judy needed to run

what thirteen year old girls and horses can teach us about leadership

Judy was new. Her surroundings were uncertain. She was surrounded by strangers. It was really all she could do to figure out how to deal with food and where she was in the pecking order.

At just three years old, Judy was a very ‘green’ horse. Chestnut mares have a reputation for being a bit wild and un predictable. They’re the ‘crazy redheads’ of the horse world. Judy was true to form.

No fewer than four riders had flown off her in their attempts to ‘back’ her. It took weeks to get her comfortable enough to wear a saddle. She still was unwilling to have someone sit on her back. The extra weight threw off her balance. Judy did not want to fall.

It was determined that Judy needed to run. In letting her run, some of the women at the barn wanted to see what Judy looked like when she jumped. To facilitate this, they built a kind of ‘funnel’ using jumps, cross ties and standards that would direct Judy to a series of obstacles, perfectly spaced to test her jumping.

A horse will always take the…