To Err Is Human…
If there is one thing horses will teach us, it is humility. Those of us who care deeply for horses are careful in our interactions with them—but we are human, and we make mistakes. Anyone who rides or trains horses has made mistakes—for example, asking our horse to maintain a higher frame than he is ready for, thus setting his training back. Even worse is a mistake that compromises our horse’s soundness, such as jumping on unsuitable footing.
Such mistakes haunt devoted horsemen, and the more experienced we become, the worse we feel about our blunders. After all, we are supposed to be experts now. By definition, don’t experts avoid mistakes? The answer is that of course experts make mistakes, and I can tell you from personal experience that making a mistake as an expert hurts … and keeps you awake at night. Mistakes certainly contribute to that humility I mentioned earlier.
My point here, however, is not to revisit my mistakes. It’s to continue to examine our training theories and practices in an effort to create the best possible partnership
