Ride Every Stride | Horsemanship and Personal Growth with Van Hargis

In today's episode I want to pay tribute to some very influential men and mentors. Allen Gammill my grandfather. He taught me several lessons in loyalty. Boley Crawford assistant football coach at East Texas State University(now Texas A&M Commerce) who gave me an option between class or practice Dick Atwood owner of Atwood Hats Randy Snodgrass owner of ArenaWerks These men left a lasting impression on me!

In the most recent previous episodes we discussed The Path of Least Resistance, Forward Motion, The Control of Forward Motion and now it's time to discuss The Stopping Forward Motion. Let's face it. There are tons of ways to stop a horse. Heck, there are even different kinds of stops. The thing I focus on first is a true understanding between horse and rider as to WHY your horse is moving. Today we will focus on what I refer to as The 3 Steps To Stopping. First         Quit making him go. Remove your movement/rhythm Second    WHOA Third        Support with your reins As my horse develops, I may actually train them to stop by also using The 3 Steps to Stopping individually. I'll explain. Bottom line is that we must ask ourselves why our horse is going. Our horse must learn from all previous steps of The Basics that they are moving because we've established a working relationship and we are creating rhythm to get the horse to move. When this working relationship is established and practiced first then The 3 Steps to Stopping will be a success.

Last episode we continued a new series titled Nothing Beyond the Basics and spoke about forward motion and the control of forward motion as we talked about establishing aworking relationship by working on speed control. Today we will focus on the control of forward movement by focusing on directional control. Directional Control- left and right and turns. Turns or change of directions using turns. Inside turns and outside turns. I personally prefer outside turns initially. Why? Preparing for what comes next and having faith that what in my opinion too many focus on; hooking on or joining up or whatever term you want to put on it. Not that it’s not important it’s just not on my priority list in front of preparing for where I’m going to be, in the saddle. Eye to eye transitions better prepare a horse for a rider to be behind them. As I work on these things and the other important priorities the horse soon craves the hooking on... it just happens anyway. It’s not something I have to work on. I have faith it will come. I know it will come. Next episode we will discuss more about speed control and preparing the horse for further success

Today we will focus on the control of forward movement. Directional Control- left and right and turns. Turns or change of directions using turns. Inside turns and outside turns. I personally prefer outside turns initially. Why? Preparing for what comes next and having faith that what in my opinion too many focus on. Hooking on or joining up, or whatever term you want to put on it - Not that it’s not important it’s just not on my priority list in front of preparing for where I’m going to be, in the saddle. Eye to eye transitions. Better prepare a horse for a rider to be behind them. As I work on these things and the other important priorities the horse soon craves the hooking on… it just happens anyway. It’s not something I have to work on. I have faith it will come. I know it will come.

Today as we progress on the forward motion and obtaining it via the path of least resistance I'd like to address the use of the round pen for a moment. I'm certainly not gonna dog any other credible tools such as no pen at all or a square pen, rectangular pen, or any other shape. Yes, a tool can assist greatly if you know what project you're working on and the purpose. What tool one uses might, just might, depend on one's experience and the exact purpose being attempted. Here we will discuss a bit about a Facebook post I interacted in regarding a guy bashing round pens in favor of square pens. Forward motion; for the sake of discussion we are going to be referring to horses that make up the vast majority of horse's world wide and not necessarily gaited horse's. Please note that I have absolutely nothing against gaited breeds at all. Just for the sake of simplicity I'll refer a lot to a walk, trot, canter, and perhaps a gallop. In the beginning, on any horse at any training or trained level I ask them to go forward by offering the path of least resistance and I couldn't care less what gait they choose as long as they are going forward. Of course I'd like them to ease off at a walk, but as long as they are going forward then I know all the other things I desire from them wil come. I just want forward motion when I ask for it. Next episode we will discuss control of forward motion

Welcome back to Ride Every Stride. It's been quite a while since our last episode. Thank you all for your patience, continued encouragement and support. You all may have noticed a change in the voice on the introduction piece. Well, let me formally introduce the new Ride Every Stride co-host, my lovely wife Melanie Hargis. For those of you that visit our website, join theTop Hand Club, or see us on the road at speaking engagements, clinics, or expo appearances chances are you may have already met Miss Melanie either directly or indirectly. I'd also like to give a shot out to our former host, Miss Laura McClellan. She was a huge inspiration to me starting Ride Every Stride and I'll forever be grateful to her for all she's done to help me on countless projects, but most of all for being a great friend. We wish her continued success on her podcast The Productive Woman. Today we are going to take a trip back... we are going to restart by focusing on a series... this series is going to take us back to THE one thing that has lead to most of my successes both in horseemanship and humanship; Nothing Beyond the Basics. Nothing Beyond the Basics... a) the path of least resistance b) forward movement c) control of forward movement d) stopping of forward movement Today; part one of this series: The Path of Least Resistance  

You’ve probably heard me say this before, “Horses aren’t people.” You may have also rolled your eyes at me, because it seems obvious. Doesn’t it? Yet you’d be surprised how often people misinterpret horse behavior as being the same as human behavior, with the same emotions and causes involved. But the truth of the matter is different. Horses are a different species, with different instincts and social hierarchies. This episode goes in depth into the herd dynamic, and most importantly, where you fit into that dynamic. Spoiler alert, your position is to be the leader. Key takeaways If I could leave you with one clear message about herd dynamics it would be to observe your horses objectively. How can you be the leader of an organization you don’t know anything about? We have to watch our horses and see how they interact. Sure, a calf may be nudging against their mother because there is a mother-offspring bond, or the calf could have a spur on its neck. Humans can be very selfish in our love. However, horses are different—they care more about the survival of their species, something that drastically sets them apart from the human mindset in most cases. If you are going to be leading more than one horse, you need to figure out where all of the horses sit in your herd as well—they can’t all be equal. Figuring this out will help you communicate with them better while using body language and pressure they already understand. You have to learn to emulate their behavior in order to do this.   And the humanship aspect of all this? Just know and respect those in our lives for who they really are, don’t twist your perception and assumptions about a person. When we know that and accept our role for what that is, and we can earn that role of respect with them as their leader – that makes the working relationship with our horse that much better.

Don’t know what you can do unless you let go of comfort zone. It’s easy to hold onto what we know and stay in one spot, but unless you branch out, you’ll never know what is just beyond our reach. So there a lot of things that can hold us back in both our humanship and horsemanship. Most of these are in our mind—like a stake in the ground that keeps an elephant from running off from a circus. They could easily tug it free, but they’ve been conditioned since birth to believe that can’t yank that thing out of the ground. So we will be talking about how to not be that elephant, and how we can let go and let our horses grow with us. Key Takeaways So how do you ride every stride if you let go of the reins? Well, I like to look at the reins as a last resort steering wheel. There I so much other communication to learn between you and your horse, your body, voice, and weight. And 9 times out of 10 if you do let go, your horse isn’t going to bolt. Thinking your horse is a ticking time bomb is detrimental to your growth and the horse’s too. More often than not, what we are holding our horses back from doing is just based on our own fears. Getting over that fear can come in steps, but one of the key tickets to letting go is visualizing what you want to happen. Like a batter see’s hitting a ball, let your imagination go first and let your body follow through.   Something I like to say about both us and our horses is that we need to be willfully guided. But to be guided, we have to be moving first. After all, how are you going to ride every stride if you’re not riding! Just take a step, even if it’s in the wrong direction. You have to be moving in order to guide the horse and be guided by what the horse makes you feel. 

This episode wrangles with a topic brought up on Facebook by a great friend of mine, Steve Stevens up in North Texas. Now Steve asked over Facebook if his followers thought that organization played a role in their horsemanship. The way they hang up bridles and saddles and lead ropes, could that at all impact their horsemanship. A lot of people said no. They drag their ropes, leave stuff on the ground till the next day, and so on and so forth. But professionals chimed in and said that this kind of organization was a key component of their horsemanship. I agree with this. Organization can definitely play a role in how you approach your horsemanship, and this episode dives right into why that is.   Key Takeaways So what’s the connection between how you hang your tack and your horsemanship? For one, I use organization as a teaching tool. When I know exactly where everything is in my barn, I can say ‘Hey Laura, go grab me a Snapple bit – the second one on the left.” Now Laura may not know what a snapple bit is, but because my organization is tight I can still lead her right to that bit and she can start learning more about it. One of the main benefits of organizing tack is the overflow into our thoughts—when we organize our gear we are also organizing what we’re thinking about. I believe everyone should have a plan for their horse each day, but not be attached to that plan. Horses can change what you need to do in a heartbeat, as well as what you need. Organizing your gear can help you preemptively plan for diversions in your day and help keep an even flow when plans change on the fly. Of course, if you are still having a blast with your tack looking like a tornado organized it—don’t feel like you have to change just because I told you to! Everyone’s path through horsemanship is different. As long as your organization method keeps you motivated to ride and lets you spend more time with your horse, I’m all on board. We also want to give a big thanks to Equi-racks who’ve been helping us out with the podcast and we’ve been using all their products on our new facilities on the ranch. ****Also, if you’re a fan of the show please take time to head over and leave us an Itunes Review to give Laura and myself a glimpse of how we’ve helped you or what we could do better to help you ride every stride.

As you all know, we love getting listener questions. By far the most common questions we get revolve around confidence, anxiety, and a slew of other mental barriers that get in the way of our horsemanship. Everyone experiences these kinds of roadblocks, even me. At every clinic I’m at I tell folks the only difference between them and me is that I’ve had more practice, I’ve just screwed up more than them. And that’s it. Everyone at times feels like they aren’t normal—like they aren’t failing by doing X or Y. But the truth is that’s completely natural, we are all trying to figure this out together, although a lot of people don’t want to talk about it. But that’s the focus of this episode—the three roadblocks between you and your horsemanship and humanship. Key Takeaways Our Past: often times we let what’s happened to us completely dictate what we do in the here and now. People get sucked into dwelling on their past, and it puts a damper on the present. But you shouldn’t do that—you should reflect on the past to learn, not to mope. Especially with our horses. Plenty of people have told me, “Ah well my old horse did this” or “So-and-so’s horse did this to me.” But that was a different horse. Don’t let your baggage from the past interfere with a new horse, it’s a different animal! Judgement from Others: we have to learn to know when to take advice and when to reject it. We shouldn’t do something, buy this saddle or this horse just because we are afraid of what people will think of us if we don’t. For example, a horse very near and dear to my heart passed away tragically one day. I considered that horse one of my best friends—and immediately people told me what I should do about it. Oh, bury him in a pretty place—or move on Van, just go get another horse and get back on that saddle. No one understands my experience with that horse, I couldn’t let their judgement of my grieving process get in the way of what I needed to experience. Don’t let other’s judgement become a wall you are afraid to pass. Restricting our Beliefs: what I mean by this is that you shouldn’t be afraid to believe in yourself. To believe in your dreams, goals, and success. If you limit yourself to what others tell you you can and can’t accomplish or focus too much on the obstacles, you will draw those negative things to you. But if you believe in the unlimited you’ll find that every stride of the journey comes with its own success and beauty, and the more you appreciate those moments in the here and now, the more that dream of yours will peer over the horizon at you. If you’re a fan of the show please take time to head over and leave us an Itunes Review to give Laura and myself a glimpse of how we’ve helped you or what we could do better to help you ride every stride.

