I was sitting at my son’s T-ball practice this evening watching the kids learn the sport. It’s 6-and-under and co-ed, so you can guess the variety in size, interest and knowledge from child to child. There were kids who had no interest in anything but climbing the fence and picking and chowing down weeds. There were kids who have plenty of talent and speed but are complete knotheads. And then there were just a couple kids with decent ability but had something most of the others lacked — coachability. They were there to be trained. To improve. To get better. And by the end of practice, they did.
This got me thinking about horses.
See, in raising, training and competing on these animals, we are constantly celebrating talent. The horses in the winner’s circle, no matter the event, are generally talented and gifted specimens. They move pretty. They are the genetic, mental and physical epitome of what we want in a competitive partner. That’s really something to be impressed by.
But I would like to throw a nod to the horses that are not ate up with talent. The ones who might be a little slow-footed or limited physically but have an excess of try, effort, kindness and most of all — trainability.
They aren’t always the freak athletes. They aren’t always the flashiest colors or have a wicked sense of what to do before their rider says so. They are the “Yes Man.” There is always a place in the barn for a horse that is ready, willing and constantly improving. If they keep getting better, the trainer must be doing something right. See, the trainable horses get an advantage over the ones that are really tough, for they often end up with more time and training on them than they really should receive for their skill level. Trainers don’t want to give up on them. They do not make us pull our hair out. We don’t lose sleep at night over them. A horse like that, well, even if he’s not open caliber, should always land in a spot where he’s loved and appreciated because he is made of the right stuff; the stuff that most every rider can recognize and utilize — good work ethic and a learning frame of mind.
Some talented individuals fall to the wayside because they can’t take the pressure or the formula that’s applied. Sometimes that’s the trainer’s fault, but sometimes we raise horses that just aren’t meant to be shown, no matter how incredible they are. I’m guessing that a lot of the hall-of-famers in rodeo, breed shows or western performance events are just nice horses that had a can-do attitude and followed the program with gains throughout the years.
Just like the T-ball field, I believe genetics play a big part. Just like the T-ball field, I also believe we can help them figure out how to learn better. This starts with the breeder, transitions into halter breaking and handling, through starting under saddle and carries all the way up into mature years. Pressure is helpful when it’s done in the right way. If we can help a horse learn how to think with our own timing, feel and challenges set, he is often set up to be more successful later in life. Can you raise a coachable kid? Can you create a trainable horse? The answer is yes, with good advice and the right skills and help.
Let’s give the decent horses with extreme trainability some credit. They may not be open-caliber, but boy are they a pleasure to have in the barn.
Let’s also give the ultra-talented, fractious-minded ones a better chance to succeed later in life, for it seems like such a waste if we don’t. They receive too much or too little, too late, and often end up unusable for any sort of easy path.
And please, let’s give that kid in right field who’s chewing on flowers some sort of a real snack.
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