Give credit where it's due, Don Jessop

Its best to Give credit where credit is due

And one day the credit may just go to you

Not because you bested the people before

But the effort they gave made room for more

The haters and lovers are due for some too

Both deserve credit for the talent you grew

The haters for showing you all you don't need

And the lovers for praising you as you succeed

Some of us have seen our heros fall down

People we know once stood on solid ground

Regardless, with pride we can stand and renew

And always give credit where credit is due

In this world, it's certain we're never alone

And everything learned is handed and honed 

By the people before, their virtues and sins

Making room for progress and glorious wins

Reminding you always that it's never just you

And to always give credit where credit is due

The reason I wrote this poem is because one of my early horsemanship mentors fell to recent social media scrutiny. He deserved the bad press, no doubt, his methods are outdated and his communication about his technique isn't sufficient for today's modern media.

Regardless, here are my beliefs... Good, bad, or ugly, everything I've learned has come from other people and, of course, my own experiments working with what other people have shared, then my own tweaking and twisting the formals for different results. When my colleagues and friends, it's not the first time I've seen this, beat and destroy a person's character for the mistakes they made, I always cringe. I find it hard to ignore the value people offer, even fallen heros. I find it's best not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. 

In light of this recent exposure to this particular fallen mentor, one colleague wrote to me in disgust and shared how they would never speak to the person again and never use those methods again and never share any of it with another person. My heart broke a little. This colleague of mine is missing a grand moment to learn balance. To see the good in spite of the bad. And in light of that, I felt inspired to write the poem above and encourage us all to remember our experiences and always seek to take the best of them with us forever. As for the worst experiences, learn, discover, adapt, renew, reinvent, and replace. But don't bury them. They have their own value.

In my world of horsemanship, the list of people who deserve credit for my education is grand. Some of them, I don't study with anymore. Some of them are hard to get along with. Some of them are ignorant to the depths of the horse's psychology and spirit. Yet, all of them have played an integral part in my journey and I'm ever grateful. There's no need to play on negativity when such positive, abundant knowledge and experience lives in every character we meet. Take the good, leave the bad, and focus on what you can do next to fearlessly make the world a better place.

Comments are welcome and appreciated.

Don Jessop 

Also in Mastery Horsemanship Blog