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Today’s intention is:
To play.
Everyone’s favorite class growing up is recess. Rushing to the yard, grabbing a ball, making a new friend... we live for the fun.
And we still can.
The playground is a just whole lot bigger.
Love the track and keep your horse wanting more
The following story comes from Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield:
“I got the chance a few years ago to watch a famous trainer work with his thoroughbreds.
I had imagined that the process would be something hard-core like Navy SEAL training. To my surprise, the sessions were more like play.
The work was serious, as in teaching the two-year-olds to enter the starting gate, and the horses were definitely learning. But the trainer took pains to make the schooling feel like fun.
When a horse got tired, the trainer took him off the track. If a mount got bored or restive, the trainer never forced him to continue or drove him “through the pain.”
He explained:
A horse is a flight animal. Even a stallion, if he can, will choose flight over confrontation.
Picture the most sensitive person you’ve ever known; a horse is ten times more sensitive.
A horse is a naked nervous system, particularly a thoroughbred.
He’s a child. A three-year-old, big and fast as he is, is a baby.
Horses understand the whip, but I don’t want a racer that runs that way. A horse that loves to run will beat a horse that’s compelled, every day of the week.
I want my horses to love the track.
I want my exercise riders to have to hold them back in the morning because they’re so excited to get out and run.
Never train your horse to exhaustion.
Leave him wanting more.”
Until next week,
Don’t wait. Start small. Learn as you go.
🙏🧡🤘
Feeling extra intentional? Listen to the Student of Intention Podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Having compassion for yourself with Steven Pressfield