"The horse is my teacher"

The title of this post is a phrase bandied about by perhaps every natural horsemanship trainer, and many more. It's accepted with a nearly reverential attitude that it's utterer must really, truly be a horseman in it for the horse. It's always bothered me a bit, but it never really gelled why until I read a Buck Brannaman quote on the Buck the Film facebook page yesterday. It is as follows:

"That’s the age-old question, whether a horseman was born or made. It may be a little of both. I always figured that what I lack in talent I can make up for in true grit and determination. There hasn’t been anybody that works harder than I. The horse is the only teacher I have left." - Buck Brannaman

At first blush, having seen the movie, Buck, and enjoying it, some affirmative murmurs went through my head and I thought about how sad it is that the Dorrance brothers and Ray Hunt are no longer of this Earth. I thought that Buck must be frustrated, feeling that he is a lone wolf without contemporaries. Then, I thought, "what a load of horse shit."

I think I was first offended by the notion that he believes there isn't anyone on Earth that works harder at horsemanship than he does. I'm pretty sure his circle of horsemanship is pretty small in the grand scheme of things. There are A LOT of people that work hard at being good horsemen. They don't all wear flat hats and carry reatas, but they work hard to learn, to improve, to coax better performances out of their horses and to communicate better.

It was after I worked through that that I started thinking about the whole "learning from the horse" notion. That's one of those ideas that sounds really good, nearly zen-like and profound, but think about what it really means. It really means that you're out there with an idea of what you want your horse to do and you start trying things until you get the response you think you want. I think your horse would prefer it if you got some instruction from someone who has already figured it out.

Let's be honest, there's not a whole lot new under the sun as far as what we can get a horse to do under saddle or from the ground. You may want a different method for getting something done, but your horse would probably appreciate it if you had some guidance before you jump in. Doctors could learn surgery by trial and error, too, but those who end up on the operating table much prefer that doctors learn from other doctors who already know what to do. It ups the success/survival rate significantly. To posit that a horseman can learn nothing from other horseman-- perhaps a better turn-around from Todd Bergan, better position on cattle from Don Murphy, or a better lead change from Jack Brainard-- doesn't make me think that the horseman has achieved a deity-like level of skill, it makes me think that he has an ego problem.

For the sake of our horses, let's not get caught up in profound sounding pronouncements that can lead to folly, let's commit to learning more and better ways to enjoy our horses, and that includes collaborating with other horsemen.