When it comes to your life, what you do with your horse, what keeps you going, what inspires you?
Have you ever stopped to think what inspiration actually is? We hear people say they were ‘so inspired…’ usually accompanied by positive body language and they’re emanating warmth and big smiles - you can tell by looking at them, they have a glow. Their eyes are shining, they are truly embracing the moment and drawing energy from whatever it is that inspires them.
Inspiration is the act of feeling so enthusiastic about someone or something that you put all you have into making it successful. Inspiration creates an atmosphere that allows you to go from apathy to enthusiasm in a heartbeat. Inspiration is what keeps you moving ahead despite the obstacles that inevitably appear.
Inspiration allows you to see beyond what is and opens up the entire realm of possibilities. You can say that a person who feels inspiration puts their very essence into whatever they are doing.
Jen: Here are 8 things that inspire me:
1. Learning new things. – If you are not learning, you are not growing!
2. Reaching your goals – Set goals and achieving them, no matter how big or small, is powerful
3. Coaching others – Giving a helping hand to another and passing on knowledge is a great feeling
4. Finding ways to solve problems or overcome obstacles – thinking outside the box and coming up with solutions to add to your toolbox of knowledge
5. Coming up with new, creative ideas – whether new ideas or evolving a standard formula that has always worked to make it better - it keeps your mind open and fresh
6. The internal wish to grow beyond what you are – always striving to be a better you and I think that is really important!
7. People who beat the odds – who doesn’t like to hear about the story of someone or a horse that shouldn’t have made it but did! – truly inspiring!
8. Remaining true to values – integrity and the ability to stand up against things that don’t conform to anyone else’s expectations or societal pressures if it means compromising their values.
Sharon: When I read Jen’s list, I found myself agreeing to every single one of hers! I think it’s why we work well together as a business partnership, we share the same values and outlooks. We started J&J Reining Inc in early 2021, since then we’ve hosted five shows, four Stallion auctions, a judge’s clinic, a scribes clinic, several sessions with the amazing Gilead (Gil) Friedman of Mental Athletics, and lots more stuff along the way plus we have two more shows lined up for this year, June 14 – 16 and August 23 – 25. Each year we add more new stuff to our shows and we hope to inspire more people to come and enjoy and compete!
We are both inspired by our amazing sponsors, our group of volunteers at our shows – without them, the show staff, the judges and everyone who brings it all together – we would be nothing!
The pics here are of our wonderful volunteers from June and August 2023, and Jen and Sharon from June 2023, taken by the amazing Tom von Kapherr who sadly passed on earlier this year. Tom was an inspiration – he definitely did things his own way and we will miss him.
As for me, I’m also inspired by people who are open minded, curious, will challenge themselves as well as others (this one gets me into trouble) and who can say what they mean without being mean. I am inspired by people who march to their own drum beat and care not what others think of them – because it’s none of their business anyway!
In riding I am inspired to continue my learning as best I can, adults have a habit of getting to a basic level of competence and not moving beyond that because it gets OK results. We evolved that way because learning is taxing and our brains try to reserve energies – so trying to continually get better at riding, at working with my horse, making small breakthroughs (at last I am sitting back!!) I take as small wins.
So – what inspires YOU to get out of bed every day – to work with your horse, to be the best competitor?
We’d love to know! Hit us up on facebook: facebook.com/jj.reining.3 and tell us what inspires you!
Pro and Non-Pro articles written by Jen Jonas of Jonas Performance Horses (Pro) and Sharon Jones of Be A Better You (Non-Pro). Together, they are J&J Reining Inc. Both Jen and Sharon are believers in continual learning – if you’re not learning you’re not growing.