I had two conversations yesterday that carried a common thread. While I was the common denominator in both, the principle outlined came from my riding coach and a new business associate, not from me. I couldn’t help but notice the coincidence and I am compelled to share it with you this morning. When you understand …
Category: The Art of Horsemanship
Success is Optional
"Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result." ~ Oscar Wilde A perfectly aligned set of circumstances is more often the exception than the rule. Resources are frequently insufficient, tools are disorganized, agreements are not set and objections stand in the way no matter what you undertake, so one of …
The Truth is True
I stumbled upon an excellent article yesterday in The New York Times Sunday Review entitled "Biased but Brilliant." The author, Cordelia Fine, a senior research associate at the Melbourne Business School, points to research showing that confirmation bias - the tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions, leading …
Kronos and Kairos
Kronos (Κρόνος) is an ancient Greek word meaning chronological or sequential time. It is measured by clocks, we tend to race against it and somewhere along the way we began to equate it with money. While virtually everything in modern civilization hangs upon this word, there is another type of time that is often overlooked, …
Kinetic Fluidity
Have you ever stumbled across a realization in one area of your life that unlocks the door to understanding in another? This can occur with relative frequency to the degree that you view your life holistically, rather than as a collection of compartments. Modern science conditions us to think reductively, to the point that our …
The Power of Truth
The relationship between horse and rider is sacred. Each must adapt what is natural in movement and balance to accommodate the other. Watch a riderless horse in a turn, for instance, and you may see him transfer weight to his inside legs, leaning into the turn and twisting himself to counterbalance the centripetal and centrifugal …
Aha! Moment
Never underestimate the power of realization. During my riding (horse) lesson on Sunday my trainer and I worked on gymnastic exercises designed to increase flexibility, strength and lightness. Both my horse and I had taken time off due to injuries, so we were both starting back up at levels lower than we had left off. …
A Change in Tactics
An article in the recent Equus magazine entitled "The Deworming Revolution: A Change in Tactics" fascinated me as much for its implications to the horse world as for its similarity to the the challenge we face with the overuse of antibiotics in human medicine (for an intro to the MRSA dilemma see my post "Know …
The Purpose of Mankind
What would you say is the purpose of mankind? I had a fascinating conversation yesterday with a friend of mine about classical education, 18th and 19th century American history, the great pendulum upon which humanity seems to swing and finally, what we both do for a living and why. My friend, a classically trained equestrian …
Nobility without Pride
Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride, Friendship without envy, Or beauty without vanity? Here, where grace is served with muscle And strength by gentleness confined He serves without servility; he has fought without enmity. There is nothing so powerful, nothing less violent. There is nothing so quick, nothing more patient. …
Gregory Hake 