Learn from everyone

If there’s one thing the galloping housewife has learned in her life is that you can learn from anyone.

Just look around the collecting ring at any big show and you will see. For every Big Name Trainer with an entourage in tow, there will be three that you’ll have very little idea exist. Or at least you’d have very little idea they exist unless you’re the sort that pays attention to who the top riders train with.

There are plenty of riders who make it to the top with the same trainer that guided them to their first shows as a teenager. There are plenty of riders who have superseded and surpassed any of the achievements their trainer may have had.

There’s good reason for this. 

The lessons we need to learn only work if they’re delivered in a way that we can hear them.

It’s not just about what they say, it’s how it’s said.

We need information given to us in a manner we can utilise.

We need information given to us at the right time for us to absorb.

We need information given to us with the emotion and intensity we can connect with.

We need information given to us in a language we speak.

In riding and in life we can learn from anyone.

The Uber driver that gives us a brilliant marketing idea.

The child who teaches us about the power of acceptance.

The student who teaches us how to assimilate technology.

The grandparent who talks about opportunity and regret.

Keep your mind and your heart open and your ego in check. You can learn from anyone, if you give yourself the chance.