A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #62 Stay focused or else
Concentrate on the task at hand. Keep your eyes on the prize.
Whoever said that must have been familiar with handling horses.
When Di and the girls started their whole horse love affair I decided to take horse handling lessons. It was my way of staying close to their passion without actually having to climb on one of the big beasties.One Wednesday morning provided a tangible reminder of why it’s incredibly important never to lose concentration even for just a second while handling a horse.
I was bringing a four-year-old big guy named Nixon out of the paddocks to go back to the stable and I made the cardinal sin of allowing Nixon [I began calling him ‘Dick’] to get slightly ahead of me on the incline down to the stables.
I saw him look at me and knew what was coming even before his hindquarters came around hard and caught me right on the hip.
I was intelligent enough to let go of the lead line and so I managed to get some really good air before landing on my side a few metres away. Christian – my instructor and the owner of the Centre Equestre Le Club said that when he saw me I was still in the air and gaining altitude.
I believe that if my shoes were not tied on as well as they were they would have stayed on the path right where Dick hit me — just like the shoes I used to find at the point of impact at a pedestrian v car scene.
I got right back up because I didn’t want Dick to think he could toss me around like that [who was I kidding?] and led him back into the stables without further incident.
I continued with my chores – mucking the stalls, hauling hay bales and shavings, doing the feed rounds and then when I finished my morning and sat down in the van I realized my whole right side was hurting.
Popped a few Advils and went to bed and awakened the next morning feeling as if a truck had hit me on the hip and butt. At age 47, I just didn’t have the same bounceback as I did when I was younger.
Five years down the road and now living out in the country surrounded by cows and horses, I look back on the day that Nixon somehow came back as a horse and kicked my ass as a valuable lesson in staying focused or else.
Be well. Practice big medicine.
Hal
