When we learn to ride, we’re actually learning much more than how to steer, control the horse’s speed, and keep our own bodies in check. Here are 6 important life lessons that we can learn from horses.
1. What We Say Doesn’t Matter
When you work with horses, words don’t matter. Horses don’t understand them. We could say anything to a horse and he wouldn’t know the difference between a compliment and criticism. But our tone and our actions – those make all the difference.
2. Stressful Times Bring Out Who We Really Are
How you react to your horse when you’re under pressure, whether jumping a high fence or competing in a horse show, can really bring out aspects of your personality that you didn’t know were there. Who we become under pressure can be an eye-opening life lesson we learn from horses.
3. Hard Work Pays Off
When you ride horses, you work in the heat, you spend years trying to master aspects of riding, you spend hours each day caring for your horse, and you pay lots of money for lessons. You also know that all of this hard work pays off in a perfect canter, a perfect jump, and the knowledge that you are a better rider today than you were a year ago.
4. It’s Important to Forgive
Horses are masters of forgiveness. Put them at a bad distance to a fence and they will forgive you the next time around. Make a mistake and pull them off balance, and they will continue on. It would do us all good to learn to forgive even half as willingly as horses do.
5. Trust Can Be Built
When you first met your horse, chances are that neither of you completely trusted each other. But work with a horse long enough and you’ll quickly learn that trust can absolutely be built. Sometimes you’ll learn that trust can be broken, too. And, if you work at it long enough, you can build up trust again once it’s been broken.
Looking for advice on how to strengthen your bond with your horse? Check out these 5 Ways To Build Trust With Your Horse.
6. A Gallop Is Good For You
If you’ve ever taken your horse for a good gallop through a field, then you’ll have learned that galloping is good for you. And not just from a physical standpoint – a good gallop allows the rest of the world to fall away and fills you with a sense of joy that is difficult to find anywhere else in the world.
What life lessons have you learned from horses? Let us know in the comments below!
