The road to success leads through the valley of humility, and the path is up the ladder of patience and across the wide barren plains of perseverance. As yet, no shortcut has been discovered. ~Joseph L. Lamb

Words of Wisdom


  • "Since dressage training primarily aims at developing and regulating the physical forces of the horse, it inevitably also involves its mental capabilities and their perfection. In the long, intimate association with its master, the horse becomes infinitely intelligent and alert. Because it has so much to learn and is continuously asked to observe the slightest hint from its rider, the horse exercises its mental powers together with its physical ones, so that it becomes attached and friendlier towards its master to the same degree that it increases in skillfulness in its lessons."~Gustave Steinbrecht, The Gymnasium of the Horse
  • Expectation is the mother of all frustration. ~William Shakespeare
  • Beginning dancers want to do intermediate things. Intermediate dancers want to do advanced things. But advanced dancers do basic things. ~Warwick Schiller
  • He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist. ~St. Francis of Assisi
  • Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength.~St. Francis of Assisi
  • Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible, and suddenly you're doing the impossible. ~St. Francis of Assisi
  • If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you. ~Unknown
  • Peace: It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. ~Unkown
  • To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing. ~Aristotle
  • The genius of communication is the ability to be both totally honest and totally kind at the same time. ~John Powell
  • The horse does one of two things. He does what he thinks he's supposed to do, or, he does what he thinks he needs to do to survive. ~Ray Hunt
  • People in their handlings of affairs often fail when they are about to succeed. If one remains as careful at the end as he was at the beginning, there will be no failure. ~Lao Tzu
  • Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor. ~H. Jackson Brown
  • Having spent the better part of my life trying either to relive the past or experience the future before it arrives, I have come to believe that in between these two extremes is peace. ~Author Unkown
  • If you love life, then do not squander time. It is the stuff life is made of. ~Benjamin Franklin
  • Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves. ~Dale Carnegie
  • There are only two emotions that belong in the saddle: one is a sense of humor, and the other is patience. ~John Lyons
  • Happiness is not a matter of intensity, but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony. ~Thomas Merton
  • Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving, path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb. ~Winston Churchill
  • Sometimes I wish things were as easy as fixing a bike tire. Your hands get a bit dirty, but there's nothing to it. But life is so opposite. You hope, pray, give, take, struggle, crash, burn, sometimes you hurt the people you care about, say things you regret, and they don't make patches and air pumps for life. But there is love and grace. When you're left clinging to this you realize how precious life really is. ~Janette Tank
  • Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish. ~John Quincy Adams
  • I think what I represent is achieving what you want in life. It’s a matter of attitude. Some people have a negative attitude, and that’s their disability. ~Marla Runyan, Elite Runner( who happens to also be blind)
  • Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. ~Henry David Thoreau
  • God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change those I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. ~The Serenity Prayer
  • You must be the change you wish to see in the world. ~Ghandi
  • “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” ~Buddha
  • “Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”~Martin Luther King
  • “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”—Oliver Wendell Holmes
  • Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be. ~Thomas à Kempis, Imitation of Christ, c.1420
  • See everything; overlook a great deal; correct a little. ~Pope John XXIII
  • Now that it's all over, what did you really do yesterday that's worth mentioning? ~Coleman Cox
  • The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice that which we are for what we could become. ~Charles DuBois
  • In this age, which believes that there is a short cut to everything, the greatest lesson to be learned is that the most difficult way is, in the long run, the easiest. ~Henry Miller, The Books in My Life
  • Half the failures in life arise from pulling in the horse as he is leaping. ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827
  • The biggest problem in the world could have been solved when it was small.
    ~Witter Bynner, The Way of Life According to Laotzu
  • Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? ~Abraham Lincoln
  • Lend, by your imperfections, self-esteem to others, and you will be invited everywhere. ~Robert Brault
  • Watch the little things; a small leak will sink a great ship. ~Benjamin Franklin
  • Beware of a man of one book. ~English Proverb
  • When you lose, don't lose the lesson. ~Author Unknown
  • Dig the well before you are thirsty. ~Chinese Proverb
  • Sometimes the only way you can take a really good look at yourself is through somebody else's eyes. ~From the television show Scrubs
  • Bloom where you are planted. ~Unknown
  • The difference between school & life is in school, you're taught a lesson & then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson. ~Unkown
  • Desiderata by Max Ehrmann: Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline,
    be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
    Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
  • Seek not greatness, but seek truth, and you will find both. ~Horace Mann
  • Nothing in this world can take the place of persistance. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. ~Calvin Coolidge.
  • Thankfully, perseverance is a good subsitute for talent. ~Steve Martin
  • The road to success leads through the valley of humility, and the path is up the ladder of patience and across the wide barren plains of perseverance. As yet, no shortcut has been discovered. ~Joseph L. Lamb
  • The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. ~Albert Einstein
  • Intuition is a spiritual faculty and does not explain but simply points the way. ~Florence Shovel Shinn




Making the Most of Your Training Dollar

 Let's face it, owning horses is not an inexpensive proposition. Buying the horse is the least expensive thing you'll do as a horse ...