A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor, a perfect horse never made a skillful rider.

When I was looking for my first horse I was a pretty beginner rider and I was advised so many times to get a Schoolmaster to learn “the right way” to be safe and sound. I also heard a lot that green on green makes black and blue, and got a lot of discouraging comments when instead of 18+ y.o school master who’s “been there, done that” I got myself a 5 y.o OTTB with a “questionable” background and “some training”. People said that I will either get myself killed or completely give up on riding as it would be close to impossible to get anything done right….

But … somehow I proved them all wrong. Of course, that did not happen overnight. Without much support from my riding buddies, I dived into reading everything I could find on how to handle; train a young horse with “baggage” and how to keep both of us save and sound by doing all that. By not having any formal horse training I let my intuition guide me and pick and choose what technics to try and which ones to stay away. During our journey, something worked, something didn’t, but I believed in me and him and what we can become one day. I was adsorbing everything

I could get my hands on; watched multiple videos, read variety of books, attended many different clinics. I talked to barn managers, vets, riders, trainers listened and analyzed. I went a long way and had a huge learning curve, but we both successfully made it and no one get hurt. Now we ride dressage, or cross country, or play in a field bareback with a rope halter, or without. My journey helped me to discover the greatest in my horse, really get to know and understand him and find my really best true friend.

So, if you love the challenge and smart enough not to get yourself killed, don’t be afraid to get a somewhat young /green horse, just do your homework ( a lot of it) and try it, try it, try it.. slowly (!!!) The chances are, with time and patience, you will learn so much more at the end that any schoolmaster could ever teach you.