If you’ve been around a while you know I love it when we get listener questions in. Recently, I got a few of the same question back to back—which I how I know it’s time to talk about it on the show. The question that’s been coming in is “Do you use snaps on reins?” What they mean is the small metal snap loops to attach the reins to a bit. The short answer to their question is this: no. The main reason for this is that I’m not a fan of metal on metal contact on anything having to do with equipment on horses. The reason for this is that it is distracting, the snap sliding over the bit is a harsh point of contact. I get why some people use snaps—it makes it easier to swap out reins. But the barrier of metal on metal is something that I find gets in the way of communicating what you want to the horse. Key Takeaways So what are some alternatives? Many people use nylon reins. These can come in all sorts of colors to match the rest of your equipment, and can be looped right on the bit. The thing about nylon is that it doesn’t have any give at all to it. There isn’t any elasticity there. Leather is by far my preferred rein type. The water loop on the reins attaches directly to the bit, and it has just a little bit of stretch to it. I find that it makes for a slower, smoother way of communicating my thoughts through the reins to the horse. It just feels right to me, a little more natural and stylish in my opinion as well. It’s of my mind that you want to keep safety and comfort for the horse at the forefront of your thoughts when thinking about materials you’re using to ride. For example, I see some people using nylon off billets to cinch their rigging. But as we said before, nylon has no give. If you don’t use any type of material that has give in it on your cinches, then you can make it harder for your horse’s lungs to expand and breathe. That’s the opposite of what we want to do. If you’re interested in more ideas and alternatives go stop by a local riding competition. Take a peek at other people’s tack, specifically riders and competitors that are highly successful. They do things a certain way and use certain materials for a reason. I want to give a very heartfelt shout out to SnodGrass Equipment—I had my arena drag stolen a while back and not being able to keep my arenas even and fluffy was driving me crazy. I emailed Randy Snodgrass, telling him how bummed out I was, and Randy took care of me—he just sent me another one. Talk about commitment to your customers there. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate Randy’s kindness and the quality of SnodGrass Equipment’s wares.   We also want to give a big thanks to Equi-racks who’ve been helping us out with the podcast and we’ve been using all their products on our new facilities on the ranch. Also, if you’re a fan of the show please take time to head over and leave us an Itunes Review to give Laura and myself a glimpse of how we’ve helped you or what we could do better to help you ride every stride.

It’s easy to get wrapped up in negative thinking, even if it doesn’t seem like that big a deal. We might complain about the weather, it being too hot or too cold. We might say, “Well my mare is in heat right now and you know how that goes.” We find it so easy to fall into negative thinking, and I think a lot of it has to do with the media we take in. There’s always bad news in the paper and people arguing online, over the radio, and on T.V. Being positive is a practice, one where you take a negative and see the bright side of it. When we do that we’re able to visualize a better road forward for ourselves and our horses. Key Takeaways Positivity is ultimately a conscious choice we have to make. It may come easier to some than others, but all of us have to work at it in order to find the positive in every situation. Not just in life, but directly with our horses as well. When our horses do something we don’t want, like buck or turn the wrong way or won’t load on the trailer—it’s easy to get wrapped up in the negative side of the situation. But if you take a moment and step back, you can see that both you and the horse are learning. Learning what triggers the horse to buck, and the horse is on its way to learning that bucking is a waste of energy—it will be easier in the long run for them not to. Another key is that our thoughts control our actions. I like to do an exercise at my clinics where I give all the riders a task, and then bring in a large cone to the arena without saying anything. Riders will start gravitating towards it without knowing why. Even after I tell them to leave the cone alone riders will still drift to it—it’s occupying so much of their mind that their body is telling the horse to wander that way. Use your thoughts to focus on the positive, and your body and actions will follow.   Committing to better thoughts can be difficult. We can’t forget about all the bad things that have happened to us, but we can choose to acknowledge that we’ve grown from them and move forward. We can choose to learn how to cope and be happy. And if you can’t find a way to think positive all the time, learn to not think negatively. Let other things occupy your mind and learn to accept that things are perfect for now—that everything in this particular stride is okay, and just a step on a journey to something better.   Also, if you’re a fan of the show please take time to head over and leave us an Itunes Review to give Laura and myself a glimpse of how we’ve helped you or what we could do better to help you ride every stride.

The coming episodes are going to be tackling a trend I’ve seen lately from our listener questions and the clinics I’ve been hosting–and it has to do with the mental side of horsemanship. Often times our brain gets in the way of our ride more than the horse does. And one of the key parts of our brain to exercise is our imagination. When Laura first came to me she told me that she rode horses as a kid but fell out of it later on in life. She told me she was dreaming of riding horses, and that dream was incredibly important. We’re going to talk about those dreams and the imagination to make them happen. Key Takeaways We’ve all been caught in daydreams before—imagining riding down a beach, through pasture, or by a herd of mooing cows. Often times this can be seen as unproductive or a waste of time. We’re adults, right? We live in reality. But the only way to change that reality, move forward and grow, is to dream and then take action on those dreams. As kids our imagination can get us in trouble. We might climb a tree and jump on a cow’s back just to see what happens. But there’s nothing wrong with that in a certain sense—visualizing new things, trying them out, and even when failing—learning how to grow and move forward. I think we all still need to dream like kids dream—big and bold. We can let our experience as adults help out with the logistics of that dream, but you have to imagine it first. My grandma used to say “Yard by yard life is hard, but inch by inch it’s a cinch.” Take small steps to your dreams, because often times we have to overcome obstacles to get there. It takes a lot of time and effort, but taking it one step at a time makes the journey much easier and enjoyable. Worrying about how you’ll get to your dream is creating obstacles that don’t exist yet. Worry about the why, then just take a step. The how is going to change all the time. Let us know what your dream is over on our Facebook page—and just as important, what you’re gonna do to take a step towards it Remember—dream big and dream like a kid.   *Also, if you’re a fan of the show please take time to head over and leave us an Itunes Review to give Laura and myself a glimpse of how we’ve helped you or what we could do better to help you ride every stride.

As you should know, we love getting listener questions and feedback on the show. This episode is centered around one of those questions, and it has to do with the “It” factor—meaning greatness. Can greatness in our horses be taught, or do they have to be born with it? I find this to be a fascinating question that clearly straddles the overlap between horsemanship and humanship. Key Takeaways First, let’s get my definition of a great horse that has the “It” factor. There are many aspects to what makes a great horse, I don’t think it’s just one thing. Athleticism is important, because the things we tend to ask of our horses require them to be strong and swift. Eye appeal is important too, a horse that easily displays that strength and athleticism and stirs that thing inside you called beauty. The biggest part of greatness in my opinion is trainability. If you can’t train your horse, they won’t do a single thing with that greatness. You can’t teach this quality to your horse—all you can do is take what is already there and maximize their potential for success. So, how do we identify greatness? In short, it’s up to you to see it in a horse. I was once told that a horse across the way was an outlaw, had hurt multiple people, and was just overall nasty. In spending time with that horse, and eventually working with him, I found that the horse just didn’t have any confidence. He’d been reprimanded so much for the tiniest mistakes that I could feel it while working him. In building up his confidence, that greatness he already had begun to show. Do more than trust your first instinct when looking for greatness. A beautiful, strong horse may not have all the brains there it needs to use that strength. A horse that doesn’t catch your eye as much may be the most adaptable, trainable horse on the planet. Take time to get to know these animals and see how you can polish their natural abilities to make them great in their own way.

This week we are talking about setting your horse up for success, but really offering them a decision to make and being prepared for the result—be it what we wanted or not. I’m talking about the Controlled Wreck. This is a training tool that works a bit like a pop quiz for your horse, and often times the rider and trainer too. The Controlled Wreck highlights what to do when you get a “wrong answer” from your horse and how to correct them. Key Takeaways An example of a Controlled Wreck would be to walk your horse around in a circle over and over again, stopping each time at the same spot. Then, on the next circle, keep walking past that spot and see how the horse reacts. Do they try and stop again out of anticipation, or do they keep moving? You have to be extra prepared when seated on the horse as well. In case anything goes wrong you need to know how to regain control or take away their ability to buck. And along these lines, we need to know not have to telegraph what we are trying to test our horse. You need to be thinking “go right” without your body following through. The preparation comes in when something does go wrong. You have to be able to guide the situation from being negative, to positive. Things can escalate quickly. People often lost it when their horse goes from walking to bucking, but they don’t when they go from a walk to a trot—even though that is still showing you’re not in control. Make sure you correct the smallest behaviors before things get out of your control.   Like always, make sure you know what you’re asking of your horse. Giving a pop quiz without knowing the answer is a recipe for disaster. And when your horse passes the Controlled Wreck remember—where we release is what we teach.   Links GreatOakEquine.com

Horses and humans have a lot in common. For instance, aging. Just like we get old, slow down, have back pain, dietary problems, and need to adjust to keep our minds and bodies active—horses do too. They have a specific set of needs and issues that may arise as they enter old age, and we’ll be covering exactly when, why, and what to do when our horses start getting up in years. They become members of our families and require all the attention and care we would give ourselves. Key Takeaways Age can be a relative term. A horse might be called “old” even if they are 5-6 but are competing in high-intensity competitions. But as some veterinarians have told me you can start thinking about a horse as “older” around the age of 12. This is when stresses can add up and start to lead to issues like arthritis or other dietary and joint issue. Activity plays a huge key in a horse’s older years. Especially if they have been high performing and very active their whole lives. Retiring them full stop into a pasture full of grass is a surefire way to have their mental and physical health decline. In a sense, horses either use it or lose it. Still, we have to be cautious and attentive as we ride our older horses. Pay attention to their soreness. Does it last for days after a ride? They may need a supplement or an easier riding regiment to help their joints and muscles recover. It is still perfectly fine to ride your older horses though. The activity helps keep their minds busy as well, you don’t want them to just see the farm and pasture every day for the rest of their lives.   I’d like to give a shout out to my horse Scooter—who I lovingly say I bought on sight, even though it was with a bit of regret and apprehension at the time. He has been integral through my journey in horsemanship and even Laura’s, definitely a horse that only comes around once in a lifetime. He’s made it on up in years but is still riding every stride like it’s his first.

