Ever since I was a teen I have been reading books categorized as self-help books, sometimes to make sense of life, and sometimes
\nbecause I just like the topic of psychology. I wanted to understand myself, and others, better. When I started
\nworking with horses I gravitated to learning from Natural Horsemanship trainers. That was when I found out
\nthey like their catchy phrases that get stuck in your head like song lyrics. At the same time, I also
\ndiscovered that their catchy quotes also applied to life outside the barn.<\/p>\n
Below are a few quotes from a book called \u201cThat Winning Attitude\u201d compiled by Clinton Anderson. The little
\nbook is filled with quotes from Clinton, as well as others – including his mentors Ian Francis, and Gordon
\nMcKinlay. I wanted to share these horsemanship quotes that have impacted my life in the barn, as well as
\noutside the barn.<\/p>\n
~<\/p>\n
\u201cYour frustration begins where your knowledge ends.\u201d<\/p>\n
I love this quote!!! It has been a favorite of mine since the first time I heard it. Whether there was
\nsomething that happened at the barn, or something going on in my life outside of the barn, this quote could
\nbe applied every time I didn\u2019t know what to do. It not only helped me to identify what I was feeling in those
\nmoments, but it helped remind me that the way to not feel stuck in those feelings was to seek out knowledge
\nabout whatever the issue was so I could learn, and keep moving forward.<\/p>\n
~<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you are getting.\u201d<\/p>\n
How many times have you seen a horse presenting some type of bad behavior, and the owner reacts to the
\nbehavior in the moment, but does nothing to correct the behavior in the long run? Often
\npeople will let behaviors slide with their horses until it becomes a bigger problem. What started as a small
\nissue slowly progresses to rearing and bolting, because the horse\u2019s bad attitude wasn\u2019t dealt with before it got
\nout of hand.<\/p>\n
The same can be said of our daily lives. We know we should switch that last cup of coffee for a glass of water,
\nbut that cup of coffee is part of our usual routine. It can be anything from diet and exercise, to getting the
\nsleep we need, and the people we spend time with. Every little piece of our lives adds up to produce the whole
\nof the life we see right now. If we want something different, we\u2019re going to have to switch things up and do
\nsomething different.<\/p>\n
~<\/p>\n
\u201cTo change your horse you must first change yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
We all have areas of ourselves that could use a little work…sometimes a lot of work \u2013 myself absolutely
\nincluded! When I started working with horses I was very timid, and that caused the horses I was around to be
\nwary of me. I learned that I needed to become the leader for myself, and the horses I worked with, so we
\ncould have the safest experience possible. I had to learn how to have boundaries with the horses and learn
\ndifferent ways to have those boundaries respected with different horses.<\/p>\n
Learning boundaries, and having them respected with the horses, also gave me the confidence to set, and
\nenforce, boundaries where I needed them outside of the barn. Before that, I hadn\u2019t learned how to stand up
\nfor myself. I\u2019m certainly not an expert in that area, but I am continuing to learn, and grow little by little.<\/p>\n
~<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more times you pick yourself up off the ground, the better your groundwork gets.\u201d
\nI am a big advocate for groundwork! I definitely prefer to deal with a horse\u2019s bad behavior from the ground,
\nthough there are times that\u2019s not always an option in the moment. Those moments teach you to reflect, and
\nevaluate the holes in your training foundation. Once you\u2019ve found those then you can go back, and work on
\nfilling in the blanks. Even if it means going back to the most basic training. I can\u2019t stress enough how
\nimportant it is to stop and work on the small issues while they are small, rather than trying to keep pushing
\nforward while ignoring the small issues. Most trainers will tell you that a lot of horses don\u2019t have big issues,
\nthey have small issues that were ignored and compounded over time.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re probably wondering how this one applies to life outside the barn. Well if you\u2019re anything like me, you
\nmay have noticed some patterns in your life that seem to be on repeat. It could be anything from jobs that
\nyou\u2019ve had ending the same way, or the people in your life seem to be a certain way, or you can stick to a diet
\nand exercise until this thing happens in your life. Whatever it is, we all have patterns, some are good, and
\nothers we may need to change. Sometimes trying to change those patterns is way harder to do than it would
\nbe if we just stayed stuck in the cycle, but I can tell you it is worth changing. There have been many times, in
\nmy process of trying to change those cycles for myself, that it has felt like trying to pick myself up off the
\nground. But it becomes worth the pain when I have learned the lesson, put in the work, and can do better the
\nnext time.<\/p>\n
~<\/p>\n
These are only four of the quotes that have stood out to me the most in my time working with horses. There
\nare many others, but these have always motivated me to continue learning and moving toward my
\ngoals.<\/p>\n
Leave us a comment and share your favorite horsemanship life quotes!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":38450,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"yoast_head":"\n