It’s hard to imagine some people anywhere else but beside or on the back of a horse. Renowned horseman Jonathan Field, author of THE ART OF LIBERTY TRAINING FOR HORSES, is one of those people. The way he moves when playing with his horses at liberty, the way he and his Quarter Horse Hal clear a fence bareback and brideless, these are images of an individual at one with the herd around him.
So what is his “typical” day really like? Is it all running through grassy meadows and viewing vistas from the back of a horse? When it comes right down to it, Jonathan says each portion of his year can be quite different, whether it is one of the 170 days he spends on the road teaching his techniques and presenting his liberty acts at expos and events, one of the summer days spent leading weeklong camps on his James Creek Ranch, or fall when he and his family host clinics at their farm near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As summer winds down in North America, Jonathan gives us a glimpse of what a day in his life might be like, during the months ahead at the Field Horsemanship Centre.
5:30 am – Wake up, start with a coffee. These days, I wake up about as fast as a Kenworth truck! So…another coffee!
6:00 am – Head across the field to the barn. Start with my young horses. This could be a short (15-minute) training session on the ground with three or four of them, or a few 45-minute rides on a couple. In the middle of a clinic tour, I like to get many short sessions on them each week rather then only a few longer sessions.
7:30 am – Run back across the field for “breaky” with the family—my wife Angie and my two boys Weston (9) and Mason (6). We visit about school and the “happenings” of the day.
8:00 am – 12 Clinic Participants start pulling in for Day 1 of a four-day clinic. Each day runs from 9 to 5. I aim to keep the number of attendees at my clinics at no more than 12 so everyone gets lots of direct hands-on help. I have a wide variety of students—from very new horse owners all the way to riders competing at international levels, and pretty much everywhere in between, in every discipline. Equine-psychology-based foundational training is what many riders need to learn when they encounter issues with their horses. I help people set this foundation—the “rock” they can build their “house” (or horse!) on.
9:00 am – Clinic starts with introductions and a session on training and riding theory.
10:00 am – Bring horses into the arena for a two-hour ground-skills session. Our key topic on Day 1 is all about leadership, and we learn how everything we do with our ground training either creates or takes away from a great connection while riding.
12:00 pm – Break for lunch. I am off to my office (thankfully on the property!) for a quick bite and to check in with messages.
1:30 pm – The riding portion of the clinic starts. We focus on three key elements in a Course 1 Clinic: Safety when horses become herdbound, spooky, or otherwise worried; rider equitation; and useful exercises to take home.
3:30 pm – A short break—I like to visit with attendees and have a laugh. Who has some good jokes? (Audience appropriate of course!) Want to hear a couple of my favorites?
What’s the hardest part about learning to ride a horse?
The ground!
What happened to the horse that swallowed a dollar bill?
It bucked!
5:00 pm – As the clinic wraps up for the day, I stick around to help anybody who may need a bit of extra time. I grab a snack if I can.
6:30 pm – I arrive at the Boxing Club. This past winter I took up training in a boxing gym three evenings a week. Why you ask?! I like to try different things and this is something I’ve always wanted to do—maybe because I have always been a bit scared to do it! I’m too old (…38…) to become a real boxer, but the training is very intense, and I love being pushed to try to keep up with the young aspiring boxers (mostly age 16 to mid-20s). Also, I go to the boxing gym with my best friend from kindergarten (yep, you heard that right), and we get to spend some great time together.
8:00 pm – Arrive home for maybe a light dinner (I try not to fill the tank too full when I don’t need it before bed) and time to spend with the kids and tuck them in and do our nightly reading. We need to get those reading minutes up so we can get a sticker from their class! (Well, so they can get the sticker from their class…)
9:00 pm – Last emails and taking care of any office requirements of the day. Plus, I set up anything I may need for the next day’s clinic.
9:20 pm – Walk through the barn, check the horses, and put out the night feed hay nets.
9:40 pm – I shut off my phone! Now’s time to visit with Angie or maybe we start a movie.
10:30 pm – Headed for bed…
11:00 pm – …hopefully sleeping!
Read more about Jonathan Field and discover his horsemanship philosophy and the liberty techniques that can lead to connection with your horse like you’ve never known it before in THE ART OF LIBERTY TRAINING FOR HORSES, available at the TSB online bookstore, where shipping in the US is FREE.
Be sure to read the other installments in the TSB “Horseworld by the Hour” blog series: