Some advise of a lifetime of ranch work and advice from valued mentors -

Buster McLaury, Cowboy Clinician:

A lot of times, if you´re having trouble with a horse, if you could ask the horse what was going on, he´d tell you:

"I wasn´t sure what I was supposed to do and, besides that, I was afraid."

That´s a big deal to understand, right off the start. The horse is never, ever wrong.

Where he´s coming from, in his mind, he´s doing exactly what he thinks he´s supposed to do or what he thinks he needs to do to survive.

If the human could just learn to give a little bit, then the horse could learn to give it back. Ray Hunt always said if the human could just give 5 percent, the horse would come up with the other 95 percent.

But it´s pretty hard, it seems like, for the human to learn to give. Most everybody, they want to take. They get on the horse, and they want to take him over this direction, take him over there, speed him up and slow him down.

And while those changes in direction and speed are important pieces of the horse´s foundation, the trick is to allow them to happen, not force them to happen.

One way to meld horse and rider into a single unit is by offering the horse support when he´s afraid.

If he´s properly supported ty his rider, the horse´s fear will turn into curiosity, which will then turn into confidence.

And like so many things in life, Buster says horsemanship is really pretty simple. It´s not easy, but it´s simple.

Fix it up, let him find it. Allow him time to learn... You learn to take care of your horse and help him when he´s afraid. First thing you know, he´ll take care of you.