Welcome back to Ride Every Stride—Laura and I know that it has been a while since we stepped behind the microphone, but we’re glad to be back and at it. We’re coming back on this episode to talk about something that straddles the line between horsemanship and humanship. Are you a leader or an authority figure? What’s the difference? Well, for starters, we’ve all had a boss or two that seems to be more of a dictator than a leader. Sure, they give instructions and force you to carry them out—but the difference between a leader and this bad boss is in the why of why you, or your horse, are carrying out these orders. Key Takeaways I see some people raising their children in a way that they are more of their friend than a parent. The parent worries about being “liked” by their kids more than anything else. Well, when it comes time to put their foot down there is often resistance. The same goes for our horses. In being a leader we can’t just be a friend, we have to set our horses up for success and help them make the right decisions in our relationships with them. Now the other extreme is the dictator approach. This is when we don’t care if the horse understands why it needs to perform an action. We just care about the result. But when we take this dictator approach the horse still performs differently—mainly out of fear or anxiety. And we don’t want that at all. What we want to do is keep our promises to our horses. Let them know that if they do X, you’re going to ask them to do Y again. And setting them up so that doing Y is the easy thing helps them learn this. Being consistent and keeping that promise to the horse helps them feel secure—and when they feel secure, there isn’t any room left for them to be anxious. Again, all of this requires us to make the active choice to be a leader. Or at least to make the choice to learn how to be a better leader. And as time goes on, our communication with the horse can become more subtle and understood.   Consistency and persistence is much more effective than dominance. That’s the key take away. And the results of that are commitment, trustworthiness, security, and confidence. The main ingredients for a leader on any stage, saddle, or workplace.

There comes a point in everyone’s life where they hit setbacks. Obstacles enter our path and sometimes they are easy to get around, and sometimes that can bring our lives to a halt. Likewise, some people seem to deal with obstacles better than others—somehow staying positive no matter the trauma or odds that stand against them. I was moved recently by a video I watched of Mandy Harvey – a contestant on America’s Got Talent. She lost all of her hearing when she was 18 years old. But being deaf wasn’t enough to stop her from reaching for her dreams. And in the video she sings beautifully, using her feet to sense vibrations through the stage to keep the beat.  So this brings me to the point of this episode, which is to try. Before you can do anything, even if it seems impossible, you first have to try, and try hard. Key Takeaways You can expect to succeed right off the bat. That’s why, especially in the face of great difficulty, you have to reward yourself for trying. You have to habitually put in effort to keep trying, to keep opening up in order to see any improvement. Just don’t settle for it. Your performance can be perfect for now, but don’t take your eyes off the horizon.   9 times out of 10 the biggest obstacle to our own success rests right between our ears—it’s ourselves. So I encourage everyone to take a good, long look at your goals. At the dreams that seem impossible, and then muster up the guts to go for them with everything you have. 

97% of people involved with horses as of today are involved with them as a hobby. That means only 3% make their sole living off horsemanship. It’s something I wanted to touch on as I get asked all the time about recommendations for good trainers, or how to become a trainer. It often takes a lot longer to become a trainer than most aspiring professionals think—it’s not something you just go to school for, pass a test, and then start making a professional living. However, if you’ve ever accepted money for interacting with horses, or giving advice, then you are technically a professional. We’ll be keeping that in mind as we discuss the effort, time, and skill that goes into being a reputable horse professional.   Key Takeaways  Setting boundaries is very important when it comes to practicing your horsemanship professionally. It’s real easy to take a call on a Sunday afternoon when you’re with your family and get whisked away to someone’s aid. But professionals, in any field, set working hours for themselves. Don’t be afraid to stick to those hours—and respect the time and availability of those you work with. Personal time is important. I got to a point years ago where I realized I was simply providing for my family—I wasn’t actually present with them and enjoying any time with them. I was so set on pleasing my clients and convinced I had to make that priority number one, and that wasn’t the lesson I wanted to teach my kids. Make sure you respect your own needs and family, especially as an up and coming professional. When interviewing a potential trainer, make sure you know exactly how much experience they have. Email them and see how long it takes them to respond and if they can communicate to you clearly. If they can’t tell you what they’ll be doing with your horse, they may not be a good trainer for you. Also, check out their facility. Are you okay with what conditions your horse will be housed in? Do the work before hand so you don’t become cross with your trainer during the process for something you didn’t look into. So, when can you start calling yourself a professional trainer? Remember, if you take money for your services with a horse, then you are technically a professional. Well, I was always too afraid to put that label on myself of being a trainer. I thought it would be disrespecting other trainers I looked up to if I claimed that I was on their level. It wasn’t until those people started calling a trainer that I began to see myself as a true professional. Because if those I respected saw me in that light, I could step into that role more easily, and it pushed me to train harder and learn more.  

Getting your horse back from a trainer, or bringing a new horse home for the first time is an incredibly important transition. If you listened to episode 064 you heard Laura and myself talk about bonding with your horse. This episode touches on very practical applications of that bonding. There are ways to set your horse up for success by being attentive during the training and afterwards as well.   Key Takeaways The best way to set your horse up for homecoming success is to spend as much time as possible with the horse in the previous environment. Go see what the trainer is doing, know exactly how your horse is being handled. Being in the environment so the horse is comfortable with your presence will help when they’re introduced to their new home.   Now, don’t go and absolutely copy what the trainer or previous owner did. If you are getting your horse home from me, go and do Van-like things as you transition into doing more you-like things. One of the mistakes I see people make all the time in this process is being honest with themselves. Yeah, you may’ve hurt your back the week before and decided to send your horse away to a trainer – but the reality is you’re sending them off to someone who can train them better than you. Someone who knows how to do it a little bit better. We have to own up to what we don’t know so that we can ask and learn. Being a know-it-all gets you and your horse nowhere. Be respectful of your trainers and where your horse is coming back from. Trainers are not babysitters watching your horse while you go off and do your “real” job. They are professionals who have spent years of their lives studying and working with these animals.   Horses don’t understand time. I can’t pull a magic number out of the air and tell you how long it will take for your horse to acclimate to their new environment. The point here is to be consistent with your interactions and training, and work on building confidence and trust with your horse. 

I’ve been having some conversations lately around the nature of “bonding” with horses. I hear it all the time, “I can’t wait to get back home and bond with my horse.” Well, what exactly does that mean? When asked, most people say that they mean hanging out with their horse in the pasture. Doing some work, occasionally petting them, and just generally being close in proximity to them. While that’s all well and good, I’m not convinced that’s all there is to bonding with a horse. See, a bond requires a relationship. Relationships require more than just “hanging out” around one another, like a lazy couple sitting in their living room with the TV on, not actually interacting with one another. So the two cornerstones of the human – horse bond I’m talking about on this episode are trust and respect. No relationship I’ve ever seen is worth its salt without those two key components.   Key Takeaways In the horse human relationship there needs to be a leader. If the horse is the leader and starts treating you as a fellow horse, it could be extremely dangerous. This why being the leader is so important. Boundaries need to be set in the bond you have with your horse, and setting them is up to you. Horses don’t tend to have the personal relationships we like to project on them. In the wild, once they’ve weened off their foal, there isn’t much of a bond left. They are just a part of the herd, which has its own kind of relationship and hierarchy that’s much different than any human relationships. It’s mainly there to give an increased chance of survival for the individual – I doubt many of you look at your friends with that mentality.   So, how do we develop that trust and security with our horse that shows we are really bonding? Purpose. Setting an intentional purpose for your horse secures that bond and establishes you as their leader. If you are just going to hang out and pet and feed your horse for the day, be intentional about it. If you’re going out for a ride, be intentional. Set up the boundaries.

There is a student of mine who has been taking lessons from me for years, and before that, her grandparents plopped her down in a saddle at the age of six. She can ride well. She doesn’t bob around in the saddle and flail her arms. She has good posture as well. But something I noticed time and time again is that after riding a horse a few times, the horse starts resisting her commands. She may want to move up to a trot but the horse wants to grind down to a walk. What I realized through observing her is that she needed to work on her seat—meaning to work with the horse rather than have the horse do all the work. Working on your seat means working on being a leader. Key Takeaways The student I just mentioned suffered from a condition I call Dead Butt. This means that you aren’t setting the rhythm for your horse, you are literally just riding along, letting the horse do all the work for you. You need to lead your horse, not just sit dead up on them. Laura’s husband is a musical genius—you can bet that whatever song he is listening to he has all the details playing out in his head. So imagine this—you’re dancing and you have a dance partner. Internally you are hearing music, feeling the rhythm, then turning that feeling into motion—not only for yourself, but for your partner. When you do this well the dancing is great, if you can’t translate that rhythm though things turn south. This same principle applies to riding. The rhythms we establish with our horses are fairly simple. Walk, trot, and canter are all 2 beat, 3 beat, and 4 beat gait. As a rider, you need to establish that rhythm, know what you’re expecting from your horse and use your body accordingly.   It’s okay if you want to ride along casually and be a passenger. But if you want to be a better “dance partner” for your horse, you have to keep pushing the bar. Learn how to communicate more subtly through your body language and commands.

I always used to think that lunging was a great idea for the right reasons, but I have to admit, my attitude towards lunging has changed. It always seemed like a good warmup for the horse—or even a warm up for the rider’s courage before they hop in the saddle. However, over the years I see that lunging can be a great way to set the tone for the day. A pilot check, if you will, of what the horse’s attitude is and what’s in store. Key Takeaways When I lung a horse now I come at it from the perspective of a trainer. Not just in that I’m training a horse, but training an athlete. If you were an athletic trainer working with people, what kind of things would you keep an eye out for? You’d watch for their form, how much strain they’re enduring, where that strain is located, what muscles are being worked, and how the athlete feels about their performance. This is exactly what I keep an eye out for when lunging horses now. In lunging in a different direction and watching the horse’s performance, I might see that they aren’t cantering so well on either their right or left side. This helps me decide what we will focus on when riding. I may not even saddle the horse after lunging if I see something is causing them pain or discomfort. There are some common mistakes I see in lunging. The first is when the person on the ground is moving a lot, sometimes more than the horse. This sets the tone in the horse’s mind of, “Wow, I must be the leader today because this trainer is following me all over the place.” In horse hierarchy, the leaders are the most efficient, the followers do all the extra work. Another mistake I see is people lunging a horse on too long of a line. But there are some simple physics involved here: you can’t control a horse as well from 10 or 20 feet away as you can from 3 feet away. So I may start, when warming up, at only an arm’s length of rope. Then I may add slack as long as I still feel comfortable and in control of the horse. I don’t want people to be afraid of lunging, but if you’re going to do it, I want you to do it correctly. There is a right way and a wrong way to do it. Don’t let the horse learn that you can be bossed around when applying pressure to their nose. They shouldn’t be allowed to put more pressure on that halter and lead rope than they would a bit. They should be willing to stay soft on the nose and do nice circles around us.   Also, matching your commands with your rhythm will help teach your horse how to match with your own rhythm. You don’t want to have to pull on a horse to get them to stop—having them be in sync with you and follow your own pace and lead is the way to go.

