It Takes Determination…

Do you have an ideal in your head about how you think you and your horse should be? Or what you ideally would like your relationship to look like? Maybe even dreamt of the wonderful things the two of you could accomplish together? Does this dream warm your heart?

If you have, what did you do about it?

Did you figure out how to get that ideal to become reality for you? Did you try to train your horse to do what you wanted? Did you do research to figure out how to get that “end result”? Did you take courses, clinics, or get a trainer? How badly do you want to accomplish your goal?

If so, how did it go?

We all hit bumps in the road. It’s normal. So, when you hit a roadblock or a bump, what did you do about it? Did you try again? How many times did you try? Did you do more research, more clinics, more courses, a different trainer? How many trainers, clinics, or methods have you tried to get the end result you’re looking for? Are you still trying?

How many times did it take before you accomplished your dream goal? Or how many times did it take before you were so frustrated that you gave up and just decided to accept your current situation?

How long did it take you? Months or Years?

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Well, the real question is…

“What are you willing to do to get your ideal horse, your dream relationship, and your perfect reality”?

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If you are trying to accomplish something big or even something little with your horse, this is the most important question you can ask yourself. And you should ask it often. Your emotional reason for wanting this dream will drive you towards your answer.

Your answer to this question will show you how determined and committed you truly are to both your horse and to achieving your desired results.

I learned this early on when working with my horses. To this day, I plead with horse owners to NEVER GIVE UP on their horses. I really mean it, because I have seen that with the right determination, love and patience, that anything is possible.

I have seen miracles happen for my clients when they buckled down and gave it their all. Their horses were transformed into safe, happy, healthy horses that loved their new life with their owners. The clients themselves were transformed as well into confident, happy, strong horsewomen that could solve any issue.

It’s all in the determination to develop what you truly believe is possible and what your heart desires.

I’ve had a lot of clients get amazing results that they tell me they had only dreamt about. I myself have had some wonderful results with lots of hard to reach, shut down, and dangerous horses. It’s beautiful to watch. And you’ve heard many of my horse stories.

But this time, let me give you an example from my personal life…

If you’ve been following my blogs for a while, you’ll remember how I’ve been on a health kick for the past 5 years, especially with trying to lose weight. I know that is probably something that everyone goes through, but my experience has been a bit different.

Growing up I have always been the same weight, forever. I’ve always been slim and healthy. For the first 40 years of my life I never had to diet or even think about what I ate. I never restricted my foods and I never thought about calories or what I ate. I could eat two big macs, a large fry, and all the coke I could drink and never gain an ounce.

I was very healthy, active, and carefree. I was extremely blessed in this department and didn’t realize how lucky I really was until I hit 40. Then life changed.

At 40 I started gaining weight but only in my abdomen. At first I thought I was pregnant, but soon found out I wasn’t. Turns out I had 6 large tumors in my abdomen and one that grew to the size of a large bowling ball.

This all happened very suddenly and within three months I gained 60 lbs. After the doctors tried one thing after another trying to reduce and get rid of the tumors without surgery, six more months went by. By that time strangers were asking me when I was due because I looked like a very big 9-month pregnant woman.

I had been a size 8 all my life until then. At this point I was wearing maternity clothes because nothing else would go over my stomach. It was tough to say the least and something I had never had to deal with before. Then the doctors said that there was no other option and I had to do surgery. So they did.

It was major surgery and they found that the tumors had done a lot of damage internally so they had to do some fixing while in there as well. Unfortunately that meant that they had to take out more than the tumors. They took out part of my colon, part of my bladder, and had to do a full hysterectomy, plus other minor repairs. Wow!

Waking up in the hospital afterwards and learning about what they had to do because of the damage the tumors had caused was devastating. Besides the long recovery and pain associated with the surgery, the idea that they had taken my ability to have children crushed me.

That whole experience took a long time for me to recover mentally and physically. However, I was determined to get back to a normal life and back to my normal weight. I followed a very strict plan laid out in a book called “Weight Loss Cure”. It took a while and was extremely tough, but it worked for me. I eventually went back to my normal self.

After that I really didn’t have issues with my weight again until about a year after I moved to Maryland. When I went from gaining 5 lbs. to 20 lbs. and then to 50 lbs. over a short period of time. Of course I worried that the tumors had come back. So I went to the Doctors.

Luckily they said there were no more tumors. But they couldn’t figure out what was going on and they said I was perfectly healthy. I knew something was off, even though the doctors didn’t believe me.

They told me that because of my age and that I’ve been through menopause that it’s normal to be gaining weight. I wouldn’t accept that answer. You don’t gain weight that fast and only in your abdomen because of age. If that was the case, it would have been gradual.

Well, you know me, I did my research and tons of it. Turns out my liver was bad and getting worse and that was the reason I was gaining weight and couldn’t get it off. But I had to take my findings to my doctor, who then in turn agreed with me once she did certain tests. Then with both of us working on the same problem, I was finally cured.

I’m not complaining, I’m grateful that I found it and that my doctor agreed to check it out and believed my findings. But it was only cured because of my determination to find a solution and not “accept my fate” as other doctors had told me.

Now that that issue was resolved, I could get back to working on all the weight I had gained because of the liver damage. By the way it was advanced Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Damage.

Since giving it my all, not giving up on myself, and putting all the grit and determination I could muster helped find the solution…I decided to do the same here. So I didn’t just do one or two things to lose weight, I did them ALL. Everything I had ever learned that would help; I did them all at once. Yes it was really hard.

I ate only organic food and mainly food I grew myself. I gave up sugar, fast food, junk food, sodas, chips, and anything processed. I worked out every day using high intensity short workouts. I used an infrared sauna with light healing and a jacuzzi to relax in every day along with meditation. I swam and walked every day. Then I added intermittent fasting and all the right vitamins and supplements to keep my body healthy plus lots of hydrogen water for hydration.

It was really tough but well worth it. From Christmas until March 7th I had lost 32 lbs. and was feeling great. Since then I have lost another 10 and am hoping to lose the last 10 after my recovery.

But again, it wasn’t until I gave it my all and was determined not to give up until I reached my goal that anything really happened. This time I had a reason to be so determined. One that touched my heart…I had to lose weight so that I could get on Merlin in one year and finish our riding work from the saddle.

I had been doing pieces here and there, and losing and gaining for many years because I wasn’t giving it enough. Losing weight for my health wasn’t a strong enough reason to ignite the determination that I needed. But Merlin was. I was trying to do it the “easy way” and I didn’t push myself. However, when it truly meant a lot to me, I jumped all in and was determined to make it work. And it worked!

I’ve seen this same thing working with horses and clients trying to reach their goals. When they didn’t really feel it was important to them, they did things half-assed and let things slide. And they gave up easily. They would always blame their horse or someone or something else for their lack of determination.

There is nothing you can’t accomplish with the right determination. Never give up on yourself or your horse!

This week’s blog is meant to give you hope and push you to reach your goals with the right determination and the right drive. If you want it, see it, and go for it. But don’t waste your time if you’re not going to really go for it. Give it your all and the full heights of your determination and grit.

Otherwise, why even try if you’re going to give up so easily? If you want to reach your dream goals to have the ideal horse and your ideal relationship then you have to truly want it. And you have to work for it.

Just do it! As Nike would say. But when you do it, do it right. Be totally committed and determined to do it until you get it right, the way you want. You are worth the effort and so is your horse.

And if you need help or just support from a fellow horse girl, I’m here for you and would love to chat about it.

If this resonates with you and you haven’t yet dipped your toe into my programs, then click this link. Check them out and let me know if you have any questions, by contacting me. I look forward to hearing from you.