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At a certain point in a long, successful career, it would be easy to believe you’ve figured things out. You’ve been to the top of the sport. You’ve made teams. You’ve won at the highest levels. The temptation, quietly, is to protect what works rather than question it.
For US event rider, Will Coleman, that moment never really arrived.
“I’m not a finished product,” he says. “I’m permanently curious.”
That phrase captures something essential about how Coleman has sustained growth over decades in a demanding sport. It isn’t raw talent or relentless ambition that keeps him improving. It’s a refusal to believe there’s nothing left to learn.
Curiosity as a Discipline
Curiosity, in Coleman’s world, isn’t casual. It’s not about chasing novelty or reinventing the wheel. It’s an active practice that requires humility and effort, especially once success has arrived.
“I think you have to be willing to experiment,” he says. “You can’t be afraid to try things.”
That mindset runs counter to how elite sport often functions. At the top, mistakes feel expensive. Change can feel risky. Riders become incentivized to protect systems that have already delivered results. Over time, that defensiveness can harden into stagnation.
Coleman has worked deliberately against that tendency. Rather than locking into a single way of doing things, he has stayed open to new ideas, inputs, and ways of understanding the horses he rides.
Learning Doesn’t Stop at the Top
One of the hallmarks of Coleman’s approach is how he looks outward. He watches other riders. He studies different programs. He pays attention to how horses respond, rather than assuming yesterday’s answers will work forever.
“There are so many ways to do things,” he says. “I don’t think any one person has it all figured out.”
That belief creates room for evolution. Training methods adjust. Conditioning programs shift. Expectations change as horses (and riders) change. Curiosity becomes a safeguard against rigidity. It also keeps the ego in check. By acknowledging that learning never ends, Coleman resists the pressure to perform certainty. Instead, he models openness.
Why Curiosity Matters for Horses
Curiosity doesn’t just benefit the rider. Coleman sees it as essential to good horsemanship.
Horses are not static. They change with age, experience, confidence, and physical development. A rider who stops asking questions risks missing those shifts. Curiosity keeps attention sharp.
“When you’re curious, you’re listening,” Coleman says. “You’re paying attention to what the horse is telling you.”
That attentiveness affects everything from training plans to daily decisions. It allows riders to notice when something feels off, when a horse needs time, or when a different approach might unlock understanding rather than resistance. In that way, curiosity becomes a form of care. It prioritizes communication over control and responsiveness over routine.
Experimentation Without Recklessness
Coleman is clear that experimentation doesn’t mean chaos. Curiosity, as he practices it, is disciplined and thoughtful. New ideas are tested carefully, evaluated honestly, and integrated only if they serve the horse.
“Not every experiment works,” he says. “But you learn something either way.”
That willingness to learn, rather than to be right, has shaped how Coleman approaches training across phases. It has also allowed him to adapt as the sport itself has evolved, rather than clinging to methods that no longer fit the horses in front of him.
Staying Young by Staying Open
The longer that Coleman has been in the sport, the less interested he is in certainty. Instead of narrowing, his thinking has widened.
That openness has helped him remain engaged. He’s not just competitive, but genuinely interested in the work. It has also allowed him to separate identity from outcomes. If learning is the goal, then no single result defines success or failure.
“I still have a long way to go,” Coleman says. “That’s exciting to me.”
For many riders, longevity is measured in years. But Coleman’s is measured in mindset. Curiosity keeps the work fresh, the challenges meaningful, and the partnership with the horse dynamic rather than fixed.
A Quiet Advantage
In a sport that rewards confidence, curiosity can look like uncertainty. But Coleman sees it as a competitive advantage that compounds over time.
Riders who stay curious continue to evolve. Horses trained by curious riders are more likely to be understood, protected, and developed honestly. Programs built on curiosity remain flexible enough to adapt without losing their core.
“I don’t think you ever arrive,” Coleman says. “You just keep getting better.”
That belief has shaped Coleman’s career more than any single result. By treating curiosity not as a phase but as a permanent posture, he has found a way to keep improving—long after many riders decide they’ve learned enough.
Want more insight from Will Coleman? Listen to episode 470 of The Plaidcast and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform for conversations with the most influential voices in the equestrian world.
