Slow and Steady wins the Race
Our lives right now are submerged in our new arrivals on the farm. We talk about the new Suffolk colts Duke and Earl all the time. They require a lot of focus right now. And it is not hard to give them focus. They are very lovable and fun to be around, and have super sweet dispositions.
Every morning when Jim comes in from the barn, my first question is how the colts did during the night. They get lots of visits from me and interaction from Justin who helps with chores in the morning, and attention multiple times per day from Jim. And as you can see here, from our daughters as well. Just like human children, colts need lots of consistency. They seem to thrive with routine and from knowing what is expected of them. The more they can begin to understand the routine, the more confident they become. Jim said in his last video that he doesn't do anything special with them to train them. But in this day and age, being consistent and persistent are traits that easily get pushed to the wayside with the busyness of modern day living. As you see here it's easy to get distracted- hope Abby isn't teaching Duke any bad habits with the cell phone!
Life has setbacks, it's just a part of being alive on planet earth- no matter if you are a horse or a person. Especially in the very beginning, the colts would take one step forward and then 2 steps back.
The good news is, they eventually went many steps forward on their own. What was hard and scary for them in the beginning, they began to do with confidence in themselves and their new owner. It is sheer pleasure to watch. But setbacks will invariably come. Decisions will have to be made on how to move forward. Hopefully they will be good decisions, but the reality is that no one is perfect. Once again though, we will need to be confident that consistency and persistence in the right direction will move the learning process forward for the colts. And Jim will need to be persistent in observing how the colts are reacting to his lessons, one day at a time and little by little. Slow and steady wins the race for colts and people.