On paper, my job entails training horses, working with apprentice interns and helping with the day to day operations of the farm. In reality, I hold the titles of teacher to horse and human, observer, vet, farrier, therapist, life coach, mediator, equipment operator, and expert manure shovel-er.
My job means being a leader to horses and to people. Horses are prey animals that live in herds. At least they were and they did. The instincts haven't changed. They value safety over food and reproduction. Horses do not have wants, only needs. They need safety. The leader of a herd of wild horses is the horse that signals danger, finds water and signals the herd to move to different pastures. When a person takes a horse from wherever it spends its time, that person must provide the sense of safety that a lead horse provides. As a horse teacher, I must provide those things before I have a prayer of teaching them anything. I provide my horses with safety and boundaries. Always, everytime. Consistency is essential. I must always make the right choices easier than the wrong choices. To be successful as a horse teacher, I must create a safe environment to learn and make mistakes.
None of this is all that different than how I try to lead the people I work with. Our employees learn that doing a task right the first time is always easier than going back later to do it over. The apprentices learn that I will give them tasks that are uncomfortable, but never beyond their abilities. They learn that I will act as a guide as they are allowed to make mistakes an try again. I put effort into rewarding victories, however small. When assigning tasks, I try to look at my resources and the people involved and try to created situations that, with clear instruction, I know can be successful. Those successes lead to satisfaction in one's job or learning experience.
The goal of the program at the Morgan Horse Farm is to teach horse and human to communicate a little more effectively and work together in harmony. Lots of people would just call it horse training. I work with the horses to get along well with people and respond to conventional cues, but more importantly, I teach students to get along with horses a little better. If I can teach more students to get along with and teach horses, I will have helped more horses than I can work with on my own. My priority is learning. If the product of a whole bunch of learning is a horse and rider that can win in the show ring, it is just a bonus. The real goal is to be better off at the end of today than when we started.
Last week, I was teaching off property. Horse and rider entered the ring. I start every lesson with "What do you want to do today?" It is a way for me to create direction for the lesson. She wanted to jump. The student had done some jumping, but the horse really hadn't. My students set goals for the day, but never great expectations. Horses don't understand expectations. Halfway through this particular lesson, we were walking in a circle. That's what had to happen that day. I could have put some jumps up and figured out a way for horse and rider to make it over them. It would have been ugly and there might have been tears, but they would have jumped. It would not have been productive, nor fun. That day, productive was making things really simple and going way way back to some basics that had been neglected. The cues to the horse were not so clear, and the horse was answering those cues with inconsistent actions. The rider practiced fixing mistakes she didn't know she was making, and the horse relaxed. There was a softness and it felt good to everyone involved. I left that lesson feeling so empowered because I led a horse and rider to harmony.
The first thing I want people to see in my leadership is integrity. What is easy in the moment, is not always right long term, but if I see long term, what is right makes life a little easier in the future. The story of integrity in teaching that I just gave is an example. That horse and rider worked on their foundation, and therefore made everything that they want to do in the future a little easier.
Leadership is a trait that can always be refined. As can horsemanship. It's a wonderful lifelong project that leaves me feeling excited for all of its rewards.
My job means being a leader to horses and to people. Horses are prey animals that live in herds. At least they were and they did. The instincts haven't changed. They value safety over food and reproduction. Horses do not have wants, only needs. They need safety. The leader of a herd of wild horses is the horse that signals danger, finds water and signals the herd to move to different pastures. When a person takes a horse from wherever it spends its time, that person must provide the sense of safety that a lead horse provides. As a horse teacher, I must provide those things before I have a prayer of teaching them anything. I provide my horses with safety and boundaries. Always, everytime. Consistency is essential. I must always make the right choices easier than the wrong choices. To be successful as a horse teacher, I must create a safe environment to learn and make mistakes.
None of this is all that different than how I try to lead the people I work with. Our employees learn that doing a task right the first time is always easier than going back later to do it over. The apprentices learn that I will give them tasks that are uncomfortable, but never beyond their abilities. They learn that I will act as a guide as they are allowed to make mistakes an try again. I put effort into rewarding victories, however small. When assigning tasks, I try to look at my resources and the people involved and try to created situations that, with clear instruction, I know can be successful. Those successes lead to satisfaction in one's job or learning experience.
The goal of the program at the Morgan Horse Farm is to teach horse and human to communicate a little more effectively and work together in harmony. Lots of people would just call it horse training. I work with the horses to get along well with people and respond to conventional cues, but more importantly, I teach students to get along with horses a little better. If I can teach more students to get along with and teach horses, I will have helped more horses than I can work with on my own. My priority is learning. If the product of a whole bunch of learning is a horse and rider that can win in the show ring, it is just a bonus. The real goal is to be better off at the end of today than when we started.
Last week, I was teaching off property. Horse and rider entered the ring. I start every lesson with "What do you want to do today?" It is a way for me to create direction for the lesson. She wanted to jump. The student had done some jumping, but the horse really hadn't. My students set goals for the day, but never great expectations. Horses don't understand expectations. Halfway through this particular lesson, we were walking in a circle. That's what had to happen that day. I could have put some jumps up and figured out a way for horse and rider to make it over them. It would have been ugly and there might have been tears, but they would have jumped. It would not have been productive, nor fun. That day, productive was making things really simple and going way way back to some basics that had been neglected. The cues to the horse were not so clear, and the horse was answering those cues with inconsistent actions. The rider practiced fixing mistakes she didn't know she was making, and the horse relaxed. There was a softness and it felt good to everyone involved. I left that lesson feeling so empowered because I led a horse and rider to harmony.
The first thing I want people to see in my leadership is integrity. What is easy in the moment, is not always right long term, but if I see long term, what is right makes life a little easier in the future. The story of integrity in teaching that I just gave is an example. That horse and rider worked on their foundation, and therefore made everything that they want to do in the future a little easier.
Leadership is a trait that can always be refined. As can horsemanship. It's a wonderful lifelong project that leaves me feeling excited for all of its rewards.
That was not only eloquent writing, but a powerful representation of leading and learning. I felt like I could see every principle you mentioned being key in human interactions, classrooms, organizations and plenty of places with our without animals. Thank you for sharing your craft with writing and with horses and humans. I can see some very strong visuals emerging with this.
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