Hey everyone!

Just got back from Florida, and had a great and wonderful time! My horse, Dreamer, has come such a long way since we were last there, in February 2006. He was rather unconfident in new surroundings and in his leader then, and he was a changed horse this time! (I look forward to sharing my pictures of the two weeks with you in future blogs!)

One of the reasons I love going to the Parelli ranch in winter in Florida is that it gives me an opportunity to reflect and assess, and to mark progress. It’s hard for me to believe that when I was last there I was writing the text for our new website, checking keywords and trying to distill what we do into meaningful language. What a great experience that was, and I learned mounds about writing website copy, message development and the website development process by doing it.

Another major shift since I was last able to visit the Parelli ranch: I wasn’t even considering writing a book back then. Mark Lytle had encouraged me to give a presentation about the business side of EAP/EAL organizations at the EAGALA conference, and I was slated to do so, but had no idea how that one presentation would change so much. The overwhelmingly positive response led me to seriously consider writing the book you all now know as Horse Sense, Business Sense, Volume 1.

But the most significant change has been internal. Back in 2006 I was still very much learning how to be a leader, for my business and for my horse. In both areas, I wanted to be a friend and a buddy, not a boss or a leader. But what I learned was that although that may be the leadership style I wanted to embody, that was not what was being asked of me, by my staff or my horse. As I learned again at a new level, good horsemanship is being flexible enough to play with the horse that shows up, not the one I wanted to show up, or the one I expected to show up based on my play session yesterday. Being fluid and flexible, in my body, in my mind and in my leadership, is the solution.

Happy Trails, folks. And enjoy the journey!

Shannon