next time out. Theyāre not going to know you were mad because they hit a barrel or bowed off the second or went up the wall, or any other possible mistake they could have made. All theyāre going to know is they went in that arena and tried to work for you and they came out of it being punished for the effort.
99.9999999% of the time, YOU were the problem. You quit riding, you turned too soon and they compensated, you got hung up, your timing was off, you havenāt vetted your horse and theyāre running sore, or you just flat have not prepared the horse to perform the job and expected them to figure out how to do it right on their own.
And on the rare occasion that it actually is the horseās mistake, ask yourself why. Did they understand the job? Were they physically capable of doing what you asked? Were they confident? Were they prepared? Because horses donāt wake up in the morning plotting ways to ruin your run. They arenāt standing in the alley thinking, āI think Iāll knock over a barrel today just to make her mad.ā Theyāre responding to the training, preparation, physical condition, and cues weāve given them.
The best horsemen I know donāt spend their energy looking for someone to blame. They spend it figuring out what they can do better. They watch the video, make a plan, and go back to work. The horse doesnāt need your anger. The horse needs your leadership.
If your horse walks out of the arena after a bad run still believing youāre a safe place to try, youāve already won something far more valuable than a check.
