Egg count: 9
...continuing on with the ten commandments of leadership and how they apply to our relationship with horses:
#2: Practice What You Preach
- Stand for something good and noble
- Walk the talk (he's not the only one who needs to be fit, flexible and balanced. I need to stick with yoga.)
- Follow ALL the rules and regulations (would those be Brett's barn rules???)
- Solve problems rather than "celebrate" them ( "celebrate" -does that mean encourage them? Buy into them? For me, it's bridle wars. When Jackson gets worried and throws his head up, I need to let him move freely forward and work out of the fear. Me hanging on his face makes it worse. It doesn't solve anything.)
- To be dedicated to learning and continuous improvement (NO problem here. I'm a lesson and clinic and book junkie. I love to learn - its one of the coolest things about dressage. You never get there - you are always learning).
- Deal with disappointments and setbacks constructively (I think I do fine. I pat Jackson, put him away, and get pissy, whiny and downright cranky with Brett. ...yeah, I could do better with this one.)
#3: Communicate with Care and Conviction
- Start with the end in mind (for me, keeping my goals present in my brain)
- Focus on quality, not quantity (sometimes we stop after 20 minutes if Jackson does something really, really well and I want him to ponder on his brilliance)
- Listen with care (like when he says his back hurts. Hey! Mom! My back HURTS! ...I can be so dense sometimes.)
- Keep it honest and real (I guess I need to accept that we will never be FEI material)
I'm liking this series - thanks for putting it up!
ReplyDeleteThat focusing on quality not quantity, we hear it a lot and start to take it for granted--but it's so, so important. I'm taking piano lessons and it's taken me two years to understand the concept of quality practice and really believe in it. If I spend my whole practice session on two or three measures, it can turn a piece around for me. I used to think I HAD to play it through. I suppose the same thing could be said for horses. These are wonderful to read and meditate on how to apply them to horses. Thanks.
ReplyDelete