No, that’s not me, but the horse is mine. In fact this beautiful dun gelding is one of the very first ranch horses we bought. Lobo is extremely well bred and very athletic. He should have been a real champion in the arena, but he wasn’t. Why? Because he lacks drive and motivation.
Don’t get me wrong—Lobo is a sweetheart, we love him, and he is a great ranch horse. But to win big in the arena a horse has really got to WANT to win. It is not enough to have the right genetics or super athleticism—the horse has got to want it. You may be surprised to learn that horses are like people in this way. Some are highly motivated and others are not.
The rider in this picture is the man who raised Lobo from birth and trained him to be a performance cow horse. He had really high hopes for Lobo, but after lots of hard work and training he decided that the heart of a champion just wasn’t there, and so he sold Lobo to me for ranch work.
With people and horses, it is pretty common see the ability, but not the effort; to see the talent, but not the will to win. When it happens with horses it’s sad, but mostly it’s just a financial setback.
However, when it happens with people it is a real tragedy because the effects ripple out to everyone in that person’s circle of influence. So choose to pour your whole heart into what you do—don’t be passive or shy about going after your dreams with all you've got. This is your life—make it matter! If you do, you will not regret it, and these words below will never be your words.
“Of all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been!’” ~John Greenleaf Whittier
Stewart Hughes