I had the privilege of spending a week with Mr. Dorrance, watching and learning how he practiced horsemanship.  One night at dinner I said, “You know what? You’re worse than my grandad.” See, I couldn’t remember a single time growing up where my grandad gave me a straight answer to a question. He’d either ask another question or make a statement that I didn’t even think was related. Well, Mr. Dorrance told me if you went and asked ten different trainers how they did something you’d certainly get at least ten different answers. He told me if I asked him the same question ten days in a row I might get a different one each day. His point was this—the way you do something and how you do something might be infinite. Key Takeaways It’s the number one question I get asked. “Van, how do you this?” So, I think real hard about what they really want to know. But I have to say, again like Mr. Dorance, the answer might be different or change. If there was just one cure-all for a problem people would have a little notebook to mark off the boxes one by one until their issue was resolved. But life doesn’t work that way most of the time, especially when horses are involved. Focus on the why. When you truly focus on the why, the hows tend just fall in place like magic. So take time compare these with your own goals, the how vs. the why. Because guess what? Often times the how depends on the specifics of the why, just think about trying to correct a horse’s behavior without knowing why they are behaving that way. It doesn’t work. Remember that the horse is always right. The horse is either doing what comes naturally, or what they think you want them to be doing. And if you can get the answer you want from them with different hows, all the better. Variety helps keep your horse from being “bored” and certainly yourself as a trainer.   A big secret is that there is no patented Van Hargis method. Don’t go around saying, “Well I did this the Van Hargis way.” There is no one way I do anything. There have been plenty of times where I saw a trainer do something and I swore up and down that I’d never be caught doing that—only to one day find myself doing it. Because my “way” is whatever works for the horse.

We’re back with episode 60 of Ride Every Stride, our first show back in 2018. We want to thank all you listeners who’ve been nudging Laura and I about getting back to recording. After sorting through some technical issues and inclement weather, we’re both happy to be behind the microphone again and continue with the show. For this episode we’ll be going over a topic that applies equally to you and your horse: success as a habit. Key Takeaways Most of the folks today in the horse industry, the vast majority of them are women. And I hear a similar story played out over and over again that goes something like this: Well, I loved riding horses when I was little, but then life got in the way. I went to school, found a job, but I always vowed I would get back into riding again. However, coming back into the scene has been much harder than I thought. They don’t remember it being as difficult as it is today. They want to build back confidence in their riding. And how the heck do you do that? Through forming good habits. First off, you start small. You go back to the start with just interacting the horse. Feeding them or even just brushing them. Do it the absolute best you can, no matter how small the task may seem, then pat yourself on the back when you’re done. These small successes will add up overtime and fuel you to want to do more and push further. Remember, that if you put all your effort in and do the best that you can, regardless of the outcome, that effort needs to be rewarded. Your performance may not be perfect, but it can be perfect for now. Evaluating where you are in your horsemanship is critical as well. You have to know where your confidence starts and begins in order to start taking smaller steps forward. And you want to strive for great things—it’s okay if you take too big of a step at first and have to come back the next day and take a smaller one, so long as you aren’t permanently damaging your confidence from getting hurt. As you rack up the small successes and build your confidence, the horse’s confidence will grow in you as well. I recently worked with a client who was having issues loading their horse into a trailer. Over the days that I worked with that horse, I only approached the trailer with the animal two or three times. I worked on everything else first. Getting more comfortable haltering them, leading them, working on our communications. After building up confidence in all those smaller steps the horse got right in the trailer. Adversity itself doesn’t breed confidence, overcoming it does. We all face adversity, but if you don’t take the steps to properly overcome it, you confidence isn’t going anywhere. Break your problems down into the smallest steps you can, and start taking them, one by one.  

We travel around a lot to different expos and shows, and what I love most about traveling around is hearing stories from everyone I meet. Sometimes their stories are touching, sometimes they leave me laughing, and sometimes they leave me scratching my head. One kind of story I hear a lot starts with, “Well all of a sudden, and for no reason…” and at that point my red flags are all shot up into the wind. There’s always a reason. So we’re diving into how our horses communicate with us and how we can better listen so it doesn’t seem like they’re acting out of nowhere. Key Takeaways Horses are incredibly honest, truly. They let us know when something is bothering them in most cases well in advance of acting “all of a sudden”. If we learn to pay attention to what they are telling us then we can address their issues before you end up hanging on for dear life as you’re drug across a pasture. Now don’t get me wrong. Things do happen all of a sudden, like a tree branch cracking and falling out of nowhere. Deer can be hidden in tall grass and bound away as you creep up on them. But it is in a horse’s nature to stay keenly aware. If you pay attention, you can feel a horse’s stride change just a little bit if they sense that something is off in their environment. Maybe they speed up, slow down, or tense up. When this happens just be alert, don’t cause the horse anymore stress. Keep a look out. Be aware of where you’re riding. Know what the possible scenarios that could lead your horse to be spooked or run off. For instance, if you’re driving through a neighborhood and see a “Kids at Play” sign, and then see children playing with a ball up ahead – you shouldn’t be surprised if that ball rolls out in front of your car as you drive by. You don’t have to stress about what could happen as you ride, but staying aware and knowing the risks can help you prevent scenarios where your horse bolts out of the blue. We also have to be aware of what we’re doing. It’s easy to blame an all of a sudden moment on the animals, but the fault can easily rest with us humans as well. Make sure you take the time to really analyze these moments if they occur and see if you did anything to prevent your horse from being set up for success.   Have an “All of a sudden, for no reason…” story? Feel free to share! You can email Van at info@vanhargis.com and throw some more stories his way.

Well, we’ve been roughing it through a South Texas winter – which is to say we practically have our bathing suits on in the near 90 degree weather. This week was Thanksgiving here in the states, and I hope you all got to spend some quality time with your families and horses, too. This week we’re going to talk about a question I’ve gotten a lot as of late, which is how dental care and hoof maintenance pertain to training. Key Takeaways Proper hoof care is incredibly important. For example, have you ever walked around in a pair of shoes that “almost” fit, and then walked around in a pair that actually fit? The difference is huge. Horses don’t have the means to communicate to us that their shoes don’t fit, so to speak. You want to work with an experienced farrier that understands how a horse hoof works, not do a trial and error run with someone who just throws a bunch of trimming tools in the back of their truck. Think of it this way – I was a running back in college. At one point, I stubbed one of my toes incredibly hard. I wasn’t able to accelerate to my fullest ability or even jog in a straight line properly. My balance was off and there was a good deal of pain associated with trying to play. And that was just one toe! So, how can you tell someone is learned in the ways of hoof trimming? Checking to see if a Farrier has attended a school approved by the American Farrier’s Association is a good start. Being a member of the AFA also shows that the Farrier likely is continuing their education and training outside of the approved courses. Ask if they go to conferences and how they keep up their knowledge and practice it. Pricing for a trim can vary from region to region. For South Texas – if some offered to trim for $25 a head I would be a bit worried – that’s underpriced for these parts. $50 a horse is more about what a properly trained Farrier will charge. So how do teeth play into a horse’s performance? Well, the easier it is for a horse to eat the more nutrients they will get out of their food, making them more efficient. The health of their teeth directly ties into their physical performance as well. Once I’ve weened a baby from its mother I know I have about 2 years until they start shedding their caps – losing their baby teeth for their adult teeth to grow in. If the caps don’t shed properly a horse can get a “wave”. See, horse’s teeth never stop growing. They grind them down as they eat. So, if one adult tooth is protected by a cap for too long it won’t get worn down evenly with the rest. This can result in a wave of unevenness.   Think about where bits sit in the horse’s mouth – right in the corners of the mouth. If they move their jaw wrong or we are too rough sore spots can develop on the inner tissue of the mouth. This can result in the horse not responding or being incredibly anxious with the bit because they associate it with that pain.

I’m in high cotton this week, but the subject we’re bringing up gets me pretty upset. Last week we talked about Hurricane Harvey and evacuating. This week we are going to talk about people who pander to your heartstrings with their “displaced horses” to try and make money. These, quite frankly, scumbags will go to a horse sale and buy horses for cheap – then turn around and post pictures of them on Facebook saying, “If someone doesn’t buy this poor horse by Tuesday it’s going to the slaughterhouse.” Reputable rescue facilities don’t do this, and I’m here to give you an earful about it. Key Takeaways I’ve had the pleasure to work with wonderful rescue facilities in the past. They aren’t trying to turn a profit off of their horses. The most you’ll pay is an adoption fee and a fair one at that. I’m talking about $150 dollars, and maybe at most $500. Not $1,500 or $2,500 – and just the other day I saw a $3,500 adoption fee. The whole point of a rescue facility is to prevent the horse from being slaughtered, not to threaten you into purchasing the horse. This topic has come back up as people have rescued horses and cattle from the aftermath of Harvey, saying that if you don’t “adopt” the animal they’ll be shipped off to slaughter. This is preying on kindhearted people who buy into the scam to “save” the animal. A legitimate rescue facility should happily give you their 501 C3 non-profit information. If they balk at this or stop responding or delete your post – you’ve likely caught them in the act. There are a few things you can ask a rescue facility to make sure they have good intentions: Ask how long they’ve been in business and where they are located – on top of getting their 501 C3 information. Find out what their procedure and process is for acquiring and placing horses. Many facilities also let people foster their horses, where you can take care of them while the Rescue facility still owns them and is trying to place them. Unfortunately, the only way these horse traders will stop this practice is if it stops working. They may very well go take those horses to slaughter if no one buys them, but the practice will sadly continue the longer and longer it works.   If you have any questions about adopting a horse from a rescue facility don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@vanhargis.com

Welcome back to Ride Every Stride! We’ve been on a bit of a hiatus, if you haven’t noticed, but we’re good to jump back in the saddle now. So why have we been gone? We were way more fortunate than others after hurricane Harvey – we only lost power for ten days. However, getting an internet connection back up and running took a good bit longer. There aren’t any land lines out here and all the towers had been damaged by the winds. Everything is good to go now and you can look forward to more episodes dropping week to week. Now, I’m from tornado country in north Texas – in fact, we had two tornadoes touch down in five years on our property. But after moving to south Texas I heard about the dangers of hurricanes and kind of shrugged off any worry about them. Well, after seeing roofs blown off houses and tin sheets soaring through fields, it’s safe to say I’ve changed my mind about that. Huge swaths of south Texas saw massive flooding and got absolutely hammered – I’ve just never seen devastation like that. Thankfully the damage to our ranch was extremely minimal. We decided not to evacuate as well and watch over all our horses and clients horses as well. I’ve never been in a situation like this before, so I asked around, got some advice, and did the best I could. I moved all the horses away from structures that might be damaged by wind and didn’t trap them in any building. As you may know, I’m a big proponent of letting horses do their own thing. I wanted them to be able to flee if they needed. I gave clients the opportunity to move their horses further inland but most decided to keep their horses under my care – now that things are said and done, I would’ve encouraged them more. Storms like this are just so unpredictable and it’s better to be overly cautious than sorry forever. While we got off lucky, I’ve heard horrific stories of ranches that flooded with cattle and horses swimming through water and getting trapped in the fences we build to try and keep them safe. The whole experience has made me understand the value in being prepared for the worst. For having a plan and knowing the area you keep your horse and what the hazards of the area are.   While I’m saddened by what many lost in the storm, I’m personally grateful for the experience. I’m better prepared now to help out in case of another storm like this comes about. Looking back on what happened makes for good coffee shop conversation, but what we need to do now is look forward, find routine and normalcy, and get back to finding our stride.

