Flawless

You have your flaws and expect us to live with them. We all do. 

Yet, when we go to purchase or own a horse we expect them to be flawless. 

We all want a perfect confirmation, well mannered, easy to get in, multi purpose, easy to haul, and most of all a winner. 

Why? 

I’m pretty sure we have all had it drilled into our heads through multiple articles and vets, and basically anyone’s opinion that we value. That this is the “ideal”. 

How unfair, to compare anything to the ideal.  How unfair to compare in general.  

HEre is this thing. The number one horse in the world is crooked.  Gasp, we should all run away. The longevity, is just not there. 

Right? How silly did that sound. 

No one promises you a lifetime of fast winning runs on any horse. I believe at some point people expect them, and the truth is, you never know how many times you will get those fast runs from that horse. 

I was able to spend some time this year with some old friends who happen to be upper level riders. How refreshing. This first thing I noticed was that they had a short memory and a blind eye. They didn’t care what happened in their run, on the way to the event, and they were not worried about what was going to happen next, they were perfectly present. Enjoying each moment as they happened. They also looked passed a horses  “flaw” and seen their ability.  And that ability was incredible to see. 

Can you imagine someone looking at you, with all your flaws and seeing potiential ? 

Can you imagine what people would say if you picked your spouse based on the colour of his hair? Seriously. We do this in the horse world. He’s great, he’s a winner, but he’s not a golden palomino.

That’s true talk right there. 

Horses also have character flaws, some horses are spooky, some horses need. Friend for security, some horses are just better hauling alone. Top trainers and competitors always say “spend time to get to know your horse”. It’s for this exact reason, what works best for your horses character, learn how that horse reacts in situations, learn to read their expressions. There is no flat black and white formula for creating, or keeping a horse winning. 

Lots of it comes down to how invested you are. How much time  you ride, how much time you spend with your animal, etc. 

For example, if you know your horse needs to be rode for at least an hour a day, every day and you miss a week, and that horse doesn’t perform. Where is the fault? 

What’s a solution? Honestly, ask this to yourself when your dealing with a problem. 

If you don’t want to ride for a week, or have a full time job and don’t have time to rides you can A- pay someone to exercise your horse during the week (riding), or B-pay someone to exercise your horse during the week (aqua tread/ equine pool). 

There is no such thing as  flawless, so quit trying to find it. 

Make the most with that you have. You might be amazed at what kind of diamond you actually have. 

“A negative mind will never give you a positive life”