3. Being "Good" wasn't Good Enough

Blog 3 – “Being “Good” wasn’t Good Enough”

I’d had ponies as a kid, but Henry was my first horse.  

Henry Horse.

Chris and I bought him as a 4 year old when I opened my first livery yard.  He was a decent showjumper, big, honest and careful (as a measure of his honesty and care I rode and jumped him until my baby bump with Noni was so big I couldn’t fit it in the saddle any more, which as about two weeks before she was born).  But he was an “old fashioned”, heavy boned warmblood and I believed that he was never going to event.  
So I sold him. 

Chris and Henry

Selling horses not fit for purpose or “good enough” was to be something that I would repeat in my quest to become a rider and it took me many years to realise that every time I sold a horse who was not “good” enough, it was me that was not good enough.  And a little bit of my soul went with each horse that I sold.

I view my relationships with my horses as being, in many ways, the same as any other relationship.  

There will be highs and lows, good times and bad. 

Successful long-term relationships require effort and self-reflection.   

However, sometimes the mismatch in a relationship is so great that the best and most healthy option for all involved is to end it.  

Whether you are ending a relationship with a person or a horse you need to know that that ending will be the best option for all involved (even if the one of the humans involved may not think that they want to end it).  

One of the differences between ending relationships with people and those with our horses is that the responsibility for finding a new, more suited partner for our horse lays firmly with us and so long as it is done responsibly I would never judge anyone else for taking this decision.

I believe that if you set yourself a goal then opportunities, which were always there, will then become visible to you, but as you will understand once you have read the next blog, this means you must pick your goals and your “friends” with care.

Next time, "More Fool Me" - 12th Feb.

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