Attitude

Betty and I have been working with the horses over the past couple of weeks using what I learned at the clinic I went to. As mentioned in an earlier post, we've had good days and bad days.

Today, Monday, was interesting. Betty struggled with Morgunn in the beginning, but by the time we quit the two of them were working well together. Conversely, Sugar and I started out great, but toward the end she was walking through my stop cues which she rarely does.

So, we were both a little frustrated - Betty at the beginning and me at the end.

It got me to thinking about what attitude we should have when we work with the horses - and in life in general.

We believe in thinking positively, but what does that really mean? Does it mean going out to work with the horses thinking, "Today's going to be a great day, everything is going to go well?" The problem with that is when things don't go well and we're not having a great day, where do we go with our thinking, with our attitude? It's easy to get disappointed in the horse, in ourselves, or both and that's not helpful.

I think a better attitude is "No matter what happens today, I can handle it and work through it." That's still positive and perhaps more realistic. If we have a great day, then that's icing on the cake. If we don't have that great a day, then our thinking is in a better place to deal with it.

No matter what happens today, I can handle it and work through it.