Chasing Perfection

Perfectionism is a symptom of an unhealthy mind. It certainly is not a virtue and it most certainly is not something of which one should be proud. Perfectionism combined with competitiveness on the part of horse breeders have spelled disaster for horses over the years.

The pursuit of perfection in appearance and the silly science of conformation are at the root of a system that causes large breeding operations to produce 60 colts a year while only six of those ever achieve elevation to "the highest level of competition." It is those horses that become our surplus, unwanted horses. The drive for perfection has caused us to condone inhumane training methods and devices while doing nothing to elevate the human spirit or the quality of the horses' lives.

Endangered breeds like Spanish mustangs are particularly vulnerable to the threat posed by perfectionist breeders. God did a fine job in creating mustangs. In fact, it was one of His better efforts. Only arrogance that rivals that of the builders of the Tower of Babel can drive the urge to "improve" these horses.

At the core of such delusions is a simple inability to understand the meaning of the term that lies at the center of all truly satisfied minds. That term is "good enough." In fact, to perfectionists the term 'good enough" actually means, "not good enough" and denotes a slovenly product in dire need of improvement.

No, there are two very important aspects to the concept of "good enough" that these people do not understand. Those aspects are that the product is "good" and that it is "enough."

The wild stallion in the picture above is Spec who was killed when struck by a vehicle. The perfectionist breeders can look at him and quickly see his defects. I saw him up close and all that I noticed was a fine horse, one certainly good enough for me.

One cannot breed for that which one cannot see and until we spend hours training, riding, and spending time with a horse we cannot, in the words of Plenty Coup, the Crow chief of the late 1800's, look into his eyes and see his soul.

Lido was born with cerebral palsy and the right side of his body was of nearly no use to him. As a young teen he could put a fifty pound bag of feed on his left shoulder and tote it where it needed to go. As an older teen he could run five miles at the speed of the average high school athlete. Most significantly, for several years he was the first person to mount most of the wild horses that I trained.

As a horseman he was not perfect, but he was good enough. And good enough made him better than all but a few of the kids that I have ever met when it came to handling rough horses.

I have no interest in the effort to try to improve mustangs by seeking to breed only the best to the best. The mustang world would be better off with more Spec's and Lido's, stones rejected by the builders who made first rate corner stones.