Before I start, I want to thank my friend Louise for making me smile.  As I entered my web page to write this I saw her comment of You Go Girl!  I somehow didn’t get a notice it had come in.  And I also smiled at my friend Nancy’s comment, which I had read the other day.  No my doctor is just a regular, non horse person.  You’ve got to remember that non horse people just don’t get our breed.  Now be kind and forgiving, they are just clueless.  But it made for a good, pot stirring, post.

I was sitting here being a little sad.  A good friend and wonderful neighbor just passed away.  He was the one who helped me build this website.  I am computer challenged and I’m not sure how I will handle this site if anything goes wrong.

I had no idea what to put on my site, but he helped me format it and gave me suggestions as to what needed to be there.  He prompted me on how to word things to make them more appealing on the internet.  He reviewed what I wrote and approved of everything I did.  Then he made a suggestion that I post “Horse Riding Tips – 10 Things You Should Do Before Getting On Your Horse”, he said that it would generate interest.  Needless to say I’ve been posting things ever since.  Now every time I go to this web page, I will think of him.  He battled cancer for two years.  He had more courage and determination than anyone I have ever met.  I always told him he was my hero. He is someone I will always look up to and try to be like.  Now Mark was not a horse person, so to speak.  He was in Marketing.  His wife, however, is very much a horse person, so he knew about the whole drive and life style.

So pondering on those lines I started thinking of all the horse people in my life who have helped me become the person I am.  Those that have given me not only knowledge, but taught me to ride by the seat of my pants.  Some of them have passed on, but some are still here.  We keep in touch via Facebook.  I think, after I write this, I will get on Facebook and send a few Thank You notes.

The people at the barn I grew up at loved horses and loves kids.  They taught us to teach our students how to love and respect horses.  They treated us like part of the family.  I try to pass this love onto my students to this day.  Of course I’ve researched and expanded on what I was originally taught.  There have also been professional horsemen in my life that taught me many things I didn’t agree with.  I thank them also for showing me how not to do things and it causes me to reflect on what I believe is right and wrong.  I hold true to the values of these lessons.

I know in every ones life there have people who have taught them and helped them to grow.  Made them into the horse person they are.  Don’t be afraid to go back and thank them.  Let them know that they made a difference in, not only your life, but all the lives of the horses that you have encountered over the years.  Or perhaps will encounter in the future.

As I always say – Teach what you have learned and one less horse will suffer from ignorance, and never stop learning.

Pass it on.