Ride Every Stride | Horsemanship And Personal Growth With Van Hargis

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 fello