Day 8 – One Week Down!

Congratulations!  You have made it through your first week!  Maybe this is truly the first week using the video library or maybe you are taking our regular advice of “starting over at the start” and that is why you have found yourself here.   We would not be acting in integrity if we didn’t stop here and bring something to your attention.

If you or your horse are not yet at a good starting point, then you should not move on to the exercise that we are introducing you to tomorrow.  You have had 7 days to absorb some information.  You know what kind of “horse trainer” you are, you know what type of horse you have and realistically, some horses are not ready to move on to this exercise after 7 days (and in some cases, the human isn’t ready).  Let’s revisit the passing grade podcast or the concept of a Good Starting Point before we move on!   In fact, this very crucial bit of advice is one that should not be ignored or skipped over for the sake of staying on the “30 day jumpstart”.  In reality, for you and your horse, this 30 day timeline might well turn out to be 45 or 60 or even 120 or more.

That is the thing about interacting with another sentient being in this way – because we are listening and responding to their needs as well – we may have to throw out the prescribed timeline and process from time to time.  We may have to backtrack, re-establish relationship, fill in gaps in either of our knowledge bases and then regroup and get back on track.  This is actually more normal than being able to follow something step by step to the letter.

Because we have people who really need a prescription for their horse training journey, we have attempted to put the first 30 days into a followable timeline, which we are going to turn into “steps” instead of days starting tomorrow.  But, please, take the time now to really give yourself grace and honestly – just remove the timeline from here on out.  You need to go at your own pace.   We give you our full blessing to make the timeline your own.  We feel strongly that the process and order of things is important and you will actually save time in the long run if you don’t skip around from the process order, but there will be times when you will have to deviate from the plan because your horse will present something that you will have to address. 

This is what we call Milk And Eggs. Let us explain.

Do you ever need to go to the store and maybe you’ve written a list of what you need to shop for?  Like, Milk and Eggs?  Let’s say that you have that list and you get up in the morning to go to the store to get the things on your list – like Milk and Eggs.  You go outside and your car has a flat tire.  You look at your list and there is nothing about fixing a flat tire on your list, so you get in your car and drive off anyway.  You would never do this!

Yet, we tend to do it with our horses all the time.  We overlook something that is very important because it wasn’t on our list or it doesn’t fit with our timeline.  The most common horse-related examples we get are those people who are usually being pressured by others to “just get on and ride” or “come for a trail ride”.  They are so intent on pleasing other people, that they forget that the most important other being in the equation is their horse.  So many preventable injuries, traumas, and setbacks come from us wanting to use someone else’s timeline or to stick to the “list” as it’s written.  Please don’t do this.

On this 8th day we would really like you to re-evaluate where you are with your horse.  Are you at a good starting point?  If so, great – tomorrow you are going to do an exercise.  If not, great.  Maybe in a few days you are going to start on Step 9.  Or maybe you are going to keep working on the hanging out and regulation and breathing for a week or 2 or a month and Step 9 of this jumpstart will be here waiting for you when you are both ready. 

A reminder how to use this course: click on Mark Complete below and you will move on to Step 9 when you are ready for it.