For Want of a Nail

Julia explaining the leg to a young student

A Proverb:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Critical thinking and sorting out the details may seem frustrating or boring at times. Nowadays, it is so much easier to pop an idea into a Google search and let others do the thinking for you. So, I shall challenge you to read that proverb above one more time. Growth and successes are in the details. Ignore the details and well…

Recently, the Eventing world lost two of its greats when former team members Jimmy Wofford and then Kevin Freeman passed away. These men rose to the top of their field and shared a lifetime of knowledge to upcoming riders. What an honor to ride with them. What a loss to have them gone.

Talking to, and learning from, an older person about their experiences is like reading a book (or webpage) that you can have a conversation with. It is easy to take the written word and adjust it to your own linear way of thinking. But chat with an older, experienced person and you can ask for more details or clarity. Listen to an older person’s personal life lessons and truly understand the subject. Your critical thinking skills are developed by filtering through details, facts, and opinions and then formulating your own broadened understanding. Even this is fluid and your own understanding will deepen as you age.

Look around you. There are still chances for you to fill in some of the details. There are still great trainers amongst us and we should jump at the opportunity to hear them. Find clinics or seminars to watch and listen.

I am ever grateful to those great trainers who spend their entire lifetimes sharing wisdom. How lucky the people who are awake enough to listen.

Don’t ignore the details. Don’t miss opportunity. My former mentors? Molly Sivewright, Hubert Rohrer, and Karl Mikolka. All gone. My current mentor? Cindy Ishoy. Thankful to be hanging on every word, thinking about the details. Just do it.