More Right Hands Than An Octopus

I never was much for saying please. I find calling someone Mr or Ms to be profoundly obsequious. If I do not know someone well enough to call them by their first name then I certainly do not know them well enough to converse with them. However, I always try to remember to say thank you because I genuinely appreciate it when others give me a hand, particularly with the kids and the horses. It would be impossible to run this program with out all of the help that I get from riders and their families and it delights me to see people take a sense, not just of pride, but of ownership in the program.

However, I do hesitate to thank all of our great helpers in public because I fear that as much help as I get, I will surely forget to mention someone. Some people have a hard time understanding why I delegate so much authority and responsibility to teens and very young women. Completely aside from the fact that I benefit greatly from their help, I also want to teach them leadership, competence and confidence. I think that this is very important in a world that values teenage girls and young women nearly entirely on their looks. (Such a short sighted focus! By the time a man is forty years old he realizes that nothing looks better on a women than competence.)

But as I am often told, I digress. I especially want to thank Ed Yousey for driving all the way up from South Carolina on Friday to give me a water tank that will make watering the horses in our near permanent drought conditions much easier. That was a long drive and will be a great help to us.

Years ago I heard about a discussion concerning a policy matter that was before one of the mustang registries. I was not present for the discussion. One of the participants in the conversation advised another that if I could not be reached by phone to simply contact Rebecca because she would know what I would think and would be able to speak for me. They were right.

I have helpers who provide me with any assistance that I ask for and I have helpers that provide assistance before I ask and I even have helpers who provide assistance when I did not even know that I needed help.

Being responsible for an important program does not appeal to me, but, being part of a team that runs a very important program is wonderful.