Learning New Tricks with Denny Emerson

A Leg Up: The Magic of Horsecraft and Life!

Denny Emerson is an old dog in the horse industry, showing us that it is never too late to learn new tricks.

Denny’s life with horses began with the pure pleasure of riding bareback around his neighborhood on his first horse, Paint; then to riding Morgans in saddle seat and endurance races, and eventually to success in international sport that included a Team Gold at the World Championships in 1974. Born in 1941, he was taught by a generation who grew up with horses: horses plowed our fields, horses drove us to town, horses were used in war. As the world of horse sport exploded in North America, Denny was on the leading edge, learning from Captains and Colonels in the high-pressure world of International Three-Day Eventing. Throughout it all, there was an attitude of, ‘Don’t let him get away with that! You gotta show that horse who is boss!’ As Denny says, “I drank the coolaid. I was a product of what I was taught as a kid. It took a long time to outgrow that”.

Like most successful athletes, he brought a lot of intensity into the arena. Denny was very successful, bringing home medals in Eventing for the US team and competing and coaching successfully to the Advanced level until he was 60. The last horse Denny rode at the Advanced level was a hot, worried little mare named Speed Axcel, who proved to be a catalyst for change as he looked for another way with horses and handed over her reins to me twenty years ago.

Now Denny espouses a slower, kinder, gentler way with horses. He has gone back to his roots, riding for pleasure, enjoying the scenery of his beloved Vermont countryside from the back of a Morgan horse, and writing about what he wished he’d known earlier, in hopes of helping others evolve and avoid some of the mistakes he made with horses over the years. It is a powerful thing, to watch a powerful person own their past and make changes in their life.

Join us for a conversation about:

~ how learning the meaning of the German word, losgelassenheit changed his approach

~ the anxiety threshold and the importance of staying below it

~ Making haste slowly

~ what defines a good trainer

~ the long, slow process of change

~ the trap of letting your agenda own you

~ How he lives by the Maya Angelou quote; “Do the best you can with what you know. Then when you know better, do better.”

Look for daily inspiration on Denny’s Facebook page and read his books, How Good Riders Get Good, Know Better to Do Better; Mistakes I made With Horses (So you Don’t Have To) and Begin and Begin Again, The Bright Optimism of Reinventing Life with Horses at the links below.

https://www.facebook.com/Tamarack-Hill-Farm-109161715946/

https://www.horseandriderbooks.com/store/begin-and-begin-again-with-horses.html

You can find me at: https://www.facebook.com/paige.wilde1

https://www.instagram.com/wilde_paige/

https://www.paigelockton-wilde.ca/

Music credit: The Wilds Beyond by L-Ray Music

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