JHJohn Harrer
Creative

Stories & audio

Learning out loud.

A memoir about becoming a horseman later in life, and a conversation archive built over more than a decade.

Western still life photographed by John Harrer

Serialized memoir · 16 chapters

The Education
of a Horseman

How I Learned Horsemanship One Mistake at a Time follows specific horses, early training mistakes, trail rides, and the slow process of becoming a student again.

  1. 01The Horsemanship Years
  2. 02Run Off.
  3. 03The Thousand Pounds of Quiet Energy
  4. 04Dusty Steps In
  5. 05Becoming a Student Again
  6. 06Confidence in Strange Places
  7. 07Horse Trading Is a Strange Business
  8. 08Apprenticeship
  9. 09The Canal
  10. 10Confidence, DVDs, and the Illusion of Progress
  11. 11When Trying Harder Makes It Worse
  12. 12Thirty Sessions
  13. 13The Bathtub
  14. 14The Choice
  15. 15Cheap Education
  16. 16The Horse Who Won the American West

Selected essays · short nonfiction

Other writing

Stand-alone pieces outside the horsemanship series.

  1. 01The Long Con

2012–2023 · 200+ episodes

The Whoa Podcast

John and Ranae Harrer’s conversations about horses, horsemanship, and the people who love both.