There was a brilliant TikTok post done by English Ivy Farms talking about the difference between being a boarding client, a lesson student, or a person with a horse in for training.

As a boarder, I’m a client. I enter into a contract with the person who owns or manages the boarding facility. That contract clearly states what is offered for horse care and what my duties as the owner are for care. In this case, I’m a client. If the owner/manager isn’t upholding their part of the contract, we can have a conversation and fix what’s missing, or I’m able to take my horse somewhere else. If I don’t uphold my part of the contract as a horse owner, the manager/owner of the facility is well within their rights to ask me to leave.

There is a clearly stated contract with expectations and timelines from both sides: owner/manager to client. This very simple exchange does not exist with lessons and training sessions.

As someone taking lessons, I’m a student. I’m paying for knowledge. What I do with that knowledge, and how I apply that knowledge, is entirely up to me. Some instructors throughout my life have really resonated with me, and I’ve learned a phenomenal amount.

Other instructors did me some good, but I didn’t always like the methods or the explanations didn’t resonate with me. I can then decide that I’d like to be a student somewhere else.

When I’m a student, there is no specific contract. No even exchange. I pay for the knowledge from a specific person, but what I do with that knowledge is wholly up to me.

As a teacher and instructor, I can attest that no two students learn and progress the same – even if they were given the same horse and the same lessons. I’m being paid for my knowledge, but what my students do with that knowledge, or how they apply that knowledge, or fast they learn that information…is completely out of my hands.

The same is true for training horses. No two horses are the same. They require different pressures and different rewards. What one horse learns in a day, another horse may take weeks to understand. The steps and knowledge that horse needs to have before I move them to the next step is not different from one horse to another. A horse needs to know how to do an established set of skills before we move up to the next level of training–whether that skill takes one week or one month.

Horses, just like people, come with the baggage of their experiences so far. Some of those experiences make training easier, and some make training far more difficult. I will not set a timeline for a horse in training (example: I will not promise a horse will be under saddle in X amount of weeks, or a horse will learn flying changes in X amount of days).

Just like my riding students, a horse needs a specific skillset before we can level up what we’re doing in our sessions.

There is no simple and even exchange of information and result when teaching people or horses.

We live in a result-driven world. When it comes to training and riding, please please please consider that the journey IS (or can be) the destination. Fast-paced, slow-paced…take your learning at the pace you want and allow your horse to do the same.

I’ve been riding since I was about 7. I still have things to learn. I also have things to teach and share. Learning horses can be a lifelong process and no matter how much we know, there is always more to learn. Enjoy the process.

~ Jolene

First ride on Cosette (Cozy) – Summer 2024