Silas grazing today before I changed his wrap
In my line of business we talk a lot about how we can improve ourselves. I have been reading a book called Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. It is one of the very first self improvement books and teaches about making things happen for yourself simply by believing in it and never giving up. I highly recommend making this your next book on the “to read” list. Sunday evening I was cramming in a couple of chapters before my training conference call I host when I read a line that seemed so simple yet incredible. It said something to the tune of, “You can’t make negative thoughts go away simply by wishing them away. You must replace them with something else. If you want to succeed, replace the negative thoughts with positive thoughts. ” Wow. Please read that again and think about it until you can grasp the truth of the statement. I was sitting on the ottoman at the foot of my bed reading, and I had a flashback of all of the times I have fought with my horse over silly things – mostly to slow the heck down. I often find myself in a state of total frustration because Silas is trucking around the ring at a 90 mph unpleasant trot and no matter how hard I try to slow him down, it doesn’t work. However, it is very important to understand my thought process at those times. “Silas! Slow down! Please slow down! My goal is to have a slower trot!” Generally that is unsuccessful. The times that I have been successful in slowing him down were when, instead of just saying “slow down” I said something like, “let’s do a sit trot.” I had something else for him to do. I replaced one thought with another thought and amazingly enough I received the desired result – a slower trot. If it can work on a horse, I guarantee you it can work on us.
Silas had an altercation with his stall door almost 2 weeks ago, and landed himself on stall rest for a month with a tiny cut on his tendon. Today while I was in the beginning stages of wrapping his leg he kept hiking his leg up really high – it was obviously an uncomfortable process for him. Generally when a horse has his back leg hiked way up, stand clear unless you want a gigantic bruise or something worse because a kick is often quick to follow. I surveyed the situation, stayed to the side but as gently as possible continued my work. He eventually put his foot down with no violence. As I was putting the final layer of the wrap on he stepped forward with his other 3 legs yet strained to keep the leg I was working on in place so as not to disturb my handiwork. Maybe I have a really special, sweet horse, or maybe every horse would be like that if we gave them a chance.
Disclaimer of the day: I want to make it clear, discipline for horses is very important to me. They are way too big and powerful to have the upper hand. However, it is possible to have a disciplined, well behaved, and spoiled animal. Just ask Silas, or my dog Sandi!
Lesson for the day: Believe in yourself and your horse. Think positive. Don’t take anything for granted – even the little things.
Soli deo gloria,
Sarah
p.s. I want to make it clear that I don’t believe I have learned these things or Silas is like he is for any reason other than the blessings of God. All glory and honor to HIM
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