This week we’re answering questions from two different listeners. Both still had questions after listening to previous episodes, and Laura and I are here to clear the air. Key Takeaways First question - what to do with a horse that won’t respond to go forward cues. Well, it depends. First off, you want to make sure you are being deliberate with your request. You don’t want to send subtle cues that might make the horse think a fly just landed on their back. You want to get their attention and make a deliberate request. Once the horse yields a bit to that request, you want the horse to feel a change in your demeanor and energy. You are demanding that they respond to your commands, you’re looking at them like you are almost a hungry predator. If that look is enough to have them move then you release that stare and make sure the horse is following through with your command. How do you make them follow through? If your horse stops or doesn’t move to begin with, you want to swing your lead rope to their neck at the spot you were looking at - but not making contact. Then after that first swing you move yourself forward and do it again, but make contact with the spot. Then if no response, I’ll do it a little harder. Same if your horse won’t increase speed. Swing first at their belly and rump, then the second time make contact, and increase pressure from there until they pick up the pace. You have to show the horse you are its leader - you make their feet move, not the other way around. Horses learn from the release of pressure. So again, I will refer to my saying of squeeze, bump, kick and kill. You have to commit to increasing pressure until you get a response. If you don’t the horse will just become desensitized to your requests. But as soon as the horse caves to your pressure, you need to release it to reward them. Then repeat the same steps. Soon the horse will learn it can skip having you bump or kick ‘em and just do what you want at the “squeeze” stage. That’s how you get your horse to be more soft, supple, and responsive. Question two - this is a common one. A listener reached out to me saying she is having problems with horsing jerking and bolting off when being turned out to a pasture or ring. As soon as her or the workers at her border facility start to get the halter and lead rope off, the horses are making a run for it. So what can she do to train her staff to kick this behavior in the horses they’re charged with? First thing is to walk past where you are going to release them, then turn them around and make them face the gate. Don’t let them look at where they want to bolt off to. If the horse starts to get excited you need to slow the process down. Maybe have them run a quick exercise, anything to keep their focus on you. Now, in terms of training the staff. The manager or owner has to take it upon themselves, be a leader, and retrain the staff and borders too. Consistency is the only way to get rid of this problem, and if you have anyone breaking with that consistency the horse will jump at the opportunity to fall back into their old habits. Special Offer! Make sure you go back and listen to Episode 54 and find out what milestone we discussed in order to find out how to get a huge discount on a special item. This offer only runs through the end of July, so get to listening.

This episode is dedicated to that iconic symbol of all cowboys and cowgirls: the boot spur. Mine never come off my work boots. I check them in my luggage when traveling and as soon as I get to where I’m going they go right back on. They are a part of me and my culture. There are some mixed emotions about spurs and so today we will be going over many questions I’ve got about them. Whether you need spurs, don’t need them, and what purpose they serve. Key Takeaways First off, no. You don’t need to have them. At a base level, they are just an extension of your heel. They let me communicate with just a little less effort to whatever horse I’m riding. With the smallest movement, I can give a subtle message to the horse, and I like to be as soft as possible when doing so. Here is my response to those who may think they are cruel and could hurt a horse. The truth is they are only as harsh as the person using them. They aren’t sharpened like knives. Now, for the inexperienced user or someone not in control of your emotions, you bet they can be brutal. Even what you think would be a mild bit can be abusive if used incorrectly or with too much force. The bit and spur don’t have any intelligence. They don’t think whatsoever. That said, for new riders spurs aren’t necessarily a great idea. As you learn to balance correctly you often use your feet and hands to stabilize, putting a lot of pressure on the horse. This is why you want to give new riders the most mild bit you can. Same goes for spurs. You need to have proper body awareness before strapping something on that could hurt the horse. For me, spurs also stand for a bit of mastery over my own horsemanship. It helps me to know that I don’t “need” them, since as I’ve progressed I use less and less of my hands and feet. I’ve learned to give my horse signals in other ways and with more of my posture. Again, where you release is what you teach. If you’re always kicking and pounding with the spur, then the horse is less likely to listen to you when you apply a gentle pressure. They’ll tune everything else out until that amount of force is applied. Spur selection. You need to think about the size of your leg length and the horse’s barrel. Say you’re riding English on a large horse and your legs aren’t that long. Your spurs are going to rest right on the widest part of that horse. It doesn’t make sense for your to have long shanks then since there will be a lot of pressure on that horse’s midsection. For Western riding on shorter horses often a longer shank can be useful. Essentially, you should only use spurs if you don’t really need to use them. You have to be keenly aware with how you are using your spurs and the subtleties of what things you can communicate through them. They are tools of refinement, not aggression. Make sure you listen to the episode for a special promotion I'm offering this month!

Welcome back to Ride Every Stride – we’re in the thick of summer now and I thought it’d be good to have an episode about something you all have probably heard. “Oh, that horse just needs some wet saddle blankets. That’ll do them some good.” I get where this comes from, the idea of getting a horse busy to have them fall in line with the behaviors you want. But you can’t just give a horse busy work and expect them to grow. That’s the equivalent of throwing a monkey on a border collie – just putting a rider on and running your horse aimlessly won’t teach them anything. So, wet saddle blankets alone don’t get you a whole lot of anything. It’s the purpose and intentions behind the work that matter. Key Takeaways When you work with your horse you want to make that time valuable. Productive time means you’re doing something positive for you and your horse’s relationship and education. Remember, practice doesn’t make perfect – practice just makes permanent. So keep this in mind: are you training your horse to be average, or above average? If you’re going to get wet saddle blankets either way, why not aim as high as you can? Beginner riders can benefit from having a professional show them how to communicate effectively with a horse. If you observe horses from afar you can pick up on the subtleties of the way the convey messages to one another. Certain tail swishes and ear movements can mean different things. But while your horse may not understand every word we speak to them, don’t let that stop you from talking to them. When you talk out loud you have to organize your thoughts. You can then use that organization to turn your thoughts into effective actions. Sometimes it can be good to let y our horse relax too. I’ll do what I call “mindless riding” where I ride out and give the horse a pretty easy job, one they already excel at. This practice doesn’t place a whole lot of psychological stress on them, which teaches them how to perform a job while relaxed. You are a trainer, make sure you understand that. Every time you interact with a horse you are training them, so you better do it with a purpose. Just loping circles is a surefire way to get your horse bored and dull your relationship. Laura knows that being busy is a badge of honor in society now, but if you aren’t doing your work with a purpose in mind you won’t get far. Picture what a perfect day with your horse looks like, and then see what you can do today to get there. Every time you get in the saddle you should have a gameplan, but remember your horse may not have read it, just like life. Think about how you are going to handle your obstacles while staying positive and working towards your perfect day.

I’m often approached by those who consider me a saddle expert. And yes, I have designed saddles with manufacturers that I’m extremely proud of. However, I’d hesitate to call myself a saddle expert. I spend my energy thinking about the horse and what they need far more than I think about what adjustments I need made to any given saddle. I like to keep things simple. My saddle should be basically neutral, not causing myself or the horse any problems. You may’ve gotten advice from a saddle expert, talking about saddle fit and custom saddles, but before you run off and get something tailor made I’d ask yourself this: where are this expert’s intentions coming from? We’re giving you the rundown on my take on saddles this week, so let’s head off. Key Takeaways It can be intimidating when you go into a tack store and see racks and racks of saddles. You’re not alone if you find yourself not knowing where to start. So, let’s make your saddle buying decision a bit more simple. First, let’s see if your current saddle is the cause for your horse’s riding issues. 90% the saddle has nothing to do with your horse’s behavior. I’ve made every stupid mistake you can think of with a horse and saddle, and every time both have come out completely fine and unharmed. Keep in mind that different breeds have different builds. A huge mistake I see all the time is this: someone’s selling a saddle online. They put down a tape measure in front of the gullet to show how wide it is. This is completely wrong. Because after the saddle is manufactured, you can only gauge that width by the saddle tree itself, because the tree is the foundation. It has to be a bare naked tree to understand the true width. What are some scenarios in which you might consider getting a custom saddle made? Well, if your horse has some sort of deficiency - say one shoulder is atrophied and the other is more developed. This might be a case where you’d want to look into getting a custom saddle built to compensate for the lesser shoulder. Horses generally show weight gain most prominently over their withers and buttocks. This can be a bit of an issue with custom saddles, because as seasons change grasses become more abundant or sparse. This results in weight gain and loss. Does this mean you need a new saddle every time your horse packs on a few pounds? Of course not. You just need to invest in quality saddle pads to compensate for any change. What’s a good saddle worth? A better question is how much cheap saddles are going to cost you as they wear out over and over again. Go buy yourself something with great workmanship, great materials, and that’ll last you. Be picky, inspect the stitching - you want something that you can really rely on to withstand what you’re going to put it through. Remember, a good quality saddle doesn’t cost you anything to keep. If in doubt about making any saddle purchases feel free to ask me any questions - I try not to push my own products on anyone, although I love that I’ve had the opportunity to work with manufacturers and design my own products. But send me an email at info@vanhargis.com - I’ll respond best I can, but including any pictures of your horse and current saddle would definitely be helpful.

We have another listener question that will be the focal point for this week’s episode. While I like to respond to these personally, sometimes I like to bring them up for episode topics as well. This topic in particular is something many horse owners may have dealt with, and that’s aggressive horses. The question that came in was specifically about a 15 year old mare - one that was bottle fed at some point because her mother couldn’t produce enough milk. This mare will get aggressive on trail rides if any horse comes up from behind. She’ll stop and run backwards to kick at the other horses. Keep in mind that my suggestions here are what I “might” do. There’s not a surefire solution I can give without being there myself, but this should provide a good starting point for anyone with similar issues. Key Takeaways Let’s find the source of the problem first. When another horse approaches from behind the mare gets aggressive. So when another horse is out of her range and approaching she reacts. This is most likely a fear response. Since she has probably had less horse -to-horse interactions (from being bottle fed) she can’t tell if the horse is a friend or foe. So, to defend herself, she turns around and goes about kicking. So what do we do about this? Well, there’s usually no better teacher than mother nature herself. Putting the mare in a large turnout with other horses can help them work things out amongst themselves. This won’t completely solve the problem, but it’s a good step in the right direction. To start getting rid of this behavior through training you want to teach the mare to focus on you, not the other horses. Start with tons of groundwork exercises you are familiar with. Make sure the exercises are done correctly and if the horse’s attention drifts, run the exercises again and more intensely. They’ll come to learn that focusing on you is the easy thing to do. You’ll move to being saddled and running these exercises, and then finally inviting over some friends and their horses in a controlled environment to help the mare adjust to focusing on you while other horses are around. Again, finding out the cause of the issue comes first. There are multiple ways to solve any problem. So when we discover the why to an issue we can then go about discovering which how works best for us and our horses.

