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April 25, 2023 1 Comment
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 He deserved the bad press, no doubt, his methods are outdated and his communication about his technique isn't sufficient for today's modern media.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
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Mastery Horsemanship
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Ifrit
May 01, 2023
Hi Don, you write from my heart. A few weeks ago there was a similar case in Germany, when the new season of a TV show started, where horse professionals help other people and horses.
When loading into the trailer, a horse had to learn that it is not ok to just break away when you ask for something in a friendly way. This then led to a jerk at the knotted halter.
This very professional person was ripped off in the press. In my opinion, completely without reason. I think many people use such hate comments to put themselves in the center.
If one has to observe that bad, rough or outdated techniques are used, then one should criticize the techniques and not the people.
Many horse owners, in my opinion, make the mistake of not communicating clearly enough with the horse. They are not consistent in following the rules. If they get emotionally ond rough at some point, they don’t notice it because they have an ‘emotional justification’ for themselves to get rough.
However, if a master trainer is consistent from the beginning and sets boundaries, then it can be a little uncomfortable at first for a horse that has never had to follow boundaries.
After that, however, harmony in communication develops.
If someone then only picks out this short unpleasant situation and condemns it, then in my opinion he has not understood anything.
Ifrit