unspoken bond horse rider cowgirl magazine
There’s no bond like the one between a rider and their horse!

The bond between a horse and human is quite different than a bond between a human and dog, or a human and cat. People ask much more of horses than they ask of households pets. No other animal in the world is asked to perform as mentally complicated tasks as a horse completes while trucking a person along on their backs.

My story

I have owned horses that I haven’t bonded with, and those horses are the ones that I didn’t train myself. Texas, the horse that I have the strongest bond with, is the first horse I trained on my own. We didn’t see eye to eye for the first several months that I owned him, and I was forced to think outside the box to come up with exercises that would resonate with him.

unspoken bond horse rider cowgirl magazine
Texas and I soaking up the sun earlier this year by the famous Superstition Mountains.

He challenged me, and, in turn, an unspoken bond was formed between him and I through the hours of groundwork, the blood, sweat, and tears, lessons learned on the trail, and arena work.

I’ve now owned Texas for nearly three years, and him and I are completely in sync with one another. He knows exactly what I’m asking for in the saddle, and puts his entire heart into everything that he does.

Before my very eyes, the scrawny buckskin that liked to rear, bolt, and buck has become a muscular athlete, and as attentive and well-demeanored as they come.

Horses want to be led. Texas needed someone who would be there each day, give him a job, and look after him, and he found that in me. When I walk into the barn each day, he stops what he’s doing to greet me. When he’s turned out he keeps an eye on me, and when I’m riding we communicate back and forth with ease.

Cowgirls, there’s no bond like the bond between a horse and rider, and to have that bond is to be blessed beyond measure.

For more of my adventures in the saddle, follow me on on Instagram here!