There’s a story I’m reminded of just about every day. It’s one that comes to mind when I’m pushing myself and my horses to be the absolute best that we can. Back around when ranch horse versatility events were getting popular I started exercising my competition skills. I’d take clients horses and often win first, second, and third place with their different horses. It got me some recognition from some publications, and one of my clients took notice, too. He started bragging about me, boosting my ego and getting my hat a little too tight, and asked if I could get him to see 1% improvement a day with one of his horses. I said yes sir, of course I can do that. Well, he went on to tell me that he’d bring me the horse 100 days before a competition to get them ready. Of course, I immediately realized it was going to get that horse more than 100 days to be show ready, and so did he. It was a humbling lesson in the way we progress both through our horsemanship and humanship, and it’s one I’d like to share with you today. Key Take Aways Don’t think about the clock so much. We often put time limits on things that don’t necessarily need them. Now don’t get me wrong, setting goals and deadlines for yourself and horse can be a good thing. They can make you work harder and more readily to achieve those milestones. However, realize that reality doesn’t always line up with our expectations. Keep in mind that change comes about slowly in many cases. Sometimes it comes so slowly we don’t even see it happening. It builds and builds until suddenly our horse does something really well and we get to sit back and think, wow, how did we get here? Another quote I like to throw around is that the minute you start working with a horse be looking for a place to quit. Have a clear goal in mind for your training session and understand what you are trying to teach them. Be aware, and once your horse has your lesson down then stop. Let one step be enough instead of pushing your horse too far. Not to contradict myself, but sometimes pushing your horse too far can be a good learning experience as well. You can’t find out how far you can take your horse until you’ve gone a little too far and have to work to rebuild some of the confidence lost in the process. Horsemanship teaches us to be patient. This can be hard when training for a competition and want to get everything done in one session or weekend. But you have to be happy with improvement as it comes, step by step. It means you’re going further than you have before. Celebrating the journey is critical because we don’t hit life changing milestones every day. Real change happens between the big noticeable transformations. Some of those moments will be more memorable than others, but all of them add up to make growth in your journey possible.

We’re back from the pacific northwest where we’ve had some excellent clinics and met some great people. I fielded a fair amount of questions on the trip and many of them had to do with bits. When I get asked, “What kind of bit do you use?” my favorite response is “Just use a bit of knowledge.” In all seriousness, what bit you use depends on a lot of factors. But keep in mind that bits are just tools. Buying a new one just because it’s easier than learning to use the one you already have is not a good reason to switch bits. We’re going over how to look at why certain bits work for certain people and horses, and also what kind of mentality you need to have when exploring them. Key Take Aways Another of my favorite sayings is that you know why there are so many bits, dont’cha? It’s because none of them work. Again, jokes aside, manufacturers have demands put on them by the consumer, who goes into retail stores and sees all the products. Unfortunately, some riders have the idea that buying a new bit is going to fix their problems. Remember this: a bit can’t think. It’s a tool and it will only do what you tell it to. No bit has a secret that will make you a master of all horses. With this in mind, it is important to look at a rider’s knowledge and skill level in order to pair them and a horse with a proper bit. At a clinic recently there was a woman who I saw riding a bit unbalanced, bouncing her arms. This made the horse hold its head up high almost in a defensive mode. The reason for this is that she was using a harsh bit and did not have good control of her hands yet. Switching her to a snaffle bit, which is lighter, helped reduce the pressure she was putting on her horse's mouth. Snaffle bits are 1 to 1 ratio bits. The amount of pressure you put on it is the exact amount the horse is going to feel. This allows you to be very direct with your signals to the horse and know exactly how much pressure is needed to get the horse to respond. For this reason, snaffle bits (the D-ring version) are my favorite go to bit. Hackamore bits are sometimes used because a rider thinks that it will be less harmful to the horse since it doesn’t rest in their mouth; it rests on their nose and lower jaw. They can either be made of rawhide (traditional) or metal (mechanical). But in the end, any bit is going to respond as gentle or as harsh as the hands behind it. Remember that ignorance can be way more harmful than any bit you might choose. Be honest about your skill level and your horse’s skill. Seek advice from professionals you trust, not just any random employee from a retail store - although there are great and knowledge people in many stores. Once you learn what you want to do with your riding and learn what the bits do you will be able to make your own decisions about which to use.

Some of my favorite questions are more philosophical in nature, and recently I’ve been asked an interesting one: How do you know if your horses are happy? Understanding this boils down to the main differences between horses and people. We tend to apply human emotions and characteristics to our horses that often don’t apply to them. But horses don’t jump out of airplanes or go to the movies or go on hikes to find happiness like humans do. Horses are very different animals from us with different ways of expressing themselves. In this episode, we’re going over signs that your horse is anxious or frustrated and thinking about what horse happiness actually looks like. Key Takeaways In order to give a cure you first have to find the cause - this is something Jack Brainard once taught me. So, if we want to make our horses happy it will do us well to figure out why they are unhappy first. Horses can show their anxiety and frustration by swishing a tail or pinning their ears, even if they go on to do what you ask of them. With an attitude. Anyone who has had the privilege of raising a teenager will know what I’m talking about. We need to understand that almost everything we ask of a horse is a favor. A trail ride or loping circles in an arena has no benefit for the horse. It is for our entertainment. So it is important to know if what you are asking is fair of the horse, and time your requests properly. Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard. If your horse is giving you some attitude don’t give in and back off. That simply rewards the horse. Remember, where you release is what you teach. By staying firm with our requests, and asking more of them every time they give us some attitude, our horses learn that the only thing causing them to work harder is the way in which they are doing what you ask. Keep in mind that there is no absolute measure for whether or not a horse is happy. It will be impossible for us to ever know. But if we observe them in their natural habitat we can see what is normal for them. Being soft in the face, hanging out in the shade, playing with one another - all these things show us that if the horse is behaving differently than normal there must be some sort of stress in their life. In general, horses want to be left alone. And the less we bother them, the more we can get an understanding of what keeps them relaxed and at ease.

If you’re familiar with our show you’ve heard me talk about horse’s herd instinct. You may have wondered though if that instinct still survives in our domestic horses, and if so, how strong it actually is. Well, the answer is that yes, horses still very much seek out herd interactions with fellow horses. Us humans tend to be a bad replacement for another horse in this regard. In today’s episode, we’re going to be discussing aspects of how horses behave in herds and how that affects how we as trainers and riders interact with them. Key Takeaways If you watch horses objectively as they interact with one another you’ll see that they tend to group up. In a large group of say twenty horses, you might see three or four subgroups form as well. And not only are these horses ranked in the whole herd, but they are ranked in their subgroups as well. Identifying where your horse falls in these groups can help give you a leg up in understanding how to best communicate that you are their leader. Communicating that you’re a horse’s leader comes down to assertiveness. You need to realize where you rank in the herd. If you’re not the leader to all of them in the herd, you have yourself a bit of a problem. But you don’t have to become snappy and mean in order to assert your position. Being the leader means consistently making decisions, following through with those decisions, and making them apply to the whole herd. If you don’t assume the leadership position a horse high up on the herd’s totem pole might try to take it from you. In order to deal with this kind of aggression from a horse you need to form a safety bubble around yourself, and by no means let the horse into it, or shy away from it yourself. In contrast, if you don’t take a leadership position with a horse lower on the totem pole that horse’s anxiety might increase. They’ll be looking around for potential threats while wondering who their leader is, and if it’s not you, or them, then who is it? The best way to gain and maintain your leadership role is to make decisions that are in the horse’s best interest. You may want to head out and practice flying lead changes, but if the horse is having issues you need to be committed to building a solid foundation. When you make decisions with the horse’s best interest in mind they’ll learn over time that you make their life easier. In this way, they become more comfortable giving you the respect that comes in having a leadership position in their herd.

We’re tackling a pretty in depth question this week from another one of our listeners: how do you know when you’re ready to buy a horse? It shouldn’t come as a surprise that horses are large animals. Much larger than any other pet. And with that increase in size also comes an increase in time, effort, money, and responsibility. I’m going to walk you through some steps that should help you decide if you’re ready to make the kind of commitment it takes to keep a horse in your care. And as you might’ve guessed, it starts with gauging how truly passionate you are about these wonderful animals. Key Take Aways Finding out how passionate you are about having horses be a part of your life can be a bit of a process. No one wants to rush into buying a horse and end up having to sell it after a month because they didn’t know what they were getting into. This is why I recommend volunteering. You get to see first hand what it’s like to shovel poop, clean the stalls, and groom the horses. Therapy ranches and boarding farms are a great place to get a foot in the door and test out how committed you want to be. Getting a professional’s help is key in pairing up with a horse that’s suitable for your lifestyle and goals. You need to keep in mind that not all horses are going to be as easy as the ones you’ve worked with through volunteering. A professional can take an objective approach and assess your skill level in order to find horses that will be a good fit. Just because you find a horse that pairs well with you doesn’t mean you have to buy it right off the bat. Leasing horses has become an increasingly popular option for getting to know a horse more in depth. You generally pay a deposit and then make monthly payments to buy time with the horse. This gives you the time to see if the horse can perform in the ways you need while also stepping up your commitment level. Something that’s not talked about enough is this: how do you feel about yourself? Are you the kind of person that’s comfortable in a leadership role, or are you more prone to follow? Horses will quickly show you who you are, and you don’t want to be bossed around by one. There is a lot of humility required to own a horse, as failure is going to be a part of the relationship at times. You have to be committed to that leadership role and work through those times so that both you, and your horse, can progress. We didn’t have this episode to dissuade anyone from buying a horse - only to make sure you’ve carefully considered all the work and effort required to take care of a strong, but delicate living and breathing animal. Laura and I can both attest to how wonderful it is to learn and grow through horsemanship so that our humanship can shine brighter as well.

We’ve been getting some great feedback about our show and some great questions have been flooding in. So this week we’ll be addressing a listener question that just came in: should we have different expectations when training mares vs. geldings. To answer this we need to first acknowledge that we expect a job of our horse. We want them to perform. Take a second to look at the kind of performance you’d ask of a man or woman at their job. Regardless of gender, you’re going to be expecting equal performance. And so it is for our horses. My expectations for males and geldings don’t differ. However, there are some things we need to understand the nature of horses that will help us keep our expectations consistent. Key Takeaways The core of this episode is about setting expectations, standing by them, and supporting them. While we shouldn’t expect mares and geldings to behave differently, we need to acknowledge that, at times, they do. Mares see their purpose, naturally, as one of survival and procreation. Us humans get in the way of this. No matter what way you cut it, when you own a horse you are interfering with their natural purpose. Some mares may change a bit when on their cycle, perhaps seeming to not feel as well as they normally do. But, again, I ask the same of them as always. With time they can learn to handle the slight discomfort and perform as expected. The same goes for geldings. While geldings are generally more neutral with their behavior, we have to recognize they’re still horses. They have a herd instinct. And when humans interfere with that instinct it is up to us to keep them focused and provide that purpose. The bottom line is this: you need to ask yourself if you are ready to step up and be a leader for your horse regardless of their gender. Don’t sit around coming up with excuses for why your horse isn’t behaving like they should. This could be seen as letting a horse “get away with something.” You need to see that horses don’t spend their time thinking manipulative thoughts: they simply live in the moment and want to do as little as possible to survive. With this in mind, and as their leader, you should be looking for the ways that your horses can succeed and take the initiative in correcting their behavior. Stallions should have the same expectations, but with a large side note. Many people underestimate the amount of vigilance it takes to keep a stallion focused on the trainer or a rider. It takes constant observation and curt correction when you see them veering off from what you want them to do. Aggression in stud horses usually comes from nagging them, in other words, constantly correcting them in a way that seems overbearing. It helps to be proactive in understanding what their distractions are so you can help set stallions up for success.

