When I was a kid, I was largely taught by more experienced horse people. My mentors owned a riding school and I worked casually for them in exchange for lessons. They taught me everything from how to tie a knot to how to perform a half halt and position a horse in front of a jump. All the basic skills that a person needs to know at the beginning began by religiously following the instruction of my two mentors. I didn’t think too much about what I was told or why things were done that way. It was what it was because my mentors said so.

So today 90% of my new knowledge comes from horses and thinking/experimentation. The rest is divided between other professionals, books, videos, and students. Who knows where it will come from tomorrow?

This is a quote from the Good Horsemanship by Ross Jacobs Facebook page in a post titled The Evolution of Learning from November 13, 2022.

Unlike Ross, my horsemanship journey started at age 10 with six lessons at the local stable, books from the public library, and a subscription to Western Horseman Magazine.

My family lived in a horse friendly community. And I sometimes got lessons from the 16 year old boy down the street. But my horse was kept in a small barn near our house, and I rode every day the weather allowed it. I fed my horse, groomed my horse, was bucked off my horse, got back on my horse and got thrown less as time went on. Most of what I learned about horses was learned from my horse and experimentation.

My family moved after about a year. My horse was sold, and I didn't ride much for almost 30 years.

When I bought a horse and started riding again, I took lessons and attended clinics and watched videos. I was working full time so there was much less time for riding. Most of my knowledge came from these expert sources of information and I tried to apply that information to my horse with varying levels of success.

Now in my early seventies, I would agree with Ross that 90% of my new knowledge comes from my horses and thinking and experimentation. For me there is no one horsemanship method or mentor who has all the answers for me and my horses.

I hope you’re at a place in life that allows you to experiment with your horses, and watch for feedback from them to learn what works and what doesn’t. I hope that you think of horsemanship as a journey with detours and occasional setbacks. I hope you enjoy every day on your journey to better horsemanship in the second half of life .

Here's a link to Descript, the audio and video editing software that I use and recommend.

And here's a link to the Second Half Horsemanship website.