tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3144707587213691856.post1765344369109717670..comments2008-12-01T20:19:36.763-05:00Back in the saddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01970627462078105397noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3144707587213691856.post-57036568702810883862008-12-01T20:19:00.000-05:002008-12-01T20:19:00.000-05:00Hi Dea,<BR/><BR/>I couldn&#39;t have said it better. Great attitude, that&#39;s exactly what I should be doing. The thing is, I&#39;ve been a perfectionist and an over-achiever for the past 40 years, striving to perform above &amp; beyond my own personal resources sometimes. I&#39;m trying to quit now, I&#39;ve sure paid the price, but I still have a hard time letting go. <BR/><BR/>And that&#39;s the great thing about horses, they won&#39;t let me set their agenda. And if I insisted on keeping mine, well, I would be in for more disappointments, like this week was. So here&#39;s to horses being stubborn... maybe they&#39;ll even succeed in teaching me how to take better care of myself by setting a good example! <BR/><BR/>Thank you so much for taking the time to write, that was great feedback. <BR/><BR/>MarieBack in the saddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01970627462078105397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3144707587213691856.post-25161116217501831612008-12-01T05:48:00.000-05:002008-12-01T05:48:00.000-05:00Hi Marie.<BR/><BR/>I know exactly what you mean. I sometimes too get discouraged and think I suck and why oh why go on! For me it can become about stubborn-ness if a horse is being resistant: it becomes a fight - and honestly, I am just not a strong enough rider to win a fight with a pissed-off animal that weighes a ton! I am trying to always remember, when I ride, that I do this because it is fun and I love it. It is about the collaboration with the horse; about what we can accomplish together. I think that if I had my own horse I would train in quite a different way, like sometimes if something just isn't working - even just a stubborn horse not wanting to get into the depth of a corner, I would like to either focus on that particular problem for half an hour, or depending on the mood of the horse, to go do something entirely different, like a trail ride. But, because I'm in a class I can't do that, so it becomes a compromise. However, if I stay positive and try to focus (in those impossible situations) on something that is going right, then I can walk away from the class feeling good about being effective, consistant and successful at SOMETHING. <BR/>Long comment short - yeah, don't be so hard on yourself! And, imagine if horses just did everything we told them to - there would be no sense of accomplishment at all - and we would have no honest relationship with the horse.<BR/>Dea.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com