Team PracAfter the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a screeching halt in 2020 and shows across the country shuttered, the pause in normality forced us to reexamine our competition goals, our definitions of success and how we want to spend time with our horses. Fast forward six years, and we should still take a moment to think about what we want out of our horse lives.
Is it more important to win a blue ribbon or that you and your horse improve? Are you just a rider or are you a horseman? All of us are drawn together by our love of horses. It amazes me how my life is guided by my consuming love for these animals. If you’re like me, it’s a rare day that I don’t pause for a moment and lovingly stroke a horse or touch that warm velvet just above his muzzle.
When you spend your life with horses, you often go places you’ve never been and get a perspective from the saddle that’s denied to those who don’t ride. I’ve ridden by the U.S. Capitol Building in a presidential inaugural parade and past a mud hut in Zimbabwe; I’ve done a dressage test in front of a castle in Scotland and tied my horse to a tree in a rain storm in the Rockies. Horses give us an enormous range of activities and a worldwide location to enjoy them.
Riders Versus Horsemen
These days, people are increasingly specializing in their equestrian activities, thus depriving themselves of the many other wonderful experiences on horseback—experiences that make us more complete horsemen, not just riders. You can go to a competition with various disciplines and watch riders jump their horses, or people who never jump their horses, or people who jump off their horses—on purpose.
No matter what kind of competition I watch, I am invariably asked, “Do you think we have more riders but fewer horsemen these days?” My answer is always, “Yes.” Webster’s Dictionary defines a horseman as someone mounted on a horse. My personal definition is much more extensive than that.
So what is the difference between a horseman and a rider? In my view, a horseman knows more about horses than how to get them ready for their next competition or how to ride them in the ring. Ernest Hemingway once said that you aren’t an adult until you’ve had three careers. In the same way, I think you can’t claim to be a horseman until you’ve done more than one thing with a horse.
I started making a list of things that horsemen should do, but my editor told me it was too long, so I made out a checklist of a few of the incredible number of things you can do with horses. I put most of them on the list based on personal experience, but a few of them are still out there in my future. I encourage you to try as many as you can!
The Horseman’s ‘Have You Ever … ?’
- Led your horse down to the paddock at daybreak, stopped to watch the sunrise and said a prayer of thanks?
- Ridden your horse bareback with a halter?
- Gone swimming with your horse?
- Gotten back on a horse who has just bucked you off, even though you were scared?
- Jumped through a flaming hoop of fire?
- Slept with your horse in his stall … sober?
- Been run away with, put your hands down on his neck and felt him slow down?
- Escaped a forest fire by riding down out of the Rockies in a world lit only by starlight?
- Been the first person to ride a young horse?
- Held the pommel while your horse cut a cow out of the herd?
- Thrown a diamond hitch on a pack horse?
- Held the reins of a four-in-hand?
- Been hurt by a horse who meant to hurt you?
- Sat against a tree and read a paperback book while your horse grazed next to you?
- Taught a horse to jump?
- Delivered a foal?
- Sat up all night with a colic case?
- Picked out a stall in muck boots while wearing a formal or tuxedo?
- Galloped a racehorse?
- Thought to yourself, This is really going to hurt, on your way down?
- Made a nervous horse calm?
- Jumped your own height on horseback?
- Ridden in a steeplechase race?
- Had a bad day at the office, said “the heck with it,” and gone for a hack instead of training your horse?
- Been the only human there when the foxhounds caught up with their fox?
- Ridden a horse above the timberline?
- Held the lead shank while the vet put your horse to sleep?
- Stopped for a moment to think about how lucky you are to be in a world that has horses in it?
We hope this list helps you reevaluate your goals and perceptions of success and encourages you to step out of your comfort zone and expand your experience as a horseman—and hopefully emerge with a more meaningful relationship with your horse.
About Jim Wofford
Jim Wofford competed in three Olympic Games and two World Championships. He also won the U.S. National Championship five times on five different horses. He was a highly respected coach. For decades beginning in 1978, he had at least one student on every United States Olympic, World Championship and Pan American Team. The legendary Wofford passed away on February 2, 2023.
This article originally appeared in the Summer 2020 issue.
