A More Excellent Way

Do you need help with getting your horse to stand still for mounting, bridling, trailer loading, crossing water, taking a lead, slowing down, speeding up, stopping, or a million other things you wished your horse did better? Or maybe you are ready to take it to the next level with collection and refinement. Whatever you are searching for to make your life better with your horse, I am sure that we can assist in a way that will allow both you and your horse to be happier.

I am always pursuing excellence in both my horsemanship and teaching skills which is why I also continue my education through clinics, seminars, classes, etc. Excellence as I define it is a general consistent state of high quality. It brings to my mind an unmatched performance, someone with unusual expertise who demonstrates consistent high-quality performance. We often think that to be the best at something we have to be naturally gifted or talented. But experience has taught me that talent, while it can be important is not the main ingredient for excellence.

I believe that no matter what area of life you want to improve you can develop it to a level of excellence with a little know-how and a lot of effort even if you are not particularly gifted in that area. The primary pathway to excellence in any endeavor has three main ingredients, none of which depends solely on talent.

# 1. Find Your Passion:
Well I believe you would not be reading this if you didn't have a passion for horses. People of excellence love what they do. I am sure you love riding horses, so I challenge you to learn how to fuel the fire that keeps moving you forward in your skills as a horseman.
You can spot a really passionate horseman seeking excellence, here are some things you may observe:

• They put their whole heart into it
• They are attentive and undistracted
• They work with maximum energy needed for the task
• They are consistent
• They have a positive attitude
• They put in the time it takes
• They are willing to take small and gradual steps

In life the prize goes not to the person who is the smartest or the most talented; it often goes to the person with passion. Are you passionate about being excellent at trail riding, barrel racing, dressage, jumping, cutting, roping, showing, or just developing a relationship with your horse where you can both have fun and be safe? If you are passionate, that is wonderful. You are off to a good start, and that is the easy part, but the next step is the hard part.

# 2. Never Cease Practicing
Passion won't take you anywhere unless you combine it with disciplined practice. Successful people like the Beatles, Bill Gates, any great horseman like Chris Cox, Clinton Anderson, Buck Braneman, Peter Campbell, Pat Parelli, Bill or Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, Walter Zettle, Lynn Palm, Karen Rolhf, Charmayn James, you just pick the one you think is great; they have all put in thousands of hours of practice before making a big splash. Nobody cruises to the top on natural giftedness alone.

Malcolm Gladwell writes, "Practice isn't the thing you do once you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good."

I don't consider myself as having made a big splash yet, but if people knew how hard I had to work to gain the mastery I have, it would not seem so wonderful at all. Learning is only the first part. The real key is putting that learning into practice that leads to excellence. You can't just read about how to fix your horses problems and expect it to just happen. You can't just watch a video about how to train or ride a horse and be able to do it very well the right away. You need to perform what you have learned over and over and over again to perfect the skill.

# 3. Honor Your Values:
Passion and practice bring excellence, but character sustains excellence over time. Absence of strong character eventually topples talent. People cannot climb beyond the limitations of their character. Eventually the limelight of success brings to light the cracks in their integrity.

I encourage you to develop a core set of horsemanship principles and values from which to be passionate about and practice from that foundation. Without that foundation the building of something excellent will eventually fall apart. I have tried very hard to never sacrifice my principles in order to achieve my goals. It has been difficult at times, but in the end it will pay off.

The fact that excellent horsemanship skills aren't something a person has to be born with should be encouraging... In order to be excellent all you have to do is determine what your passion is and then put in the hours and hours of practice. As long as you stick with it and honor your foundational principles and values along the way, you will reach a level of excellence you never thought possible.

I hope to be a part of your journey towards excellence no matter what your passion. And it doesn't matter whether you go to the grand prix, or the world show, excellence is not a competition, it is a prize of satisfaction for a job well done.

Our camps will set you on the course of learning and give you the extra practice you need to help ensure your success when you get home. A commitment of a couple of more days at a camp instead of an hour or two private lesson or a 1-2 day clinic will offer the extra practice with instruction that can be just what you need to keep you going at home. All you will have to do is use some wise time management.

Hope to see you this summer! And keep reaching toward excellence with your horse. You can do it!