The Perfect Is Always The Enemy Of The Good

And no where is that more true than in horsemanship. Whether one speaks of breeding, training, hoof care, or riding--the drive for perfection inevitably is damaging to the horse.

Successful horsemen can fall into the trap of feeling like failures because perfection eludes them. Perfectionism is not a virtue. It is a toxic vice. It does not lead to a better product. It only leads perpetual disappointment.

If you are not satisfied with the relationship that you have with your horse look closely at this picture. Notice all of the conformation flaws that even this small shot of the colt's head makes readily apparent? Notice the way that the young lady is holding him incorrectly? Many people go through a check list of potential flaws with every picture of every horse they see. They do the same thing with every horse they meet.

And they do the same thing every time they look in the mirror.

Quite frankly, I do not see any conformation flaws in the colt. Perhaps that shows my ignorance of real horsemanship. I also do not see any flaws in how the young lady is holding her colt.

What I see is a spectacular colt and a highly impressive young lady who have found each other. I see a young lady who does not have a tremendous amount of horse experience yet she already understands more about horse/human relationships than do most people who have had horses all of their life.

What I see is contentment and peace.

Perfect contentment? Perfect peace? I perfectly do not care.

When I was a very young I was disappointed that my collie did not do all the things that Lassie did on TV.

Then I grew up. If you will only be satisfied if your horse handling skills match those of the tv clinicians, you should also grow up.

If you are trapped by walls of perfectionism, work hard to get well. Your horse deserves it. Your family deserves it

And so do you.

The closeness that you see in this picture does not leave room for a wall of perfectionism to separate these two.