Be Your Best Horsemanship

My entire training program is based off of failures. Or, rather, the lessons I’ve learned through failures. Every trial and error experience I’ve been through over the years has shaped some part of my training process or my philosophies. Without those challenges, I don’t think I would be half the trainer I am today. Failing is never fun, but it is up to you to determine whether that failure is goi...

As a horse trainer, one of the most challenging parts of managing a business is managing customer relationships. One of the most common errors trainers run into is mismanaging their customer's expectations. It is imperative that you are truthful and upfront with your customers. It is your job to help your customers have realistic expectations for what they are willing to put into their horse’s tra...

26 years ago, we were living on 10 acres with a 14x80’ trailer house. When we moved in, it was a fixer upper. We added a few pens and barns to make it functional. I fixed up one of our neighbor’s arenas and rented it out to train my horses. I remember one particular day where I told myself I wasn’t good enough. My training was rough that day, and I finally decided that if I was going to do this fo...

This year in particular, the rodeo industry has evolved tremendously in the level of competition at each event. With the impact of the pandemic, the number of events on the PRCA schedule has been reduced drastically. So, what happens when there finally is a rodeo to enter? Everyone goes to it. Where there might have been 8 of the top 50 cowboys/cowgirls at a rodeo before, now, there are 30 of the...

Last weekend, my daughter Hannah got married. As the father-of-the-bride, I was asked to say a few words after the ceremony. Those who have met me before know that I usually have no trouble coming up with plenty to say, but for this speech, I thought long and hard about the message I wanted to share. I thought back to what I wish I would have known as a 20-something year old. And, here’s what I ca...

Training horse is like trying to solve a puzzle with thousands of pieces. Over time, we slowly put the pieces together, but sometimes there is one particular piece we are searching for to complete the picture. Once we find that piece, everything seems to come together. The same is true for our training. One piece that solves a lot of puzzles is the concept of slowing your hands down. Slowing your...

Running hard is a reactive response for a horse. This is the same response that is triggered when a horse is afraid of something. Their natural instincts tell them to run away at a high rate of speed. In the barrel racing, we ask our horses for this same reactive response four times during a run—coming through the gate and after turning all three barrels. For this reason, it is essential to have a...

Our recent clinic in Hermosa, South Dakota was one for the books. We had an extremely advanced set of horses and trainers at this clinic, and there were many great training philosophies unveiled throughout the weekend. Here is a recap of some of our biggest takeaways from the clinic: Not everything is going to be perfect. Throughout your horsemanship journey, you will undoubtedly encounter a few s...

“I just haven’t had time.” How many times have we used this excuse? Maybe we were referring to riding our horses, or maybe we were thinking about the laundry we haven’t folded yet. But, the truth is, we always have the time. We just might not have the necessary level of commitment. Commitment is a funny thing. Our minds are always at war against us. This is because our brains are wired to talk us...

The mental game of horsemanship is arguably the most difficult part of the journey. Most of you have high goals for yourselves as trainers. You constantly want to get to that next level.  It's important to remember that you can’t succeed at a high level unless you learn to fail big. Once you accept that, you will be able to recover from those failures much quicker. It can be easy to fall into...

On this week’s episode, I’m covering some of the key training philosophies we focused on during our recent horsemanship clinic series in Denison, Iowa. Working Hard Through Hard Times It is human nature to be hard on ourselves. But, we can overcome this by being thankful for the opportunities that are in front of us. If we can continue to work hard, our time will come. Hard work doesn’t always pay...

In this week’s episode, I had a chance to sit down with Kelsie Chace to recap our breakaway clinic in Dickinson, North Dakota. Kelsie is an unbelievable talent in the breakaway roping, but she is an even better human being. If you ever get the chance to learn from Kelsie Chace, I highly recommend you take advantage of that opportunity. Read our full Q&A session on the blog at beyourbesthorsema...

As a whole, the roping industry is stronger now than ever before. The opportunities for ropers continue to evolve, and the competition is becoming tougher each day. As the skill level of the ropers increases, the importance of horse power is becoming an even more prominent factor in separating the “good” from the “great.” With so much opportunity ahead of ropers at this point in time, having a wel...

As you progress a horse in its training, it is inevitable that you will be challenged. When you are being challenged, how you perceive and react to that challenge is everything. It is hard to be thankful for a challenge when you are right in the middle of it, but that challenge is what is stimulating you to get better. One of the biggest philosophy changes we must make with our horsemanship journe...

“How fast should my horse progress?” I get this question a lot from my clients, but in a way, it is a trick question. Your horse progresses at the speed of your own knowledge. When we are working on our horsemanship, the change we should be searching for is not necessarily with our horses—it is within ourselves. As trainers, we have to understand the value of personal development in the overall va...

Horsemanship is not about the horse—it is about the rider. Building the one-on-one relationship between you and your horse takes time and patience. It requires consistent evaluation of our own understanding and making small adjustments in the way we present ideas to our horses.  You must use a smooth, slow, methodical process to transfer your understanding of horsemanship principles to your h...

Sometimes, you will run into training a horse where it seems like every day is a challenge. In those situations, you have to find a way to gain momentum. Even the smallest “wins” can help you build momentum, and the benchmarks of momentum will be different with every horse. For one horse, simply loping in a controlled circle may be the mark you’re striving for today. Let your horse have those smal...

Jump on the road with Phil Haugen as he shares some thoughts about horses, travel, and training while driving to his next clinic series. Listen closely for special preview of our 2021 clinic schedule!

When you get together with someone else in the training business and listen to their philosophies, you come away with a refreshed or even a brand new perspective. During our recent clinic with futurity trainer, Ashley Schafer, I learned so much from the way she applies horsemanship principles to her discipline of barrel racing. When you attend a clinic or ride with someone who is more advanced tha...

One of the biggest mental challenges we run into as trainers is a lack of time. Most of us are faced with tremendously busy schedules, which makes it difficult to devote adequate time to our horses. It seems as though we never get “done”—we just find a place to stop and start again the next day. It took me a long time to get comfortable with this idea. Years ago, I was very hard on myself if there...

We often underestimate how much our horses rely on our feel, timing, and balance. I’ve touched on this topic in previous episodes, but this week, I want to dive into some of the reasons why it is so important to understand how a horse’s anatomy impacts its responses. In terms of vision, our horses’ eyes work a little bit differently than ours do. Horses are blessed with some skills in their vision...

I think we often underestimate how much our horses rely on our feel, timing, and balance. Horses are prey animals, meaning their anatomy is structured to allow them to see what is behind them or what is chasing them. This is why a horse, by nature, tends to have reactive responses, unless trained otherwise. With they way a horse’s eyes are positioned on its head, I’m not convinced that horses can...

When I meet someone who has a big smile, I never forget that person’s name. Why? Because, that person made a good first impression. The reason we tend to remember our first impressions of people so well is because the things we remember are attached to emotions. The same is true for our horses. Our horses learn through emotion, and those emotions can be positive or negative. Every time we interact...

This week, I worked with two small groups of trainers—barrel racers and team ropers—on some tune ups with their performance horses. Though they were working in completely different disciplines of horsemanship, the trainers were running into very similar issues. Both groups of trainers were struggling to effectively communicate the release to their horses. I see many trainers who are taught to comm...

Indefinite. This word has really resonated with me lately. The word indefinite leaves a huge unknown at the end of every sentence, and I know it has really made me take a step back and think about the way I do things everyday. Although my business is blessed to have a steady inventory of horses in training, my family has not been exempt from the financial, mental, and emotional struggle that comes...