“Now life has killed the dream I dreamed” are the final words to a song from the musical “Les Miserables”. I think in many cases this is true in our lives. We have a dream when we are full of energy and then as life unfolds our dreams begin to slowly die and finally one day we wake up and realize that our dreams are just a fading memory.
Whether it be dreams with our horses or other areas in our lives, we must actively pursue our dreams or they begin to weaken and die. Our dreams must be nourished and cherished so that they may flourish and thrive.
What is your dream?
Here is a lady that was unemployed and caring for her sick mother in a tiny village in Scotland. She has had a dream of being a professional singer since she was a little girl. To the outside world she looks foolish and a very unlikely prospect for a professional singer. From all that I read about her she had about given up on her dream.
Have you ever had a dream that others laughed at or worse you laughed with them at it? Have you ever wanted to do something or be something that made no sense to those around you? And sometimes it didn’t make sense even to you but still you were drawn toward it? Have you ever dreamed something so big that it was deemed foolish by those around you?
Do you have a dream inside of you that you have just about given up on? What is it?
What is your Dream?
Think of it right now as you watch this video and be prepared to be inspired to drag it out and dust it off and start to live your dream.
This video is a clip from the TV show “Britain’s Got Talent”, Britain’s equivalent to “American Idol”.
Many of you may have viewed this video clip previously but take a look at it again in light of your personal dreams!
Just the other day I created a video on a private blog for my Level 2 students and one of the things I talked about was focus. Or more specifically using the natural power of focus.
Flashback…
…to a job I had over 30 years ago. I mowed the fairways of the country club golf course. I always hated to mow on Tuesdays because it was “Ladies Day”. That was the day I always had to dodge several balls that came flying my way. If the ball didn’t hit me or the tractor I would usually run over it with the mower and tear it to shreds. Not good for customer relations.
I had to ask myself…
Are women that much worse shots than men? No! I don’t think so! I do, however, think they were more concerned about hitting me than most men. Therefore, their focus was more on me than down the middle of the fairway. Naturally, the balls followed their focus and headed right towards me.
So many times we focus on where we don’t want to go, instead of where we do want to go and wind up exactly where we didn’t want to be in the first place.
I don’t know about you but that sounds a lot like our horsemanship journey at times. The results we’ve been looking for and working towards seem to get further away, without realizing it we are focusing on the wrong thing and as a result we wind up exactly where we didn’t want to be.
Remember, we determine our focus and as an outcome we determine our results.
Please leave a comment about how focus has affected your results.
I think for most of us, at least those of us that abide by natural horsemanship, we have horses in our lives because of the connection that is possible. It is that interconnection that causes us to have horses. Somehow it makes us feel better.
Kind of mushy… but you know what I mean.
What is that connection, that mystical bond we seek? I think that this bond has different facets for each one of us. For some it could be as simple as a connection to another living being, to others a deeper connection to oneself and for others it’s a spiritual connection to nature. I don’t know what it is for you, but I do know that for most of us this connection is not a means to something more but an end in itself. And that’s why the idea of relationship rings so loud in our ears.
If your relationship with your horse is simply a means to an end then your horse becomes a tool to further your own ambitions or an extension of your ego. When we use our horses to further what we want then I’m not sure that we can call that a relationship. Maybe an association would be more appropriate.
Ok I’ll get off my soap box…
Sometimes I get a little carried away.
Recently I heard an idea that “relationships are emotion intensifiers”. They are the place where we feel our deepest, most intense emotions. Although this was directed toward human relationships I believe it holds true for our relationships with our horses and other animals as well. We feel the deepest hurts and the greatest joy in our relationships along with a whole range of feelings in between.
I found this video and I think it embodies all I have been trying to say. This clip is a story about a relationship two young men had with a lion. Many of you may have seen this but I just discovered it and it moved me enough to share it with you.
Enjoy and please leave a comment about how a relationship with an animal has impacted your life.
Hopefully many of you have had a chance to read my article in the Nov. “Savvy Times”. It focuses on my relationship with my first levels horse Kahn.
A story I like to tell about Kahn is how he showed me that horses never lie…
It was sometime back when we were in level 2 and I was really focused on liberty. So everyday I would get him out and ‘play’ at liberty. I thought it was great fun. After a couple of weeks of me drilling him on liberty he started to limp. Each time I sent him out on a circle he would hobble around like he was crippled for life and got slower and slower.
That first day I thought maybe his arthritis might be acting up so I turned him out. As I let him loose in the pasture I noticed that he walked off just fine.
Hmmmm…
The second day I got him out and led him to the round pen to “play”. As soon as I took off the halter in the round pen he started to limp again. So I haltered him and led him out to the pasture. This time no sooner had I released him into the field, than he ran off kicking up and bucking, no sign of lameness.
That got me thinking. Was he smart enough to trick me? What about that saying “Horses never lie” was he lying to me to get out of doing things with me?
On the third day the same thing happened again but this time I didn’t fall for it. I insisted that he trot out with a little more energy and the limp magically disappeared. I had learned my lesson the night before. So as soon as he trotted out without a limp I brought him in, haltered him and turned him out to graze and play in the pasture.
What had I learned the night before? That night as I pondered on his behavior I was deeply puzzled. Was he lying to me? But on further reflection I realized that he was actually telling me the truth. He was telling me that he was sick and tired of liberty and maybe our relationship was not as great as I thought either. That revelation hit me like a ton of bricks and I changed right then and there. I chalked it up as another lesson learned.
I’ve learned a lot from that old horse and some of those lessons are just now beginning to make sense to me.
Jerry
This is a tribute to Kahn that my wife created in honor of him. If it had not been for him I would not be where I am today. He carried me to my first star as a Parelli Instructor. We had 13 good years with him and I still think of him often.
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*Note* For those of you that have seen the article. There is a picture on page 86 of Kahn and I jingling the horses in on a cold Colorado morning. Some of my favorite memories of him are of those times. If you look closely in that picture, on his right front leg there is the scar that reminds me of the injury that started our relationship. It’s interesting that I have seen that picture dozens of times before but I never noticed that scar until it was published in the “Savvy Times”.
Please leave a comment about either the post or the article.
