"Somebody said to [Stephenie Burns] "Is there ever going to be a day when I can just get on my horse?"
"Because this horse tests me all the time and although I've come a long way she's really challenging and is that ever going to change?"

To which Stephenie replied "Isn't that the meaning of horsemanship? That's the journey. If you don't want to do that then get a motorbike."
Because if you want to make progress you've got to have something to do it with. You can pick an easy horse, and some of you have and you're probably really smart. And some of you have picked challenging horses and some very challenging horses. And some of you have decided that's what you wanna do and you don't care what it takes, you're going to learn to savvy it and you're prepared for what it takes. that's a real student.
Now, if you give up and go 'i can't do that anymore i need something easier' there's no love lost in that; there's no shame in that. you've gotta go 'who do i have to be to play with this horse?' and I want to be what it takes to play with this horse. I want to be good enough for this horse. He's a superb animal, he's got so much potential. But, he can only be as good as I am. And so I'll work on myself. Every day. Every day in every way. But, I'm weird. I am not normal. "

- Linda Parelli on challenging horses & Allure.


I found this video in the Savvy Club vault of Linda playing with Allure from '06. She was showing a group of students what she had to do to get Allure ready to ride and she talked about how far she had come with him and how far she had yet to go.. The quote up there is from the very end of the video and it really struck home with me.
I think it might possibly be one of the best things that has ever come from that wonderful woman's mouth. It really made me think about my journey.

I am guilty of comparing my journey to other people's journies.
I am guilty of underestimating my horse and myself. (Sometimes grossly underestimating.)
I am guilty of being an 'avoidaholic'.
I also have become a person who is so afraid of failure that I stopped trying.

Coming face to face with these facts about myself has been a four year long process. I kept us back because I was afraid. I'm still afraid... of so many things. But, I'm not going to use that as a crutch anymore.
I've made a decision. A real decision, mind you. To march forward and trust that everything will work itself out.

I'm done underestimating my horse because it's not fair to her. She's brilliant and she's not the same 'crazy, scary, psycho' horse that I bought a few years back.. She's changed and we've grown together.
There is so much learning to be done. She can do it! I'm the one who's having the most trouble. I remember that horse.. I haven't seen that horse in a long time, but I remember and I am afraid. I know that I need to at least give her a chance to try the tasks we've been avoiding. So, that's our new plan. We're going to stop avoiding the things I was positive would 'blow her up' because I can deal with it with savvy. That's where the underestimating myself comes in...

We can do anything and everything with time. I've acquired my stick-with-it-ness. I'll continue to acquire information, God knows I've got enough sources available to me!

So it's time to use them and progress.

It's time to let go of 'that horse' and 'that Katie' because they're not here any longer. Now it's me and her and we're growing every day.

On a side note, I hope everyone had a great, safe Holiday and thanks so much for reading.

K.