๐๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ.
๐’๐ฎ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด๐ฆ.
How many times have you said a phrase like the above, or heard it said by others?
Horses don’t think like humans.
Horses don’t have ambitions. They don’t have a ‘five year plan’, long term goals or a dream job.
Horses don’t think about making mistakes like we do. They don’t stay up late at night in their stables worrying about that stride they fluffed up, or whether the other horses in the yard think they’re useless because they had a pole down.
Horses don’t know how talented they are. They don’t think about whether they might be better suited to doing a different discipline, or how much happier they would be if they could only do bigger jumps or more complex dressage movements.
What matters to a horse, is not the same as what matters to a human.
Their ‘ambition’ is to have their basic care needs met – to be fed, watered, free of pain and to feel safe.
Their ‘dream job’ is much more likely to resemble a lawnmower than a 1.30m showjumper.
Their ‘salary expectations’ come in a bucket every morning, or out of the pocket of the nearest unsuspecting human.
A ‘mistake’ to them, is feeding them five minutes later than usual 
Yes, horses can enjoy their jobs and look forward to working. Some do better in regular work.
Yes, horses can have a preference or natural ability for a particular discipline. They should be allowed to to do more of what they’re good at.
Yes, horses can have a strong work ethic, love to learn and enjoy pleasing their human. You can harness this at any level.
And yes, horses can get bored – variety is the spice of life, after all!
But they certainly don’t sit there wondering what it might be like to be ridden by Charlotte Dujardin or take on Badminton.
Love your horses. Enjoy them.
Ride at a level you both feel secure at, in a discipline you both enjoy.
Stop worrying about their talent or potential.
Because they certainly don’t.