In preparing for the Estes Park Show this weekend I've been thinking about my friends and clients who are stretching themselves to go to this competition. It is a fun and laid back show, but the fact that it is in a large venue away from home at the Stanley Fairgrounds in Estes Park, makes it an adventure for some of my riders and horses. I've been thinking of one of my favorite quotes by Theodore Roosevelt as I coach my students and help them ready themselves and their horses for the show. I have printed it out and I'll post it on our tack stall wall to remind everyone of just how far they have come. It's important to remember that the critic doesn't count, even the critic in your own mind.
Bit of Honey Horse Show Manifesto
“It is not
the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the woman who
is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly;
who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort
without error and shortcoming; but
who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms,
the great devotions;
who spends herself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the
triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst, if she fails,
at least fails while
daring greatly,
so that her
place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory
nor defeat.”
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