Thursday Morning Feed

Good morning Horse Nation! Hope you’ve got a couple cups of coffee under your belt and are well on your way to a productive and fulfilling day.

We’ve got some great stuff coming your way today, including but not limited to a new installation of our great Thursday series, “Everyday Conditioning” by Katie Passerotti. This week, Katie tackles the subject of doing your homework in between lessons.

You probably don’t have the funds to be under a trainer’s supervision each time you swing your leg over a horse’s back. And why would you want that? Learning to ride well is an adventure of trial and error, and while having a great trainer on call is invaluable, there are certain aspects of it that ultimately nobody can teach you–you have to figure them out yourself.

I think we’ve all seen riders–and perhaps we’ve been those riders ourselves–who start using lessons as a crutch. You don’t have to think as hard when a trainer is barking commands at you. In the long run, though, it’s not going to make you a better rider, and it’s not going to help you when you’re out there on your own in the lonely show ring.

I like Katie’s article because she reassures us that it’s OK to screw up on occasion when we’re schooling on our own. So long as you learn from it, mistakes can be great teachers in and of themselves–and they’re totally, 100% free.

Look forward to Katie’s article sometime this morning, and we’ve got much much more coming to you where that came from.

Have a great day, and Go Riding!