Last week I watched the movie Seabiscuit again for what felt like the first time. My children will tell you that I am notorious for forgetting story lines and marvel at my ability to watch movies multiple times. At the end of this movie, I realized that the impact it had on me the second time around was a direct reflection of my need for motivation. Stories of human (or in this case, horse and human) struggle and eventual triumph are the most powerful source of motivation known to man. They provide guidance for daily decision-making, as well as the motivation that comes with the conviction that one’s passion must prevail, to make a difference in people’s lives.
The word ‘passion’ may be slightly overused in the Arabian community to the point that it has lost some of its meaning. Yet, there is no more appropriate word to describe what happens to a person who falls in love with the Arabian horse. How else could you possibly explain a successful business man throwing all logic out the door and spending six of his hard earned figures on a single horse with little or no hope of financial gain? How else would you explain a college graduate with a business degree and a master plan of success for his future suddenly deciding to live the life of a starving horse trainer? The passion that motivates a young man to leave his home country with $5 in his pocket and march into a foreign land with no home, no job and a plan with the soul focus on working near Arabian horses, or the passion that drives a city boy with debilitating and life threatening allergies and a family devoted to their world famous restaurant to a barn full of horses and an undying desire to learn all there is to know about them cannot be explained to a person who has never experienced it.
For this passionate lifer in the Arabian horse community, the trials of life may take its toll on my motivation at times, but there is no earthly force that could remove my passion for the Arabian horse and the lifestyle it provides this otherwise lost soul. The triumphant story of *‘the horse that was too small, the jockey that was too big and the trainer that was too old’ was a beautiful reminder that *‘you don't throw a whole life away just 'cause he's banged up a little.’ (*Seabiscuit and George Wolfe)
Be encouraged to motivate, persuade, and be remembered, by sharing the passionate story of how you became involved with the Arabian horse every chance you get. You never know whose heart you may capture or whose lost soul you may help find.