As some of you may know by now, I spent some time in New Zealand. While I was there I was fortunate enough to have Laurey McVicar take me under his wing. We worked side by side and I learned a great deal from him through our friendship. One such lesson came when we went to Lester Higgins’ ranch to help round up some cattle. We were pretty much just along for the ride with our dogs doing a good bit of the work. But as we got up to the pens I noticed many of the boards weren’t in good shape. Lo and behold, some of the cattle started pressing up on them and escaping one by one. Each time I yelled that some had gotten out Laurey told me, “Don’t worry mate, she’ll be alright.” Well, after about the sixth time of me shouting out Laurey finally said, “She’ll be alright, mate. She can’t get off the island.” While this cracked me up at the time, it also taught me that sometimes the right way to do things goes out the window. When that happens you need to focus on the job at hand, keep a positive attitude, and work with what you’ve got. Key Takeaways So how do you know when you need to address an issue and when you need to just let it go? Let’s say you want to have your horse lope circles, but the horse is giving you problems with just walking. This is more of an issue with basic control of your horse, and you’ll want to focus on walking before moving forward. Now, if you work up to a lope and the horse is speeding up and slowing what do you do? There’s no real safety issue here. The horse is working itself too hard and is slowing down and speeding up because it hasn’t learned to find a steady, even pace. It’s okay here to keep asking for what you want of your horse. If you know what you want is achievable by your horse, then by all means, keep asking. There is no hard and true “if that - then this” in horsemanship. Absolute answers aren’t going to crop up. You need to assess every situation based on safety, confidence, and being aware. If you lack the confidence in your ability to assess a situation, then it’s time to find someone with more experience to help you. Often times I see people doing all the right things with their horses, but they still aren’t getting anywhere. This is usually because the training lacks a grounded structure. The horse can be taught all the right things, but if taught out of order, the horse can’t piece them together. Finding a routine that stops your horse from being confused will help them progress more efficiently. Sometimes we just want to do everything right. But what happens when right just doesn’t work, like on the Higgins’ ranch? You have to learn to accept what the circumstances will allow for and be adaptable. Focus on the job at hand and leave smaller problems alone as long as there is no safety issue. Again, those cattle weren’t getting off the island. It can be quite humbling when you’re not constantly distracted by always trying to be right.

When I was much younger my sole aspiration was to become a calf roper. The absolute best one I could be. At the end of the day, I’d go practice flanking and tying calves, well, really legging them since I was so young. And one of my heroes at the time was Ernie Taylor, a full rodeo champion. I remember one day he stopped by our arena and I got the idea to go and impress him. I tried tying the calves as fast as I could. Which, of course, meant I was making plenty of mistakes. After a while, Ernie turned to me and said, “Van, I think you need to slow down to be fast.” I applied that advice to my roping and got much better. With even more time I came to realize this is one of the best lessons I ever learned in my horsemanship, or my life at large. Key takeaways I’d like to go ahead and say running around trying to impress people isn’t a great use of your time. When you look at someone and see where they are at in their journey it can make you want to perform on their level to gain their respect. But that’s just an invitation to make mistakes. You’re more likely to be respected by staying composed and being yourself. See, when I was a boy scrambling all over those calves I made mistakes by going as fast as I could. Slowing down meant I didn’t have to redo any of my tying. I could be more efficient by taking just a little more time. It’s this slow and steady mentality that helped me grow in more than just my horsemanship. Taking time let me do things in a way I could live with. What I mean by that is I learned to not skip any steps and hinder myself down the road. I put in honest, hard work and built myself up from a sturdy foundation. At one point I had a reputation for being the last one to get my horse saddled. Often times that extended to being the last one to actually get on the horse too. But that led to me being known as the guy who never had a horse buck. That doesn’t mean you should just dilly dally around, but be confident and take the time you need to set yourself up for success. Efficiency isn’t always rushing through things. Your relationship with a horse is all about the long game. Not about what you want right this minute, but what you want to be capable of over a lifetime. See, there is no ultimate horsemanship. No one is ever going to reach some final destination there. So, you might as well enjoy the strides you take along the journey. Take what you learn and use it to make fewer mistakes. Remember, horsemanship is an opportunity to practice humanship every day.

Many of the questions I get from people can be traced back to a common issue: developing a horse’s responsiveness and respect. Again, I’ll be using a quote I first heard while living in New Zealand. I was working with a horse and ended up pulling on them too hard and ended up apologizing. Right then I was told, “Firm hands make a light horse.” Jerking and being abrupt isn’t going to get you much of anywhere. This episode goes into establishing respect through steady and consistent direction.

Everyone has a tying your horse up story. I’ve heard quite a few recently through online conversations I’ve been having with folks, and some people have claimed things that I’m not sure I totally agree with. So, in this episode, I’ll be setting the record straight with where I stand on the topic. And for starters, we’ll dive right into what I see as being the biggest mistake people make when tying up their young horse: trying to tie up your horse before they’re halter broke. Key Takeaways If you have to pull and tug on the rope then chances are your horse isn’t halter broke. Just because the halter is on your horse and they are dragging a lead rope around doesn’t mean they’re good to go. Being correctly trained should have your horse respecting the lead rope and halter. You should be able to control their body, and to an extent, their attitude. Something I’ve heard before is training your horse to stay tied by roping them off to some deserted post in a field and leaving them there. Remember, the release of pressure is how horses learn. That release only comes from you, their leader, properly training them. The post isn’t going to do that for you. One of the most common problems with tying up a horse is when the horse pulls back. See, a horse’s first instinct when something is wrong is to flee. And guess what? Being tied up to something takes that away from them. This ties into the need to find the cause before the cure. We had a horse that was fine being tied up, so long as they could see through or around whatever they were tied to. It took time and effort to figure that out, and more than two or three attempts after that in order to teach them properly. As their leader, you need to be able to work with your horse until you can make the learning part of their brain win out over their instinct. Another common behavior is pawing. This is not only embarrassing but can wreck equipment and cost you a lot of money as well. Pawing can occur when a horse is bored or anxious. That anxiety comes from the horse not knowing when, or if, you’re coming back to untie them. From the horse’s perspective, when they are tied up you’ve left them exposed to danger. So, tying up your horse around their buddies is a good way to alleviate some of their worry. Tying them up for short intervals to start off with helps as well. This lets the horse know you are in fact coming back and helps build up the trust needed to leave them for longer periods.

I get asked frequently why someone's horse does or doesn’t do something. I usually have to answer this the same way every time: “Well, it depends.” You see, the only absolute here is that there are no absolutes. So here come in a few keywords that are central to horsemanship. They are forgiveness; gratitude; confidence; courage; and faith. These things all play into the one thing you have full control over - your own thoughts. Working on these aspects of your horsemanship strengthens the bond between rider and horse and allows both to grow in a positive direction. Key Takeaways We need to be forgiving of our horses, and in many cases, our past as well. I find that many riders at my clinics are just getting back into riding. So many of them all cite having a bad experience with a horse when they were younger. The same goes for traumatic life events in their past. But until you let go of what’s holding you back you won't be able to truly enjoy yourself. Of course getting bucked off a horse hurts. Pain isn’t fun for anyone. It can leave dents in our memory and make us afraid of moving forward. But sometimes we have to put up with discomfort in order to achieve the things we really want. Forgiving that past and learning from it not only lets you move on but sets you up to learn from any more negative experiences that may come. If you aren’t confident in what you are asking of your horse why should they trust you? You have to build up that confidence first and believe me, horses can pick up on it. A good way to build confidence is to be paired with a horse that is going to help raise it. Learning in the right environment with the right horse will cut down on certain frustrations. Once you have that confidence you need to muster some courage. Get off the bleachers! Jump into the arena and do what it is you have worked towards. But be careful. You don’t want to go all out, get hurt, lose confidence, and have to start all over again. Taking steps forward lets you sustain confidence and build skill in a sustainable way. I’ve never been a big fan of hoping with horses. Do you want to hope that they will get on the trailer? Or, do you want to know they will get on the trailer? We need to have faith, not hope with our horses. Faith that we have bonded with them, built our confidence and taught them well. And if we haven’t taught them we need to be grateful for a new opportunity to do so. Practicing horsemanship and humanship at every turn we can is a great thing.

Sometimes we can find ourselves either overwhelmed or underwhelmed with information and what to do with it. There’s so much advice available to us at the tips of our fingers that it’s easy to absorb lessons that don’t quite work for us. Or maybe there’s so much out there we shut down and stop ourselves from being receptive to good information. This can lead to boredom. Doing the same old routine day in, day out. It can get to the point where you might just want to sell your horse and pick up a fishing rod instead. But there is a way out of these kinds of ruts, and that way is to eat. Take in something new, learn more, and put some new fuel in your tank, so to speak. This episode is dedicated to giving you a few steps to help you grow in your horsemanship. You have to take stuff in to make progress, you have to EAT. Key Takeaways Taking it in. If you feel yourself stuck go find something new to stimulate some excitement. That could be reading some articles online, or watching some videos. They don’t even have to be about aspects of horsemanship you’re familiar with. In fact, finding something you know nothing about can help show you what direction you do or don’t want to head in. There are so many opportunities to learn and experience new things, even in our own backyards. Eat it up! It doesn’t make sense to wallow around and starve. Go see if there are any events happening near you that you’d normally gloss over. Go check them out. Talk to people. Make connections. Try something new. We need to pay attention to what we take in as well. Is the information we’re getting appropriate for what direction we want to head in? Make sure you evaluate your goals in horsemanship and don’t stick around in paths that don’t seem to be taking you in that direction. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been approached with the following line: “Well Van, I was riding my horse and all of a sudden, for no reason, they did…..” At this point they lose some credibility with me. You need to be aware and alert of your horse. What are they saying to you? What’s their body language communicating, their eyes, ears, nose, and tails. Learn what the horse is trying to tell you and find a way to use that information to communicate back. Ask yourself if you are trainable. If you’re transformable. Are you being receptive to others when they try to teach you? You need to be open to new information and not blow others off when they try and help you. Ask yourself if you’re willing to put forth the time and energy it takes to change and grow. Can you commit to making new, better habits to get rid of your old ones? These lessons apply not only to our horses and growth as a rider, trainer, and leader--remember, horsemanship is an opportunity to practice humanship everyday.

