My point is that the hardest part of feel is feeling the language of the horse, and not simply presenting our intent to a horse through feel. We generally have more trouble reading feel than we do offering feel. We are pretty good at having our say, but not listening to horses having their say.
Education Versus Re-education
Not Forever
The Power of the Inside Rein
When To Stop Giving A Horse A Job
For me, I can see the advantages in a young horse having a job to help it adapt to life as a riding horse. However, there comes a time when to continue with working at a job becomes a hindrance. At some point, the focus of the job needs to move from performing a set of routine tasks to being connected to the rider. It should never be that we tell a horse to do something and then wait until it’s done before telling it to do something else.
A Visit From An Old Friend
Bruce said, “Mate, this is what I have learned and the only stuff that I am sure about. The first 500 horses taught me how to stay on. The second 500 horses taught me how to be good at getting a horse to do stuff. The next 500 horses taught me that if I don’t get in the way of what a horse wants to do, they all seem pretty happy.”