23/06/2025
I’ve always believed it’s good for kids to do chores, to learn responsibility, follow through and how to care for something other than themselves. Those lessons stick.
When I was a kid, my uncle Raymond had a dairy farm, and out in the middle of his herd was a scruffy little black and white pony. One day he told me, “If you can catch that pony, you can ride it.”
So I spent the whole day — from sunup to late evening — hot, sweaty, sunburned, scratched up from the bramble bushes and running through cow manure, trying to separate that pony from the cattle. It wasn’t easy, but I finally did it. I caught him and got him into a little holding pen, proud as could be.
Uncle Raymond walked out, looked at the pen, and said, “Well, that one’s not rideable. He’ ain’t broke.” Then he opened the gate and let him run right back into the herd of milk cows 🐄
I didn’t feel cheated. I felt like I’d earned something. I’d worked hard, I’d stuck with it and I got the job done — even if the reward wasn’t what I expected.
That stuck with me. And it’s still what I teach today… hard work matters. Patience matters…The willingness to try — even when the outcome isn’t guaranteed — that’s the beginning of horsemanship. Sometimes, the reward isn’t the ride — it’s the work you’re willing to put in just to try.
And that’s the heart of what I teach today. Whether it’s a kid with a manure fork or someone trying to build trust with a horse, the real growth happens in the effort❣️
