You must somehow understand that we as horsemen can do very little to teach the horse. What we can do is to create an environment in which he can learn.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of creating a conducive environment for effective learning rather than simply trying to impose knowledge.
Monty Roberts highlights that as horsemen, our role is not to directly teach horses, but to cultivate an environment that fosters their ability to learn. This reflects a broader principle applicable to education and training, where the focus should be on setting the stage for growth and understanding rather than solely directing the learner.
In practice
This quote can be used in a workshop on effective teaching methods.
I had been riding horses before my memory kicked in, so my life with horses had no beginning. It simply appeared from the fog of infancy. I survived a difficult childhood by traveling on the backs of horses, and in adulthood the pattern didn't change.
A good trainer can hear a horse speak to him. A great trainer can hear him whisper.
For centuries, humans have said to horses, 'You do what I tell you or I'll hurt you.' Humans still say that to each other -- still threaten, force and intimidate. I'm convinced that my discoveries with horses have value in the workplace, in the educational and penal systems, and in the raising of children. At heart, I'm saying that no one else has the right to say 'you must' to an animal -- or to another human.
The more important argument against grade curves is that they create an atmosphere that's toxic by pitting students against one another. At best, it creates a hypercompetitive culture, and at worst, it sends students the message that the world is a zero-sum game: Your success means my failure.
Human resources are like natural resources; they're often buried deep You have to go looking for them; they're not just lying around on the surface You have to create the circumstances where they show themselves.
I read a lot, I write a lot, and I have conversations with people I think are intelligent and wise.
What enriches language is its being handled and exploited by beautiful minds-not so much by making innovations as by expanding it through more vigorous and varied applications, by extending it and deploying it. It is not words that they contribute: what they do is enrich their words, deepen their meanings and tie down their usage; they teach it unaccustomed rhythms, prudently though and with ingenuity.
Your task, O preacher, is to make sure that you are faithful to the text, that you are faithful to the proclamation of that gospel, that you are faithful to set forth the whole counsel of God, and then step back and let it happen.
To be able to be caught up into the world of thought - that is being educated.
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