The Riding Club

The youngsters are useful for napping on!

The ponies being prepared for the show. A lot of forward planning is required to successfully turn out for a show.

If we keep making riding easier for kids at every turn… we’re going to have a serious problem in this industry.

Because where exactly do we think the next generation of trainers is supposed to come from?

If kids only ever ride perfectly broke horses…If someone is always stepping in to fix every mistake…If they’re constantly being rescued before they have to problem solve…When exactly are they supposed to learn how to train? How are they supposed to learn feel? Timing? Patience? How to work through confusion? How to sit with frustration long enough to figure something out?

If a rider only ever sits on push button, easy peasy, finished horses. Or A rider only gets dull, worn out lesson horses... What then? They may show. They might even win. But that doesn’t automatically mean they understand horses. And understanding horses is what creates trainers.

At some point, every great horseman had to ride something imperfect. Something green. Something honest enough to expose their weaknesses and force them to grow.

That’s where feel is developed. That’s where timing gets sharpened. That’s where riders learn how to think instead of just react.

And yes, it’s harder. It’s frustrating. It’s messy.

It requires patience, humility, and the willingness to not always feel successful. But that’s exactly the point.

If we remove every challenge in the name of making things easier, faster, safer, or more fun…(fun sells, it sucks)...we may be creating riders... but we’re not creating horsemen.

And years from now, when there aren’t enough people who actually know how to start colts, solve problems, or bring along green horses… we’ll wonder what happened.

We will wonder why the cost of horses and training has skyrocketed (supply and demand folks)

But the truth is, we’ll have created exactly what we trained for.

The future of this industry depends on kids learning how to handle adversity. Not avoid it. (Really- the future of the world.)

Are we creating riders… or future horsemen?

Another reminder about how important good quality grazing or hay is for you horse's health!

Groundwork is so important for a well behaved horse

Haypile as big as the horse! Forage is important to keep your horse healthy.

Cleaning hooves before a hack on a winter morning