Go the distance.
Do it with grace or do it ugly,
because some days
that’s what your best looks like.
It only matters
that you go the full heart distance.
…
Anna Blake at Infinity Farm
Horse Advocate, Author, Equine Pro
…
(WordPress Photo Challenge is a weekly prompt to share a photo–I enjoy twisting these macro prompts to share our micro life here on the Colorado prairie. My photos are taken with my phone, on my farm. No psych, definitely not high tech.)
Amen!! Have been following for a while now and have read both books. Just wanted you to know you have enriched my little, sweet horse world – thank you!
Thank you, Lori. Thanks for following here and especially thanks for reading the books. It takes a village. Or in my case, a barn. Thanks~
Perfect Anna. I am going to print this one and read it every day. Maybe on the tack room door. Maybe multiple places.
Thanks, Judy. It might be good if I did, too!
Amen! I have been following you after I found you this summer. Have read both books and look forward to each picture and blog post. You have enriched my little, sweet horse world. Thank you and all best wishes.
It sure helps me go the full heart distance having you and Infinity Farm in my life Anna.
Thanks, and I return the compliment. I count on you all, too.
Needed this today. Perfect. Thank you!
Me, too, Marcella. We are all on the quest. Thanks.
I thought of you today when I read a piece in a weaving magazine (I’m a hand weaver). The author was going through some tough stuff and went to ride his horse. When he dismounted he broke into tears and the horse put his forehead on the man’s chest and let out a big sigh. The man realized he’d never had that connection with his horse, he’d always been riding by rote, very mechanically. Forward to him trying to make some fabric for his wife and having all kinds of trouble with it, bad selvages, uneven beat and more, finally he threw up his hands and rode his horse (with whom he now has a close relationship). It came to him he was weaving the same way he used to ride, concentrating on the ‘how’ instead of the ‘why’. He went back to the loom and thought of the beautiful thing he was making for his well loved wife and suddenly everything clicked and it worked beautifully. His message to the reader was that once you understand the basics you should focus on the soul of what you are doing – your riding, your yardage and even your life will turn out better. Sorry for the length but it struck me that this is your message too.
Wow. I love hearing this “story” in another setting, I just think this is the truest thing. And maybe we have to learn it in some micro version, learn it in a small passionate place, and then let it take over the rest of us. If we are lucky. Thanks for writing this all out, what a great comment. Thanks, Sherry.
Thank you for saying this! After a lot of agonizing, lessons, clinics, DVDs, how to books, I’ve decided to ride my own horse , “sing my own song”, no matter, pretty or ugly! This will take a lot of courage, fortitude, guts basically, and I will be alone. You always touch my heart . . . my horse is waiting.
Thanks, Mary. I think in the end, we are all alone with our horses…I think that’s how Charlotte and Valegro did it at the Olympics, and its how I do it. You’ve had good advice, and now it’s between your seat and his back. Have a good ride. And thanks Mary.
Great comments, all!
Aren’t they??
THank you, Anna
that’s so powerful and so needed…….
You’re welcome, Kate. Let’s hope for a gentle time ahead.