Ride Every Stride | Horsemanship And Personal Growth With Van Hargis

I’ve gone over the broad strokes of being a patient trainer in last week’s episode, and now I think it’s time to go into the more practical side of patience. This brings to mind another quote: “He who waits the longest is the trainer.” Horses have an incredible amount of patience. Learning to hold out longer than them for an appropriate response will lead to a more efficient and trustworthy relationship. You don’t want to just nag your horse for a particular response. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen someone yell at their horse from behind a fence, thinking that this will teach them something. You have to be in a position to enforce the response you want, and gradually increase that enforcement until a response comes. I always apply the smallest amount of pressure possible when looking for a response. If the horse doesn’t respond to my gestures I will slowly increase that pressure. In this way I work towards getting the horse just uncomfortable enough to elicit a response. At that point I analyze th