The Pivot

When I first met Vickie she told me that she had read my book and immediately wanted to meet Lido. I explained that he had died several months ago. She told me that reading about his courage and perseverance had inspired her to take on the project of training and riding a USERL mustang of Virginia Range stock. Vickie was a complete novice and is older than I am.

Vickie has taken herself from being a novice to being the trainer and rider of a beautiful mustang. She is learning every day. She and her husband Dennis have been making the long drive down from their home both to work horses and to help out with round pen construction and heavy fence repair.

Yesterday she rode Porter, a great young Corolla Spanish mustang with lightness and ease. She is a driven seeker of knowledge and understands horses better than many who have spent a lifetime working them. They have been a great help this summer.

So how did she get to where she is today?

1. She got information from solid practitioners of natural horsemanship and natural horse care such as Joe Camp, Parelli, and Monty Roberts.

2. She had the independence and intelligence to recognize that what passes for wisdom in the established horse world is nothing but foolishness in a horse's world.

3. She understands that the search for the perfect, bomb proof horse is misplaced and has, instead, taken on the quest to learn how to diffuse bombs.

Vickie has transformed herself. She is moving from being simply being a person who was inspired to becoming an inspiration for others.

That is not just a change. That is not just a turn. That is a pivot.