Read Books! I think it can’t be said enough times – to really understand the details of riding, we need to read from the old (and sometimes modern) masters within our disciplines of interest and even from other disciplines. Look for the similarities and find what resonates with your own values or riding goals.

Lessons, lessons, and more lessons is the basic foundation that supports our riding goals. You can experiment and self-teach to some extent (especially as you become more proficient), but we all need “eyes on the ground” no matter how advanced we are.

Clinics! Try to ride in a couple clinics a year and find some to just go and audit. Watch the other riders (when you’re not riding) and try to notice how the clinicians help riders and horses make improvements. Ask yourself why did things get better (or worse).

Enter a schooling show or equine event (if safe to do so). Sometimes working under a bit of pressure (show stress) or in a timed situation will show us our weaknesses or holes in our learning. Go into these events with a sense of humor, enjoy yourself, and do your best to find something to take away from the experience that is positive. Remember, we have all shed tears at these kinds of things. Learn from it.

Watch Videos! Watch some of the top riders in your discipline of interest then watch some amateur rider videos. Train your eye to observe the subtle differences in rider body mechanics and how it relates to how the horse goes. Look at the physical development of the horses, the way they move, their obedience and promptness, their level of comfort and happiness, tension and stress, and notice differences and how those relate to how they are being ridden.

Learn from online courses. There are a large number of great online instructors and courses out there. Find one that may be helpful for your goals and commit to the program.

Spend time in the saddle. If you have the opportunity to ride outside of lesson times, this is a great way to practice what you’ve been learning. If you are even more fortunate to be able to ride a horse out on the trail (safely), that saddle time will be invaluable. The hours spent in the saddle (as well as hours spent interacting with horses) helps our journey. Remember, to be considered a master at something, it requires over 10,000 hours of quality time. If you rode 10 hours/week every week of the year, you’d have 520 hours of riding per year. It would take you almost 20 years to make it to 10,000 hours. Of course being a “master” at horsemanship isn’t everyone’s goal, but I’m sure we all want to have a modicum of success so know it takes some dedication!

Ask questions, listen lots, have meaningful conversation! Many talented horse people are happy to answer a question or two or spend a little time explaining a concept when asked at an appropriate time. Keep in mind these folks are generously offering you their hard-earned knowledge for free (if outside a lesson or clinic environment) so a cup of coffee, a lunch treat, or some other kindness goes a long way.

Any books by these authors are sure to provide valuable knowledge. I apologize for not listing others that are equally as good as I have not read ALL the books out there (but oh what an accomplishment if I could!). I’m sure I’ll be adding to this list as time goes on!

• Ray Hunt
• Tom Dorrance
• Syliva Loch
• John Lyons
• Mark Rashid