I rode horses throughout my childhood, and I thoroughly believe that I would not be the person I am today without this experience. Here are some of the important life lessons that I learned from riding horses as a child and that continue to be applicable to my life today:
1. Responsibility
As a kid, I can recall days where I had to choose between hanging out with my friends or heading to the barn to feed and exercise my horse. The former was always tempting, but the latter always won out. My horse was my responsibility, and to prioritize my desires over his needs was to fail him.
Whether a child owns a horse or simply rides whenever they can, being around horses entails a large amount of responsibility.
By being involved with horses, a young rider will learn to care for another living being. They will learn to put another’s needs in front of their own, and they will learn to make decisions based on long-term outcomes rather than short-term inclinations.
This lesson has stayed with me. Knowing how to make the responsible choice has helped me succeed in college, work, and medical school, and I know that it will be invaluable in my future career as well.
2. Teamwork
One of the most important things I learned from being around horses is knowing how to recognize my own weaknesses and recognizing when I need to rely on others and ask for help.
From the outside, horseback riding may seem like an individual sport, but in reality it is a team activity. Trainers, barn members, friends, and family can all be teammates, all of whom may have something to offer. It is important to maintain these relationships and know when to ask for advice when needed.
However, the most important teammate is the horse. The only way one will become a successful rider is if they see their horse as a partner, rather than as an animal to be dominated. Over time, a young rider will learn how to form an effective, working bond with the horse, and, just like with human teammates, both horse and rider will learn to trust and respect each other and eventually work seamlessly together.
I remember the time when I was struggling to teach my horse lead changes. I was just a beginner, so this was out of my league. Being able to recognize this was difficult at first because I wanted to be the one to accomplish this goal, but ultimately, having a more experienced rider teach my horse how to change leads while I learned on a more seasoned horse was the right decision, and it made my horse and me a better and stronger team in the long run.
3. Patience
I got my horse when he was seven months old. I was only nine years old at the time, and there were times when training him felt akin to Sisyphus pushing his boulder up a hill.
It was exhausting, frustrating, and time-consuming. There were times when I wanted to quit and simply play soccer, like my friends at school did.
But I did not quit.
As mentioned above, my horse was my responsibility, and I would not abandon him through the training process. I had to develop a strong sense of patience. Two steps forward would be followed by one step back, but gradually, we made progress – we went from hand walking, to riding and learning to steer, to attempting lead changes, and to finally jumping fences.
All in all, the process of taking a seven-month-old horse from untrained to showjumping took roughly five years, and to be honest, it is still a work-in-progress – we are still learning from each other every time I ride, even to this day.
This process taught me that patience and hard work pay off. This appreciation for delayed gratification has served me well in other aspects of life; indeed, I believe that my tolerance for delayed gratification has helped me survive the long process of becoming a physician. I may have had a different response during the process, but if you were to ask me now, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.
4. Communication
Similar to teamwork, communication in all aspects of horseback riding is important. It is necessary to be able to clearly express yourself to barn owners, trainers, grooms, stablehands, and other riders.
However, it is most important to learn to communicate with the horse.
This is a form of silent communication. From my own horse, I learned to have entire conversations without speaking a word.
As a child, I learned to read body language intimately from my horse. I learned to read a shift in body weight, the flick of an ear, or the swish of a tail. I learned to recognize the subtleties of communication that tend to be less obvious in human interactions.
I learned to read the emotions of a horse and to be attuned and sensitive to the needs of others. I learned to be okay with silence, and I learned to be present.
Learning this skill early in life has been invaluable to me, and, as a medical student, it has been particularly important when dealing with sick or dying patients. As I learned from my horse, oftentimes the most valuable communication occurs in silence – holding a hand, passing a tissue, or simply being present for someone during their last moments on earth.
5. Trust and Confidence
A horse is obviously a large animal. To be on a horse’s back, not to mention galloping or flying over jumps, requires a large amount of trust.
This kind of trust is something that can only be built over time.
Riders have to trust that the horse will listen to their directions. They also have to trust in themselves and believe that they have the necessary skills to guide their horse without either of them getting hurt.
Likewise, the horse has to trust the rider. The horse has to trust that the rider won’t ask him to do anything dangerous and that the rider has his best interests at heart.
A trust like this is necessary to build a strong foundation, but once it is built, it is unlike any other relationship. It can be transcendental and freeing, and it can allow amazing things to happen.
It can also allow a young rider to be brave. Bravery is not the absence of fear, but rather the willingness to proceed despite it. Like all things new and potentially dangerous, learning to ride horses requires a certain amount of bravery.
This bravery, however, will eventually lead to confidence.
As an adult I’ve had to draw on this lesson a lot – I’ve had to be brave in situations where my initial reaction was to be fearful or anxious. Nowhere is this more true than in medicine, where every day in the hospital feels like a new challenge to overcome.
In medicine, first I will be nervous, then I will be brave. I haven’t quite reached full confidence yet, but similar to horseback riding, I am confident that someday I will.
Written by: Hailey Roumimper