The Horse Report Trainers feature

I was recently talking to someone about business and when I asked them why they wanted to make a particular business move, they answered "I have always wanted to". My advice was to consider who the person was who "always wanted" and if that really, truly still was a dream of who you are now, or of the person you once were.

We see this so often with horses.

As we get older and more able to have our 'hearts desire' when it comes to a horse -maybe our kids have grown up, maybe we are semi retired so have more time, or it may just be a simple case of now we are financially able to afford to buy the horse.

I'll often ask someone why they have purchased a horse, and they will answer "He's my dream horse".

The problem is that the dream was dreamt by a 20-year-old, riding every day, uninjured, fit and healthy person who laughed when they occasionally fell off the horse.

The person who ended up achieving the dream is a 50 plus, riding on the weekends, several injuries under their belt, not as-fit-asI-could-be person who, when they fall off (and they fall off a lot more easily these days) at best has to take time off work and spend some days on the couch to recover and at worst has a life changing injury. It is vital that our dreams grow with us, and suit who we are today. You see, the 20-year-old and the 50+ are still the same person, and the real dream is to have fun with their horse, it's just that the 20-year-old’s idea of fun and the 50+ are two very different things. This time of year is often a time of reflection, perhaps we need to reflect on our goals and dreams, and catch them up with our reality and actual needs.

Food for thought!

Happy trails, TK xo