2019-2022 were real lesson years for us to listen to the horses more than listen to the advice of external "professionals".
In that time we switched from a moderately managed system to an intensely managed system on professional advice only to find the later didn't meet our objectives and the horses hated it.
It took a lot of courage to go against the advice we were given and listen to our internal feedback instead.
Currently the herd receive low management, the lowest management I've ever done in my entire horse journey - and guess what? They're doing brilliantly on it.
What I am learning is:
- nature has it's own balance
- I do not know better than a horse how to look after it
- listen to the horses
- it's ok to try new things
- be brave, run new experiments!
- seek help from those that have already trodden your path
- non-horse people have a fresh perspective
- be wary of advice given with a vested interest
- experience goes a long way
- that often, less is more.
This current experiment will continue, because the moment I take my eye off the ball I'll loose all the great progress we've made. Plus, we've 3 other season's of learning to get through yet that will bring their own growth and development for sure!
We share because we want people to see that we practice what we preach - being flexible, adaptable, brave, willing to try new things and open to feedback. We feel these are important qualities in navigating the journey that is life and have first hand evidence of it's efficacy.