This week I’m using a little acronym to explore the different ways we go about charting our path through horsemanship, and life in general: MAP. Each letter addresses an aspect of one’s attitude. They can be used to self-reflect on where you are in your journey with your horse. Using them to see where you are, accept where you are, and see where you want to go can help you avoid wandering around aimlessly. Basically, they are a three step program to finding your way to better horsemanship. Key Takeaways You must accept where you are in your horsemanship. Think of it like looking at a large map. You need to find the big red X that says “You Are Here.” This comes down to being aware and being honest with yourself about your abilities and knowledge. Otherwise, you will have no idea what direction to go in. And it’s okay if you don’t know what you don’t know. But you have to recognize that, faking things won’t get you anywhere. Accepting where you’re at doesn’t need to be a judgment of your value. Where you are can be perfect for the here and now. But you don’t have to settle for that. Once you’ve accepted where you are at then you can look forward and start making plans. Where do you want to go? What path do you want to take to get there? It’s okay if you don’t have a perfect idea of how to achieve your goal. You just have to start making steps forward. All of this starts with empowering yourself. You have to accept that you alone have the power to change. You have the power to move forward, backward, or do nothing at all. But it all comes from you. Many people like to complain about where they are at and wallow in their excuses for why they are stuck. But I always end up asking them what they plan to do to change their situation. You are not a tree, you can move! Don’t be afraid to go outside of your comfort zone. New experiences are how you and your horse can grow together. Even if you are a little nervous, you never know how much fun something new might be. And if you don’t enjoy doing something that’s great too. Now you know what path not to go down and have a better idea of where to go forward. Stopping to think about where you are and where you want to go isn’t just a way to improve your attitude about your journey. It’s more efficient too. Think about if you were at a large convention and wanted to find a single booth. You could walk around with no direction for three days and hope you come across the booth. Or you could look at a map, see where you are, and where you need to go to arrive where you want to be.

Laura and I explore a large intersection with horsemanship and humanship in this episode. It ties in with the idea of “New Year Resolutions.” You know, those things people talk about every January about how they will go to the gym more, or start eating healthy. But the main point of these resolutions is to drive you closer to one thing: success. Success is a difficult thing to talk about in some regards because success means different things to different people. Success for some might be meeting certain monetary goals. Others might define it as simply being happier. While I’ve had fun chasing belts and saddles and titles, success for me now is getting to help someone. Nothing makes me feel more accomplished than when I bridge a gap between a horse and human understanding. We’re laying out how to set up a path for you and your horse to be successful this year. In other words: set it up to be successful.   Key Takeaways The first step to success is figuring out what you want. I always tell people to ask themselves, “What do I want for my horse?” You want to be able to recognize when the horse does what you want, after all. But the same thing applies to us as well. You can’t get started very well if you have no idea where you’re going. Once you take that first step you’re on your way. Just know the journey won’t be easy. That’s why it’s a journey, most likely a long one, but it starts with knowing what you want and taking a first step. Even if it isn’t completely in the right direction. Remember, the path you take to success will always be different from someone else's. You have to start moving down the path to figure out if it’s the right one. You will most likely have to course correct a bit. Change direction a bit here and there. Get rid of your excuses. “Success occurs when your actions get bigger than your excuses.” There will be obstacles on everyone’s path to success. But fixating on those obstacles will only draw you closer to them, which can turn them into excuses for why you can’t move forward. You will have to change your path a bit to get around these obstacles, which can be scary. Often times we find comfort in familiarity, even if it is getting us nowhere. You have to focus on what you can do to overcome the obstacle, not what you can’t do. Success is the sum of small efforts repeated over and over again, day in and day out. And like I found out, success is a heck of a lot more than just 1% a day improvement. Some days you might improve half a percent. Other days, none at all. And some days you or your horse might have a leap of 10% improvement. All of it is the result of staying committed to your path and moving forward, no matter how long it might take. Again, find out what success means to you. For some, it’s managing not to get injured while riding for a whole year, or winning a major event. And for others, it may not be any kind of achievement or destination at all. It might just be ‘doing something’. Simply going on a journey with all its triumphs and tribulations.

I hope you and your horses have had an excellent start to the new year. The holidays are behind us and I’m excited about what 2017 has in store for us. We’re going to start this year off by visiting a topic we’ve touched on before. I got a message from a listener through the website, asking about a horse that was very eager and impatient. This made me chuckle a bit, as Laura has heard me use this episode’s quote a time or two before. “Every good horse anticipates, but every great horse waits.” Every now and then I’m approached by someone who wants to hike up their jeans a bit and brag about their horse. They’ll say things like, “Well Van, my horse is so great he does what I want before I even ask him to do it.” While they may seem all well and good on the surface, what it shows me is that the horse has an anticipation problem. Take mounting a horse for instance. You go through the whole routine of stretching your jeans, putting your hands on the horse, and if you’ve been humbled like me, using a mounting block to get in the saddle. All these actions are indicators to the horse that you’re about to go on a ride. So what happens if your horse is anticipating walking off while your foot is searching for the stirrup? Well, if they walk off early you’re likely going to end up back on the ground. I don’t know about you, but I’m in the great horse business. Here are some ways in which you can help guide your horse from being good to being great. Key Takeaways Let’s start off with mounting. Varying the way you get in the saddle can help break the pattern that makes your horse anticipate. Walk them over to the fence to mount, or maybe the side of a trailer. This way they won’t have as good an idea of what’s about to happen every time you hop in the saddle. Once you are seated, try and do a pilot check before walking off. Check your gear. Relax a bit. Give your horse a nice pat to thank them for not taking off with one foot in the stirrup. This teaches the horse you don’t want to take off as soon as you’re seated. I’m not a fan of the phrase, “Repetition makes a good horse.” If your horse picks up what you want him to learn in the first 3-4 times, asking him over and over again only steers your horse further into anticipation. You want to vary your training in a way that lets you can teach and practice the same thing in different ways. Vary your horse’s routine enough that it keeps the horse honest--listening to you, rather than doing the thinking for you. Breaking routine is the key to getting rid of anticipation. You want to be tuned into your horse so that you can catch them start to anticipate. Say you are riding around a ring, and every time you get to one side, you turn left. Try and feel the horse tense up, getting ready to make that turn at the end of the ring. At that moment you can turn the other way, breaking the pattern and eliminating that anticipation. You need to be the leader in the relationship with your horse. Teaching them to listen to you, and not go into autopilot, is all on you. Wearing down your horse’s anticipation is crucial in both performance riding, and pleasure riding. If you are running barrels you don’t want your horse to drop a shoulder too early just because they’ve always run in a smaller arena. You can practice turning around more than just barrels as well to further the bond with your horse. Again, you want them to wait for your command before taking an action. The same with activities like trail riding. Once you get close to home you don’t want your horse to bolt back to the barn. Once back, try riding around for a bit longer. Teach your horse that just because you are back at the barn or trailer doesn’t mean they get to decide when the ride is over. Once your horse learns this it’s okay to take them straight to the barn if they’ve listened to you. You want to make the right thing easy, and the wrong thing hard.

This week’s episode focuses on a topic some might find to be controversial. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that we ask a lot of the horses we ride. Often times you’ll hear trainers yell to “bend” that horse or “flex” them. I had the opportunity to work alongside Jack Brainard years ago, who is a personal hero of mine. At one point I was telling some folks to bend their horse and flex them, and I caught a prying glance from Jack. I asked him if I’d done something wrong, but he said no, and that we’d talk about it later. Well, at supper that night Jack asked me why it is we bend and flex our horses. Of course, I gave all the typical responses, about how it keeps the horse more supple and softer in the face. But that’s not Jack wanted to know. When he pried deeper into the why he told me this, and at the time it went over my head, but I’m going to share with you depth behind his reasoning: We bend ‘em to keep ‘em straight. Key Takeaways The long-term goal of bending and flexing your horse is to keep them balanced and straight. Everything your horse does it’ll do better when balanced and straight. It’s the starting point for all their actions. So you may be asking the question, “If we want our horses to be straight, why bend them at all?” Think about this: is it easier for a horse to turn with its head squared with its shoulders, or with its head bent all the way to one side or the other? The answer is with its nose dead straight ahead. This is why when you apply pressure to the reins, and the horse responds softly, you let their head go back to being straight. It’s what the horse wants, and they will learn over time that it’s the easiest job we can give them. How does this fit into working day to day with your horse? Say you are going on a trail ride with some friends. You don’t want to be zig-zagging all over the place. You need to realize that when you apply pressure to get the horse to turn, what the horse is seeking out is to be straight again. Bending and flexing gives the horse the opportunity to go back to being straight. I train with the philosophy that you want to work your horse to 120% so 100% seems easy to the horse. And yes, this applies to those of you who just take their horses on trail rides, and those who are competing in an arena. While horses can walk, trot, and lope all on their own, adding a 50 pound saddle and 200 pound rider to the center of their back changes the equation. Training your horse to keep their back slightly elevated while riding will help keep them from sagging into old age. Don’t use “I just trail ride” as a cop out for making your horse more disciplined. And trail riding can be extremely dangerous! You don’t have a controlled environment like inside an arena and much can go wrong. You are responsible for your horse's well being and safety, and proper training is critical for you to be successful in that endeavor.

Anyone who has gone to any of my horse expos knows I love to reference my personal heroes while I work. It’s because I’ve learned a great deal from these horsemen, and some of their wisdom has taken a lot of time for me to digest and understand properly. This week’s episode revolves around an encounter I had years ago with one of my heroes, Ray Hunt, and the lesson he taught me. After unexpectedly helping out at one of Ray’s expos he invited me over for supper that night. It was a quiet meal of the most part, and I felt just a little disappointed that we didn’t strike up an in-depth conversation. But at some point, Ray took a bite of steak and pointed his fork at me. He said, “You know Van, the horse is always right.” This brought to my mind the old cliche of “the customer is always right”. But Ray went on to explain just a little bit more. He said the horse is always right because he’s doing what comes natural to him, or he’s doing what he thinks you want him to do. Either way, the horse is always right. I had a long drive home the next day and couldn’t stop thinking about what Ray had said. Over time I started to realize that it was completely true, and there are many lessons that can be learned when you fully understand the concept. Key Takeaways Horses don’t harbor any ill intent. They want to be efficient as possible, and for the most part, quiet and still. Keep this in mind when you are communicating with your animal. Remember, the horse isn’t doing what it thinks you want it to do to please you - the horse is performing a behavior so you will end up leaving it alone to let it relax. Train from the horse's perspective. A horse’s survival instinct is going to tell him one of two things when humans are around; either protect himself and get away or stay and get along. So anytime you want to point a finger at your horse when they do something wrong, you should really be pointing it at yourself. It’s your job to understand your horse’s nature and communicate accordingly. Observe horses objectively. They are animals that live in the moment, even though they do develop habits and behaviors. But listening to what a neighbor or someone else tells you about a horse will rarely help you much. Horses don’t write down their history and reflect upon it. Be in the moment with them, watch their body language, and see what they are telling you in the here and now. Be careful when asking for more from your horse. As you move forward in training your requests of the horse will grow more specific and demanding. You need to do this gradually. By learning your horse’s body language you can see their words coming back to you about the request you make of them. Communication is a 2-way street, and you need to be able to listen to your horse just as well as you can ask things of them.