I love it when I hear a horsemanship quote that also applies to life outside the barn!
Ever since I was a teen I have been reading books categorized as self-help books, sometimes to make sense of life, and sometimes
because I just like the topic of psychology. I wanted to understand myself, and others, better. When I started
working with horses I gravitated to learning from Natural Horsemanship trainers. That was when I found out
they like their catchy phrases that get stuck in your head like song lyrics. At the same time, I also
discovered that their catchy quotes also applied to life outside the barn.
Below are a few quotes from a book called “That Winning Attitude” compiled by Clinton Anderson. The little
book is filled with quotes from Clinton, as well as others – including his mentors Ian Francis, and Gordon
McKinlay. I wanted to share these horsemanship quotes that have impacted my life in the barn, as well as
outside the barn.
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“Your frustration begins where your knowledge ends.”
I love this quote!!! It has been a favorite of mine since the first time I heard it. Whether there was
something that happened at the barn, or something going on in my life outside of the barn, this quote could
be applied every time I didn’t know what to do. It not only helped me to identify what I was feeling in those
moments, but it helped remind me that the way to not feel stuck in those feelings was to seek out knowledge
about whatever the issue was so I could learn, and keep moving forward.
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“If you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you are getting.”
How many times have you seen a horse presenting some type of bad behavior, and the owner reacts to the
behavior in the moment, but does nothing to correct the behavior in the long run? Often
people will let behaviors slide with their horses until it becomes a bigger problem. What started as a small
issue slowly progresses to rearing and bolting, because the horse’s bad attitude wasn’t dealt with before it got
out of hand.
The same can be said of our daily lives. We know we should switch that last cup of coffee for a glass of water,
but that cup of coffee is part of our usual routine. It can be anything from diet and exercise, to getting the
sleep we need, and the people we spend time with. Every little piece of our lives adds up to produce the whole
of the life we see right now. If we want something different, we’re going to have to switch things up and do
something different.
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“To change your horse you must first change yourself.”
We all have areas of ourselves that could use a little work…sometimes a lot of work – myself absolutely
included! When I started working with horses I was very timid, and that caused the horses I was around to be
wary of me. I learned that I needed to become the leader for myself, and the horses I worked with, so we
could have the safest experience possible. I had to learn how to have boundaries with the horses and learn
different ways to have those boundaries respected with different horses.
Learning boundaries, and having them respected with the horses, also gave me the confidence to set, and
enforce, boundaries where I needed them outside of the barn. Before that, I hadn’t learned how to stand up
for myself. I’m certainly not an expert in that area, but I am continuing to learn, and grow little by little.
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“The more times you pick yourself up off the ground, the better your groundwork gets.”
I am a big advocate for groundwork! I definitely prefer to deal with a horse’s bad behavior from the ground,
though there are times that’s not always an option in the moment. Those moments teach you to reflect, and
evaluate the holes in your training foundation. Once you’ve found those then you can go back, and work on
filling in the blanks. Even if it means going back to the most basic training. I can’t stress enough how
important it is to stop and work on the small issues while they are small, rather than trying to keep pushing
forward while ignoring the small issues. Most trainers will tell you that a lot of horses don’t have big issues,
they have small issues that were ignored and compounded over time.
You’re probably wondering how this one applies to life outside the barn. Well if you’re anything like me, you
may have noticed some patterns in your life that seem to be on repeat. It could be anything from jobs that
you’ve had ending the same way, or the people in your life seem to be a certain way, or you can stick to a diet
and exercise until this thing happens in your life. Whatever it is, we all have patterns, some are good, and
others we may need to change. Sometimes trying to change those patterns is way harder to do than it would
be if we just stayed stuck in the cycle, but I can tell you it is worth changing. There have been many times, in
my process of trying to change those cycles for myself, that it has felt like trying to pick myself up off the
ground. But it becomes worth the pain when I have learned the lesson, put in the work, and can do better the
next time.
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These are only four of the quotes that have stood out to me the most in my time working with horses. There
are many others, but these have always motivated me to continue learning and moving toward my
goals.
Leave us a comment and share your favorite horsemanship life quotes!
