Don Burt - The Horsemans Guide to the Meaning of Life: Lessons Ive Learned from Horses, Horsemen, and Other Heroes

Copyright 2009, 2018 by Don Burt

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Burt, Don.

The horsemans guide to the meaning of life : lessons Ive learned from horses, horsemen, and other heroes / Don Burt.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-60239-661-6

1. Burt, Don. 2. Horse trainers--United States--Biography. 3. Horsemanship. 4. Self-evaluation. 5. Life skills. I. Title.

SF284.52.B87A3 2009

636.1092--dc22

[B]

2009006051

Cover design by Tom Lau

Cover image credit: iStock.com/Yuri_Arcurs

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-3154-7

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-3156-1

Printed in China

Contents

F OREWORD BY S TEVEN D. P RICE

A CKNOWLEDGMENTS

I NTRODUCTION

LESSON ONE

The Way I Remember It

LESSON TWO

The Arena Was My Home

LESSON THREE

Getting There: Motivation and Inspiration

LESSON FOUR

Act, Dont React

LESSON FIVE

Plateaus of Life: Learn, Do, Teach, Record

LESSON SIX

Every Horse, Every Person, Has a Place

LESSON SEVEN

Passion, Heart, Talent

LESSON EIGHT

Patience, Persistence, Sacrifice

LESSON NINE

Attitude

LESSON TEN

Roadblocks and Defeats

LESSON ELEVEN

Role Models and Their Philosophies

LESSON TWELVE

Believe in Yourself

LESSON THIRTEEN

Follow Your Dream

LESSON FOURTEEN

Family and Friends

Foreword by
Steven D. Price

W hen Tony Lyons asked me to find someone to write the equestrian volume for Skyhorses Guide to the Meaning of Life series, I didnt have to think very long or hard to come up with Don Burt as the ideal candidate. In all my years of reading, riding, writing, and editing, I hadnt encountered anyone in the horse world who came close to Dons knowledge and appreciation of that world and from so many perspectives (at one point he was licensed to judge every breed and discipline recognized by the American Horse Shows Association). And, since this was to be a book, Don was equally adept at setting down entertaining and instructive yarns about his experiences.

I met Don in the late 1980s when his agent submitted a proposal to the publisher for whom I worked at the time. Winning with Arabian Horses seemed like an eminently viable idea, and we jumped at it. When I phoned Don to introduce myself after we signed up the project, he was kind enough to invite me to visit him and his wife, Ardys, for a few days at their Southern California home. Don lived up to his agents advanced billing: a professional and personal pleasure to work with and, to my great pleasure, a wonderful riding companion. One mornings hack took us to a bluff overlooking Catalina Island in the distance and in the foreground two whales sounding in the Pacific Ocean channel (in my experience, a very rare sight from horseback).

Several years later, Don phoned with another invitation: how would I like to do public relations for an Arabian horse farm in Kentucky thats owned by a Japanese businessman? Unable to decline such a piquant request, I agreed, and for a few days every month for almost two years I joined Don and several other farm advisors at the facility outside Louisville. That gave me ample opportunity to observe Dons eye for horses and his horsemanship abilities. Everything I learned about horses, I learned from horses, Don told us more than once. Teach yourself not to look but to see, and not just to hear but to listen.

Don also regaled us with tales from his youth, such as when a cowhand showed up at his fathers stable. I hear a feller who can ride some can make a living in the movies hereabouts, the stranger said. In exchange for doing barn chores, the cowhand stayed at the stable until he broke into the movies, first as John Waynes stunt double and then as the Oscar-winning actor Ben Johnson. Or when the actor Robert Taylor, whom Don taught to ride for the Walt Disney film Miracle of the White Stallions , helped Don convince prospective customers to buy horses.

Dons administrative and interpersonal skills came into play when he served on the American Quarter Horse Associations executive board and became its president in 1996 (his book Winning with the American Quarter Horse remains an essential guide to showing and judging the breed). At Dons urging I wrote two books for AQHA, during the course of which I spent time at the associations headquarters in Amarillo, Texas. Everyone to whom I spoke there had nothing but good things to say about Dons leadership and motivational skills as well as his curiosity and enthusiasm for all aspects of equestrian competition and recreation.

Don also advised the American Horse Shows Association and the United States Equestrian Team, both of whose former executive Chrystine Tauber called him an extraordinary horseman whose extensive knowledge and leadership influenced our entire sport. He was a great mediator and consensus builder. When I was at the AHSA and the Team, Don was our go to man for negotiations. His efforts, including introducing reining to the USET Festival of Champions, allowed our visions to become reality. For many decades, Don was my trusted advisor and cherished friend.

Dons death six years ago deprived his many friends and fans of sharing more of his good humor, good sense, and sound philosophy. We are, however, grateful for this book, a distillation of his life and lore and a celebration of the animals and the people he admired and learned so much fromEnglish and Western riders, trainers, officials, and horse-lovers from all over the country and indeed the world. By the same token, readers involved in the horse world in any capacity will learn much from The Horsemans Guide to the Meaning of Life not only about their animals, but also about themselves.

Steven D. Price

New York, NY

March 2018

Acknowledgments

I n my life, there have been many people who have influenced me and several who have played an integral part in the successes I may have achieved. Some were actual mentors. This book is a compilation of teachings or lessons I learned from them. Their names are too numerous to list individually.

Besides my faithful friend and literary advisor, Steven D. Price, there are two other people who deserve recognition, one being my dad. His deeds and the way he lived his life was his gift to me. Resilience is a word he really never used but lived each day. It gave him the power to overcome adversity. He did have a saying that was not always easy to achieve Let no one outwork you today which says a lot about those who have found success.

The other person to whom I owe much of the success I have enjoyed and who, by thought, word, and deed, has been my guiding light and is always there for me and who took her wedding vows to heart is my wife, Ardys. Her name should appear on the cover with mine, because we truly are a team.