The Best Way

The best way to each of us will mean something totally different. For some it may mean owning the best horse of breeding stock, for others the best quality tack that money can buy, while for others it may be the best in our ability to ride.

Working with horses, when we commence any kind of training, most of us are looking, searching, for the very best way in which to do so; the greatest trainers and horseman are no different!

'The best way' was something I was intent on searching for, and I guess to some extent I subconsciously still am. I always wanted to find what was the best and most effective way to work with horses in a certain way, from the ability to read them, to executing a certain task.

Sure, there are certain approaches that can be more effective and beneficial with specific horses than others, which includes putting that 'best way' in to practise. This brings in to question the application; just because the application works, does it make it the best way for the horse?

When we talk about the best way for the horse, is there a universal definition to what that is? For me, a loose definition would be one that does not compromise the horses emotionally of physical well-being for a 'result'. I have never been a fan of fixed methods or rigid techniques, because with years of experience and behavioural knowledge, the best way will only work until it doesn't.

At some time, maybe today, tomorrow or even a few years from now, one horse will come along and blow everything you thought you new about how to do something in to pieces, like a bale of hay blown about in the wind.

Horses are individual and as unique as you and I. You see this in herd mates and siblings; their way of handling may be the same, yet their personalities and way in which they process the world are different. The best way works until that one horse shows us it is not the best for them.

What happens then, when we realise that our best way doesn't work? The answer is pretty simple. We find the better way.

As humans, we can become a little blind-sided by tunnel vision, chasing that holey grail of technique and application. Within this mindset, it is too easy for the ego to take over, resulting in us missing important learning opportunities, subtleties that could one day be presented to a different horse, and often the sacrifice of the horses emotional and physical well-being.

If we put our ego aside, we can realise there is no best way. There is so much we are still to discover about horses, and a lot to learn about ourselves.

The best way is looking for a better way.

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